Succinct

Brevity is the soul of personalized license plates.

A few i've seen around lately reminded me of just how much you can pack into 7 letters and numbers.

Telling you what they do for a living:

TTHMOVR
MTHTCHR

Telling you what team they love:

CHEEZHD
RGNCJUN (Ragin' Cajun, for those not from south Louisiana)

And revealing a bit of personality:

K8IEBUG
TOT ROD

That last was on the back of a minivan, of course, and the dad driving looked like he had given up a beloved dream for the family with him. He didn't seem upset about it, though.

So, have you seen any good ones lately?


Today is:

Apaturia -- Ancient Greek Calendar (meeting of the clans, a 3 day festival; date approximate)

Betchya Festival -- Onomichi, Japan (men in costume "beat" children with bamboo whisks to prevent them getting ill in the coming year)

Bunka no hi -- Japan (Culture Day)

Cliche Day -- get them all out of your system today

Festival of Fisher's Ghost -- Campbelltown City, Australia (come celebrate the legends of Australia's most famous ghost, Frederick Fisher; through the 13th)

Housewives' Day -- birthday of Roseanne Barr

Independence Day -- Dominica; Federated States of Micronesia; Panama (also called Separation Day, separating from Colombia)

Let Someone Have the Last Word Day -- internet generated, probably so you will quit with the cliches

Men Make Dinner Day -- BBQ is not allowed, and it would coincide with Sandwich Day, with a built in excuse to do it the easy way

National Day -- Dominica

National Sandwich Day -- make it a good one, in honor of the birthday of John Montague, Fourth Earl of Sandwich, its inventor

Parsley Scattering Season ends -- Fairy Calendar

SOS Day -- on this date in 1906 the Second International Radio Telegraphic Conference at Berlin, Germany, proposed it as the new wireless distress signal

St. Hubert's Day (Patron of hunters, mathematicians, foresters, furriers, makers of precision Instruments, Belgium; against dog bites, rabies)

St. Martin de Porres' Day (Patron of hairdressers, persons of mixed race, public-health workers, race relations, TV in Peru)

St. Pirminius' Day (Patron against snakebites. poisoning)

St. Winifred's Day

Thanksgiving Day -- Liberia

Victory Day -- Maldives

Will Rogers' Days -- Claremore and Oologah, OK, US (through the 5th; celebrating the man's wit and humor at his birthplace and the museum dedicated to him)


Birthdays Today:

Gemma Ward, 1987
Dolph Lundgren, 1959
Adam Ant, 1954
Kate Capshaw, 1953
Dennis Miller, 1953
Roseanne, 1952
Ken Berry, 1933
Michael Dukakis, 1933
Charles Bronson, 1921
Thomas Kyd, 1558


Today in History:

Umar ibn al-Khattab, the second Muslim caliph, is killed by a Persian slave in Medina, 644
Christopher Columbus first sights the island of Dominica in the Caribbean Sea, 1493
The English parliament accepts the Act of Supremacy, declaring Henry VIII to be the leader of the Church of England, 1534
Great Patent is granted to Plymouth Colony, 1620
A great panic occurs in Europe over the close approach of a comet, 1679
Spain acquires Louisiana, 1762
The Bank of Montreal, Canada's oldest chartered bank, opens in Montreal, Quebec, 1817
The Times of India, the world's most widely circulated English language daily broadsheet newspaper, is founded as The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce, 1838
"Black Bart the Poet", stagecoach robber, commits his last robbery, leaving behind a clue that leads to his capture, 1883
J.H. Hunter patents a portable weighing scale, 1896
Chevrolet officially enters the automobile market, 1911
The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 2. On board is the first animal to enter orbit, a dog named Laika, 1957
NASA launches Mariner 10 toward Mercury; it would later become the first probe to reach that planet, 1973
Pervez Musharraf declares emergency rule across Pakistan, suspending the Constitution, 2007