Yep, it's that time of year again!  I can just picture it now -- parents and their kids scrambling to find the perfect costume, houses and schools decorated with everything from ghoulish ghosts to wicked witches, children ambling from home to home trying to fill their jack-o-lantern buckets with as much candy as they can possibly fit in them. And those who don't have kids or decided to leave them with the babysitter are probably planning to attend a Halloween party or other event in town that likely involves costumes, food, and loads of liquor! While most of us are familiar with the kinds of festivities that take place on Halloween, we aren't as well versed in the history of the occasion. How and when did Halloween originate? When was trick-or-treating first referenced in the media? What are some alternative names for the holiday? Do other countries celebrate Halloween? Do stores sell nearly as much Halloween merchandise as they do Christmas items? In this post, I...

I've lost count of the many shows that involve one or more of the central characters engaging in an extramarital affair. Scandal, a wildly popular political thriller TV series starring Kerry Washington, centers on the affair between the President of the United States and a former White House Director of Communications. Then there's Mistresses , a mystery drama and soap opera television series about four female friends involved in affairs. Some of the highest rated TV series of the last few years have featured hot, steamy affairs, from Sex and the City and Homeland to Mad Men and The Good Wife . I'd like to think that the people who produce these shows aren't deliberately condoning having an extramarital affair, but I wouldn't exactly be shocked if viewers made such an inference. It's obvious that affairs keep viewers on the edge of their seats. Sex sells when it comes to advertising, so why should the TV and film industries be any different? Clandest...

There's nothing I find more irritating than opening a bag of chips and finding it nearly as empty as my stomach. I was convinced that companies like Frito Lay were ripping us off, until I dug a bit deeper. As it turns out, the extra space serves a purpose. It acts as a cushion that prevents chips from breaking while being shelved in grocery stores or delivered to grocery stores. What's interesting is that, contrary to popular belief, the air puffing up those bags isn't oxygen -- it's nitrogen. Unlike the former, which makes the chips spoil and oil go rancid, nitrogen helps the snacks remain fresh. Studies show that roughly 80 percent of the air we breathe is made up of nitrogen, so consumers need not worry of any health risks. The Fair Packaging and Label Act (1966) requires manufacturers to indicate the net weight of their products' contents. However, it seems the regulations are seldom enforced. Human beings are notoriously inept at perceiving size. Even...

Halloween is only two days away! The fifth and final hotel in my series of haunted hotels is Omni Park House in Downtown Boston. Founded by Harvey D. Parker in 1855, this historic gem is longest continuously operating hotel in the United States. It was here where such 19th century luminaries as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow convened in the Saturday Club. Baseball legends met like Babe Ruth and Ted Williams wined and dined at the historic property. What's more, a slew of respected politicians --from Ulysses S. Grant and Franklin Delano Roosevelt to Deval Patrick -- gathered here for press conferences and meetings. Here are some other fun facts: John F. Kennedy proposed to Jackie Onassis at Parker's Restaurant, where Malcolm X once worked as a busboy  With its close proximity to Boston's Theater District, the Omni Parker House played an important role in the careers of a wide range of performers, inclu...

In April, Dan Price, CEO of the of the credit card payment processor Gravity Payments, left employees, customers, and the media dumbfounded when he announced he would raise minimum pay for all employees to at least $70,000 a year. The move drew the ire of his brother Lucas, who claimed that, as co-founder, the pay raise infringed upon his rights as a minority shareholder. But Price's unorthodox strategy has paid huge dividends for the company. Revenue and profits have doubled since, with customer retention rising from 91 to 95 percent. A few weeks after Price made the initial announcement, the company was barraged with over 4,000 resumes and saw a huge surge in customer inquiries. Price began giving out 20 percent annual raises to his staff after in 2011 after an employee complained over low pay. Thanks in part to a productivity increase of 30-40 percent, profit was still comparable to that of the prior year. He handed out the same raised the next year and achieved the same o...

The fourth property in our series of haunted hotels is none other than the renowned Algonquin Hotel . Opened in 1902 and now designated as a New York City Historic Landmark, the New York hotel is conveniently situated in the heart of Manhattan, near Times Square and Fifth Avenue. It boasts The Round Table restaurant, named for literary greats such as Dorothy Parker and Alexander Woollcott who convened and lodged there in the early 1900s; 181 comfortable guestrooms; over 4,000 feet of function space; The Blue Bar, which opened at the demise of Prohibition in 1933; and even a cat named Matilda that never fails to delight guests. Interestingly, The New Yorker magazine was founded here, and The Algonquin claims to be the first hotel to have offered accommodations to actors and single women travelers. In addition, the property was originally intended to be residential, but it was determined that a lodging establishment would be more profitable. A psychic medium confirmed the presence ...

So far, we've featured The Admiral Fell Inn in Baltimore, Maryland and The Marshall House in Savannah Georgia in our special series on the most haunted hotels in the U.S. per TripAdvisor. If you haven't read these posts, please be sure to check them out: Haunted Hotel: The Admiral Fell Inn Haunted Hotel: The Marshall House Week 3 finds us in Deadwood, South Dakota, home to the Historic Bullock Hotel . Fusing 19th century history and elegance with modern amenities, the downtown hotel is located near such popular attractions as the Days of '76 Rodeo Arena, Adam's Museum, and Saloon #10. It boasts comfortable accommodations; Bully's, an intimate restaurant named for Bullock's lifelong friend, Teddy Roosevelt; and a lively casino that has included slot machines since they were first invented in 1887. The hotel traces its history to 1876, when two business owners -- Seth Bullock and and Sol Star -- moved their hardware store from Helena to Deadwood. They pur...

As noble as it is to say that "only the inside counts" -- something parents try to inculcate in their kids from an early age -- research in the field of psychology has disproven this notion time and time again. People regarded as physically attractive have a number of advantages over others, such as: Being treated better at work Being deemed more intelligent and successful in life Receiving more favorable treatment by juries in court Being judged as more sincere Being regarded as more adept at activities/hobbies like sports and music When you think about it, it almost seems unjust that a person could get so many "free passes" in life by virtue of their good looks.  To be fair, though, while good genes probably play a role, it's likely that these individuals put some effort into looking this good -- from working out to spending more hours than the average person getting dressed in the morning. Still, attractiveness exerts a powerful influence o...

From unending chores and attention-seeking children to stressful jobs that squeeze every last drop of energy out of us, our lives seem to get busier by the day. Not only does this place an immense burden on us physically and emotionally, but it is also mentally exhausting, often inducing anxiety, poor eating habits, low libido, sleep deprivation, and frayed relationships with those closest to us. Though certainly not a panacea, making a conscious effort to simplify your life will help you feel more in control of it. What’s more, it’ll keep those nerves in check! So what are some ways that you can keep your life simple? For one, if you’re contemplating having a boatload of kids – say, five or six –  you can rest assured that a plethora of sleepless nights are in your future. Why not just aim for one or two and go from there?  You get the opportunity to experience the joys (and headaches) of parenthood without feeling as though you’ll be changi...