Melville Louis Kossuth (Melvil) Dewey (1851–1931)  While still a student, he founded the Library Bureau, which sold high-quality index-cards and filing-cabinets, and established the standard dimensions for catalog cards.  As a young adult he advocated spelling reform; he changed his name from the usual "Melville" to "Melvil", without redundant letters, and for a time changed his surname to "Dui".  From 1883 to 1888 he was chief librarian at Columbia University.  During his time as director of the New York State Library (1888–1906) Dewey established a program of traveling libraries.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melvil_Dewey

Melvil Dewey, at the age of 5, alphabetized the spices in his mother's pantry.  His high school essay on the superiority of the metric system "over all others consists in the fact that all its scales are purely decimal."  Dewey was convinced that it was no accident that he had been born on December 10, the same day that the French National Assembly adopted the platinum meter bar back in 1799.  Joshua Kendall  American Libraries magazine  March/April 2014

Comparing something to a grain of sand is usually supposed to mean that it’s small or insignificant, but Dr. Gary Greenberg’s microscopic photography aims to turn this stereotype on its head.  His photographs of miniscule grains of sands magnified up to 300 times reveal that each grain of sand can be beautiful and unique.  Greenberg’s story is a fascinating one. First of all, he invented the high-definition 3D microscopes that he takes his pictures on, resulting in 18 U.S. patents under his name.  He was a photographer and filmmaker until age 33, when he moved from LA to London and earned a Ph. D. in biomedical research.  See spectacular photographs and link to other photos such as "If It Fits, I Sits:  These 21 Cats Prove That No Space Is Too Tight" at http://www.boredpanda.com/magnified-sand-grains-microscope-photography-dr-gary-greenberg/

In San Sebastian, Spain, a seaside resort town in Basque country, locals in black berets mingle with tourists along the narrow stone streets edged by the gleaming Bay of La Concha, just 12 miles from France.  You know it's a mecca for foodies because there are five Michelin-starred restaurants in this city of fewer than 200,000 people, including Arzak and Akelarre, both honored with the premier three stars for 2013.  But you don't have to drop a bundle and reserve your spot far in advance to explore some of the finest Basque cuisine.  That's because you're in the birthplace of the pintxo (pronounced pin-cho), and there's no shortage of places where you can sample this ultimate finger food.  Pintxo bars aren't as upscale as the starred restaurants, of course.  But they offer an appealing gastronomic experience that melds tradition and innovation with the Basque love of fresh local ingredients and the camaraderie that comes from sharing food and drink in a casual atmosphere with friends and family.  Pintxos are not as large as tapas, the small plates of Spanish cuisine that have become ubiquitous across the United States.  Pintxos are designed to be just a bite or two, often served on just a napkin, not a plate.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/travel/ct-trav-0302-food-basque-20140227,0,1544031.story

Anne Rice has tackled vampires, werewolves and witches in her fiction, but now the bestselling novelist is taking on a real-life enemy: the anonymous "anti-author gangsters" who attack and threaten writers online.  The Interview with the Vampire author is a signatory to a new petition, which is rapidly gathering steam, calling on Amazon to remove anonymity from its reviewers in order to prevent the "bullying and harassment" it says is rife on the site.  "They've worked their way into the Amazon system as parasites, posting largely under pseudonyms, lecturing, bullying, seeking to discipline authors whom they see as their special prey,"  Rice told the Guardian.  "They're all about power.  They clearly organise, use multiple identities and brag about their ability to down vote an author's works if the author doesn't 'behave' as they dictate."   She told the Guardian that "it's an obsession with them, a sport, a full time hobby".  "I think the anti-author gangster bully culture is made up of individuals who desperately want a place at the table in the world of books and readers," she said.  "I hope Amazon and other book websites do eventually clean them out.  Amazon did not respond to a request for comment, but Todd Barselow, the freelance editor who launched the petition, now has almost 1,000 signatories, "with many comments from people telling why they think this is an important issue," he said.  "That's really what I was hoping to see, those comments from authors and/or Amazon customers who have been affected by these bullies and harassers on the Amazon platform.  I think if anything will get Mr Bezos's attention, it will be that feedback.  I just hope that it will do some good."  Barselow plans to deliver the petition to Amazon once he has gathered "a few thousand" signatures.  Alison Flood  Read more at http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/mar/04/anne-rice-protests-bullying-amazon-petition

