“Dogs made slaves of the people who owned them.  Cats did not.  A cat led his own life, and you were free to lead yours.”  “How many pecks of pickled peppers can Peter Piper pick?  You don’t pick pickled peppers . . . peppers can’t be pickled till after they’re picked.”  “A mouth is a word processor  . . . ”  “I go to the mynah . . . and the bird says, real sarcastic, I can talk—can you fly?”  The Company of Cats, 20 contemporary stories of family cats, edited by Michael J. Rosen   

Combining forms are the Legos of word construction.  This misinterpreting of boundaries of pieces happens in language sometimes.  The word helicopter is constructed with helico- (spiral) + -pter (wings).  People broke the word into heli- + -copter and formed new words such as helipad and quadcopter.  A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg   

Playing cards were invented in Imperial China.  They were found in China as early as the 9th century during the Tang Dynasty (618–907).  Playing cards first entered Southern Europe in the 14th century, probably from Mamluk Egypt, using the Mamluk suits of cups, coins, swords, and polo-sticks, and which are still used in traditional Latin decks.  See Rainbow Playing Cards at https://fredericksandmae.com/collections/shop/products/rainbow-playing-cards   

It’s curious why anyone would want to willingly do shots of Angostura.  But somehow a minuscule island in Wisconsin, with a population of around 718 people, not only instituted a strange tradition, but also became the world’s single-largest consumer of the bitters brand.  Washington Island’s fascination with Angostura Bitters can be traced, like a handful of American drinking practices, back to Prohibition.  “During Prohibition, Tom Nelsen got a pharmaceutical license so he could legally sell bitters,” says Sarah Jaworski, whose parents have owned Nelsen’s since 1999.  This loophole wasn’t quite the same as that used by doctors who prescribed alcohol during Prohibition.  Rather, the bitters were classified as a “stomach tonic for medicinal purposes” instead of alcohol, meaning that a doctor’s prescription wasn’t required.  “Medicinal tinctures are usually taken in smaller doses, but since Angostura bitters are 90 proof, he was able to legally sell it as a tincture,” she says.  “He just sold it as shots.”  Prohibition was repealed in 1933, and the pub eventually resumed normal operations.  But even after a full bar was reinstated, the bitter shots had embedded themselves in the island’s drinking traditions.  Shots of Angostura continued to be one of the most popular items on the menu.  Leigh Kunkel  Read much more and see pictures at https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/washington-island-wisconsin-bitters-shots   

Money origami sometimes referred to as dollar origami or dollar bill origami offers a unique twist on basic paper folding techniques and can be a memorable way to give a cash gift for birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, holiday celebrations, or special occasions.  The design featured in this tutorial was created by Richard L. Alexander in 2006, based on a multi-piece ring designed by Mette Peterson and a 3-D water wheel created by Paulo Basceta.  It is part of the Money Origami:  Making the Most of Your Dollar book and DVD kit by Michael G. LaFosse and Richard L. Alexander.  It is an example of modular origami since it is created by joining multiple units that are folded identically.  A beginning or intermediate level origami enthusiast should be able to complete this money origami wreath in 10 to 15 minutes.  If you want to practice before making the final model, play money from an old board game makes a good addition to your kit of origami supplies.  See pictures with instructions at https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/how-to-make-money-origami-wreath-2540743   

Gilgamesh is the best known of all ancient Mesopotamian heroes.  Numerous tales in the Akkadian language have been told about Gilgamesh, and the whole collection has been described as an odyssey—the odyssey of a king who did not want to die.  The fullest extant text of the Gilgamesh epic is on 12 incomplete Akkadian-language tablets found at Nineveh in the library of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal (reigned 668–627 BCE).  The gaps that occur in the tablets have been partly filled by various fragments found elsewhere in Mesopotamia and Anatolia.  In addition, five short poems in the Sumerian language are known from tablets that were written during the first half of the 2nd millennium BCE; the poems have been titled “Gilgamesh and Huwawa,” “Gilgamesh and the Bull of Heaven,” “Gilgamesh and Agga of Kish,” “Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Netherworld,” and “The Death of Gilgamesh.”  The Gilgamesh of the poems and of the epic tablets was probably the Gilgamesh who ruled at Uruk in southern Mesopotamia sometime during the first half of the 3rd millennium BCE and who was thus a contemporary of Agga, ruler of Kish; Gilgamesh of Uruk was also mentioned in the Sumerian list of kings as reigning after the Flood.  There is, however, no historical evidence for the exploits narrated in poems and epic.  https://www.britannica.com/topic/Gilgamesh   

In 1986, Nick Demou and his late father bought an old, abandoned diner and moved it to its current location on East Avenue in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.  But this was no ordinary diner.  Built in 1941, it was one of only a handful of Sterling Streamliner diners still in existence, and is today one of only two such diners still in operation (a third apparently lies abandoned in Westport, Massachusetts).  The Modern Diner, which Demou now runs with his brother-in-law, Frank Aguiar, has a few claims to fame.  Its historic status is one.  Even before Demou bought the joint, it had street cred:  In 1978, it was the first ever diner to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  Another claim to fame is Demou’s custard French toast, which in 2015 was named the best diner dish in the country by the Food Network show Top 5 Restaurants.  The dish—which comes topped with fresh strawberries, blueberries, sliced kiwi, house-candied pecans, and raspberry syrup—came into existence pretty much by accident.  Some 20 years ago, Demou made an excess of vanilla pudding.  Not wanting to let it go to waste, he thinned it out and added it to the French toast.  The rest is diner history.  See pictures at https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/modern-diner   

What do you get when you make a wreath out of $100 bills?  Aretha Franklins.  Thank you, Muse reader!  See also https://www.mytowntutors.com/christmas-wreath-jokes/   

On June 10, 1529, Protestant forces from Zurich and Catholic forces from Zug met on a field in Kappel am Albis that’s today known as Milchsuppestein, or “milk-soup pasture,” to battle over the administration of disputed territories.  While the infantries squared off, Hans Aebli, a local magistrate, mediated between rival leaders off-site to negotiate a peace deal.  Tired and hungry from a long march, the opposing armies began to disarm and fraternize.  Eventually, the legend goes, soldiers pitched a giant soup pot in the center of the battlefield:  the Catholics brought milk, the Protestants bread.  The crossing of spoons over the inaugural bowl of Kappeler Milk Soup eased tensions long enough to give negotiators time to arrive at a peace deal two weeks later.  Luke Fater  Read more and see pictures at https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/what-is-milk-soup-switzerland   

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2312  January 13, 2021