Gen is ultimately from a Greek root (the same as in genesis, homogeneous, and oxygen).  The literal meaning is closer to “to be born” or “to become,” but modern usage shifts that slightly to “causing” or “giving birth to.”  It was first used in the context of chemistry in the late 1700s and has since spread to many scientific fields.  You’re probably familiar with at least a few other words that use a similar -gen form (often as -ogen or -agen).  A carcinogen (1853) is a substance that causes cancer.  A mutagen(1946) is something that causes mutations.  A pathogen (1880) causes disease.  Counting obesogen (2006) / obesogenic (1983), two of these pairs evolved in one direction, one in the other, and one pair arrived together.  One of the characteristics that marks a language as a “living language” is that its users continually create new words.  English has no trouble qualifying by that criteria: the Oxford English Dictionary adds well over 1,000 words to its catalog every year, while some sources have estimated that more than 5,000 new words are created annually.  A great, short article on how new words come into existence can be found at https://www.theguardian.com/media/mind-your-language/2016/feb/04/english-neologisms-new-words  Christopher Daly  https://thebettereditor.wordpress.com/2018/05/28/do-these-genes-make-me-look-fat-maybe-or-maybe-its-the-obesogens/

Les Deux Magots (lay du Mahgo) is a famous café in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés area of Paris, France.  It once had a reputation as the rendezvous of the literary and intellectual élite of the city.  It is now a popular tourist destination.  Its historical reputation is derived from the patronage of Surrealist artists, intellectuals such as Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre, and young writers, such as Ernest Hemingway.  Other patrons included Albert Camus and Pablo Picasso.  The Deux Magots literary prize has been awarded to a French novel every year since 1933.  The name originally belonged to a fabric and novelty shop at nearby 23 Rue de Buci.  The shop sold silk lingerie and took its name from a popular play of the moment (1800s) entitled Les Deux Magots de la Chine (Two Figurines from China.)   In 1873 the business transferred to its current location in the Place Saint-Germain-des-Prés.  In 1884 the business changed to a café and liquoriste, keeping the name.  See more with pictures at:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Deux_Magots  Find a list of winners for The Prix des Deux Magots is a major French literary prize, presented to new works, and generally awarded to works that are more off-beat and less conventional than those that receive the more mainstream Prix Goncourt.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prix_des_Deux_Magots

The Café Procope, in rue de l'Ancienne Comédie, 6th arrondissement, is called the oldest restaurant of Paris in continuous operation.  It was opened in 1686  by the Sicilian chef Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli, with a slyly subversive name adopted from the historian Procopius, whose Secret History, the Anekdota, long known of, had been discovered in the Vatican Library and published for the first time ever in 1623:  it told the scandals of Emperor Justinian, his consort and his court.  The Café Procope, in the street then known as rue des Fossés-Saint-Germain-des-Prés, started as a café where gentlemen of fashion might drink coffee, the exotic beverage that had previously been served in taverns, or eat a sorbet, served up in porcelain cups by waiters in exotic "Armenian" garb.  Throughout the 18th century, the brasserie Procope was the meeting place of the intellectual establishment, and of the nouvellistes of the scandal-gossip trade, whose remarks at Procope were repeated in the police reports.  Not all the Encyclopédistes drank forty cups of coffee a day like Voltaire, who mixed his with chocolate, but they all met at Procope, as did Benjamin Franklin, John Paul Jones and Thomas Jefferson.  Read more and see pictures at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caf%C3%A9_Procope  Thank you, Muse reader!

Toledo native, UT graduate and retired Sylvania School teacher Alan Thompson completed a 12,000 mile bicycle journey along the perimeter of the United States for charity.  Come to the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library and hear his story.  An avid cyclist and humanitarian, Alan Thompson raised more than $32,000 for Habitat for Humanity and Save the Children on his journey.  He'll bring his bike as well as the trailer he pulled on the trip.  Whether you're a cyclist, interested in travel, health and wellness, or humanitarianism, this presentation has something for you.  A question and answer session will follow.  Biking Around the U.S. Perimeter – My Adventure  Oregon Library  Wednesday, June 27 | 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.  Holland Library  Saturday, June 30 | 10:30 – 11:30 a.m.  Waterville Library  Wednesday, July 11 | 6:30 – 7:30 p.m.    Sanger Library  Monday, July 23 | 7 – 8:30 p.m.  Registration available, but not required.  For more information, visit toledolibrary.org/adults and scroll to the "event spotlight" section or call 419.259.5200

