Friday, August 14, 2026

dactylogram \ dak-TIL-uh-gram \ , noun; 

• a fingerprint. 

Origin: Dactylogram is a combination of dactylo- meaning "finger" and -gram meaning "something written." It entered English in the 1910s.

driving finger

• Your middle finger. Usually refers to the one on the left hand so it can be displayed out the driver's side window to comment on another driver's behavior.

Your driving finger is the longest finger.

History

• Oregon Territory: was organized by an act of US Congress, consisting of all of present-day Oregon, Idaho and Washington, and parts of Montana and Wyoming (1848)

  
• Social Security Act: was signed into law by US president Franklin D. Roosevelt, establishing pensions and unemployment insurance (1935)
• V-J Day: Japan surrendered, ending World War II (1945)
• Pakistan: southern Asia country became independent of Britain (1947)
• Ilich Ramírez Sánchez: the terrorist known as "Carlos the Jackal" was captured (1994)
• Northeast Blackout of 2003: 50 million people — one-third the population of Canada plus one-seventh the population of the US — lost electricity (2003)

Birthdays

• Ernest Thayer 1863
• John Galsworthy 1867
• Russell Baker 1925
• Buddy Greco 1926
• Alice Ghostly 1926
• John Brodie 1935
• Dash Crofts (Seals and Crofts) 1940
• David Crosby 1941
• Connie Smith 1941
• Robyn Smith Astaire 1944
• Steve Martin 1945
• Antonio Fargas 1946
• Susan St. James 1946
• Larry Graham (Sly and the Family Stone) 1946
• Danielle Steel 1947
• Gary Larson 1950 - Creator of "The Far Side"
• Terry Adams (NRBQ) 1950
• Debbie Meyer 1952
• James Horner 1953
• Jackee Harry 1956
• Earvin "Magic" Johnson (NBA) 1959
• Susan Olsen 1961
  
• Emanuelle Beart 1965
• Halle Berry 1968
• Catherine Bell 1968
• Mila Kunis 1983

  

  

 

 

  

Turtle Thursday: Cayman Turtle Farm (2008)

  

Mrs. Bax0jayz at Boatswain's Turtle Farm,

north of Grand Cayman's 7-Mile Beach,

back in 2008

Thursday, August 13, 2026

environs \ en-VAHY-ruhnz, -VAHY-ernz, EN-ver-uhnz, -vahy-ernz \ , noun; 

1. the surrounding parts or districts, as of a city; outskirts; suburbs. 
2. surrounding objects; surroundings; environment. 
3. an area or space close by; vicinity. 

Origin: Environs came to English in the mid-1600s from the Old French word meaning "around." 

 

Destinesia

• When you get to where you were intending to go, you forget why you were going there in the first place. Not to be confused with being stoned, destinesia often occurs during working hours, and is the cause of much frustration.

John ran down the stairs to the dry storage and walk-in, but when he got there he couldn't remember what he needed. Consequently, he had to run back upstairs to the kitchen, and look at his prep list again. Damn you, destinesia!

Trivia

What 1950s-era car featured a speedometer that glowed when a preset speed was reached?

• The ill-fated Ford Edsel, in 1958.

History

• Mexico City: city then known as Tenochtitlán fell to Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés, along with the entire Aztec Empire (1521)

  
• taxicabs: first appeared on the streets of New York City (1907)
• Bambi: the animated Disney movie opened at Radio City Music Hall (1942)
• Echo 1: the first balloon satellite was launched, allowing the first two-way phone conversation via satellite (1960)
• Berlin: was divided by barbed wire, which soon became the Berlin Wall (1961)

Birthdays

• William Caxton 1422
• Lucy Stone 1818
• Annie Oakley 1860
• Bert Lahr 1895
• Alfred Hitchcock 1899
• Regis Toomey 1902
• "Buddy" Charles Rogers 1904
• Gene Raymond 1908
• Ben Hogan 1912
• Rex Humbard 1919
  
• George Shearing 1919
• Neville Brand 1920
• Fidel Castro 1926
• Pat Harrington 1929
• Don Ho 1930
• Joycelyn Elders 1933
• Son Seals 1942
• Kevin Tighe 1944
• Gretchen Corbett 1947
• Kathleen Battle 1948
• Bobby Clarke 1949
• Cliff Fish (Paper Lace) 1949
• Dan Fogelberg 1951
• Feargal Sharkey (Undertones) 1958
• Danny Bonaduce 1959
• Quinn Cummings 1967
• Andy Griggs 1973
• Vicca 1974 - t3h pr0n

  

 

  

Hasselhoff Wednesday: Hoffy Wednesday!

Week is Hoff done!

Wednesday, August 12, 2026

blithesome \ BLAHYTH-suhm \ , adjective; 

• lighthearted; merry; cheerful: a blithesome nature . 

Origin: Blithesome entered English in the early 1700s from the Gothic term bleiths meaning "kind, merciful."

Magic Toaster 

• A derogatory term describing an un-savvy computer users view of what a computer is.

Why my magic toaster no come on? I plug in, but no toast!

 

History

• Chicago: the Windy City was founded with a population of 350 (1833)
• Isaac Singer: got a patent for his sewing machine (1851) 
  Quagga: the last specimen of the zebra-like animal died, at the Artis Magistra zoo in Amsterdam (1883)

  
• Spanish-American War: peace protocol was signed; Guam, Puerto Rico and the Philippines were ceded to the US and Cuba was released from Spanish rule (1898)
• IBM-PC: IBM introduced its first personal computer, which contained an Intel chip and Microsoft's DOS operating system (1981)
• Sue: the most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton ever found was discovered in South Dakota; she now resides in Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History (1990)
• Kursk: Russian nuclear submarine sank in the Barents Sea, killing the whole of its 118-member crew (2000)

Birthdays

• Thomas Bewick 1753
• Abbott Thayer 1849
• Christy Mathewson 1880
• Cecil B. DeMille 1881
• Cantinflas 1911
• Mario Moreno 1911
• Jane Wyatt 1912
• Michael Kidd 1919
• Majorie Reynolds 1921
• Joe Jones 1926
• John Derek 1926
• Porter Wagoner 1927
• Mstislav Rostropovich 1927
• Buck Owens 1929
• William Goldman 1931
• Parnelli Jones 1933
• Larry Ziegler 1939
• George Hamilton 1939
• Jennifer Warren 1941
• Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits) 1949
• Kid Creole 1950

• Pat Metheny 1954
• Sam J. Jones 1954
• Danny Shirley (Confederate Railroad) 1956
• Suzanne Vega 1959
• Roy Hay (Culture Club) 1961
• Sir Mix-A-Lot 1963
• Peter Krause 1965
• Pete Sampras 1971
• Rebecca Gayheart 1972
• Linda O'Neil / Pamela Laveux 1973: actress and the most popular body model that you probably never heard of.
• Casey Affleck 1975
• Bill Uechi (Save Ferris) 1975
• Dominique Swain 1980