Welcome, Abagogo! "born in the cradle of a hard-wood forest"...sounds good to me! I'm sure our band of Merry Wordsters will beguile you!

And, yes...I noted yesterday's look back as an "observance" (The 6 Month Observance)...something about the word anniversary bothered me in connection with those events aside from the lexiconic inaccuracy. I guess it's because, to me, there is always a positive glint to the word anniversary...a celebratory note as in "wedding," "founding," etc. And, certainly, there should be no celebratory note attached to those kinds of events. Now, there have been many "anniversary" celebrations (see, there's that word celebrate again) recently involving historic events of tragic proportion...like Pearl Harbor and the Normany D-Day Invasion. Perhaps the passage of time can change the celebration to a simple "notation"...but even in the case of Pearl Harbor, I fail to see any celebratory note there. It is an "observance " to me. D-Day, on the other hand, gives some merit to the celebratory in light that it was, despite the horrific events and loss of life, the beginning of the end for a tragic era in our history. So this plays in my mind on a case-by-case basis, I guess.

However, I agree that the press abuses this device heartily just to create a story. Much like the greeting card business devises new "graduations" (kindergarten...huh?) and "traditional" parties (engagement...huh?) just to sell cards and gifts. (The "engagement party" really irks me...I mean, who gets the gifts and the money if they call off the wedding?)