Monday, April 13, 2026

hippophile \ HIP-uh-fahyl, -fil \ , noun; 

• one who loves horses.

Origin: Hippophile comes from the Greek híppos meaning "horse" and -philos meaning "dear" or "beloved." This term entered English in the mid-1800s.

dk;dc

• Don't know; don't care

"Who can guess what my current screen name means?"

"dk;dc"

History

• Edict of Nantes: Henry IV granted freedom of religion to the Huguenots of France (1598); the edict was repealed by Louis XIV in 1685
• Messiah: Handel oratorio premiered in Dublin's New Musick Hall; proceeds went to local hospitals for the mentally ill (1742)
• MoMA: founded in NYC (1870)
• Jefferson Memorial: was dedicated in Washington, DC, on the 200th anniversary of Thomas Jefferson's birth (1943)
• Sidney Poitier: became first African American to win an Oscar for Best Actor, for Lilies of the Field (1964)
• "Houston, we've had a problem": a liquid oxygen tank burst during the Apollo 13 flight to the moon; the crew turned the ship around and made a safe, though harrowing, return (1970)
• Tiger Woods: won his first major golf tournament, the Masters, by a record 12 strokes, at age 21 (1997)

Birthdays

• John Hanson 1721
• Thomas Jefferson 1743 - 3rd U.S. President
• Frank W. Woolworth 1852 - Merchant, created the five and ten cent store, head of F.W. Woolworth & Co.
• Butch Cassidy (Robert LeRoy Parker) 1866

  
• Olga Rudge 1895
• Alfred Butts 1899 - Architect, game inventor (Scrabble)
• Bud Freeman 1906 - Jazz musician, tenor sax player
• Samuel Beckett 1906 - Author, critic, playwright
• Eudora Welty 1909 - Poet
• Howard Keel 1919 - Actor ("Dallas"), singer
• Madalyn Murray O’Hair 1919 - Author ("Why I Am an Atheist")
• Stanley Donen 1924
• Jules Irving 1925 - Actor
• Don Adams (Donald James Yarmy) 1926 - Actor ("Get Smart")
• Teddy Charles (Theodore Charles Cohen) 1928 - Vibraphonist, songwriter, composer, arranger
• Marilynn Smith 1929 - Golfer
• Dan Gurney 1931 - Auto racer
• Lyle Waggoner 1935 - Actor ("The Carol Burnett Show", "Wonder Woman")
• Edward Fox 1937 - Actor ("The Big Sleep", "Portrait of a Lady")
• Lanford Wilson 1937 - Playwright
• Paul Sorvino 1939 - Actor ("Law and Order", "Dick Tracy")
• Seamus Heaney 1939 - Poet
• Lester Chambers 1940 - Singer, musician (The Chambers Brothers)
• Jose Napoles 1940 - Boxer
• Bill Conti 1942 - Composer
• Brian Pendleton 1944 - Musician (The Pretty Things)
• Jack Casady 1944 - Musician (Jefferson Airplane, Hot Tuna)
• Lowell George 1945 - Musician (Little Feat)
• Tony Dow 1945 - Actor ("Leave it to Beaver")
• Al Green 1946 - Singer, songwriter
• Roy Loney 1946 - Musician (Flamin' Groovies)
• Ron Perlman 1950 - Actor ("Beauty and the Beast" series)
• Peabo Bryson 1951 - Singer
• Max Weinberg 1951 - Musician (E Street Band)
• Jimmy Destri 1954 - Musician (Blondie)
• Sam Bush 1957
• Gary Kroeger 1957
• Saundra Santiago 1957 - Actress ("Miami Vice")
• Joey Mazzola 1961 - Musician (Sponge)
• Hillel Slovak 1962 - Musician (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
• Jane Leeves 1963
• Garry Kasparov 1963 - Chess champion
• Page Hannah 1964
• Caroline Rhea 1964 - Actress, comedian
• Davis Love III 1964 - Golfer
• Lisa Unbarger 1965 - Musician (Toadies)
• Rick Schroder 1970 - Actor ("Silver Spoons", "NYPD Blue")
• Aaron Lewis 1971 - Musician (Staind)
• Jonathan Brandis 1976
• Courtney Peldon 1981

  

  

 

  

The BAXO-nator!

Ever have one of those days when you wake up and you ask yourself,

"What day is it?"

"The DAY?"

"The DATE??"

"THE YEAR!!!"

I do that almost every morning now. I feel like Kyle Reese from the original Terminator, trying to orient himself in this strange place.

He was a soldier on a mission to save humanity. My private war? TAX SEASON! It won't give up. EVER! (Or until the filing deadline!)

