Jerry Springer - whose show The Jerry Springer Show just recently ended after having run for close to 27 years - was born in a London bomb shelter in 1944 to two Jewish refugees who had fled from the Nazi holocaust? And that he, after having majored in political science, and then getting his law degree in 1968, worked as a political campaign adviser for Robert F. Kennedy till Kennedy was assassinated? Continue reading

Here’s yet another piece in Who Said That! Try to guess or remember first who said that, and if you still don’t know, you’ll see who it was at the very end of the article. Remember to scroll down s l o w l y so you won’t reveal the name beforehand. “HAPPINESS IS NOTHING MORE BUT GOOD HEALTH AND A BAD MEMORY” Anyone can attest to the fact that good health promotes happiness. Continue reading

Welcome once again to take a dive in languages - a big part in our journeys of life. Whether we actually make any journeys geographically or merely in our minds - digitally or otherwise - knowing a few languages besides your mother tongue is always a good idea. The original theme for this article was actually something entirely different, nothing to do with cartoons, but fate chose otherwise. So this time we jump into the magical world of marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg, the creator of the cartoon series SpongeBob SquarePants which premiered back in 1999. Continue reading

This time in First Names Firstit is all about Patricia! Take your pick in the list, and find some inspiring stories behind these names. Give this a couple of minutes for lives lived have all something worthwhile to tell us. Let them! Patricia Highsmith* novelist/short story writer - Fort Worth, TX USA (1921) Patricia Neal* actress - Packard, KY USA (1926) Patricia Routledge* actress/singer - Tranmere, Cheshire, England (1929) Patricia Wettig* actress – Milford, OH USA (1951) Patricia Cornwell* crime fiction writer - Miami, FL USA (1956) Patricia Heaton* actress - Bay Village, OH USA (1958) Patricia Arquette* actress – Chicago, IL USA (1968) Updated 3. Continue reading

This time Streets & Squares goes to Amsterdam. the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands. Here is some vocabulary at first Kade, straat and weg can all be translated as streets. Furthermore, plein is square, and park is park. Like always, clicking on the addresses will open Google Maps for you, and clicking on the names will (usually) lead to the person’s Wikipedia page. A. J. KROPHOLLERSTRAAT - Alexander Jacobus Kropholler (1881-1973) was an architect who designed many buildings in his birth town Amsterdam as well as elsewhere. Continue reading

Here’s yet another piece in Who Said That! Try to guess or remember first who said that, and if you don’t know, you’ll see who it was at the very end of the article. Remember to scroll down s l o w l y so you won’t reveal the name beforehand. Who said: SMILE IN THE MIRROR. DO THAT EVERY MORNING AND YOU’LL START TO SEE A BIG DIFFERENCE IN YOUR LIFE. Continue reading

Here’s another one in our series Monthly Latin. This phrase is just as eternal as any other Latin phrase, and probably known by many of you. But do you know where it originates from? The history behind it is quite interesting.  Audentes fortuna iuvat meaning of course Fortune favors the bold. The phrase is from Aeneid, a Latin epic poem written by the Roman poet Virgil between 29 and 19 B. Continue reading

Another one in First Names First! Your “task” -should you accept it - is to pick one of the names below, then follow the Wikipedia link to read about the person, and to see what if anything he or she could contribute your life with. Lives lived have all something to tell us – let them! Once in a while it will be a non-English name. This time the Finnish name Pekka - also with the double names, which is quite typical with Finnish names. Continue reading

in Istanbul, Turkey, you can take your empty plastic bottles and cans to your local metro station, recycle them, place your transit card on the screen to collect the amount, and then pay all or part of your fare with that? Now that is hats off to Turkey - even if there are lots of less desirable things happening in that country. Smart environmental thinking, for we all need to get from A to B, and this is such a good method to get people to take those bottles with them instead of creating more waste. Continue reading

Welcome to another one in the series One Day in the Life of … of people from all walks of life. If we live to be 80, we have lived around 29,200 days. We get to 10,000 days at the age of 27. So there are plenty of days for all kinds of things to happen. Something spectacular. Something life-changing. Or just a pretty ordinary day that still held something very memorable. Continue reading

Here’s yet another piece in Who Said That! Try to guess/remember first who said that, and if you don’t know, you’ll see who it was at the very end of the article. Remember to scroll down s l o w l y so you won’t reveal the name beforehand. Who said: “MAYBE THIS WORLD IS ANOTHER PLANET’S HELL” A hint: This person was nominated for the Nobel Prize in literature seven times, and was widely acknowledged as one of the preeminent intellectuals of his time. Continue reading

Welcome to Language Day! If you haven’t read the introduction yet, please do it here. Let’s start with something fun! Some Disney characters, and more precisely, the three nephews of Donald Duck. How do you say Huey, Dewey and Louie in some other languages? Would you expect them to be like in English, or just something that would sound just as fun? Let’s see! Let’s take first the country of origin, the United States. Continue reading

