Thursday, January 6, 2011

chatoyant \shuh-TOI-uhnt\, adjective:

1. Having changeable lustre; twinkling.
2. (Of a gem, esp a cabochon) displaying a band of light reflected off inclusions of other minerals.

Chatoyant's poetic origin lies in the French chatoyer, "to gleam like a cat's eyes," from the French chat, "cat."

don't take this the wrong way, but

• What you say to someone right before you say something that can only be taken one way: badly.

Don't take this the wrong way, but every time you enter the room it smells like someone smeared shit all over my face.

Trivia

In what professional sport is Lena Blackburne Rubbing Mud used?

• Baseball. It’s used to provide a grip and take the shine off balls in the major and minor leagues. It’s been used since 1938 when Russell Aubrey “Lena” Blackburne, a former player coaching for the Philadelphia Athletics, found it in a New Jersey swamp. The mud hole’s location remains a secret.

History

• George Washington: wed wealthy widow Martha Dandridge Custis (1759)
• Maria Montessori: Italian educator, known for the Montessori method, opened her first school in a Rome housing project (1907)
• Four Freedoms: in his State of the Union message to Congress, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt described his goals for all humanity: freedom of speech and expression, freedom of religion, freedom from want, and freedom from fear (1941)
• George H.W. Bush: WWII Navy pilot married Barbara Pierce, who had dropped out of college to solidify the union (1945)
• Wheel of Fortune: TV's longest-running syndicated game show first aired (1975)
• President Bush: a defeated Al Gore presided as Congress certified George W. Bush the winner of the close and bitterly contested 2000 presidential election (2001)

Birthdays

• Jakob Bernoulli (1654-1705): Swiss mathematician responsible for the law of large numbers
• Khalil Gibran (1883-1931): philosopher and poet, The Prophet; other writers born on this date include Joseph Medill Patterson (1879-1946), Carl Sandburg (1878-1967), Morris Wright (1910-1998) and E.L. Doctorow (80)
• Rowan Atkinson (56): comedian and actor, Mr. Bean; also, actors Loretta Young (1913-2000), Danny Thomas (1914-1991), Bonnie Franklin (67) and Rinko Kikuchi (30)
• Nancy Lopez (54): LPGA hall-of-famer; plus, professional athletes Howie Long (51), Gabrielle Reece (41), Assante Samuel (30) and Gilbert Arenas (29)
• Kathy Sledge (52): R&B singer, Sister Sledge; bluegrass musician Earl Scruggs (87) also celebrates his birthday today
• Nigella Lawson (51): TV chef