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Gordon Mercer and Marcia Mercer
Joined on April 15, 2012
Recent posts by this user
Notes on Quotes: Remembering Our Old Wives’ Tales and Sayings
By Gordon Mercer a... posted March 18, 2013 - 10:30am
By Gordon Mercer and Marcia Gaines Mercer
“Some of those old wives were pretty smart.” Charlie Brown, “Peanuts,” Charles Shulz
While things are changing, when we were growing up to call something an “Old Wives’ Tale” meant that the idea was at best untrue and at worst superstitious nonsense that cast doubt on the speaker’s ability to navigate the modern world. According to “Wikipedia,” old wives’ tales “originate in the oral tradition of storytelling….to teach lessons and make difficult concepts like death or coming of age easy for children to understand.” Another website, “Wonderopolis” defined it as older women passing down advice “in the form of sayings that were easy to remember.” We wondered which old wives tales were true or at least had a rational basis …
Notes on Quotes: Predicting the Future
By Gordon Mercer a... posted March 4, 2013 - 12:22am
By Gordon Mercer and Marcia Gaines Mercer
“Entrepreneurs and their small enterprises are responsible for almost all economic growth in the United States.” Ronald Reagan, 1911-2004
As humans we are naturally curious. People who make predictions for the future enhance television talk show ratings and sell magazines and newspapers. The future is a mystery and most of us love mysteries and we would like for our lives to go well!
Recently the editors of “Popular Mechanics” made predictions for the future from a technological perspective. Many sounded unbelievable, but were actually well on their way to being implemented. Cars were predicted to become more advanced in terms of sensing other cars around them, cement will be made that heals itself …
Springing forward carries controversy
By Gordon Mercer a... posted February 20, 2013 - 8:52am
Daylight Saving Time: “It impacts diverse and unexpected areas, including agricultural practices, street crime, the reporting of sports scores, energy conservation, television schedules, traffic accidents, voter turnout, and even the inheritance rights of twins." David Prerau
As we were thinking about our column in Charleston, we were shocked recently to learn that Benjamin Franklin, of “early to bed and early to rise” fame, went to bed hours past midnight and did not arise until noon during his tenure as U. S. Ambassador to France. Franklin lived in Paris and developed the habit of late night chess playing. He must have felt some remorse because he wrote a humorous letter to the editor of a French newspaper praising sunlight as more economical than candles and suggesting …
Notes on Quotes: Affection, Happiness and Valentine’s Day
By Gordon Mercer a... posted February 4, 2013 - 12:04am
By Gordon Mercer and Marcia Gaines Mercer
“Affection is responsible for nine-tenths of whatever solid and durable happiness there is in our lives.” C. S. Lewis, 1898-1963
C. S. Lewis, author of the much loved children’s classic series “The Chronicles of Narnia,” taught English literature at Oxford and Cambridge. Lewis had a wide circle of friends and valued relationships. Returning from service in World War I, he honored a pact he had made with a friend who had been killed during the war and cared for the friend’s family. As we near Valentine’s Day in Charleston, Lewis’s perspective seemed a fitting sentiment.
Catholic Pope Gelasius established St. Valentine’s Day in 496. It is based on the legend of St. Valentine, a Christian priest during the …
Notes on Quotes: What Are the Western Cowboy Culture and Code of Ethics?
By Gordon Mercer a... posted January 21, 2013 - 12:12am
By Gordon Mercer and Marcia Gaines Mercer
“If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging.” Will Rogers, Cherokee Cowboy and American Humorist, 1879-1935
The great westward migration, the building of the railroad and a thriving nation’s demand for beef spawned a legacy known as Western and cowboy culture that we have come to know in film. Western and cowboy movies mean cattle drives, cowpokes, stagecoach robberies, sheriffs, saloons and heroes who ride off into the sunset. Cowboy life was not easy. It meant long workdays, low wages, sleeping outside and frequent brushes with death. Yet out of this struggle a culture of shared values developed. Individualism, with each person assuming responsibility and doing their part, along …
