Friday, March 13, 2009

inanition \in-uh-NISH-uhn\, noun:

1. The condition or quality of being empty.
2. Exhaustion, as from lack of nourishment.
3. Lack of vitality or spirit.

Inanition derives from Latin inanitio, "emptiness," from inanire, "to make empty," from inanis, "empty." It is related to inane, "lacking sense or intelligence; pointless."

BlackBuried

• Being inundated and exhausted trying to be on top of all your email 24/7 with your handheld mobile device

Now that I have a BlackBerry, I feel obliged to attend to all my email day and night, it makes me feel BlackBuried.

Trivia
In Italy, what part of a meal is known as il secondo?

• The second course, which is the main dish—generally fish, poultry, meat, or game.

Today in History:

• Uranus: seventh planet from the Sun was discovered by William Herschel (1781)
• Czar Alexander II: was assassinated in St. Petersburg (Gregorian date) (1881)
• Pluto: the discovery of the dwarf planet was announced by Clyde W. Tombaugh (1930)
• Kitty Genovese: was murdered in Queens, New York, while neighbors ignored her screams; this prompted investigation into the bystander effect (1964)
• Phoenix lights: unusual lights of various sorts were seen over Arizona, Nevada and Sonora; among the eyewitnesses was Arizona Governor Fife Symington (1997)

Today's Birthdays:

• Joseph Priestley (1733-1804): scientist who isolated and described several gases, including oxygen
• Percival Lowell (1855-1916): astronomer who predicted the discovery of Pluto
• William H. Macy (59): Oscar winner for Fargo, Emmy winner for Door to Door; also, actors Deborah Raffin (56), Glenne Headly (54), Dana Delany (53), Annabeth Gish (38), Danny Masterson (33) and Emile Hirsch (24)
• Terrence Blanchard (47): jazz trumpeter; and, musicians Roy Haynes (84), Rosalind Elias (79), Neil Sedaka (70) and Adam Clayton (49)
• Johan Santana (30): pitcher for the NY Mets; another athlete born today is 49ers quarterback Trent Dilfer (37)