Norma Talmadge was one of the biggest stars of the silent film era.  She was born on May 26, 1894 in Jersey City, NJ, and raised in Brooklyn, NY.  Norma had two sisters, Constance Talmadge, also a major star, who was in 83 films and Natalie Talmadge who appeared in nine films.  Norma appeared in over 200 silent pictures, most of which are now considered lost films.  In 1916, Norma married film producer Joseph Schenck who became head of United Artists and would go on to become the chairman of 20th Century Fox.  As with many of the silent stars, Norma’s career ended with the advent of sound.  By 1928 her career had already stalled to one film per year.  There was talk in 1928 of reissuing her favorite film Smilin’ Through (1922), but Norma was staunch in her refusal to re-release it.  Norma said, “I thought it was a lovely picture and the fans liked it.  Why reissue it?  I would rather people only had the peasant memory of it.”  Norma made two sound films, New York Nights (1929) and Du Barry, Woman of Passion (1930).  The Du Barry film was widely panned by critics and public alike.  Norma then waited for the right script for her next movie.  She said she was “favoring playing a comic role.”  She never appeared in another film.  Instead, Norma Talmadge travelled the world and invested wisely in real estate, becoming very wealthy.  Legend has it that Norma Talmadge has the distinction of being the first to leave her handprints, footprints and signature at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.  The apocryphal story is Norma accidentally walked through some wet cement in front of the theatre and owner Sid Grauman hit upon the idea of immortalizing the stars (and his theatre) by having them leave their prints in the cement.  The other legend, or rumor, is that Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder writers of the classic film Sunset Boulevard (1950), partially based the character Norma Desmond with Norma Talmadge in mind.  http://stuffnobodycaresabout.com/2013/12/24/classic-hollywood-28/  See also The Norma Talmadge Website at  https://web.stanford.edu/~gdegroat/NT/home.htm

Librarian of Congress Dr. Carla Hayden will be visiting U Findlay the morning of March 23, 2018.  The cost of admission is $10.  Registration details can be found at https://www.findlay.edu/offices/advancement/Fridays-at-Findlay.   If you plan on attending, please be sure to reserve your ticket(s) as soon as possible.   

Chef Tom Colicchio says that the architecture of a sandwich is as important as what you put in it.  Bread is the foundation and it should be sturdy.  With messier ingredients try toasting or searing one side in a pan atop the stove, and stack with toasted sides in.  Place driest and heaviest ingredients on bottom slice.  Dress greens before putting them on the sandwich.  Read more at

http://www.brandpointcontent.com/article/31313/a-celebrity-chefs-secrets-to-building-a-better-sandwich  See also The Fine Art of Sandwich Strategy by Paula Forbes at https://www.epicurious.com/expert-advice/how-to-build-layer-best-sandwich-article and 5 Tips to Help You Make a Better Sandwich by Kelli Foster at https://www.thekitchn.com/5-tips-to-help-you-make-a-better-sandwich-233940

Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) was born in Bombay, but educated in England at the United Services College, Westward Ho, Bideford.  In 1882 he returned to India, where he worked for Anglo-Indian newspapers.  His literary career began with Departmental Ditties (1886), but subsequently he became chiefly known as a writer of short stories.  A prolific writer, he achieved fame quickly.  Kipling was the poet of the British Empire and its yeoman, the common soldier, whom he glorified in many of his works, in particular Plain Tales from the Hills (1888) and Soldiers Three (1888), collections of short stories with roughly and affectionately drawn soldier portraits.  His Barrack Room Ballads (1892) were written for, as much as about, the common soldier.  In 1894 appeared his Jungle Book, which became a children's classic all over the world.  Kim (1901), the story of Kimball O'Hara and his adventures in the Himalayas, is perhaps his most felicitous work.  Other works include The Second Jungle Book (1895), The Seven Seas (1896), Captains Courageous (1897), The Day's Work (1898), Stalky and Co. (1899), Just So Stories (1902), Trafficks and Discoveries (1904), Puck of Pook's Hill (1906), Actions and Reactions (1909), Debits and Credits(1926), Thy Servant a Dog (1930), and Limits and Renewals (1932).  During the First World War Kipling wrote propaganda books.  His collected poems appeared in 1933.  Kipling was the recipient of many honorary degrees and other awards.  In 1926 he received the Gold Medal of the Royal Society of Literature, which only Scott, Meredith, and Hardy had been awarded before him.  https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1907/kipling-bio.html

COMPLETE COLLECTION OF POEMS by Rudyard Kipling    https://www.poetryloverspage.com/poets/kipling/kipling_ind.html