Honey  is a sweet food made by bees using nectar from flowers.  The variety produced by honey bees (the genus Apis) is the one most commonly referred to, as it is the type of honey collected by most beekeepers and consumed by people.  Honey bees transform nectar into honey by a process of regurgitation and evaporation.  They store it as a primary food source in wax honeycombs inside the beehive.  Honey collection is an ancient activity.  Humans apparently began hunting for honey at least 8,000 years ago, as evidenced by a cave painting in Valencia, Spain.  The painting is a Mesolithic rock painting, showing two honey-hunters collecting honey and honeycomb from a wild bee nest.  The figures are depicted carrying baskets or gourds, and using a ladder or series of ropes to reach the wild nest.  So far, the oldest remains of honey have been found in Georgia.  Archaeologists have found honey remains on the inner surface of clay vessels unearthed an ancient tomb, dating back to some 4,700–5,500 years ago.  In ancient Georgia, honey was packed for people's journeys into the afterlife.  And more than one type, too – along for the trip were linden, berry, and a meadow-flower variety.  In 2012, China, Turkey, and Ukraine were the top producers of natural honey.  Significant regional producers of honey include United States of America (ranked fourth worldwide) and Russia (ranked fifth worldwide).  Read more and see images at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey

Spread the Thread, a non-profit organization is collecting clothing donations through March 14 to provide clothes for the impoverished.  On Saturday, March 22, tables will be set up in the parking lot on the corner of Michigan St. and Adams St. in downtown Toledo from 10 a.m. to noon.  People are free to rummage through the clothes and take as needed.  Brooke Rudasill, a sophomore exercise science major, started Spread the Thread in Lima in 2011.  A high school student at the time, she and her sister realized they had way too many clothes — clothes the less fortunate needed.  Thus, they started Spread the Thread, and held it quarterly in their hometown.  http://www.independentcollegian.com/spread-the-thread-collects-clothing-for-the-less-fortunate-1.2860298#.UySSufldV8E

March 17, 2014  Wayne Knight, best-known for playing Newman on the sitcom “Seinfeld,” found himself in this awkward situation over the weekend — courtesy of an Internet death hoax, that weird, undying racket beloved by spammers, Internet cons, and people with nothing better to do.   People start online death hoaxes for a few reasons.  The most obvious (and perhaps the most pathetic!) is for pure entertainment — the same reason people carry out pranks.  Mark Bell, a professor who studies digital media at Indiana University, told the New York Times that “people like to lie.  They get a thrill from it.”  Hoaxes do, in fact, make great teachable moments, which might explain why we seem to react with just a bit more skepticism each time they crop up.  Here are some things to keep in mind the next time you spot one:

What’s the source?  Is it a Web site you’ve heard of?  If yes, is it the correct URL for that Web site?  Is there a byline on the story?  Breaking news stories will usually include the reporter’s name; hoaxes, mysteriously, go un-bylined.  Does the story use proper grammar and punctuation?  The first line to this Wayne Knight story should’ve been a tip-off:  it’s a run-on that refers to Wayne Knight, weirdly, as “better known to most for playing one of the most indelible roles on NBC’s Seinfeld.”  Does the story name sources?  In the case of a death or accident, information should come from a local hospital, police department or medical examiner’s office.  “A spokesperson for the first responders” is too vague.  Caitlin Dewey  http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/style-blog/wp/2014/03/17/wayne-knight-death-hoax-how-and-why-these-hoaxes-happen-and-how-to-stop-them/?tid=hpModule_1f58c93a-8a7a-11e2-98d9-3012c1cd8d1e&hpid=z11

In 2014, spring begins with the vernal equinox on March 20 at 12:57 P.M. EDT.  Question:  Why doesn’t the vernal equinox (equal night) on March 20 have the same number of hours for day and night?  Answer:  Astronomer George Greenstein, had this to say: "There are two reasons.  First, light rays from the Sun are bent by the Earth's atmosphere.  (This is why the Sun appears squashed when it sets.)  They are bent in such a way that we are actually able to see the Sun before it rises and after it sets.  The second reason is that daytime begins the moment any part of the Sun is over the horizon, and it is not over until the last part of the Sun has set.  If the Sun were to shrink to a starlike point and we lived in a world without air, the spring and fall equinoxes would truly have ‘equal nights.’”  http://www.almanac.com/content/first-day-spring-vernal-equinox

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1124  March 19, 2014  On this date in 1918, the U.S. Congress established time zones and approved daylight saving time.

Griffin Jasper Stockley Jr. is an author, historian, and attorney known for his lifelong commitment to the cause of civil rights.  Although Stockley has been honored over the years for his legal achievements, his books have garnered him the widest recognition . His five Gideon Page novels became popular in the 1990s.  In 2001, he published a finely researched historical account of the Elaine Massacre, titled Blood in Their Eyes:  The Elaine Race Massacres of 1919.  In 2002, Stockley was awarded the Booker Worthen prize, a prestigious award established by local authors for works of nonfiction.  http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=1053

Quotes from Illegal Motion, a Gideon Page mystery by Grif Stockley

Winning, in our brains, equates with respect.

Coaches.  They are the closest things to dictators the United States has. 

If love and hate are emotional kinfolks, pride and embarrassment share a common ancestor as well. 

