The Left Hand of Darkness is a science fiction novel by Ursula K. Le Guin, published in 1969.  The novel became immensely popular; in 1970 it won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards as the year's Best Novel, and established Le Guin's status as a major author of science fiction.  The novel follows the story of Genly Ai, a native of Terra, who is sent to the planet of Gethen as an envoy of the Ekumen, a loose confederation of planets.  Ai's mission is to persuade the nations of Gethen to join the Ekumen, but he is stymied by his lack of understanding of Gethenian culture.  Individuals on Gethen are "ambisexual", with no fixed gender identity.  The novel is part of the Hainish Cycle, a series of novels and short stories by Le Guin set in the fictional Hainish universe, which she introduced in 1964 with "The Dowry of the Angyar". Among the Hainish novels, it was preceded in the sequence of writing by City of Illusions and followed by The Word for World Is Forest.  During the events of Left Hand, the Ekumen is a union of 83 worlds, with some common laws.  Find plot summary and list of primary characters at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Left_Hand_of_Darkness

Quote from Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuinn  "It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end."  http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/44719-it-is-good-to-have-an-end-to-journey-toward  (quote sometimes mistakenly attributed to Ernest Hemingway)

Indigo, native to Asia,  has been used as a blue dye for millennia.  Indigo has been used in traditional medicine systems to cure a number of ailments, and the plant also contains rotenoids which are effective insecticides against mosquito larvae.  Indigofera tinctoria means dyer's indigo-bearing plant.  There are many plants in the genus, perhaps about 700, which is of the Fabaceae family, making indigo a relative of the pea.  Indigo is sometimes used as ground cover in tea, coffee and rubber plantations, and often crops such as potatoes are interspersed with cultivated indigo.  Read more and see beautiful pictures at http://herbs-treatandtaste.blogspot.com/2011/10/indigo-is-health-giving-plant-history.html

We use a hyphen to distinguish a fraction from a ratio.  For example, "The ratio of girls to boys in a class is 3 to 4."  This ratio is written a 3 to 4, or 3:4.  We do not know how many students are in the whole class.  However, the fraction is written as three-fourths (with a hyphen) because 3 is 3/4 of one whole.  Thus a ratio names a relationship, whereas, a fraction names a number that represents the part of a whole.  When writing a fraction, a hyphen is always used.  See Math Goodies at http://www.mathgoodies.com/lessons/fractions/

La Jolla, California is part of the City of San Diego, bordered by Pacific Beach to the south, Del Mar to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the west.  The exact origin of La Jolla’s name is somewhat uncertain.  Historians dispute whether the name originates from the Spanish word La Joya, which means "the jewel" or from the Native American term Woholle meaning "hole in the mountains".  The La Jolla Playhouse was founded by Gregory Peck, along with actors Dorothy McGuire and Mel Ferrer, in 1947.  Peck was born in La Jolla.  http://www.lajollabythesea.com/visitor-resources/la-jolla-facts

Zorba is a musical with a book by Joseph Stein, lyrics by Fred Ebb, and music by John Kander.  Adapted from the 1952 novel Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis and the subsequent 1964 film of the same name, it focuses on the friendship that evolves between Zorba and Nikos, a young American who has inherited an abandoned mine on Crete, and their romantic relationships with a local widow and a French woman, respectively.  The musical premiered on Broadway in 1968 in a production directed by Harold Prince.  The original production ran for 305 performances, but a 1983 Broadway revival ran for 362 performances with a cast starring Anthony Quinn.  Read more at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zorba_(musical)

Room temp or refrigerate? by Madelyn Fernstrom   (1)  It's best to refrigerate peanut butter made only from ground peanuts because the oils can become rancid and spoiled when left at room temperature for weeks.  To soften, remove from the fridge 30-60 minutes prior to using.  (2)  Nuts contain oils that can become rancid when stored too long at room temperature, especially in a warm kitchen.  Store your leftover nuts in a sealed bag in the refrigerator.  For longer term storage, wrap carefully and store in the freezer for several months.  (3)  Because crusts and sometimes the fillings contain butter, cream, and eggs, store leftover pie in the fridge to avoid spoilage.  Find information on other foods at http://www.today.com/health/room-temp-or-refrigerate-7-foods-always-store-fridge-t101180

