Wednesday, March 13, 2024

astringent \uh-STRIN-juhnt\, adjective:

1. Sharply incisive; pungent.

2. Medicine/Medical. Contracting; constrictive; styptic.

3. Harshly biting; caustic: his astringent criticism.

4. Stern or severe; austere.

noun:

• 1. Medicine/Medical. A substance that contracts the tissues or canals of the body, thereby diminishing discharges, as of mucus or blood.
• 2. A cosmetic that cleans the skin and constricts the pores.

Related to the words strain and string, astringent comes from the Latin root stringere which meant "to draw tight."

 

malemployed

When what you do for a living makes you want to kill yourself.

I re-edit text that has already been edited in India; I am so malemployed.

 

History

• Uranus: seventh planet from the Sun was discovered by William Herschel (1781)
• Andrew Johnson: the 17th POTUS's impeachment trial began in the US Senate (1868)
• 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)

Birthdays

• Joseph Priestley 1733
• Charles Earl Grey 1764
• Lorenzo Delmonico 1813
• Percival Lowell 1855
• Helen Sinclair Glatz 1908
• Sammy Kaye 1910
• L. Ron Hubbard 1911 sci-fi writer who invented Scientology
• William Casey 1913
• Bobby Haggart 1914
• Ina Ray Hutton 1916
• Tessie O'Shea 1918
• Roy Haynes 1926 - Jazz drummer
• Jan Howard 1930 - Country singer
• Peter Breck 1930
• Liz Anderson 1930
• Rosalind Elias 1931 - Opera singer
• Mike Stoller 1933 - Songwriter
• Dick Katz 1934
• Neil Sedaka 1939 - Singer, songwriter
• Robin Duke 1944 - Comedian
• Donald York 1949 - Musician (Sha Na Na)
• William H. Macy 1950 - Actor
• Fred Berry 1951
• Deborah Raffin 1953
• Dana Delany 1956 - Actress ("China Beach")
• Glenne Headly 1957
• Adam Clayton 1960 - Musician (U2)
• Terence Blanchard 1962 - Jazz trumpeter
• Christopher Collet 1968 - Actor
• Tracey Wells 1971 - Actress
• Annabeth Gish 1971 - Actress: X-Files
• Common 1972 - Rapper
• Trent Dilfer 1972 - Football player
• Khujo 1972 - Rapper (Goodie Mob)
• Glenn Lewis 1975 - Singer
• Danny Masterson 1976 - Actor ("That 70's Show")
• Johan Santana 1979 - Baseball player
• Emile Hirsch 1985 - Actor
• Natalie Albino 1986 Singer (Nina Sky)
• Nicole Albino 1986 Singer (Nina Sky)