He didn’t talk about the war much -- the returning soldiers tended not to but went about their lives, probably trying to forget. He did mention one time that it was hard to find work when he was discharged since his job had been given away, and so many other service men found themselves in the same situation.

But his story is practically a fairy tale compared to so many others...

It is customary to do a year in review. First off, I will not enumerate the reasons why 2011 sucked. There's no need. And I really don't find it necessary to access the painful emotions brought about by the sorrows of the year. Not going to go there. This is my reflection, though, on some of the good things that happened in 2011 and my very recent -- as of December 29th, so it got in just under the wire -- good news...

I've been thinking about the controversy he seemed to continually generate. Why? He was honest and bold. He believed in using the platform he'd been given as a world figure to promote his views. Was he cynical and bitter? Sometimes he seemed that way, but as Husband pointed out in a conversation we had just yesterday...

Follow Chance the Dog's insightful yet slightly stupid StoryRhyme Twitter Tweets...

So, why is corned beef and cabbage traditional St. Patrick’s Day fare, you ask..?

It's a good look, but I don't know how you would get the curlers to stay on...

Ah, the ’60s were great, weren’t they? Doris Day, clean-cut all-American astronauts, Mitch MIller, Look magazine... How we all long for that joy-filled, unpretentious time. Let’s take a look back at that wonderful era as seen through the lens of our advertising media. What were we selling ourselves? What did we want? Oh, and see if you spot the fake ad...

Husband and I have our own coping method which involves going to the very farthest booth away from the action and trying to stay above the fray...

The couple at the next table bring out their Wet Wipes to clean their hands before they eat, then ask for paper napkins instead of cloth. I have a fascination with pandemics, possibly because I am a direct descendant of a Spanish flu victim or maybe because I watched the movies Andromeda Strain and Omega Man too many times as a child...

Instead of simply stating the plural "Smiths" on the mat, it reads "Smith's." This begs the question, does one person live here? Why an apostrophe at all? This drives me crazy...

Yes, she was the “notorious” pin-up girl in sometimes ridiculous-looking outfits, but she retained a lovely lightness about everything she did...

First of all, we're way too cool for this catalog (or so I thought), yet it comes anyway...

Gift cards have now crossed over from the realm of the merely functional to become toys and collector pieces? This particular card features a cutout "Domo" with magnetic Halloween costumes (included inside the gift card packaging) so you can dress your Domo in different Halloween costumes...

Every night when the moon is out, Kathy the Bunny Queen takes her basket and goes outside...