Sunday, August 2, 2009

lineament \LIN-ee-uh-muhnt\, noun:

1. A distinctive shape, contour, or line, especially of the face.
2. A distinguishing or characteristic feature; -- usually in the plural.

Lineament comes from Latin lineamentum, "feature, lineament," from linea, "line."

finger guns

• A way for creepy people with porn mustaches to say hello or "I understand". Hold your fingers in the shape of guns (use both hands for maximum effect) and point at someone who just arrived. Bend thumbs to simulate shooting your finger guns and make a clicking sound with your mouth. May be accompanied with a wink in extreme cases.

That dude that looks like he just fell out of the 70's just offered me a piece of candy and then winked and gave me finger guns. I said no.

Trivia

What gemstone was considered lucky until Sir Walter Scott linked it to the death of the heroine in one of his novels?

• The opal. Scott’s novel was Anne of Geierstein, published in 1829

Today in History:

• Declaration of Independence: members of the Continental Congress began putting their John Hancocks on "The Unanimous Declaration of the 13 United States of America" (1776)
• 1790 United States Census: the US Census was completed for the first time, showing a population of 3.929 million; it is now over 300 million
• Marihuana Tax Act: US law doused marijuana use, sale and possession with sheer legal intricacy (1937)
• Gulf of Tonkin: the Pentagon reported attacks on US ships by North Vietnamese; the incident led to a Congressional resolution and expansion of the war effort (1964)
• Kuwait: was invaded by Iraq, triggering the Gulf War five months later (1990)

Today's Birthdays:

• Pierre Charles L'Enfant (1754-1825): architect/city planner who designed Washington, DC
• Wes Craven (70): director, Nightmare on Elm Street, Scream; director Kevin Smith (39) was also born on this date
• Isabel Allende (67): novelist, The House of the Spirits; novelistsRómulo Gallegos (1884-1969) and James Baldwin (1924-1987) shared this birth date
• Mary-Louise Parker (45): Weeds' Nancy Botwin; also, actorsPeter O'Toole (77), Max Wright (66), Joanna Cassidy (64),Kathryn Harrold (59), Butch Patrick (56), Victoria Jackson (50),Cynthia Stevenson (47), Edward Furlong (32) and Hallie Kate Eisenberg (17)