Americans still think we live on corned beef and cabbage over here," says Irish cookbook author and teacher Darina Allen.  So let's set a few things straight: In fact, the dish that's synonymous with St. Patrick's Day and all things Irish in the U.S. is so rarely eaten in Ireland—for the holiday or otherwise—that some people wonder if it's actually Irish.  In Irish Country Cooking, Malachi McCormick says he likes corned beef, but then adds:  "But our national dish?  No, it's a New World dish!"  First, corned beef and cabbage is most definitely Irish.  Second, when properly made it's "delicious," says Allen—recent taste tests here at Epicurious confirm that the corned beef and cabbage recipe http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Corned-Beef-with-Cabbage-241775 from Allen's cookbook Irish Traditional Cooking is indeed fantastic.  Third, with the current multicontinent trend of chefs looking to the past for inspiration coupled with a craze among food-lovers for all things cured, this briny classic is poised for a comeback.  Although corned beef is "almost a forgotten flavor in Ireland," according to Allen it was once an extremely popular and important food for all classes.  To "corn" something is simply to preserve it in a salty brine (the term corn refers to the coarse grains of salt used for curing).  In the days before refrigeration, corning was essential for storing meat, especially from large animals like cows.   Megan O. Steintrager 

http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/holidays/stpatricks/corned_beef_and_cabbage_recipe

March 6, 2014  What do you get when bookshelves pose for a picture?  A group shelfie, of course.  Go ahead and groan, but give the Akron-Summit County Public Library credit for a pretty good visual pun.  For the last few weeks, the library has been coaxing smiles from its social media followers with its “shelfies,” cleverly planned photos of books and other materials on its shelves.  The pictures have included a shelfie of Devo videos in memory of band member Bob Casale; a roundup of Richard Simmons exercise videos as an antidote for the indulgences of Fat Tuesday; and the aforementioned group shot, a witty picture of rows of shelves at the Main Library, sunlight streaming from a window to give the photo some ironically misplaced gravitas.  The concept is, of course, a less narcissistic twist on selfies, self-portraits that have become a staple on social media sites.  Michael Derr, the overseer of the library system’s social media efforts and a committed foodie, had seen cookbook shelfies on food sites and thought the concept might work well for the library.  He started posting the photos in mid-February on the library’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram sites.  Mary Beth Breckenridge  http://www.ohio.com/news/library-s-shelfies-put-witty-twist-on-social-media-photos-1.471428

The shamrock has been intricately linked with Ireland for centuries. We have come to regard the shamrock as a symbolic three- leaf plant, but it is interesting to note that "shamrock" is not the official name of a plant but rather the Irish name for the clover plant, of which there are hundreds of varieties.  If you live in North America, you probably have seen the white and red clover make their appearance on your lawn during Spring.  For the Irish, however, the shamrock is a symbolic representation of an identity - one that started with the long journey of St Patrick to Ireland.  About the late 19th century, Nathaniel Colgan identified one species of the clover, the Trifolium Repens, or a variation of this plant which is the White Clover or also referred to as the Dutch Clover.  This is by far the most common of the species around the world.  The Academic American Encyclopedia (1990) has identified the Trifolium Repens Forma Minus, family Leguminosae, (White Clover), as the original shamrock of Ireland, as has other similar sources.  http://www.celebrations360.com/index.php/shamrock-white-clover-clover-irish-st-patricks-day-trifolium-repens-dutch-clover-18639/

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are an Indian-controlled union territory about 850 miles east of the mainland.  The archipelago, with about 380,000 residents, is known to be a place of natural beauty, with emerald waters and coral reefs that draw backpackers and honeymooners. It is also home to several protected indigenous tribes.  But it is also viewed by the government as an important spot for monitoring China and key shipping lanes.  There are two large Indian military installations there, for the navy, army, air force and coast guard.  Because of both the delicate presence of the protected tribal groups as well as its strategic importance, parts of the islands are off-limits to foreigners, and even Indians need a special permit to visit.  Notably, while the area contains 572 islands, only 37 are inhabited.  During the 19th century, British colonial rulers used the chain as a penal colony, bringing in people of diverse ethnic groups from the Indian mainland, one reason that the islands are today part of India, even if they are far closer geographically to other nations such as Indonesia.  It is now home to six protected tribes, some of which live isolated from modern life in the jungle near beach resorts or among coconut plantations.  http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/03/14/an-introduction-to-the-andaman-and-nicobar-islands-a-remote-indian-archipelago-now-part-of-the-hunt-for-mh370/

National symbols of Ireland include:  Harp, Irish Wolfhound, Shamrock, Crown Jewels of Ireland, Celtic Cross, CL Rsach, Saint Patrick's Flag, St. Patrick's Blue, Cross-Border Flag for Ireland, and an Tiompan G Idhealach (stringed musical instrument).

