Saturday, August 8, 2026

*8*8*

droke \ drohk \ , noun;

1. Canadian (chiefly Atlantic Provinces and Northwest Territories). 
2. a valley with steeply sloping sides. 

Origin: Droke is a Canadian dialectic term that has been used since the late 1700s.

 

chairdrobe

• The art of piling clothes on a chair to be used in place of a closet or dresser. If a chair is not available one can always defer to a floordrobe.

I searched through my chairdrobe to find my outfit for work.

History

• Mont Blanc: the tallest Alp was summited for the first time, by Frenchmen Jacques Balmat and Michel-Gabriel Paccard (1786)
• mimeograph: was patented by Thomas A. Edison (1876)
• Great Train Robbery: 15 thieves stole more than £2m. from a London-bound traveling post office after stopping the train with a false red signal in Buckinghamshire (1963)
• Richard Nixon: announced his resignation from the presidency in the wake of Watergate, six years to the day after he was nominated by the Republican Party (1974)

Birthdays

• Matthew Henson 1866 - Explorer, along with Robert Peary and their Eskimo guide, were the first people to reach the North Pole

  
• Fredric March 1897
• Russel Markert 1899
• Benny Carter 1907
• Sylvia Sidney 1910
• Rosetta LeNoire 1911
• Dino DeLaurentis 1919
• Rory Calhoun 1922
• Esther Williams 1923
• Jimmy Witherspoon 1923
• Webb Pierce 1926
• Urbie Green 1926
• Richard Anderson 1926
• Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer 1927
• 
  Nita Talbot 1930
• Jerry Tarkanian 1930
• Mel Tillis 1932
• Joe Tex 1933
• Frank Howard (MLB) 1936
• Dustin Hoffman 1937
• Connie Stevens 1938
• Phil Balsley (The Statler Brothers) 1939
• John David (Dr. Hook) 1942
• Peter Weir 1944
• Larry Wilcox 1944
• Keith Carradine 1949
• Airrion Love (The Stylistics) 1949
• Jamie O'Hara 1950
• Fairweather-Low (Amen Corner) 1950
• Randy Shilts 1951
• Robin Quivers 1952

  
• Donny Most 1953
• Ali Score (A Flock of Seagulls) 1956
• Dennis Drew (10,000 Maniacs) 1957
• Harry Crosby 1958
• Deborah Norville 1958
• Chris Foreman (Madness) 1958
• Rikki Rockett (Poison) 1961
• "The Edge" David Evans (U2) 1961
• Kool Moe Dee 1962
• Brett Hull (NHL) 1964
• Mark Wills 1973
• Scott Alan Stapp 1973 - Singer (Creed)
• Tom Linton (Jimmy Eat World) 1975
• JC Chasez ('N Sync) 1976
• Drew Lachey (98 Degrees) 1976
• Marsha Ambrosius (Floetry) 1977
• Countess Vaughn 1978
• Odie (from Garfield comic) 1978
• Meagan Good 1981
• Peyton List 1986 - actress (Picard)
  
  Beatrice Elizabeth Mary 1988

   

  
  

   

  
  

   

  

  

 

  

 

   

Sunday, July 5, 2026

abecedarian \ ey-bee-see-DAIR-ee-uhn \ , noun; 

1. a person who is learning the letters of the alphabet. 
2. a beginner in any field of learning. 

adjective: 

1. of or pertaining to the alphabet. 
2. arranged in alphabetical order. 
3. rudimentary; elementary; primary. 

Origin: Abecedarian entered English in the early 1600s. It can be traced to the Latin abecedarium meaning "alphabet" or "primer."

Dayturnal

• The opposite of nocturnal. Informal word for whatever it is that actually describes sleeping at night and being awake during the day.

Karah is dayturnal because she sleeps until four in the morning, is awake all day and passes out at 8:00

History

• Principia Mathematica: Isaac Newton published the three-volume work containing his laws of motion and law of universal gravitation (1687)
• Venezuela, Algeria, Cape Verde: declared independence (1811, 1962, 1975)
• Salvation Army: Christian charitable organization was founded by William Booth to feed the poor of London (1865); it received its name 13 years later
• bikini: the itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny swimsuit made its debut at a Paris fashion show (1946)
• Dolly the sheep: the first mammal successfully cloned from an adult cell was born in Scotland (1996) 

  
  

  

Birthdays

• Étienne de Silhouette 1709 - French Controller-General of Finances under Louis XV
• Sarah Siddons 1755 - Actress
• Sir Stamford Raffles 1781 = British statesman, know for founding of the city of Singapore
• David G. Farragut 1801 - Officer in U.S. Navy during the U.S. Civil War, known for the paraphrased quote: "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!"
• P.T. Barnum (Phineas Taylor Barnum) 1810 - American showman, businessman, entertainer
• Jean Cocteau (Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau) 1889 - Poet, novelist, dramatist, boxing manager, playwright
• Henry Cabot Lodge 1902 - American statesman, historian
• Milburn Stone 1904 - Actor
• Georges Pompidou (Georges Jean Raymond Pompidou) 1911 - French politician
• Janos Starker 1924 - Musician (cellist)
• Warren Oates 1928 - Actor
• Katherine Helmond 1934 - Actress ("Soap," "Who's the Boss")
• Shirley Knight 1936 - Actress
• Chuck Close 1940 - Artist
• Robbie Robertston 1944 - Musician (The Band)
• Michael Monarch 1950 - Musician (Steppenwolf)
• Huey Lewis 1951 - Musician (Huey Lewis and the News)
• Richard "The Goose" Gossage 1951 - Baseball player
• Charles Ventre 1952 - Musician (River Road)
• James Lofton 1956 - Football player
• Bill Watterson 1958 - cartoonist (Calvin & Hobbes)
• Marc Cohn 1959 - Singer, songwriter
• Edie Falco 1963 - Actress ("The Sopranos")
• Kathryn Erbe 1965 - Actress ("Law & Order: Criminal Intent")
• RZA (Robert Fitzgerald Diggs) 1969 - Music producer, author, rapper
• Joe (the R&B singer) 1973
• Bengt Lagerberg 1973 - Musician (The Cardigans)
• Dale Godboldo 1975 - Actor
• Bizarre 1978 - Musician (D12)
• Amelie Mauresmo 1979 - Tennis player
• Jason Wade 1980 - Musician (Lifehouse)
• Dave Haywood 1982 - Musician (Lady Antebellum)
  Danay Garcia 1984 - Actress (FTWD)

