My family is really into Thanksgiving, which I've always liked as a holiday. Turkey, desserts, football, family, what's not to like? This year, however, my kid sister was complaining that we should skip eating turkey because it has an abnormally high amount of "triptofan" [ed: it's actually spelled tryptophan]. What is tryptophan and why should we avoid it?

It's January 1st and my boyfriend and I are contemplating some resolutions for New Years. What are some of the most popular ones, so we can get a head start? :-)

This is a random bit of trivia, but why the heck do they call the day after Thanksgiving "black friday"? Seems kinda racist to me, but I'm sure I am thinking about it wrong...

Is Santa Claus real, or just something us grownups invented to keep kids guessing about the presents they receive on Christmas morning? It's a question that I wrote about on my blog a few years ago (see Is Santa Claus Real?) and since then have been delighted to receive literally hundreds of comments, almost all from children, talking about their own beliefs and their "proof" that Santa is or isn't real.

I thought that in the spirit of Christmas it would be fun to just share some of the more amusing and poignant comments that have been added over the years.

What are the best sites to visit to learn about the history of holidays like Independence Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, etc? For that matter, when did people start celebrating Independence Day? In 1777?

Okay, so I'm pretty hep to the 24th of December being Christmas Eve, and the 25th being Christmas Day, celebrating the birth of baby Jesus, but what's with the violence of boxing day on the 26th? Is that just post-Christmas stress release or something? Or is it a holiday invented by retailers to help sell their extra inventory?

It's the first day of the new year and I'm trying to figure out what the song "old lang sine" [sic] is about and why it's a traditional song to celebrate the beginning of the new year. Can ya help a guy out? [ed note: It's Auld Lang Syne, actually, but I'll get into that in a sec.]

Probably out of your area of expertise, Dave, but can you tell me where Halloween comes from? I have heard that it's a pagan holiday, that it's satanic, that it was originally like the Mexican Dia de los Muertos, and that it's just a crass commercial event. What's the truth, oh great one?

You seem to travel quite a bit, Dave, so I thought perhaps you could help me with some tips on how to plan a visit to Africa? I've been to most of the continents and really want to explore the African wilderness before it's all ruined by developers and commercial ventures, not necessarily a safari, just traveling to get a sense of the place and its peoples. Too far off the beaten track for Ask Dave Taylor?