September 28 marks the first anniversary of my retirement from Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick after serving 30 years as law librarian. In October, 2007 we celebrated the event by traveling to the fragile, magical land of New Zealand. Then, each day seemed like an eternity even though I work part-time. When I resumed a newsletter in January, 2008 the routine became natural and interesting.

Swiss airline pilot Yves Rossy became the first person to fly between France and England on Friday with a jetpack strapped to his back. The pilot, who normally flies an Airbus airliner, swapped the plane's controls for four jets attached to a wing on his back to get across the Channel. The simple kerosene-burning jet turbines propelled him the 22 miles between Calais and Dover at speeds of up to 120 mph. The journey took just under 10 minutes. With no steering controls, the only way to change direction was like a bird, moving his head and back. Rossy traced the route of French aviator Louis Bleriot, who became the first person to fly across the Channel in an aircraft in 1909.
http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSTRE48P4CE20080926

"Technorati’s State of the Blogosphere 2008 report...will be released in five consecutive daily segments. Since 2004, our annual study has unearthed and analyzed the trends and themes of blogging, but for the 2008 study, we resolved to go beyond the numbers of the Technorati Index to deliver even deeper insights into the blogging mind. For the first time, we surveyed bloggers directly about the role of blogging in their lives, the tools, time, and resources used to produce their blogs, and how blogging has impacted them personally, professionally, and financially."

Researching Medical Literature on the Internet - 2008: Medical journals, dictionaries, textbooks, indexes, rankings, images--all can be found on the Net, and much of it is available free. Sources include publishers, government agencies, professional organizations, health libraries and commercial entities. Gloria Miccioli's completely updated and revised topical guide expertly focuses on what she identifies as the best, content-rich databases and services for researchers.

William Billings (1746-1800), is considered by many to be the foremost representative of early American music. Billings was born in Boston on October 7, 1746. Largely self-trained in music, he was a tanner by trade and a friend of such figures of the American Revolution as Samuel Adams and Paul Revere. Billings's New England Psalm-Singer (1770), engraved by Revere, was the first collection of music entirely by an American. In the recent HBO miniseries about John Adams, in episode 1, there is a scene where the Boston patriots are meeting and at the end of the meeting, they sing a verse of the anthem Chester by William Billings. This may well be the first widespread recognition of the music of William Billings and the fact that Chester was the original National Anthem.
http://www.amaranthpublishing.com/billings.htm

Google has created an interesting tool comparing McCain's and Obama's statements reported in the press on numerous topics from abortion to taxes. Only five topics are shown on the Web page at one time. To change topics shown click a new topic in the list at the top of the page.

The average premium that seniors will pay for Medicare drug coverage in 2009 will rise, with the average for the 10 most-popular plans increasing 31%, according to an analysis of new government data.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122239167851577569.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

To act at leisure or to dally are words we get from the French. Old French leisir was based on Latin licere, "be allowed" — and is the basis for the word license as well. The Old French word dalier meant "to chat" and was a word used commonly in Anglo-Norman in the years just after the invasion, when a sort of bilingual society existed — with nobles chatting in French and common folk in English. The word dalliance actually started out in English meaning "conversation" but has since come to take on the meaning of "amorous flirtation."
Music and sport also derive from French. In Middle English, sport meant broadly "hobby" or "entertainment"; it came from the French word disport. English music is from Old French musique via Latin from Greek for the "art of the Muses." The root is also the basis for amuse, bemuse, mosaic, and museum.
On September 28, 1066 William the Conqueror of Normandy arrived on British soil. He defeated the British in the Battle of Hastings on October 14, and on Christmas Day, he was crowned King of England in Westminster Abby. The Norman invasion had a larger and more pronounced effect on the development of the English language than any other event in history. Within the course of a few centuries, English went from being a strictly Germanic language to one infused with a large Latinate vocabulary, which came via French. At the time, the British were speaking a combination of Saxon and Old Norse. The Normans spoke French. Over time, the languages blended, and the result was that English became a language incredibly rich in synonyms. Because the French speakers were aristocrats, the French words often became t he fancy words for things. The Normans gave us "mansion"; the Saxons gave us "house." The Normans gave us "beef"; the Saxons gave us, "cow." The English language has gone on accepting additions to its vocabulary ever since the Norman invasion, and it now contains more than a million words, making it one of the most diverse languages on Earth. The Writer’s Almanac