Students, faculty and administrators lined the streets surrounding Ringling College in Sarasota January 9, 2017, forming a human chain to pass the final 200 books from Kimbrough Library into the college’s newly opened building up the block.  The ceremonial “Passing of the Books” celebrated the opening of the Alfred R. Goldstein Ringling College Library, an $18 million structure that dwarfs its predecessor.  The first book to begin its 500-yard hand-to-hand journey up the block, across the street and into the new library was “Let Virtue be Your Guide,” by Francis Danny.  The book was followed by about 200 more, each progressing through hundreds of hands until it reached College President Larry Thompson, who held several books aloft for the crowd to see before he placed it on a cart to be whisked away to its new home.  The event gave participants a look at a random sampling of the library’s 75,000 volumes.  Many participants would pause and look at a book before handing it off.  Murmurs of “I need to check that one out” could be heard up and down the line.  Once the bucket brigade of books had concluded, Johnson addressed the crowd outside the new building.  “The library is the brain and the heart of a college campus,” Johnson said, quoting Goldstein, a life trustee with the college whose name adorns several campus buildings.  “That is especially true here at Ringling College.”  Ryan McKinnon  Read more at http://www.bradenton.com/news/local/education/article125498224.html

Night of January 16th is a theatrical play by Russian-American author Ayn Rand, inspired by the death of the "Match King", Ivar Kreuger.  Set in a courtroom during a murder trial, an unusual feature of the play is that members of the audience are chosen to play the jury.  The court hears the case of Karen Andre, a former secretary and lover of businessman Bjorn Faulkner, of whose murder she is accused.  The play does not directly portray the events leading to Faulkner's death; instead the jury must rely on character testimony to decide whether Andre is guilty.  The play's ending depends on the verdict.  Rand's intention was to dramatize a conflict between individualism and conformity, with the jury's verdict revealing which viewpoint they preferred.  The play was first produced in 1934 in Los Angeles under the title Woman on Trial; it received positive reviews and enjoyed moderate commercial success. Producer Al Woods took it to Broadway during the 1935–36 season and re-titled it Night of January 16th.  It drew attention for its innovative audience-member jury and became a hit, running for seven months.   An off-Broadway revival in 1973, under the title Penthouse Legend, was a commercial and critical failure.  A film based on the play was released in 1941; the story has also been adapted for television and radio.  Rand had many heated disputes with Woods over script changes he wanted for the Broadway production.  Their disputes climaxed in an arbitration hearing when Rand discovered he had diverted a portion of her royalties to pay for a script doctor.  Rand disliked the changes made for the Broadway production and the version published for amateur productions, so in 1968 she re-edited the script for publication as the "definitive" version.  Read more and see pictures at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_of_January_16th

Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968) was a Baptist minister and social activist who played a key role in the American civil rights movement from the mid-1950s until his assassination in 1968.  Inspired by advocates of nonviolence such as Mahatma Gandhi, King sought equality for African Americans, the economically disadvantaged and victims of injustice through peaceful protest.  He was the driving force behind watershed events such as the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the March on Washington, which helped bring about such landmark legislation as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.  King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 and is remembered each year on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a U.S. federal holiday since 1986.  Read much more and see pictures at http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/martin-luther-king-jr

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1678  January 16, 2017  On this date in 1964, Hello, Dolly! opened on Broadway, beginning a run of 2,844 performances.  On this date in 1970, Buckminster Fuller received the Gold Medal award from the American Institute of Architects.  Word of the Day:  cereology  noun  The investigation or practice of creating crop circles.