Taking a load off (#idiom)

Taking a load off

Monday is President’s Day, a holiday in the U.S., so we’re getting a three-day weekend, which means I finally get to TAKE A LOAD OFF. It’s been so busy at work lately that I’m making it a point to take it easy this weekend. Sure, I still have a list of things to do, but… Read more »

Christmas 2015

It’s Christmas!

We’re having an unseasonably warm Christmas here in New York City. It’s strange, but no one’s complaining. Most of us are enjoying it, especially as we know the brutal wintry weather will eventually return. I, myself, have been busy lately, so Christmas this year means slowing down, taking it easy, and getting plenty of rest…. Read more »

Pasta dish for English vocabulary lesson

It’s Thanksgiving!

It’s Thanksgiving once again! I wish you all a day of fun, great food, quality time with family and friends, and plenty of things to be grateful for. If you are celebrating Thanksgiving, you will most likely pig out on a huge meal with some fantastic desserts. You will probably have seconds. You will be… Read more »

Image of autumn leaves for English lesson on the future perfect

Reviewing the Future Perfect

. We’re halfway through November. The autumn leaves have fallen, and winter is fast approaching. The year 2015 is almost over, and we just have a month or so before the new year begins. Do you have anything that you want to accomplish by the end of the year? Are you working on a task… Read more »

cute pumpkin photos for Halloween post

Is Halloween becoming less scary? :-|

Halloween has always been a spooky holiday where people put up creepy decorations and wear scary costumes. When you think of Halloween, you think skeletons & vampires & haunted houses & witches flying in the dark. People get pumpkins and carve Jack ‘o lanterns that are supposed to give passersby chills, right? SPOOKY, CREEPY –… Read more »

photo of lunch for #vocabulary lesson

Calling in sick & feeling under the weather

I’ve been home feeling under the weather the past two days. I think I caught my cold early last week when I started sniffling off and on. I must say I did a pretty good job keeping it at bay until Sunday, when it suddenly got worse and my nose started to run nonstop. 😐… Read more »

image of the simple present and the present progressive from a grammar booklet

Have you mastered the English present tenses?

The Simple Present and the Present Progressive/Continuous are the first two tenses that you learn when you first start studying English. Because of this, many students who have been studying English for a long time don’t want to practice them anymore because they think these tenses are too easy. Unfortunately, even advanced students can have a… Read more »

photos for English lesson on the slang phrase "the skinny"

Here’s the skinny on “the skinny”!

You probably already know that the word “skinny” also means “thin,” which is the opposite of “fat.” A person who doesn’t need to lose weight and who probably needs to gain weight is skinny, right? However, did you also know that the phrase “the skinny” is slang for “information” about some topic? That’s right! This… Read more »

photo to teach English vocabulary

Are you a night owl or an early bird?

People are usually either a night owl or an early bird. If you love to stay up until the wee hours of the morning, you are definitely a night owl. On the other hand, if you prefer to hit the sack early and get up early the next day, you can call yourself an early… Read more »

PB&J photo for an English vocabulary blog post

Becoming FOND OF blueberry jam

I usually make a PB&J to take to work every day–or my wife does it for me. 🙂 Recently, we decided to try blueberry instead of my usual raspberry, but I quickly realized I wasn’t too fond of the flavor. 😐 I like blueberry in pies and cakes, but it just didn’t go with peanut… Read more »

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Latest

  • A nice, albeit short, honeymoon

    New Milford, a quaint Connecticut town we came across and enjoyed visiting on our short honeymoon getaway. Well, after being together for 7 years, the fiancee and I finally TIED THE KNOT in a small ceremony at the NYC City Clerk’s Office. Then the day after we GOT HITCHED, we headed up to Connecticut for… Read more »

  • Are you a CLEAN FREAK?

    I admit I’m a bit of a CLEAN FREAK. I’m often PARANOID about picking up COOTIES from JUST ABOUT everywhere–on the train, in restrooms, from public computers, et al.–so I wash my hands often, probably more so than most people. I probably should LIGHTEN UP a bit; I guess I just think it’s BETTER TO… Read more »

  • A bit of trivia for your Fourth of July

    Happy Fourth of July to all of you celebrating, wherever you are. Here are a few trivia questions that will give you A LEG UP on your knowledge of the history surrounding this holiday. See how many of them you already know without scrolling down for the answers or looking them up.      A LEG… Read more »

  • Happy 1st day of summer!

     A sweet, succulent peach for this year’s summer solstice. Could it be a sign? It’s a beautiful summer day in New York City. After a few warm and sometimes hot days this past week, the temperatures have dipped slightly, and with almost no clouds in the sky, it’s the perfect first day of summer.  DIPPED… Read more »

  • Going through a brutal allergy season

    Beautiful, but a source of allergy-causing pollen, which is supposedly much plentiful this year making the allergy season particularly brutal. I read today that allergy season here in #NYC is particularly rough this year because of the cold winter and the large amount of snow that we got. The cold temperatures delayed the ONSET of… Read more »

  • CUTTING BACK on green tea again

    Miso soup with tofu, fish, vegetables, & rice and some hot water for dinner. Cutting back on my green tea consumption for now. I checked my blood pressure earlier today at a do-it-yourself health machine at Whole Foods. Unfortunately, my reading was slightly high, which meant I was borderline hypertensive again. I’d been working for… Read more »

  • Merry Christmas!

    The holiday ice rink & Christmas tree at Bryant Park in Midtown Manhattan. I wish you all a very merry Christmas and the chance to do the things you enjoy most during the holidays. I usually try to find time to rest, to REFLECT ON (think about) the year that’s almost over, and anticipate the beginning… Read more »

  • Feeling UNDER THE WEATHER sucks.

    If you know me, you know I’m not usually one to admit that I’m sick, but sometimes, you just can’t deny reality, can you? I’ve been feeling UNDER THE WEATHER (not well) for close to a week now. My throat started to feel SCRATCHY (a little sore) last Saturday, and I’ve been feeling like I’m… Read more »

  • Talking about FOG

    I still have the morning fog that we had this past Thursday in mind and thought it would make a nice vocabulary lesson. First of all, I was running late and was in such a rush to catch my train that I didn’t notice that FOG had BLANKETED the area. It wasn’t until my train… Read more »

  • Do you prefer dawn or dusk?

    Cars heading home in the twilight in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. I stepped out for a short walk the other day at dusk to grab a couple slices of pizza and was reminded of how much I love this time of day. It’s called twilight, the short period when the sun is already below the horizon after… Read more »