“Books are the windows through which the soul looks out.  A home without books is like a room without windows.” ― Henry Ward Beecher  https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/298102-books-are-the-windows-through-which-the-soul-looks-out  Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887) was a 19th-century minister, preacher, and social reformer who supported abolition and women’s suffrage.  He was the brother of author Harriet Beecher Stowe.  https://www.biography.com/people/henry-ward-beecher-9204662

“A house without books is like a room without windows.” ― Horace Mann  https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/772-a-house-without-books-is-like-a-room-without-windows  Horace Mann (1796-1859) was an American politician and education reformer, best known for promoting universal public education and teacher training in "normal schools." https://www.biography.com/people/horace-mann-9397522

On June 21, 2018, the northern hemisphere will experience its longest day of the year, the day when the north pole is leaning most toward the sun.  (This year that takes place at 6:07 a.m. ET.)   The Arctic Circle is a moving area whose parameters are dictated by the solstices. Scientists define this expanse as "the latitude above which the sun does not set on the summer solstice and does not rise on the winter solstice."  So, during the June solstice, the entire circle goes through twenty-four straight hours of sunlight.  Conversely, it has to endure a full day of darkness when the December solstice comes around.  Tourists in the far north flock to watch the sun blazing at midnight on every June solstice.  (The Alaska Goldpanners, a baseball team in Fairbanks, marks the occasion by throwing an annual "Midnight Sun Game" every year.)  Mark Mancini https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/earth/geophysics/5-things-didnt-know-about-summer-solstice.htm

June 20, 2018  The curvy, reflective sculpture Cloud Gate (aka “The Bean”) has become Chicago’s most recognizable icon since it was installed in 2006.  But that doesn’t mean its creator, Anish Kapoor, ignores how it’s being photographed.  Because Kapoor has filed a federal lawsuit against the National Rifle Association, alleging that the organization violated his copyright by using an image of Cloud Gate in a 2017 ad titled “The Clenched Fist of Truth.”  Mark Wilson  See picture of The Bean and link to NRA video at https://www.fastcodesign.com/90176464/anish-kapoor-is-suing-the-nra-for-using-the-bean-in-an-ad

June 20, 2018  A team of researchers led by scientists from the University of California-Riverside discovered two ancient sea creatures in a well-preserved fossil bed in a mountain range in southern Australia.  Obamus coronatus, the discovery of which was published on the Australian Journal of Earth Sciences, was a tiny disc-shaped animal that measured about half of an inch long, with raised spiral grooves on the surface. It is believed that have spent its whole life embedded in the ocean floor and not moving.  According to scientists, Obamus coronatus was named after Obama simply because of the former president's passion for science.  Coronatus, meanwhile, stands for "crowned."  Attenborites janeae, meanwhile, had the shape of an egg and looked like a raisin.  Janeae is in honor of Jane Fargher, who is the co-owner of the property where the ancient sea creature fossils were discovered.  The researchers, however, did not stop giving names with the two ancient animals, which were among the earliest creatures on Earth.  "I've been working in this region for 30 years, and I've never seen such a beautifully preserved bed with so many high quality and rare specimens, including Obamus and Attenborites," said Mary Droser, a paleontologist from the University of California-Riverside and the lead author of the studies on the discoveries.  The fossil bed was named Alice's Restaurant Bed, which is a tribute to the song by Arlo Guthrie and the lyrics "You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant."  Obamus coronatus, however, is not the first animal to be associated with Barack Obama.  There are at least nine creatures that have been named after the former U.S. president.  Aaron Mamiit  http://www.techtimes.com/articles/230684/20180620/ancient-sea-creature-named-after-president-obama-heres-the-simple-reason-why.htm

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1906  June 21, 2018  Thought for Today  I shall live badly if I do not write, and I shall write badly if I do not live. - Francoise Sagan, playwright and novelist (21 Jun 1935-2004)  Word of the Day  melomaniac  noun  One with an abnormal fondness of music; a person who loves music.  The Fête de la Musique (also known as World Music Day), which originated in France in 1982 and is now celebrated around the world, takes place today on the June solstice.  Wiktionary