Irish national anthem  The text of Amhrán na bhFiann, consisting of three stanzas and a chorus, was written in 1907.  It was first published in the newspaper, Irish Freedom in 1912.  The chorus solely was quietly adopted as the National Anthem in 1926, amid much discussion about the national anthem.  The anthem was originally written in English, the later Irish translation by Liam Ó Rinn is much more commonly sung in the country.  A section of the National Anthem (consisting of the first four bars followed by the last five) is also the Presidential Salute.  There has been some criticism about the anthem due to its militant nature and anti-British tone.  The words “Fianna Fáil” (Warriors of Ireland) appear in Ó Rinn’s translation, later adopted as the name of an Irish political party, some advocate this be changed to “laochra fáil” (heroes of Ireland) instead.  Also, some have argued that the melody is difficult to play, whereas others have pointed out that the whole song has been performed, instead of the chorus (which is the official anthem), or has been played at the wrong speed, both of which have happened at recent Olympic Games.  An anthem composed by Phillip Coulter called “Irelands Call” is used as a non-sectarian anthem, which is used by athletes from both Ireland and Northern Ireland when competing together as a unified team.  http://www.nationalanthems.info/ie.htm

Much of St. Patrick’s life is shrouded in mystery.  Historians disagree on many dates and places in his life story.  Patrick was born sometime around 380 in Scotland or Wales.  His parents were Calpurnius and Conchessa, who were Romans living in Britain.  His real name was believed to be Maewyn Succat and he took the name Patrick (or Patricus) after he became a priest.  As a boy of about fifteen or sixteen, he was captured during a raiding party.  He was taken to Ireland as a slave to herd and tend sheep for an Irish chieftain named Milchu who lived on Slemish Mountain in County Antrim.  Patrick's captivity lasted six years. 

http://www.saintpatricknewry.org/saint_patrick.htm

Issue 1123  March 17, 2014  On this date in 1861, the Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed.  In 1941, the National Gallery of Art was officially opened by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Jan. 14, 2014  Barbara Stripling, president of the American Library Association (ALA), released the following statement regarding the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruling on Verizon v. FCC:  “The American Library Association is extremely disappointed with today’s decision by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to strike down the FCC’s “Net Neutrality” decision.  ALA has been a long-time supporter of the free flow of information for all people.  Now that the Internet has become the primary mechanism for delivering information, services and applications to the general public, it is especially important that commercial Internet Service Providers are not able to control or manipulate the content of these communications.  “The court’s decision gives commercial companies the astounding legal authority to block Internet traffic, give preferential treatment to certain Internet services or applications, and steer users to or away from certain web sites based on their own commercial interests.  This ruling, if it stands, will adversely affect the daily lives of Americans and fundamentally change the open nature of the Internet, where uncensored access to information has been a hallmark of the communication medium since its inception.  http://www.ala.org/news/press-releases/2014/01/ala-troubled-court-s-net-neutrality-decision

bloviation  Speech or writing that is wordy, pompous, and generally empty of meaning:  verbosity.  Verb:  bloviate.  A person who bloviates is a bloviator.  Back-formation from the mock-Latinate verb bloviate, from "blow".  U.S. President Warren G. Harding (1865-1923) was  known as "the Great Bloviator".  Richard Nordquist  http://grammar.about.com/od/ab/g/Bloviation.htm

Inaugurated by the Academy of American Poets in 1996, National Poetry Month is now held every April, when schools, publishers, libraries, booksellers, and poets throughout the United States band together to celebrate poetry and its vital place in American culture.  Thousands of organizations participate through readings, festivals, book displays, workshops, and other events.  Poem in Your Pocket Day:  Join thousands of individuals across the U.S. and carry a poem in your pocket on April 24, 2014.  Poem-A-Day:  Subscribers receive previously unpublished work by contemporary poets, as well as classic and historical poems, delivered daily.  Subscribe to poets.org newsletters at http://www.poets.org/page.php/prmID/41

On June 10, 2013, Librarian of Congress James H. Billington announced the appointment of Natasha Trethewey to second term as the Library's Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry for 2013-2014.  Natasha Trethewey was born in Gulfport, Mississippi on April 26, 1966.  She is the author of four poetry collections and a book of creative non-fiction.  Her honors include the Pulitzer Prize and fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.  In 2012, she was appointed the State Poet Laureate of Mississippi.  Trethewey, the 19th Poet Laureate, took up her duties in the fall of 2012, opening the Library's annual literary season with a reading of her work in the Coolidge Auditorium.  Her first term coincided with the 75th anniversary of the Library's Poetry and Literature Center and the 1937 establishment of the Consultant-in-Poetry position, which was changed by a federal law in 1986 to Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry.  http://www.loc.gov/poetry/laureate.html  

Natasha Trethewey biography and links to poetry, articles and more http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/natasha-trethewey

wile  a trick or stratagem intended to ensnare or deceive; a beguiling or playful trick; skill in outwitting   http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wil

while  a period of time especially when short and marked by the occurrence of an action or a condition ; the time and effort used (as in the performance of an action)   http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/while

