Monday, May 27, 2013

Mexican Novels to Help You Celebrate Cinco de Mayo

Guest Post by Alice E.M. Underwood

No matter where you are, Cinco de Mayo is a day to celebrate Mexico’s country, culture, and misunderstood military history. The holiday doesn’t mark Mexican Independence, as is commonly thought in other countries that break out the margaritas in honor of May 5—instead, it recognizes Mexico’s unlikely victory over the French in 1862.

But this isn’t a history lesson: it’s a literature lesson.

Friday, May 24, 2013

Scrabble Day the Writers’ Way

Scrabble enthusiasts have a lot to look forward to as April 13 – Scrabble Day – approaches. Scrabble, which involves forming words with a set number of lettered tiles on a grid-like game board, is one of the most popular word games in the world. It is available in 29 languages, and has become a household name for families and word enthusiasts everywhere.

For grammarians, playing Scrabble can be a fun way to enhance creativity and polish your spelling.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

5 Amazing Library Facts

We know that libraries are portals to amazing knowledge and insight, but libraries themselves are also pretty amazing. Here are 5 facts about libraries that will amaze you.

1. According to the American Library Association, 58% of adults in the United States have a library card.

2. The Library of Congress is the world’s largest library. It contains over 160 million items!

3. According to the American Library Association, students in the United States make 1.5 billion visits to school libraries during the school year.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

14 Expressions with Crazy Origins that You Would Never Have Guessed

Guest post by Anais John

You probably use tons of expressions, idioms, and slang phrases every day that don’t make literal sense. If you ever thought long and hard about why you say something a certain way, you could probably make a guess. However, some English expressions are so crazy and unusual that it is impossible to guess where on earth it originated from — unless you know the history.

Monday, May 20, 2013

Let Your Love of Poetry Bloom: 3 Poems about Spring

It’s spring, a season of hope and renewal! Celebrate spring with these three poems about the beauty of the season.

“Flower God, God of the Spring” by Robert Louis Stevenson

Flower god, god of the spring, beautiful, bountiful,

Cold-dyed shield in the sky, lover of versicles,

Here I wander in April

Cold, grey-headed; and still to my

Heart, Spring comes with a bound, Spring the deliverer,

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Words to Use When You’re Upset at Work

If work conflicts stress you out, you may be tempted to express your frustration with a few expletives. According to CareerBuilder.com, more than 80% of workers believe that “the use of curse words brings the employee’s professionalism into question.” What might this mean for you? If you are the employee, you could damage your chances of a promotion and seem less than mature in the eyes of your coworkers.

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Not-So-Sweet 16: Emoji Overload vs. The One-Word Line

Welcome to the Not-So-Sweet 16 round of March MADness! In our quest to find the most annoying work pet peeve, we’ve had some real battles. Some were obvious choices, while others were more evenly matched. And now, we’re out to determine the winners of each of our “conferences:” chat, email, phone calls, and old-fashioned, in-person talking. Which horrible habit will reign supreme?