 

 

  

Wednesday, November 19, 2025

counterpoise \KOUN-ter-poiz\, verb:

1. to balance by an opposing weight; counteract by an opposing force.
2. to bring into equilibrium.
3. Archaic. to weigh (one thing) against something else; consider carefully.

noun:

1. a counterbalancing weight.
2. any equal and opposing power or force.
3. the state of being in equilibrium; balance.
4. Radio. a network of wires or other conductors connected to the base of an antenna, used as a substitute for the ground connection.

Counterpoise is from the Old French word countrepois which meant "to weigh against."

 

Work birthday

• The anniversary of the day you started working at a particular business. Not normally celebrated (unless it's a big one like 10 years, 20 years, etc) but sometimes acknowledged by the person, co-workers or the boss.

Because he was a good employee, Jason's boss sent him a Happy Work Birthday e-mail congratulating him on five years of service.

 

Trivia

Which two teams are the only charter members of the National Football League still in existence today?

• The Arizona Cardinals and the Chicago Bears. Both joined the American Professional Football Association in 1920, two years before it changed its name to the NFL. (The Green Bay Packers joined in 1921.) At the time the Cardinals were called the Chicago Cardinals and the Bears were known as the Decatur Staleys.

History 

• Jay's Treaty: was signed; it resolved some leftover issues between the United States and Great Britain after the Revolutionary War (1794)
• Gettysburg Address: Abraham Lincoln gave his famous 272-word speech on the Civil War's bloodiest battleground (1863)
• Anwar Sadat: became the first Arab leader to officially visit the state of Israel (1977)
• Milli Vanilli: German pop duo was stripped of its Grammy after it was revealed that neither member sang on their albums; they lip-synched in concert (1990)

Birthdays

• James Garfield (U.S.) 1831
  
• Tommy Dorsey 1905
• Indira Gandhi 1917
• Alan Young 1919
• Larry King 1933
• Dick Cavett 1936
• Ted Turner 1938
• Garrick Utley 1939
• Pete Moore (Smokey Robinson and the Miracles) 1939
• Dan Haggerty 1941
• Calvin Klein 1942
• Ahmad Rashad (Bobby Moore) 1949
• Robert Beltran 1953
• Kathleen Quinlan 1954
• Glynnis O'Connor 1955
• Ann Curry 1956
• Scott Jacoby 1956
• Allison Janney 1960
• Matt Sorum (The Cult, Guns 'N' Roses) 1960
• Meg Ryan 1961
• Jodie Foster 1962
• Terry Farrell 1963
  
• Gail Devers 1966
• Jason Scott Lee 1966
• Travis McNabb (Better Than Ezra) 1969
• Tony Rich 1971
• Savion Glover 1973
• Tamika Scott (Xscape) 1975
• Kerri Strug 1977

 

  

 

  
  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Friday, October 24, 2025

tittup \TIT-uhp\, noun:

1. an exaggerated prancing, bouncing movement or manner of moving.

verb:

1. to move, especially to walk, in an exaggerated prancing or bouncing way, as a spirited horse.

Tittup came to English in the 1600s from the imitative sound of a horse's feet hitting the ground.

 

 

booty hangers 

• A pair of short shorts that when you wear them your 'booty' 'hangs' out of the bottom.

Girl 1: "Wow! Michelle's booty is coming out of the bottom of her shorts!" 
Girl 2: "Yeah, she always wears booty hangers."

 

 

History

• Peace of Westphalia: marked the end of the Thirty Years' War, a series of European conflicts (1648)
• Annie Edson Taylor: seeking fame and fortune, the former schoolteacher became the first person to survive a trip over Niagara Falls in a barrel; she used a pickle barrel (1901)
• George Washington Bridge: upper level of the NY-NJ span opened; the lower level opened 31 years later (1931)
• Fair Labor Standards Act: the 1938 act that established the 40-hour work week in the US went into effect (1940)
• Toronto Blue Jays: became the first non-US team to win the World Series, downing the Atlanta Braves in 6 (1992)

Birthdays

• Sarah J. Hale 1788 - She wrote the poem "Mary Had A Little Lamb."
• Belva Lockwood 1830
• James Sherman 1855
• Molina Trujillo 1891
• Preston Foster 1900
• Moss Hart 1904
• Sonny Terry 1911
• Bob Kane 1915 (creator of Batman)
• Y.A. Tittle (NFL) 1926
• J.P. Richardson (The Big Bopper) 1930

• Bill Wyman (Rolling Stones) 1936 
• Santo Farina 1937
• F. Murray Abraham 1939
• J.P. Richardson 1930
• David Nelson 1936
• Jerry Edmonton (Steppenwolf) 1946
• Kevin Kline 1947
• Kweisi Mfume 1948
• B.D. Wong 1962
• Ben Gillies (Silverchair) 1979
• Monica 1980