Thanksgiving
Today is Thanksgiving in the United States. Although the Thanksgiving that took place in 1621 is generally considered the first one, it wasn’t until 1863 that President Abraham Lincoln declared a national holiday for giving thanks. Nowadays, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. Celebrating Thanksgiving The traditional reason to celebrate Thanksgiving is […]
Nothing in the news but the blues
Spying. Snowden. Syria. Savar. Banking secrecy. 2013 has brought with it a sibilant hiss of bad luck to various parts of the globe. And there’s still two months to go. Thus, one might be forgiven to think the world’s going to hell in a hand basket. It’s easy to give up and let yourself slide […]
Lou. In memoriam.
Rock legend Lou Reed died from liver disease Sunday in New York at the age of 71. Lead singer for the Velvet Underground in the 60s and solo artist since, Lou’s songs highlighted the language and lives of city folk who huddled on the margins of society. In that way, Lou Reed reshaped the musical landscape. […]
And so it wasn’t the end of the world
The US government shutdown finally ended last week after sixteen days of interparty squabbling. However, considering there is no debt ceiling in place, there is the potential for another shutdown come February of next year. Even so, what’s it all mean to the regular folk who punch the proverbial clock day in and day out? […]
Autumn blues
“Autumn Blues”. It’s a 1960 piano instrumental by Bobby Darin. It’s also an apropos title for this time of year seeing as autumn has just arrived and can bring about some of those blue feelings. There are several reasons for that. Life gets busier, days get shorter, weather gets colder, and leaves get shaken from […]
Back to school: Routines & responsibilites
A new school year has arrived – plenty of anticipation and anxiety as families run around to get ready. It’s essential to get off to a good start, and a sure-fire way to do that is by establishing routines. The kids will quickly fall into the routines at school. They should do the same at […]
Punxsutawney Phil’s a liar
In his latest column Dan Franch talks about the importance of cultural traditions, from the eternal disappointment of Groundhog Day to Luxembourg’s equivalent of Burning Man. Punxsutawney Phil’s a liar. There; I said it. And I mean it. Who’s he? you might be asking yourself. None other than the bucktoothed burrower that promised an early […]
Laundry is like the wheel of life
Housespouse Dan Franch likens laundry to the wheel of life in his latest piece for wort column Taking a break. Of all the household tasks – cooking, dusting, sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, laundry, shopping, and all else we housespouses do when we’re not lazing about all day — there is only one chore I absolutely don’t […]
Ski week – now there’s a concept!
Wort columnist Dan Franch looks forward to ski week, or carnival week or whatever you happen to call next week’s holiday. Ski Week. What a concept, really. Five working days set aside each year with the underlying implication that people will spend that time skiing. I know it’s not the official name of next week’s […]
Welcome to the “Graynd” Duchy!
Stay-at-home dad Dan Franch invents a new weather term to sum up Luxembourg’s gray and rainy weather – “grayn”. It’s been a peculiar turn of years, the new one beginning as gray and rainy as the old one ended. The sky has been the color of an oyster shell, regularly leaking rain from a colander […]