Whir and whirr are alternate spellings of the same word.  Whir and whirr both mean making a sound that resembles the low hum of machinery or of the wings of an insect.  Whir and whirr may be used as a noun or as an intransitive verb, which is a verb that does not take an object.  Related words are whirs and whirrs, whirred, whirring.  The words whir and whirr are onomatopoeia, which are words formed by imitating the sound of a thing or an action.  https://grammarist.com/homophones/whir-or-whirr-vs-were/ 

Kibitzer is a Yiddish term for a spectator, usually one who offers (often unwanted) advice or commentary.  The term can be applied to any activity, but is most commonly used to describe spectators in games such as contract bridge, chess and Schafkopf.  In card games, a kibitzer simply refers to a spectator watching a player's hand; kibitzers are expected to remain silent and not impact the game.  The verb kibitz can also refer to idle chatting or side conversations.  In computer science the term is the title of a programming language released by NIST, as a sub-project of the Expect programming language, that allows two users to share one shell session, taking turns typing one after another.  There is a 1930 film called The Kibitzer which is based on the 1929 three-act comedy play by the same name.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kibitzer 

15 Words Plagued by Unusual Silent Letters by Arika Okrent  Silent letters are very often hidden remnants of how the words passed through different languages on their way to English.  Find examples at https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/58773/15-words-plagued-unusual-silent-letters   

AVOID TAKING A STAND OR ANSWERING A QUESTION  Say you don’t know anything about it.  Change subject.  Say you can’t hear what’s said.  Walk away without answering.   

One of the UK’s leading children’s book illustrators, and a highly accomplished animator as well, Alan Baker brings realism, character and a true sense of narrative to the projects he works on.  Throughout his career he has collected awards for his top-flight work.  He’s written and illustrated over 40 books, and created dozens of animations for both commercial and broadcast clients.  See beautiful pictures at https://www.illustrationx.com/artists/AlanBaker   

Eat Like Jane Austen With Recipes From Her Sister-In-Law’s Cookbook--including dishes straight from her novels.  Written in narrative form with little by way of precise directions, the recipes—for cowslip wine and cabbage pudding; pickled mushrooms and cowheel soup—are artifacts of the Georgian-era English countryside.  There was little difference between medicinal and culinary recipes—food was regarded as key to regulating health, and medicine as a kitchen-table art—and household books might list pickle recipes next to instructions for treating mange in horses or curing plague.  Dairy-rich recipes include “snow cheese,” a sweet cheese of cream and lemon juice.  Some of the dishes Jane mentions in her literary work seem to come straight from Martha’s book.  Reina Gattuso  See pictures and recipes at https://www.charleston-hub.com/2021/07/atg-quirkies-eat-like-jane-austen-with-recipes-from-her-sister-in-laws-cookbook/   

Chia seeds can be black or white (brown indicates that the seed is unripe).  There is no difference nutritionally.  The Aztecs boast the first record of Chia as early as 3500B.C.  It was, in fact, one of the main foods in the Aztec diet.  Later, between 1500 and 900B.C, it was grown in Mexico by the Teotihuacan and Toltec people.  Aside from being eaten whole, the chia seed was used in medicine, ground into flour, mixed as an ingredient in drinks, and pressed for oil.  It was useful in that it could be stored for relatively long periods of time (perfect for traveling).  In addition to these practical uses, the chia seed ran deeper in the blood of the Aztecs.  It was sacred and used as a sacrifice in religious ceremonies.  The ancient civilizations believed that the chia seed provided supernatural powers.  In Mayan, “chia” means “strength.”  This probably has to do with the large amounts of energy provided by chia seeds.  Ancient warriors attributed their stamina to this tiny seed.  This still holds true for certain groups of people today.  The Mexican Tarahumara tribe is famous for their runners.  These runners drink a mixture of chia seeds, lemon, and water called Iskiate.  After drinking this, they are said to be able to run hundreds of miles.  Like many of the ancient grains, chia was lost for a while.  Some scientists, nutritionists, and farmers teamed up to cultivate chia commercially in Argentina.  Today, chia is grown in several Latin American countries, but its main producer is fast becoming Australia.  Chia seeds, in actuality, don’t have a very strong flavor.  So, they can be included in a wide range of foods for a little texture.  They also form a sort of gel when mixed with liquid.  So, chia can be substituted for eggs or used as a soup thickener.  It can also be included in all kinds of baked goods for some added energy.  https://www.ancientgrains.com/chia-seed-history-and-origin/   

Hyperion is an epic poem by John Keats that tells the story of the fall of the Titan gods at the hands of the Olympians.  The poem focuses on the story of Hyperion and his defeat by Apollo, the god of knowledge and poetry, exploring the idea of human suffering and the knowledge that can be gained by it.  Keats picked up many of these themes again in his later work, The Fall of Hyperion.  The idea of progress runs throughout the poem and has significant personal as well as philosophical resonance, as during this time Keats was very concerned with his own progress as a poet.  In 1817 he had made the decision to give up his medical career to pursue his vocation as a poet.  In Hyperion, the old gods with their old ideas are replaced by the new gods who possess superior modern knowledge.  Eventually even the vanquished old gods come to accept this as right and just.  Keats abandoned the poem in September 1819, calling it too Miltonic, but later revised and published the fragment in Lamia, Isabella, The Eve of St. Agnes, and other Poems in 1820, despite being dissatisfied with it.  The volume overall was received warmly by the critics and is now considered one of the most important works of poetry of the Romantic period.  https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/manuscript-of-john-keatss-hyperion#   

Hyperion is a Hugo Award-winning 1989 science fiction novel by American writer Dan Simmons.  It is the first book of his Hyperion Cantos. The plot of the novel features multiple time-lines and characters.  It follows a similar structure to The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperion_(Simmons_novel)  See plot summary at https://hyperioncantos.fandom.com/wiki/Hyperion_Plot_Summary   

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2415  September 3, 2021