Thursday, November 18, 2010

aoristic \ey-uh-RIS-tik\, adjective:

1. Indefinite; indeterminate.
2. In grammar: A tense of the verb indicating past action without reference to whether the action involved was momentary or continuous.

Aoristic derives from the Greek prefix a-, "not limited," and oristos, "restricted." Horizon is a linguistic relation.

Pill-Lattes

• When desperate housewives mix Lattes with pain killers to get through their day.

I find Pill-Lattes helps me stay mentally in shape. I take one one skinny sugar free vanilla no foam latte with a hydrocodone then drop the kids off at school, and then I go to book club or the Y until its time to pick the kids back up.

Trivia

What American pop artist was celebrated at a 2008 exhibit that featured more than 130 of his paintings, sculptures, drawings, and prints—all done in gray?

• Jasper Johns. The exhibit, titled Gray, was seen at the Art Institute of Chicago and at New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.

History

• William Tell: legendary Swiss archer shot an arrow through an apple on his son's head, his life depended on success in this challenge after he defied his canton's Austrian bailiff (1307)
• time zones: US and Canadian railroad companies implemented a system of five standard time zones so that train travelers would be able to keep time (1883)
• Steamboat Willie: Mickey Mouse made his big screen debut in the Walt Disney-directed feature (1928)
• Calvin and Hobbes: comic strip about a boy and his stuffed tiger (named for the French theologian and the English political philosopher) debuted (1985)
• Jonestown: over 900 people died from drinking cyanide-laced Kool-Aid — or through other means — in a murder/suicide pact led by preacher Jim Jones in Guyana (1978)

Birthdays

• Ignace Paderewski (1860-1941): pianist and composer who became prime minister of Poland; plus, lyricist William Gilbert (1836-1911), conductor Eugene Ormandy (1899-1985) and composer Johnny Mercer (1909-1976)
• Alan Shepard (1923-1998): the first American in space
• Margaret Atwood (71): author of The Blind Assassin and The Year of the Flood
• Wilma Mankiller (1945-2010): first female chief of the Cherokee Nation
• Warren Moon (54): NFL hall-of-famer; athletes Gary Sheffield (42) and David Ortiz (35) share this birthday
• Elizabeth Perkins (50): Weeds' Celia Hodes; also, actors Brenda Vaccaro (71), Linda Evans and Susan Sullivan (both 68), Jameson Parker (63), Kevin Nealon (57), Oscar Nunez (52), Romany Malco (42), Peta Wilson and Mike Epps (both 40), Chloë Sevigny (36), Steven Pasquale (34) and Nate Parker (31)