Thursday, October 28, 2010

kvetch \KVECH\, adjective:

1. To complain habitually.

noun:

1. A complaint.

2. A habitual complainer.

Kvetch comes from Yiddish kvetshn, "to squeeze, to complain," from Middle High German quetzen, quetschen, "to squeeze."

organic stairmaster

aka a hill.

I'm gonna go get some exercise on the organic stairmaster.

I climbed every organic stairmaster in Florida the other day.

The organic stairmaster sure tires out Fluffy.

Trivia

How did members of the nobility come to be called blue bloods?

• In Spain, blue blood was claimed by pure-blooded aristocratic families to differentiate themselves from those who had intermarried. They were not referring to the color of the blood they bled, but rather to the blueness of their veins, which could be seen clearly through their very fair skin.

History

• Harvard College: Harvard University's oldest school was founded (1636)
• Statue of Liberty: the iconic monument — a gift from France — was dedicated by President Grover Cleveland (1886)
• Prohibition: US Congress passed the Volstead Act, overriding president Woodrow Wilson's veto; manufacture, sale or transport of alcoholic beverages were banned (1919)
• Benito Mussolini: the Fascist leader took control of Italy's government (1922)
• Nostra Ætate: the Second Vatican Council under Pope Paul VI absolved the Jews of collective guilt for the crucifixion of Jesus (1965)
• Prospero: the first and only satellite launched from a British rocket went into low Earth orbit (1971)

Birthdays

• Georges Escoffier (1846-1935): world-class chef
• Evelyn Waugh (1903-1966): novelist, Brideshead Revisited
• Jonas Salk (1914-1995): developer of the polio vaccine
• Bruce Jenner (61): winner of 1976 Olympics decathlon
• Bill Gates (55): founder of Microsoft
• Julia Roberts (43): Oscar-winning actress; also, actors Joan Plowright (81), Jane Alexander (71), Dennis Franz (66), Telma Hopkins (62), Annie Potts (58), Mark Derwin (50), Daphne Zuniga (48), Lauren Holly (47), Jami Gertz (45), Andy Richter (44) and Joaquin Phoenix (36)
• Brad Paisley (38): Grammy-winning country singer, songwriter and guitarist; other musicians with birthdays today include Cleo Laine (83), Charlie Daniels (74), Wayne Fontana (65), Caitlin Cary (42), and Justin Guarini (32)