It's real fun and everything, coming up with crazy, half-baked words that you don't even know, but then you run it by the Words with Friends database and hey, presto, they accept it.

It all started when my children coaxed me to download the App, "Words With Friends" on my cellphone. What a neighborly sounding game it was! A few clicks and voilà! -- suddenly it was just as I remembered from my own childhood -- except you could take all day long to formulate one word and nobody minded.

For the last six weeks, my inbox has been jammed with "urgent" messages from various congressional candidates and progressive organizations. They use a number of tricks to get you to open the email.

Those of us who are over 50 have seen a lot. Anyone remember party lines? Elvis concerts? Typewriters with carbon paper? Yup, we've seen a lot! I know some people think things were better "back then." But were they?