The expression “while away the time” is the only surviving context for a very old use of “while” as a verb meaning “to spend time.”  Many people substitute “wile,” but to wile people is to lure or trick them into doing something—quite different from simply idling away the time.  Even though dictionaries accept “wile away” as an alternative, it makes more sense to stick with the original expression.  http://public.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/wile.html

Fanbox tricks members into giving up their cell phone number and email username and password, then spams the heck out of them and everyone in their address book.  The site bills itself as “the world’s first spam-free email service” (oh the irony!) and also claims to offer members a blogging service.  Now it seems the site has graduated from spam to phishing.  People are receiving emails inviting them to join the site’s “I’ll Pay Later” program, which claims to allow them to advertise their blog, product or service and earn now while paying later.  Don’t have a blog, product or service?  No problem, according to Fanbox.  You can get a cut of the profits from other people’s sales and pay later.  They call this “boosting”.  What they want you to “pay later” are processing fees-fees for money they say you’ve earned through the program.  However these emails are going out to both members and people who’ve never even heard of Fanbox, much less signed up for the program.  The emails tell people they’ve earned hundreds of dollars and can claim them by paying the fee, which is usually $5-$6.  Gullible people who fall for it are encouraged to set up automatic payments to pay those processing fees, and that’s where the scam gets really bad.  Once someone has fallen for it and foolishly linked their Paypal account to their Fanbox account, Fanbox starts helping itself to their money. Users are reporting repeated debits in amounts ranging from $28 to over $100.   Sue Walsh  http://www.allspammedup.com/2013/07/fanbox-spam-turns-into-costly-scam/  Get rid of Fanbox e-mails by right-clicking on the subject heading then "delete message."

Quotes from Hamlet by William Shakespeare  Not a mouse stirring.  Himself the primrose path of dalliance treads.  Neither a borrower nor a lender be:  For loan oft loses both itself and friend.  This above all — to thine own self be true; And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.  But to my mind, — though I am native here And to the manner born, — it is a custom More honour'd in the breach than the observance.  Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.  Therefore, since brevity is the soul of wit, And tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes, I will be brief.  To be, or not to be, — that is the question:  Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune . . .  Find much more plus pictures at http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Hamlet

 Issue 1122  March 14, 2014  On this date in 1994, Anu Garg  started what became Wordsmith.org. and is celebrating its vicennial.  1994 was the year (based on the earliest documented use) when words such as dotcom, spammer, and cybercafe entered the English language.  That was also the year when benjamin and Toronto blessing became part of the language.  On this date in 1903, the Hay–Herrán Treaty, granting the United States the right to build the Panama Canal, was ratified by the United States Senate.   The Colombian Senate would later reject the treaty.  On this date, Pi Day is celebrated around the world. http://www.piday.org/

Stratovolcanoes, also known as composite cones, are the most picturesque and the most deadly of the volcano types.  Their lower slopes are gentle, but they rise steeply near the summit to produce an overall morphology that is concave in an upward direction.  The summit area typically contains a surprisingly small summit crater.  This classic stratovolcano shape is exemplified by many well-known stratovolcanoes, such as Mt. Fuji in Japan, Mt. Mayon in the Philippines, and Mt. Agua in Guatemala.  Read more and see pictures at http://www.geology.sdsu.edu/how_volcanoes_work/stratovolc_page.html

Mount Vesuvius is a stratovolcano a short distance from the Gulf of Naples.  Its eruption in AD 79 buried the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, killing about 16,000 people.  In 1858, French organist Louis James Alfred Lefébure-Wély wrote a piece for the harmonicorde (combination piano and harmonium) titled Naples—La Prière sur le Vésuve, Op. 123, No. 3  The American Organist magazine  March 2014

The word "tantalize" comes from the plight of the mythological Tantalus, who so offended the gods that he was condemned in the afterlife to an eternity of hunger and thirst.  He was made to stand in a pool in Tartarus, the Underworld zone of punishment.  Each time he reached down for the water that beckoned to his parched lips, it drained away.  Overhanging the pool were boughs laden with luscious fruit.  But each time Tantalus stretched to pluck this juicy sustenance, the boughs receded from his grasp.  http://www.mythweb.com/encyc/entries/tantalus.html

QUOTE   She takes more pleasure in rediscovery than in discovery itself, the mixture of newness and familiarity that rediscovery affords.  December by Elizabeth Hartley Winthrop

University of Toledo Professor Emeritus Joel Lipman has learned from nationally known poets who told him to keep his focus local.  That is his intention with ABRACADABRA Studio of Poetics.   “I want to build a local poetry community,” Lipman said.  “My goals as a publishing poet were not to reach everybody, but to reach people that somehow I happen to cross paths with.”  Lipman came to Toledo in 1975 after already being involved in the poetry community in Buffalo and Chicago.  He assumed a position in UT’s Department of English Language and Literature to teach creative writing.  Opening ABRACADABRA has been a family affair.  His son Eli is a partner while his daughter Samantha designed the website.  “ABRACADABRA gave me a chance to plug into my three kids,” Lipman said.  Lipman was inspired to move further with his idea for ABRACADABRA while visiting his other son Jesse, a slam poet who lives in Honolulu, as he competed in the National Poetry Slam Finals in Boston.  “It’s a national movement with enormous participation,” Lipman said. “Going there and seeing the vibrancy … made me aware of the fact that there was a huge appetite for poetry in the country.”  

