Last year I wrote a book on goal setting.  I am now in the process of editing that book.  As I edit, I will post excerpts here on my blog.  This is from chapter four: _______________________________________________________________________________________________ What...

Not long ago, in a German class, we learned the German word for iron, Eisen. Railroad, for example, in German is Eisenbahn.  Eisenbahn, a combination of Eisen (iron) and Bahn (road, or way) is the iron road. I thought of the name of one of our former presidents,...

Confetti: small pieces of paper thrown into the air during celebrations. This word came up in a Latin class this morning.  A student wanted to know if confetti came from confitieri, the Latin word for confession.  It does not. Instead, confetti comes from the Italian...

Today, in America, we celebrate Thanksgiving, a time we use to reflect upon all the blessings in our lives.  Thanksgiving is a time of gratitude. Gratitude: thankfulness; a feeling of appreciation. The word came to English via Medieval Latin.  The word for...

Quixotic: Idealistic, yet impractical.  Visionary. Quixotic comes from the name Don Quixote in the famous tale by Miguel Cervantes. I try to post a word a day on my site and on Facebook.  Judging by my record, this may be a quixotic goal on my part.  Oh well. ...

Like most of you, I love learning.  I spend much of my free time learning. Over the years, I have subscribed to the site formerly known as The Great Courses.  These days, the site goes by the name Wondrium.  I still call the site, The Great Courses. Honestly, the...

It's been a while since I've posted a word of the day. Back.  At least for today. This morning, in a Latin class, we learned the word Vita.  Vita, in Latin, means life. From vita, English gleans multiple words.  A bunch of them showed up in Word up: Volume 2. This...

Recently, I discovered the book, The Magic of Thinking Big by David Schwartz.  I recommend the book. Among many other good suggestions, Mr. Schwartz recommended taking college classes for the rest of you life.  Schedule it in.  Plan on taking at least one class a...

Just found out today that the Old English/Anglo-Saxon work for wealth and prosperity is... thrift. From now on, I refer to thrift stores as wealth stores. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Almost every...

Not long ago, I finished reading Your Money or Your Life by Vicky Robin and Joe Dominguez. For years, I have read financial books.  Not sure how I missed this one.  The authors published it years ago. These days, during times of high inflation, we need all the help we...

Words change over time.  We know that.  Sententious is one of those words. Sententious once meant full of wisdom.  These days, it kind of means full of it.  (Hint.  The it in full of it is not wisdom.) In Latin sententiosus meant full of meaning.  This word came from...