Assonance:  The same or similar vowel sound repeated in the stressed syllable of a word, followed by uncommon consonant sounds. Example:  drive and higher  Consonance:  The same or similar consonant sound repeated in the stressed syllable, preceded by uncommon vowel sounds.  Example:  urn and shorn   Alliteration:  Repetition of sounds through more than one word or syllable.  Example:  Lucy Lewis https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/570/05/

Alliteration is repetition of initial consonant sound.  Consonance is repetition of consonant sound at the middle or end of words.  Assonance is repetition of vowel sounds.  Repeating word sounds are used by poets, authors and songwriters.  http://www.tedistanbul.k12.tr/E-Portal/PDF/PPTBANKk/Alliteration_Consonance_Assonance.pdf  NOTE that Author William H. Gass uses alliteration, assonance, consonance or metaphors in almost every page he writes.  Examples from the next-to-last page in the novella "In Camera":  there bloomed a building of red brick, of a deep rich rose  *  bugle calls in a basement  *  sheet bore creases of course

“Eyes: Novellas and Stories” by William H. Gass by Paul Michael Garrison    The short story “Don’t Even Try It, Sam” dishes out a social critique of Casablanca in the guise of a Hollywood confessional, only the crusty, old narrator is the studio piano played in Rick’s bar.  Gass’s sense of play expands in this and the following story, “Soliloquy for an Empty Chair,” to include inanimate narrators as the collection’s most gregarious characters.  https://nightowl.owu.edu/2016/01/01/review-of-eyes-novellas-and-stories-by-william-h-gass/

The periodic table is a tabular arrangement of the chemical elements, ordered by their atomic number, electron configurations, and recurring chemical properties.  This ordering shows periodic trends, such as elements with similar behaviour in the same column.  It also shows four rectangular blocks with some approximately similar chemical properties.  In general, within one row (period) the elements are metals on the left, and non-metals on the right.  The rows of the table are called periods; the columns are called groups.  Six groups have generally accepted names as well as numbers:  for example, group 17 elements are the halogens; and group 18 are the noble gases.  The periodic table can be used to derive relationships between the properties of the elements, and predict the properties of new elements yet to be discovered or synthesized.  The periodic table provides a useful framework for analyzing chemical behaviour, and is widely used in chemistry and other sciences.  The Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev published the first widely recognized periodic table in 1869.  As of 2016, the periodic table has 118 confirmed elements, from element 1 (hydrogen) to 118 (oganesson).  The first 94 elements occur naturally; the remaining 24, americium to oganesson (95–118), occur only when synthesized in laboratories.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periodic_table

In 1971, Kim Hill, the daughter of Philadelphia Eagles tight end Fred Hill was diagnosed with leukemia.  As Fred & his family dealt with the devastating blow to the family, his teammates and owner Leonard Tose pledged their emotional support.  The Eagles held fundraising dinners, the team made individual contributions.  After Kim's successful treatment, Fred realized how powerful the spirit of solidarity that his teammates displayed truly was.  Fred became committed to helping other families battle pediatric cancers.  From helping them identify resources, to assisting financially, Fred & his teammates continued their fight against childhood cancers.  In 1972, Philadelphia Eagles owner Leonard Tose officially recognized Eagles Fly for Leukemia as the official philanthropy of the Philadelphia Eagles Football Club.  The spirit of the Eagles and Leonard Tose led to the development of the world's first Ronald McDonald house--a place for families to find shelter when their children are sick.  Now, over 200 Ronald McDonald house's shelter thousands of families around the world.  The spirit continued, and over the last 30 years, Eagles Fly for Leukemia has raised over $10 million towards pediatric cancer research and Family Support.  http://www.eaglesfly.org/history.html

RMHC Founding Mission Partner since 1974  "From the moment we opened our first Ronald McDonald House in Philadelphia, PA, the entire McDonald’s system (owner/operators, suppliers, employees and customers) has helped us support families with sick children providing stability and vital resources.  McDonald’s support extends from monetary contributions and volunteerism, to cause related marketing promotions and the space to place RMHC Donation Boxes that raise money for Chapters around the world.  McDonald’s has helped RMHC positively impact millions of children and their families, and continues to provide valuable resources and support to help us expand our core programs and services.  Although the McDonald’s system is our largest corporate partner, RMHC is a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation.  RMHC relies on the support of the entire community and greatly values donations from the community and other corporate partners." 

https://www.rmhc.org/our-relationship-with-mcdonalds

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1837  February 5, 2018  On this date in 1852, the New Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia, opened to the public.  On this date in 1909,  Belgian chemist Leo Baekeland announced the creation of Bakelite, the world's first synthetic plastic.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_5