Matt Liasse

http://www.toledofreepress.com/2013/10/29/abracadabra-joel-lipman-plans-magical-experience-with-new-studio/

A demonym, also referred to as a gentilic, is a name for a resident of a locality and is usually, though not always, derived from the name of a locality.  For example, the demonym for the people of the United Kingdom is British (derived from "British Isles"); the demonym for the people of Canada is Canadian; the demonym for the people of Norway is Norwegian; while the most common English language demonym for the people of the Netherlands is Dutch.  The word demonym comes from the Greek word for "populace" (demos) with the suffix for "name" (-onym).  While many demonyms are derived from placenames, many countries are named for their inhabitants (Finland for the Finns, Germany for the Germans, Thailand for the Thais, Denmark for the Danes, France for the Franks, Slovakia for the Slovaks, and Slovenia for the Slovenes).  The English language uses several models to create demonyms. The most common is to add a suffix to the end of the location's name, slightly modified in some instances.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demonym

Stella Bain, the 17th novel by bestselling author Anita Shreve, opens in 1916, in a French field hospital where the eponymous protagonist awakens with practically no memory of who she is or how she arrived there.  Set against the rich and tragic backdrop of World War I, this mysterious story traces Stella’s attempt to piece together her true life and the events leading up to the desperate, shell-shocked state in which she wakes.  A resident of Massachusetts, Shreve has explored the theme of identity in earlier novels, which include The Pilot’s Wife, a selection of Oprah’s Book Club, and The Weight of Water, which was a finalist for the Orange Prize in England.  She has frequently written from a male point of view, but her focus, primarily and in Stella Bain, has been on women:  their choices, relationships, triumphs, crises, imposed gender roles, and essential humanity.  http://www.nashvillescene.com/nashville/a-talk-with-bestselling-stella-bain-author-anita-shreve-before-her-nashville-visit/Content?oid=4062048

A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg

scrutate   (SKRU-tayt)  verb. tr.  To investigate.  from Latin scrutari (to examine).  Earliest documented use:  1882.

manumit  (man-yuh-MIT)  verb. tr. To free from slavery.  From Latin manus (hand) + mittere (to let go).  Ultimately from the Indo-European root man- (hand), which also gave us manual, manage, maintain, manicure, maneuver, manufacture, manuscript, command, manure, manque, legerdemain, and mortmain.  Earliest documented use:  1455.

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Subject  Hand words

I was intrigued to learn that the word surgeon (archaic spelling: chirurgeon) is derived from Greek chiro- (hand).  In Czech, the word is "chirurg".  However, in Polish, German, Dutch, and Russian it is chirurg. In French it's chrurgien, in Italian -- chirurgo, and so on and so on.  In Scandinavian languages, the "ch" in the beginning of the word is replaced by "k".  Podiatrists are also hand-workers, like surgeons and chiropractors.  Or at least that is what I understand from the old riddle:  What did the Irishman say to the podiatrist?  Me fate is in your hands.  That's why podiatrists are also known as chiropodists.  Anu Garg

Internal Revenue Service 2014 Standard Mileage Rates  IR-2013-95, Dec. 6, 2013

Beginning on Jan. 1, 2014, the standard mileage rates for the use of a car (also vans, pickups or panel trucks) will be:  56 cents per mile for business miles driven; 23.5 cents per mile driven for medical or moving purposes; 14 cents per mile driven in service of charitable organizations

http://www.irs.gov/2014-Standard-Mileage-Rates-for-Business,-Medical-and-Moving-Announced

Great Lakes mostly frozen over; big thaw to replenish water levels by Tom Henry

Lakes Michigan and Huron are expected to regain 9 to 14 inches, yet still could be as much as a foot below their long-term average.  Lake Superior, which holds more water than the other four Great Lakes combined, might edge above its long-term average this month for the first time since 1998.  Many might be surprised to learn the lake bringing down the region’s ice-cover average is Lake Ontario.  Its surface, even now, is less than 60 percent frozen.  The others were as much as 91 to 96 percent frozen.  Lake Ontario is last to freeze for a number of reasons:  It has one of the region’s warmer climates — though residents of upstate New York might disagree — and gets warmth from two hydroelectric plants.  But, perhaps more importantly, it has some of the fastest-moving water and relatively little surface area for its depth.  The Great Lakes region has 30 million U.S. and 10 million Canadian residents.  Ice covered 92.2 percent of the Great Lakes March 6, 2014 according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.  That’s the most since 94.7 percent of the Great Lakes surface area was frozen over in early 1979.  See three maps from the NOAA at http://www.toledoblade.com/Energy/2014/03/12/Great-Lakes-mostly-frozen-over-big-thaw-to-replenish-water-levels.html

Issue 1121  March 12, 2014  On this date in 1894, Coca-Cola was bottled and sold for the first time in Vicksburg, Mississippi, by local soda fountain operator.  In 1912, the Girl Guides (later renamed the Girl Scouts of the USA) were founded in the United States.