Another one in First Names First! A chronological list of persons with their first names here. Your “task” is to pick one, follow the Wikipedia link and see what if anything the person in question could contribute your life with. Spend a couple of minutes of your life with this. Lives lived have all something worthwhile to tell us – let them! This time it is all about Jane! Jane Seymour* third wife of King Henry VIII (1508) Jane Austen* novelist – Steventon Rectory, Hampshire, England (1775) Jane Digby* aristocrat famed for her remarkable love life and lifestyle - Holkham Hall, Norfolk, England (1807) Calamity Jane* frontierswoman/scout – Princeton, MO USA (1852) Jane Joseph* composer/arranger – Notting Hill, London, England (1894) Jane Wyman* actress/ philanthropist – Saint Joseph, MO USA (1917) Jane Russell* actress – Bemidji, MN USA (1921) Jane Goodall* primatologist/ anthropologist - London, England (1934) Jane Fonda* actress – New York, NY USA (1937) Jane Fortune* author/journalist/philanthropist - Indianapolis, IN USA (1942) Jane Hawking* (b Wilde) author/teacher/1st wife of Stephen Hawking – St. Continue reading

Once again, Streets and Squares is providing you with some interesting background information on street signs around the world - a fun way to learn about the history and culture of the cities you visit or even live in! This time we go through Budapest, the capital of Hungary. The street signs there often end in utca. Or just út. _Híd _means bridge, park is park, tér is square, and rakpart is wharf. Continue reading

Here’s yet another piece in Who Said That! Depicting what we people have uttered in a moment of elation, insight, inspiration, wisdom, despair - or any other emotion. Try to guess/remember first who said that, and if you don’t know, you’ll see who it was at the very end of the article. Remember to scroll s l o w l y. Who said: “THE QUESTION ISN’T WHO IS GOING TO LET ME; Continue reading

Let’s have another piece in our series Monthly Latin! Our fascination of this old language may very well keep it alive for centuries to come as there is no end to the wise and for ever applicable phrases in Latin. And the next Latin phrase is just as eternal as any other - and very easy, although possibly painful, to relate to. Ex nihilo nihil fit The literal translation of this would be Out of nothing, nothing comes. Continue reading

This time in First Names First it is about John! Being such an old and common name, this list gets to be pretty long. But take your pick, and find some inspiring stories behind the names. Give this a couple of minutes for lives lived have all something worthwhile to tell us. Let them! King John of Denmark* Aalborghus Castle, Aalborg, Denmark (1455) John of Avila* apostolic preacher/saint – Almodovar del Campo, Spain (1500) John Calvin* theologian – Noyon, France (1509) John Abernethy Sr* minister – Coleraine, County Londonderry, Ireland (1680) John Michael Rysbrack* sculptor – Antwerp, Belgium (1694) John Adams* politician/2usp – Quincy, MA, British America (1735) John Soane* architect – Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England (1753) John Dalton* chemist/meteorologist – Eaglesfield, Cumberland, England (1766) John Quincy Adams* politician/6usp – Braintree, Province of Massachusetts Bay, British America (1767) John Walter* newspaper editor at The Times – London, England (1776) John Galt* political novelist/entrepreneur – Irvine, Ayrshire, Scotland (1779) Johns Hopkins* entrepreneur/ philanthropist – White’s Hall, Maryland, USA (1795) John Keats* poet – Moorgate, London, England (1795) John Brown* abolitionist – Torrington, CT USA (1800) John Deere* blacksmith/inventor – Rutland, VT USA (1804) John Pemberton* pharmacist/developer and founder of Coca-Cola – Knoxville, GA USA (1831) John Singer Sargent* portrait painter – Florence, GD of Tuscany (1856) John Dewey* philosopher/ educational reformer – Burlington, VT USA (1859) John T. Continue reading

Let’s have another piece in Who Said That! Try to guess/remember first who said that, and if you don’t know, you’ll see who it was at the very end of the article. Remember to scroll s l o w l y. Who said: “INSANITY IS DOING THE SAME THING, OVER AND OVER AGAIN, BUT EXPECTING DIFFERENT RESULTS” A hint: This could of course apply to anybody who has understood the insanity of repeating something that just doesn’t work. Continue reading

Hi! From this day on Journeys of Life will have another featured series, namely Language Day. Every 29th of a month. This blog is entirely in English, but partly due to the multilingual background of the blogger, and partly due to the world being increasingly international, these sort of articles fall naturally in place here. And languages, well, they are a big part of our lives. Even if you only speak your mother tongue, you’re still gonna hear other languages as well. Continue reading

Once again, First Names First! A chronological list of persons with their first name here, and your task is to pick one. Then follow the Wikipedia link to read about that person, and to see what if anything he or she could contribute your life with. Inspiration, passion, enlightenment, encouragement, empathy, etc. Spend a couple of minutes of your life with this. Lives lived have all something worthwhile to tell us – let them! Continue reading