Sunday, June 21, 2009

tutelary \TOO-tuh-lair-ee; TYOO-\, adjective:

• Having the guardianship or charge of protecting a person or a thing; guardian; protecting; as, "tutelary goddesses."

Tutelary derives from Latin tutelaris, from tutela, protection, guardianship, from tutus, past participle of tueri, to look at, to regard, especially to look at with care or for the purpose of protection. It is related to tutor, to have the guardianship or care of; to teach; to instruct

beauty booger

• Small adornment worn on the side of the nose, attractive to some, not so attractive to others. In today's corporate world, fashionistas prefer a small jeweled or precious metal beauty booger instead of a nose ring.

"Dad, can I have a diamond beauty booger for my birthday? All my friends have them, please please please please?"

Trivia

What inspired Matt Damon and Ben Affleck to have the hero of their 1997 film Good Will Hunting work as a janitor at Harvard University?

• It was a job once held by Affleck’s father, Tim. Damon and Affleck, who costarred in the film, won an Oscar for cowriting the script.

Today in History:

• US Constitution: went into effect as New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify it (1788)
• Ellen Louks Fairclough: was sworn in as the first female member of the Canadian cabinet (1957)
• Women's National Basketball Association: league play began (1997)
• polio: the World Health Organization declared Europe free of the disease (2002)
• SpaceShipOne: the first privately funded and developed spacecraft was launched over the Mojave Desert and piloted into space by Michael Melvill (2004)
• Pluto: newly discovered moons were named Nix and Hydra (2006)

Today's Birthdays:

• Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980): existentialist author, Being and Nothingness; plus, writers Joaquim Machado de Assis (1839-1908), Jose Graça Aranha (1868-1931), Mary McCarthy (1912-1989) and Françoise Sagan (1935-2004)
• Shirin Ebadi (62): first Iranian winner of the Nobel Peace Prize
• Benazir Bhutto (1953-2007): Pakistan's first female prime minister
• Berke Breathed (52): creator of Bloom County; cartoonist Al Hirschfeld (1903-2003) was also born today
• Doug Savant (45): Tom Scavo on Desperate Housewives; also, actors Jane Russell (88), Bernie Kopell (76), Monte Markham (74), Ron Ely (71), Mariette Hartley (69), Meredith Baxter and Michael Gross (both 61), Juliette Lewis (36) and Chris Pratt (30)
• Prince William (27): second in line to the British throne