A status symbol is an object which is meant to signify its owners' high social and economic standing.   Expensive goods like luxury vehicles and large houses are mostly out of reach for lower economic classes, so these items serve as status symbols indicating that their owners are able to afford their extremely high prices.  Since much of the utility derived from status symbols comes from their high price, an increased price for a status symbol may actually increase its demand, rather than diminish it.  A product which exhibits this phenomenon is known as a Veblen good.  http://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/status-symbol.asp

Trophy as status symbol or asset leads to its use with wife, husband, child; and in the school world:  student, sports team, and special program.

The Toledoan’s Creed  “I Serve-I Conquer”

I Believe in Toledo, the City of Real Values – the Nation’s natural gateway of commerce and travel; in the heart of great resources and markets; with unsurpassed railway, dock and harbor facilities, and the near-centre of population of the United States.

I believe in Toledo, the City of Real Opportunities – with its great institutions of art, education, religion and business; a “Going concern” in industry, government and social uplift; a Home city with rest and recreation for all, by river and lake; where it is worth while to live, rear children, invest money and life.

I Believe in Toledo, the City of Real Progress – modern in municipal equipment and spirit, aggressive in commercial activity and achievement, with inspiring visions and plans for tomorrow and a big chance for every man.  Copyright 1912 by The Toledo Chamber of Commerce  The Helper, v. 31, no. 2 November  1912

http://jupmode.wordpress.com/2011/06/16/the-toledoans-creed/  NOTE:  The Toledo-Lucas County Public Library has issues of The Helper, 1910-1911, 1918 (5 items).  See Folder 34 of Mss. Coll. 20,  Churches of Toledo Collection http://www.toledolibrary.org/images/docwidget/Mss_Coll_20_Churches/Mss_Coll_20_Churches.pdf

For nearly 170 years there has been a lodging establishment operating at the current site of French Lick Springs Hotel.  It all began in 1845, when Dr. William Bowles, a physician from Paoli, Indiana, opened the first French Lick Springs Hotel.  Bowles used his knowledge as a physician to explore the healing properties of the abundant mineral springs in this area of the country.  In 1901 the outgoing mayor of Indianapolis, Tom Taggart, along with a small group of investors, formed the French Lick Hotel Company and bought the property.  It was under Tom Taggart’s imaginative direction that French Lick Springs Hotel made great strides in décor, development and transportation.  He enlarged the east wing, now known as the Spa Wing, using the yellow “French Lick Brick,” scagliola (faux marble) and Italian mosaic floors.  While French Lick Springs Hotel was expanding, the game of golf was gaining popularity the world over.  In 1907, Taggart hired Tom Bendelow to design the hotel’s first championship golf course, known at the time as “The Valley Course.”  Just ten years later, Taggart commissioned Donald Ross & Associates to design and build “The Hill Course.”  Also in 1917, the world famous chef Louis Perrin first served tomato juice.  As luck would have it one morning he was out of oranges and could not serve the traditional orange juice.  Needing to serve some sort of juice at breakfast, Chef Perrin squeezed tomatoes and the rest is history.  In 2006, French Lick Springs Hotel reopened after an extensive renovation and new addition, French Lick Casino. The original 1917 “Hill Course” was reopened and restored as The Donald Ross Course.  With the completion of the West Baden Springs Hotel restoration in 2007 French Lick Resort was born.  See pictures at https://mg-2014.com/french-lick-springs-hotel-history/  NOTE:  The state beverage of Indiana is water and the state beverage of Ohio is tomato juice.  Find a list of 28 states, 3 territories and the District of Columbia designating state beverages at  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._state_beverages

To help meet the needs of the Federal Depository Library (FDL) community, the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) has made eBooks available in the Catalog of U.S. Government Publications (CGP).  These titles are joining the growing number of online resources that have been a vital part of the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) for over 20 years.  Users can download GPO-provided files of eBooks free of charge, for use on various eBook reading devices.  GPO’s goal is to expand and provide greater access to U.S. Federal Government content.  eBook titles can be accessed via catalog records available in the CGP.  Catalog records include descriptive information, as well as Persistent Uniform Resource Locators (PURLs) that link to the eBook titles.  PURLs provide web links that can be reliably cited in other publications.  Each CGP record displays the available formats for a title—.mobi, .epub, as well as other digital formats.  Every month, newly-acquired eBook titles are added to the CGP for public access.  http://fdlp.gov/377-projects-active/1886-ebooks-gpo

