Friday, January 13, 2012

viscid \VIS-id\, adjective:

1. Having a glutinous consistency; sticky; adhesive.

2. Botany. Covered by a sticky substance.

Viscid comes from the Latin word for mistletoe, visc. Mistletoe was used to make a sticky paste to trap birds called birdlime. It is clearly also related to the word "viscous."

spark in my ass

• A sudden burst of positive energy; determined; a feeling of invincibility

In the morning, I awoke with a spark in my ass, so I decided to run two miles, at the highschool track.

Trivia

Who popularized the expression “bada-bing” by uttering it, unscripted, in a top-grossing Hollywood movie?

• James Caan, as Sonny Corleone in The Godfather (1972). Caan told an interviewer, “It just came out of my mouth—I don’t know from where.”

History

• J'accuse: French journalist Emile Zola published his defense of Alfred Dreyfus, the army captain falsely convicted of treason because he was Jewish (1898)
• Henry Ford: patented his plastic car, which ran on ethanol; the plastic was soybean-based, and the car was unsuccessful (1942)
• L. Douglas Wilder: became the first African American elected governor of a US state — Virginia (1990)
• The Fantasticks: the world's longest-running musical ended its off-Broadway run after 17,162 shows and nearly 42 years (2002)

Birthdays

• Salmon P. Chase (1808-1873): Abraham Lincoln's Secretary of the Treasury and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court; his picture is on the $10,000 bill
• Horatio Alger (1832-1899): writer of "rags-to-riches" stories; plus, gossip columnist Army Archerd (1922-2009)
• Félix Tisserand (1845-1896): astronomer for whom the Tisserand Crater was named
• Patrick Dempsey (46): GA's McDreamy, and the real-life prince charming of Enchanted; also, actors Sophie Tucker (1884-1966), Gwen Verdon (1925-2000), Frances Sternhagen (82), Charles Nelson Reilly (1931-2007), Rip Taylor (78), Richard Moll (69), Julia Louis-Dreyfus (51), Penelope Ann Miller (48), Nicole Eggert (40) and Orlando Bloom (35)

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