Happy Birthday to You
Not many people know the origins of the ``Happy Birthday to You" song. I had to look it up in the Internet to get it right. According to my beloved Wikipedia, it dates back to the mid-19th century, when two sisters, Patty and Mildred J. Hill, began..

Age of Multitasking
One of our weekly rituals is watching KBS-TV's Monday night program Urimal Gyeorugi (Korean Language Competition). We try not to make any plans with friends so that we can enjoy this linguistic quiz show in which the contestants compete to become a..

Been There, Done That
``Been there, done that." We have heard this expression a lot since the early 1980s, when people talk about experiences or activities that no longer draw much excitement or interest. It excludes by implication any sense of wonder remaining for a pa..

Good Evening, Ladies!
``Good evening, ladies.'' This is what the silver-haired gentleman said to us with a smile when Jane, my younger daughter, and I stepped out of the elevator in an apartment building on Fifth Ave in Manhattan about eight years ago. We were just leav..

Conspicuous Consumption
Conspicuous consumption is a term used to describe the ostentatious spending on items and services to display one's income or wealth. In the mind of a conspicuous consumer, such display is done to attain the good opinion of others or to let the wor..

Tipping Point
The other day, I was listening to an American radio broadcast from NPR (National Public Radio), and heard the announcer say that now that gasoline was being sold at $4 per gallon in some states in America, it has become a tipping point and people a..