John Champlin Gardner Jr. (1933–1982) was an American novelist, essayist, literary critic and university professor.  Gardner was born in Batavia, New York.  His father was a lay preacher and dairy farmer, and his mother taught English at a local school.  Both parents were fond of Shakespeare and often recited literature together.  Gardner began his university education at DePauw University, but received his undergraduate degree from Washington University in St. Louis in 1955.  He received his M.A. & PhD. in 1958 from the University of Iowa.  He was Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Detroit in 1970 or 1971. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gardner_(American_writer)

Grendel  is a 1971 novel by American author John Gardner.  It is a retelling of part of the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf from the perspective of the antagonist, Grendel.  In the novel, Grendel is portrayed as an antihero.  Several editions of the novel contain pen and ink line drawings of Grendel's head, by Emil Antonucci.  Ten years after publication, the novel was adapted into the 1981 animated movie Grendel Grendel Grendel.  In 1982, English progressive rock band Marillion wrote and recorded a 17-minute progressive opus entitled "Grendel" that was based on the book.  A version of the song shortened by a little under three minutes was released as a B-side to the single "Market Square Heroes" (now out of print).  The song is currently available on the two-disc version of the Script for a Jester's Tear album.  Seattle, WA indie rock band Sunny Day Real Estate has a song called "Grendel" that was based on the book. The song appears on the album, Diary.  On June 8, 2006, an opera based on the novel was premiered at the Los Angeles Opera.  The score was composed by Elliot Goldenthal, with a libretto by Julie Taymor and J.D. McClatchy.  The opera was produced in New York City during the summer of 2006 at the New York State Theater as part of the Lincoln Center Festival.  Find plot and characters described at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grendel_%28novel%29

DIVERGING DIAMOND INTERCHANGES  See traffic flow depicted at  I-75/University Parkway in Florida https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24jMVZszPTY and design of a diamond interchange at I-69 and SR 1/DuPont Road on the north side of Fort Wayne, Indiana at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24jMVZszPTY  Thank you, Muse readers!  

Q.  What U.S. president worked on canal boats, was a school janitor, a carpenter, a soldier, a professor and then college president of Western Reserve Eclectic Institute (later Hiram College)?  A.  James A. Garfield  http://millercenter.org/president/garfield/essays/biography/2 and http://www.authentichistory.com/1865-1897/3-gilded/2-garfield/

In the late 1940s Thor Heyerdahl set out to demonstrate experimentally that Polynesia might have been originally populated by Mesoamericans who drifted there on balsa wood rafts.  He called it the Kon-Tiki Expedition and he managed to make landfall on an island in the Tuamotus after a harrowing voyage of 102 days, although the experiment did not prove that this was the way Polynesia was settled.  The Polynesian triangle stretches from Hawaii in the north to New Zealand in the south, and from Tuvalu in the west to Rapa Nui (Easter Island) in the east, an area of ten million square miles.  Come On Shore and We Will Kill and Eat You All:  A New Zealand Story by Christina Thompson.  See a map and link to information on the islands at

http://www.polynesia.com/polynesian_culture/polynesian-triangle.html#.VRWMjPnF98E

Librarians get many questions that seem to be intended to settle bets between people. Here is one:  Which is correct on a sign for a cottage:  The Smiths or The Smith's.  The answer is that if you are thinking of the Smiths as a family unit, use The Smiths.  If you are thinking of the Smith's (house), then use The Smith's. 

Pietro Alessandro Yon (1886–1943) was an Italian-born organist and composer who made his career in the United States and became an American citizen.  He patented a game referred to as kangaroo golf--wooden pegs (kangaroos) were used instead of balls and were driven from a portable wooden tee.  "This invention relates to new and useful improvements in games.  The object of the present invention is a game simulating some of the characteristics of golf 5 without requiring a playing surface as large and as carefully prepared and maintained as is necessary with golf."  

See the patent at https://www.google.com/patents/US2122505

Bay of Islands, New Zealand  "I have named the Bay of Islands" wrote Lieutenant James Cook.  It was late November 1769.  The British took it all with the 1840 signing of the Treaty of Waitangi.  But the treaty had different meanings for different people.  Cultural clashes climaxed with the sacking of Kororareka 1845 (now Russell) as Hone Heke felled the Union Jack for the fourth and last time.  Peace and wars followed for the next 20 odd years.  The Bay became a sleepy backwater until American writer Zane Grey pitched a tent and caught an marlin here in 1926, the world heard about it.  Maori name for New Zealand is Aotearoa means "Land of the long white cloud".  Ao (cloud), tea (white), roa (long).  

http://www.bay-of-islands-nz.com/history.shtml

Kerikeri - Bay of Islands, New Zealand  Some say the name means " Dig-Dig" and this would be apt for the citrus capital of New Zealand.  Kerikeri's warm sub tropical microclimate supports the horticulture that produces roadside stalls selling fresh fruit and vegetables.  John Butler built the country's oldest house, Kemp House in 1822.  The Stone Store followed and by 1836 was in use as the mission store.  These wonderful buildings, together with the replica Maori village, Rewa's village, on the opposite bank are regarded as the "Cradle of the Nation".  .  http://www.bay-of-islands-nz.com/kerikeri.shtml

“According to The State of America’s Libraries Report released by the American Library Association (ALA), academic, public and school libraries are experiencing a shift in how they are perceived by their communities and society.  No longer just places for books, libraries of all types are viewed as anchors, centers for academic life and research and cherished spaces.  This and other library trends of the past year are detailed in ALA’s State of America’s Libraries Report 2015, made available during National Library Week, April 12–18, both as an American Libraries digital supplement, as well as on the ALA website at ala.org/americas-libraries and as a PDF file. 

Easy dinner recipes:  3 ideas, 6 ingredients, 30 minutes or less by Noelle Carter  Learn how to make creamy scrambled eggs with toasted baguette slices, broccoli soup, and poached shrimp at http://www.latimes.com/food/dailydish/la-dd-edr-easy-dinner-recipes-3-ideas-6-ingredients-30-minutes-or-less-20150401-story.html

Bill Arhos, a frustrated guitarist whose long-running television show, “Austin City Limits,” introduced much of America to the sound of redneck rock and progressive country and prompted Austin, Tex., to proclaim itself the “Live Music Capital of the World,” died on April 11, 2015 in suburban Austin.  He was 80.  Armed with a pilot featuring Willie Nelson that he produced for $7,000, Mr. Arhos (pronounced AR-hoes) convinced public broadcasting stations in 1975 that the rest of the nation was ready for the emerging home-brewed regional mix of rock and counterculture lyrics by country singer-songwriters, a marked contrast to mainstream Nashville music.  By 2010, “Austin City Limits” had become the longest-running live musical concert show on television, surpassing the Boston Pops’s 34-year record on WGBH.   http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/15/arts/television/bill-arhos-founder-of-austin-city-limits-dies-at-80.html

Austin City Limits Hall of Fame 2014:  Bill Arhos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHunNJ9TvSA  3:18

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1285  April 17, 2015  On this date in 1492, Spain and Christopher Columbus signed the Capitulations of Santa Fe for his voyage to Asia to acquire spices.  On this date in 1524, Giovanni da Verrazzano reached New York harbor.