Edwin Muir (1887–1959) A prominent Scottish poet and critic of the mid-twentieth century, Edwin Muir is also remembered as the translator who first brought the works of Franz Kafka to an English-speaking audience.  After beginning his career as a critic and journalist, Muir started producing poetry in his mid-thirties, and over the next three decades developed an individual, visionary style outside the main current of the Modernist poetry then prevalent.  In his works he often drew on his early experiences on the Orkney Islands off the northern coast of Scotland, and on the disparity between his recollections of this pastoral idyll and the gritty, urban life he later experienced in Glasgow.  https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/edwin-muir 

Save for a rainy day means save it for a time of need.  This expression can be traced back to the mid 16th century in Britain.  Its first known use is in a play, The Bugbears, first performed in or around 1561: 
"Wold he haue me kepe nothing against a raynye day?"
(would he have me keep nothing for a rainy day?)
It appears that The Bugbears was translated from Antonio Francesco Grazzini's La Spirita by a now unknown author, and only one manuscript of the play exists.  But what, you might ask, is a bugbear?  Today a bugbear is a pet peeve--something that a particular individual finds especially annoying.  But in medieval England, a bugbear was a sort of hobgoblin, depicted as a sinister bear that lurked deep in the woods to scare children.  https://www.bookbrowse.com/expressions/detail/index.cfm/expression_number/576/save-for-a-rainy-day  

This homemade gnocchi is made with four ingredients—ripe plantains instead of potatoes, ricotta cheese, Parmesan Reggiano, and all-purpose flour.  https://asassyspoon.com/sweet-plantain-gnocchi/  See also https://www.saveur.com/article/recipes/plantain-gnocchi-with-short-rib-ragu/ 

Markus Dochantschi (born 1968) is a German-born architect based in New York.  He is a registered architect in the United Kingdom and Germany, as well as a member of the American Institute of Architects.   As the founder and principal of studioMDA (Dochantschi Inc.), a New York–based, multidisciplinary design firm, Dochantschi has been recognized as one of the world's preeminent designers of art and cultural spaces.  Dochantschi and his firm have designed more than thirty galleries, and over 200 international art booths and exhibitions, earning Dochantschi the title of "the Art World's New Go-To Architect” in 2017.  The firm has also designed university buildings, auction houses, and private residences.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markus_Dochantschi 

April 28, 2023  This weekend marks the 10th anniversary of Independent Bookstore Day, the one-day book party held all across the country on the last Saturday in April every year to celebrate indie bookstores large and small.  I asked the Lit Hub staff to share a few odes to their own beloved bookstores to mark the occasion.  Housed in a 1842 gristmill and overlooking the Sawmill River in Massachusetts, the used bookstore, the Montague Bookmill, has some one thousand books.  Also included in the indie bookstores list is Unnameable in Brooklyn.  Their stock is half used books and half new, so you can always go and browse and find something you didn’t know you were looking for, but you can also go in looking for something in particular and usually find it.  At least once a year I like to make the pilgrimage to Ocean City, Maryland to meet up with my college friends and try to absorb as much sunshine as is humanly possible.  Last year, while doing my obligatory search for hot indie bookstores in my area, I came across a shop called The Buzzed Word. The Buzzed Word is an indie bookstore, wine store, and wine bar all in one.  There are three Pegasus Books in the Bay Area, California, each in airy, comfortable locations in Berkeley and Oakland, each packed to the gills with both new and used literature.  Kingston’s Rough Draft (beautifully situated at the “oldest four corners in America”) is one of the best all-purpose indie bookstores I’ve ever had the privilege of calling my local.  The owners of Rough Draft have made sure their space is a true community hub, serving the needs of locals alongside the weekend Instagram crowd doing their “must-visit” Hudson Valley tour.  Emily Temple  https://lithub.com/10-of-the-best-indie-bookstores-in-the-world/?  

On April 30, 2023 Steph Curry scored a playoff career-high 50 points in Golden State’s 120-100 Game 7 victory against the Sacramento Kings, securing a 4-3 best-of-seven NBA playoff series win for the Warriors.  He set the record for the most points in a Game 7 in NBA history, surpassing the 48 points scored by his former teammate Kevin Durant for the Brooklyn Nets against the Milwaukee Bucks in 2021.  https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/01/sport/steph-curry-game-7-warriors-kings-spt-intl/index.html  

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2664  May 1, 2023