In law, "sotto voce" on a transcript indicates a conversation heard below the hearing of the court reporter.  In drama, literature, and rhetoric, sotto voce is used to denote emphasis attained by lowering one's voice rather than raising it, similar to the effect provided by an aside.  In music, sotto voce is a dramatic lowering of the vocal or instrumental volume.  The Chœur d'Enfants Sotto Voce is a children's choir that resides at the Châtelet Theatre in Paris.  They're known for their interpretations of all types of songs, ranging from Broadway to French classics to Jazz.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sotto_voce 

Za’atar Spice is a blend of savory dried herbs like oregano, marjoram or thyme, and toasted earthy spices like cumin and coriander, with sesame seeds, salt and the most important ingredient of all . . . sumac!  Use this as a rub for chicken, beef, lamb or fish, sprinkle it over hummus, Labneh or baba ganoush!  Or mix with olive oil for a flavorful marinade.  There are many variations of this spice mix.  posted by Sylvia    Find recipe at https://www.feastingathome.com/zaatar-spice-recipe/ 

to the nth degree means to the utmost, as in They'd decked out the house to the nth degree.  This expression comes from mathematics, where to the nth means “to any required power” (n standing for any number).  It was first recorded in 1852.   https://www.dictionary.com/browse/to-the-nth-degree 

Read Across America Day was launched in 1998 by the National Education Association (NEA).  It is a day to encourage children and teenagers to read and falls annually on March 2, which is also Dr. Seuss' birthday.  When the day was first established, it was synonymous with the children's author.  Dr. Seuss was born Theodor Seuss Geisel on March 2, 1904.  Despite never having children himself, Dr. Seuss is one of America's most famous youth authors.  He wrote more than 60 books, with some of his most famous works including The Cat in the Hat and Green Eggs and Ham.  https://www.newsweek.com/why-read-across-america-day-falls-dr-seuss-birthday-1573109

BG stands for Before Google.  Link to other definitions of BG at https://www.acronymfinder.com/Before-Google-(BG).html

HAPPINESS QUOTES

Happiness is hard-boiled eggs and warm toast.

Happiness is an egg salad sandwich with salt, pepper and mayo in exactly the right proportion.

Happiness is free.

Cause happiness wherever you are.

Happiness is a harvest

Imagine your own happiness.

Happiness is having your own library card.  (Sally Brown in Peanuts comic strip) 

A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg

xylophilous   (zy-LOF-uh-luhs)  adjective:  Growing on or living in wood.  From Greek xylo- (wood) + -philous (liking).  Earliest documented use:  1862.

sour grapes (SOU-uhr graypz)  noun   Finding fault with or expressing disdain for something one cannot have.  From the Aesop’s fable The Fox and the Grapes, in which a hungry fox tries to reach grapes hanging on a high vine and when unsuccessful, declares that the grapes are probably sour.  Earliest documented use:  1760. 

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From:  Marion Wolf  Subject:  xylophilous  No one can top Ogden Nash on this topic.  He wrote a poem called “The Termite”:  Some primal termite knocked on wood  And tasted it, and found it good!  And that is why your Cousin May  Fell through the parlor floor today. 

A reflection on the rich inner life of a beloved public figure, Bonhams announces the sale of pioneering Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s personal library.  Slated for January 19-27, 2022, the online-only sale will feature more than 1,000 personal books belonging to the late trailblazing justice dating from her years at Harvard and Columbia Law Schools, through her early career as a lawyer and law professor, to her appointment as a Federal judge and, finally, to the U.S. Supreme Court.  This sale features approximately 100 lots of books, photographs, and ephemera from the Ginsburg’s private library, including textbooks from her days as a student, legal publications from her long career as a litigator and law professor, and literature read by both Ruth and Marty Ginsburg during their marriage (most with Ginsburg ownership bookplates to the front pastedowns).  Notably included are Catcher in the Rye, Lady Chatterley’s Lover and titles by Ginsburg’s former Literature professor, Vladimir Nabokov, alongside volumes by Tolstoy and De Tocqueville.  Also included in the sale are copies of feminist literary classics like Kate Millet’s Sexual Politics and works by Susan Sontag and Erica Jong.  Additionally, the library contains a large selection of presentation copies on various subjects inscribed by the authors to Ruth Bader Ginsburg.  Of greatest interest are works by her fellow Supreme Court justices, including Sandra Day O’Connor, Sonia Sotomayor, Stephen Breyer, Neil Gorsuch--and of course, several examples from Ginsburg’s dear friend and fellow opera lover, Antonin Scalia.  https://www.finebooksmagazine.com/news/ruth-bader-ginsburg-personal-library-offered-bonhams 

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2479  January 7, 2022