* For all those years, I thought I watched Jeopardy because I liked the show since it is so challenging, and it is always fun to learn new things. That was never the case because I have not watched a single episode since the passing of Alex Trebek.

* After actor Jeremy Renner’s (Hawkeye) snowplow accident, I can now say I know who the strongest Avenger is!

* I think my favorite song, for the time being, is Aretha Franklin’s “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman.”

If there’s one thing we can count on it’s that our language is always changing. And just when you think you can hold your own on intelligent conversations with family and friends, the wordsmiths who don’t have anything better to do than come up with new words to expand their vocabularies, well, they come up with new words. Actually, they don’t make up the new words; they listen in on conversations and observe how people are communicating on social media to “get the pulse” of our language. If you ask me, our language has gone to H-E-DoubleHockeySticks. With the pace of social media and the speed of which news travels, dictionary gurus can’t possibly keep up.

THIS AND THAT * Just so you know, the Critics Choice Awards TV show only had 1.1 million viewers as opposed to any of the football playoff games during the January 14th weekend, with the lowest rating being over 11 million. The average viewership for the football games was 18 million.

It’s that most wonderful time of the year when we find out what the dictionary brainiacs determine to be the Word of the Year. Sometimes there are surprises, and other times, duds. You just gotta “take what you git and don’t pitch a fit,” and then start using the word in your conversations, just to ramp up your style. The folks at Merriam-Webster huddled together, and three days later came out of their cave and announced to the English-speaking tribes of the world: “The Word of the Year for 2022 is... gaslighting.”

THIS AND THAT * Harry and Meghan get over yourselves and grow up! Every family has some kind of drama, so we don’t need to listen to yours. * I recently read this article written by Thomas Catenacci on January 5th…“The Biden administration published a congressionally mandated report highlighting the positive economic benefits the Keystone XL Pipeline would have had if President Biden didn’t revoke its federal permits.

So far, I think I’m batting a thousand on writing the new year correctly when I write the date. Usually I do pretty good at the beginning of a new year because I’m still thinking about it. It will be some random day in February or March when I mess up the date.

THIS AND THAT * Let’s bring tinsel back on the Christmas trees next year! * God is good. Remember, EVERYONE on that field, on TV as well as everyone watching the night when Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest, either took a knee or sent up a prayer to God.

With the plethora of television networks to choose from, there has also been a plethora (I like this word; can you tell?) of Christmas movies, some starting in early fall and I suppose there are many still available now in early January. I watched more Christmas movies this year than in other years, perhaps because of the shear number of them available. Even so, I still could count on one hand how many I watched. I just don’t enjoy watching a movie that I already know how it will end, because either the girl always gets the guy, or the other way around. Every single storyline seemed to be the same, no matter which movie I watched.

THIS AND THAT * Kirk Cameron, who is best known for his role as Mike Seaver on the ABC sitcom “Growing Pains” has a new book out, “As You Grow.” * I watched the FIFA World Cup games until my favorite player’s team lost. Until that moment I was watching almost every match, and then when Portugal lost and Ronaldo walked off the pitch, I was basically done.

Two brilliant songwriters—although they never met—together created one of the most lasting songs of Christmas. Although they lived half a world away from each other and were separated by almost a century of time, their collaboration created a timeless holiday classic for every age and every audience, and probably a favorite of many of you reading this tale. As a matter of fact, Isaac Watts and Lowell Mason probably didn’t even know they had given the world a Christmas anthem at all.