Sunday, April 12, 2026

catharsis \ kuh-THAHR-seez \ , noun;

1. the purging of the emotions or relieving of emotional tensions, especially through certain kinds of art, as tragedy or music. 
2. Medicine/Medical. purgation. 
3. Psychiatry. a. psychotherapy that encourages or permits the discharge of pent-up, socially unacceptable affects. b. discharge of pent-up emotions so as to result in the alleviation of symptoms or the permanent relief of the condition.

Origin: Catharsis came to English in the late 1700s from the Greek kátharsis meaning "a cleansing."

echo chamber

• A person who totally, obsequiously agrees with everything another person says.

During the meeting my boss Jeremy calls on Jason, who's a well-known management echo chamber to ask if Jason thinks the Companys new and much stricter internet policy is a fair one. The rest of us spend the remainder of the meeting retching at the resultant tsunami of blatant ass-smooching.

History

• Galileo: Italian scientist's heresy trial began during the Inquisition (1633)
• US Civil War: started when Confederate troops attacked Fort Sumter (1861)
• "Rock Around the Clock": Bill Haley and The Comets recorded the song that ushered in the era of rock 'n' roll (1954)
• Yuri Gagarin: cosmonaut became the first human in space, orbiting Earth in 89 minutes aboard the Vostok I (1961)
• Columbia: first space shuttle took its first test flight (1981)

Birthdays

• Henry Clay 1777 - "The Great Pacificator", U.S. Secretary of State under John Quincy Adams, three time unsuccessful candidate for president of United States. Quote: "I would rather be right than president."
• Lily (Alice) Pons 1895 - Singer, actress
• Sally Rand 1903
• Russ Garcia 1916 - Musician, composer, orchestra leader
• Ann Miller (Lucille Ann Collier) 1923 - Actress ("Sugar Babies", "Hit the Deck"), dancer
• Ned Miller 1925 - Country singer
• Jane Withers 1926 - Actress ("Bright Eyes")
• Tiny Tim (Herbert Khaury) 1930 - Ukulele playing, falsetto singer ("Tiptoe Through the Tulips")
• Billy (Richard) Vaughn 1931 - Musician, musical director, orchestra leader, baritone singer (The Hilltoppers)
• Montserrat Caballe 1933 - Opera singer
• Charlie (Charles Richard) Lau 1933 - Baseball player
• Judy Lynn 1936 - Country singer, entertainer ("The Judy Lynn Show"), U.S. Champion Yodeler
• Charles Napier 1936 - Actor
• Herbie Hancock 1940 - Jazz/fusion musician, composer
• Woody (Woodrow Thompson) Fryman 1940 - Baseball pitcher
• Frank Bank 1942 - Actor ("Leave it to Beaver")
• Terry (Walter) Harmon 1944 - Baseball player
• John Kay 1944 - Musician (Steppenwolf)
• Ed O'Neill 1946 - Actor ("Married....with Children")
• Tom Clancy 1947 - Author
• Dan Lauria 1947 - Actor ("The Wonder Years", "Stakeout")
• David Letterman 1947 - TV host, comedian
• Scott Turow 1949 - Author ("Presumed Innocent", "The Burden of Proof")
• David Cassidy 1950 - Singer, actor ("The Partridge Family")
• Reuben Gant 1952 - Football player
• Pat Travers 1954 - Singer
• Andy Garcia 1956 - Actor ("When a Man Loves a Woman", "The Untouchables")
• Herbert Grönemeyer 1956

  
• Alex Briley 1956 - Singer (The Village People)
• Vince Gill 1957 - Musician, singer (Bluegrass Alliance, Sundance, The Cherry Bombs, Pure Prairie League)
• Suzzanne Douglas 1957 - Actress
• Will Sergeant 1958 - Musician (Echo & the Bunnymen, Elektrafixion)
• Art Alexakis 1962 - Musician (Everclear)
• Deryl Dodd 1964 - Country singer
• Amy Ray 1964 - Singer, musician (Indigo Girls)
• Nicholas Hexum 1970 - Musician (311)
• Shannen Doherty 1971 - Actress ("Beverly Hills 90210", "Little House on the Prairie")
• Nicholas Brendon 1971 - Actress ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer")
• Guy Berryman 1978 - Musician (Coldplay), Coldplay Official Store
• Claire Danes 1979 - Actress ("Little Women", "Law & Order")
• Jennifer Morrison 1970 - Actress ("House M.D.")
• Jelena Dokic 1983 - Tennis player
• Brendon Urie 1987 - Musician ("Panic at the Disco")
• Brooklyn Decker 1987
• Saoirse Ronan 1994 - Actress ("Atonement," "The 16 Lovely Bones")