Tuesday, May 3, 2011

purlieu \PUR-loo\, noun:

1. A place where one may range at large; confines or bounds.
2. A person's haunt or resort.
3. An outlying district or region, as of a town or city.
4. A piece of land on the edge of a forest, originally land that, after having been included in a royal forest, was restored to private ownership, though still subject, in some respects, to the operation of the forest laws.

Purlieu is an alteration (simulating French lieu, "place") of earlier parlewe, "of a forest."
career tragectory

• a career path marked by increasing amounts of tragedy, lameness, futility, ineptitude, respect, and/or pay.

Vic's career tragectory included starting at Lehman Brothers, then Bernie Madoff's firm, then jail, and now he's working at the Wendy's drive-thru.
Trivia
In The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, what was the name of Tom’s half-brother?

• Sid.

History

• Jamaica: Christopher Columbus sighted the island while seeking China (1494)
• Nellie Tayloe Ross: the nation's first female governor was appointed by Franklin D. Roosevelt as director of the US Mint — another first for women (1933)
• The Fantasticks: began its record off-Broadway run, playing for nearly 42 years and over 17,000 performances (1960)
• NPR: America's noncommercial radio network began programming (1971)
• Margaret Thatcher: Conservative Party leader became Britain's first female prime minister (1979)
• UN Commission on Human Rights: the US lost its seat for the first time in more than 50 years (2001); it was restored a year later
• Old Man of the Mountain: New Hampshire's symbol — a mountainous outcrop — collapsed in the White Mountains (2003)

Birthdays

• Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527): political philosopher, The Prince
• Richard D'Oyly Carte (1844-1901): impresario who founded the Savoy Theatre
• Golda Meir (1898-1978): Israel's fourth PM
• William Inge (1913-1973): Pulitzer Prize-winner for Picnic; and, writer May Sarton (1912-1995)
• Frankie Valli (77): lead singer of The Four Seasons; plus, musicians Marcel Dupré (1886-1971), Bing Crosby (1903-1977), Pete Seeger (92), James Brown (1933-2006), Mary Hopkin (61), Christopher Cross (60) and Brad Martin (38)
• Sugar Ray Robinson (1921-1989): world champion boxer
• Dulé Hill (37): Burton Guster on Psych, Charlie Young on The West Wing; also, actors Ann B. Davis (85) and Bobby Cannavale (41), Christina Hendricks (36)
• Joseph Addai (28): Colts running back