Montserrat library  Though the existence of manuscript works has been recorded since the monastery was founded in the 11th century, it was in the 12th century that Montserrat established its own scriptorium, which was particularly active in the 14th and 15th centuries.  The establishment of a printing press here by Abbot Cisneros in 1499 was decisive in furthering the monastery’s cultural mission.  The library collections continued to grow and diversify throughout the 17th and 18th centuries.  According to the records, its shelves held thousands of books.  However, the most tragic moment in its history came during the Napoleonic Wars when, in 1811, the monastery was destroyed and most of the library’s treasures were lost.  The library as it stands today was founded in the late19th century and grew particularly under the abbacy of Father Antoni M. Marcet (1913-1946) when, in just a few years, the library’s collections rose from 15,000 volumes to around 150,000.  Later, acquisitions ceased or were made more difficult, firstly due to the Spanish Civil War and later by the Second World War.  Over the last few decades, however, the number of volumes in the library has doubled.  Particularly outstanding are the sections on philosophy, theology, Bible studies, patrology, liturgy, music and art history.  The library also contains excellent sections on universal general history, particularly medieval and European, as well as the history of Catalonia and the countries of the Crown of Aragon, with an important collection of works devoted to local history and the Spanish Civil War.  See pictures and link to contact information and planning a visit at https://www.montserratvisita.com/en/culture/montserrat-library

In 2018, Japanese artist Fujiko Nakaya brought her unique “fog sculptures” to Boston, revealing immersive yet fleeting works of art in one of the city’s biggest green spaces.  The exhibition, Fog x FLO: Fujiko Nakaya on the Emerald Necklace, was held in a chain of Boston parks known as the Emerald Necklace.  Nakaya has been known for her fog installations since the 1970s and has created such pieces at sites like the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao and the Tate Modern in London.  Alex Butler  Read more and see pictures at https://www.lonelyplanet.com/news/2018/08/16/fujiko-nakaya-boston-sculptures/  See also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fujiko_Nakaya and find a list of works, awards and achievements.

Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906) was one of the world's greatest dramatists.  He was the leading figure of an artistic renaissance that took place in Norway at the end of the nineteenth century, a renaissance that also included the painter Edvard Munch.  Ibsen grew up in poverty, studied medicine for a while, then abandoned that to write plays.  In 1858, he published his first play, The Vikings at Helgeland.   Ibsen obtained a scholarship to travel to Italy, where he wrote the plays that would establish his reputation, Brand and Peer Gynt.  These were long, historical verse plays.  He lived most of the rest of his life in Italy and Germany.  Starting in 1869, he began to write prose plays.  Some critics would say that at this point in his life, Ibsen abandoned poetry and took up realism.  In 1877, he began what became a series of five plays in which he examines the moral faults of modern society.  In order of appearance, the plays were The Pillars of Society, A Doll's House, Ghosts, An Enemy of the People, and The Wild Duck.  An Enemy of the People attacks the institution of the liberal newspaper.  Like all of the plays in this series, An Enemy of the People deals with the extent to which individual desires and beliefs are compromised by society.  In particular, the play focuses on the ways in which an individual can be ostracized by the society he is trying to help.  Like all of Ibsen's plays, An Enemy of the People was originally written in Norwegian and is full of untranslatable wordplay.  https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/enemyofthepeople/context/

Rough and Tumble Historical Association, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit museum located on 33 acres in Lancaster County in PA that helps preserve America's Agricultural and Industrial history by holding events throughout the year.  We have many operating exhibits as well as numerous Steam Traction Engines including the 2nd oldest running steam traction engine in the US, the Schiedler built in 1886 recently restored.  We have a large building of stationary steam sngines.  You will see some of the best restored John Deere, IH, and Rumely tractors around to name a few.  Watch our blacksmiths forging items.  Founded in 1948, we are celebrating our 71th year in 2019 with the unique history as one of the longest and earliest running organizations of this type in the U.S.  The 71st R & T Threshermen's Reunion is to be held August 14th to the 17th in 2019 featuring Minneapolis Moline and Water Pumping Equipment.  The 20th Annual Empire Expo  will be held by The Empire Tractor Owners Club in conjunction with the 71st Annual Threshermen’s Reunion.  https://www.roughandtumble.org/  Rough and Tumble is located at 4997 Lincoln Highway East (U.S. Route 30) in Lancaster, PA.  Phone:  717-442-4249

stonewall (n.)  also stone wall, Old English stanwalle; see stone (n.) + wall (n.).  As nickname of Confederate General Thomas J. Jackson (1824-1863), bestowed 1861 on the occasion of the First Battle of Bull Run, supposedly by Gen. Bernard Bee, urging his brigade to rally around Jackson, who was "standing like a stone wall." 

stonewall (v.)  "to obstruct," 1889 in sports; 1914 in politics, from metaphoric use of stone wall (n.) for "act of obstruction" (1876).  Related: Stonewalled; stonewalling (defined in Century Dictionary as "parliamentary obstruction by talking against time, raising technical objections, etc.," and identified as originally Australian).  https://www.etymonline.com/word/stonewall

There are approximately 350 different shapes of pasta, and according to authors of the cookbook, The Geometry of Pasta, there are 1,200 different names.  For example, farfalle is also known as “bowtie” or “butterfly.”  Jacob Kennedy, chef and co-author of the cookbook, says,  “The flatter and longer shapes combine well with olive oil and cream sauces, while sturdier shapes, such as orecchiette, work well with chunkier and more assertively flavored sauces.  Tomato and simple cream and butter sauces are universal and will go well with basically all pasta.”  While cooking pasta, be sure to use a large pot to give the pasta room to grow and move; this also prevents it from sticking to the bottom and sides.  Remember to add salt--there is an Italian saying to flavor the water as salty as the sea to properly season the pasta.  Olive oil is unnecessary in the water, as the pasta will be finished in the pan with the sauce.  Once the pasta is nearly cooked, drain and transfer it into a pan with the warmed sauce where it will finish cooking.  This ensures that the pasta is well coated.  https://toscanaslc.com/blog/perfect-couples-pasta-shapes-and-sauces/

KILOGRAM REDEFINED  When scientists met at the General Conference on Weights and Measures in Versailles in November 2018,  and voted for the change, they were realizing the founding dream of the metric system.  The metric system—which evolved into the International System of Units, or SI—was designed to be “for all times, for all people.”  For more than a century, the kilogram had a very simple definition:  It was the mass of a hunk of platinum-iridium alloy that’s been housed at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in Sèvres, France since 1889.  Starting May 20, 2019, the kilogram will be defined by the Planck constant.  Written out, the Planck constant is 6.62607015 × 10^-34 m²kg/s.  Every unit in the Planck constant is defined by an unchanging force of nature.  The meter is defined by the speed of light.  The second is defined by characteristics of the atoms in the element cesium.  And once the value of the Planck constant was measured and agreed upon, it means the kilogram can be set too.  Don’t worry:  The new kilogram has the same mass as the old kilogram.  That’s because scientists used the old kilogram to measure the value of the Planck constant.  Brian Resnick  https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2019/5/17/18627757/kilogram-redefined-world-metrology-day-explained

WORD OF THE DAY  orature  noun   The oral equivalent of literature:  a collection of traditional folk songs, stories, etc., that is communicated orally rather than in writing. 

May 21 is World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development or Diversity Day, which is recognized by the United Nations to highlight the value of cultural diversity and the need for people to live together in harmony.  Wiktionary

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2101  May 21, 2019