North Carolina was the only gold-producing state in the nation from 1803 until 1828, and it continued to be a leading producer until gold was discovered in California in 1848.  In 1838 the federal government built a branch mint in Charlotte, North Carolina, that coined gold from 1838 until 1861.  Gaston County, North Carolina:  A Brief History by Rita Wehunt-Black

New constitutions are written every year.  The people who write these important documents need to read and analyze texts from other places.  Constitute offers access to the world’s constitutions that users can systematically compare them across a broad set of topics — using a modern, clean interface.  Constitute allows you to interact with the world’s constitutions in a few different ways.  The Comparative Constitutions Project has tagged passages of each constitution with a topic so you can quickly find relevant excerpts on a particular subject, no matter how they are worded . You can browse the 300+ topics in the expandable drawer on the left of the page, or see suggested topics while typing in the search bar (which also lets you perform free-text queries).  You can limit your search by country or by date using the buttons under the search bar.  To download or print excerpts from multiple constitutions, click the “pin” button next to each expanded passage you want to save. You can then view and download your pinned excerpts in the drawer on the right.  https://www.constituteproject.org/#/about

Mnemonics are memory devices that help learners recall larger pieces of information, especially in the form of lists.  Many types of mnemonics exist and which type works best is limited only by the imagination of each individual learner.  Nine basic types of mnemonics (music, name, expression/word, model, ode/rhyme, note organization, image, connection, and spelling) are explained by Dennis Congos at http://www.learningassistance.com/2006/january/mnemonics.html

BSPS is easy to remember and stands for bow (front), stern/aft (rear), port (left) and starboard (right).   Find ten sailing terms at http://www.discoverboating.com/resources/article.aspx?id=243

HOMES is easy to remember and stands for names of the Great Lakes:  Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior.

Spring forward, fall back reminds us to set clocks forward an hour in the spring to enter Daylight Saving Time and turn them back an hour in the fall to leave Daylight Saving Time.

Reader feedback  I heard an amusing turn of phrase today by a financial analyst referring to the answer of the CEO of the troubled J.C. Penney to the question of whether it would have positive cash flow for 2014:   I believe that stammer speaks for itself. 

Issue 1120  March 10, 2014  On this date in 1876, Alexander Graham Bell made the first successful telephone call by saying "Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you."  In 2006, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter arrived at Mars.  In 1966, singer-songwriter Edie Arlisa Brickell was born.

Two kinds of criteria distinguish languages from dialects.  The first are social and political:  in this view, “languages” are typically prestigious, official and written, whereas “dialects” are mostly spoken, unofficial and looked down upon.  In a famous formulation of this view, “a language is a dialect with an army and a navy”.  Speakers of mere “dialects” often refer to their speech as “slang”, “patois” or the like.  (The Mandarin Chinese term for Cantonese, Shanghaiese and others is fangyan, or “place-speech”.)  Linguists have a different criterion:  if two related kinds of speech are so close that speakers can have a conversation and understand each other, they are dialects of a single language.  If comprehension is difficult to impossible, they are distinct languages.  Of course, comprehensibility is not either-or, but a continuum—and it may even be asymmetrical.  Nonetheless, mutual comprehensibility is the most objective basis for saying whether two kinds of speech are languages or dialects.  Ethnologue, a reference guide to the world's languages, calls Chinese and Arabic "macrolanguages", noting both their shared literature and the mutual (spoken) unintelligibility of many local varieties, which it calls languages.  For the most part, linguists consider spoken language primary:  speech is universal, whereas only a fraction of the world’s 6,000-7,000 languages are written.  This is behind the linguist’s common-sense definition: two people share a language if they can have a conversation without too much trouble.  http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2014/02/economist-explains-8

Mar. 2, 2014  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Tier 3 program is part of a comprehensive approach to reducing the impacts of motor vehicles on air quality and public health.  The program considers the vehicle and its fuel as an integrated system, setting new  vehicle emissions standards and lowering the sulfur content of gasoline beginning in 2017. The vehicle standards will reduce both tailpipe and evaporative emissions from passenger cars, light-duty trucks, medium-duty passenger vehicles, and some heavy-duty vehicles.  The gasoline sulfur standard will enable more stringent vehicle emissions standards and will make emissions control systems more effective.  Link to regulations and standards at http://www.epa.gov/otaq/tier3.htm

The Naval War College Library in Newport, R.I. on Feb. 23, 2014  publicly unveiled online the 4,000-page “Gray Book” collection of Fleet Adm. Chester Nimitz communications that started in the wake of the Pearl Harbor attack and ran right up until the closing days of the war.  The Naval War College Foundation funded the endeavor, which started in August 2012.  The documents have been scanned before, but the higher quality scans will offer researchers, scholars and enthusiasts a better way to search through the tome.  The Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) directly supported the digitization effort, and is currently actively remediating its archival holdings and facilities in order to both safeguard them, and ultimately to make them safely accessible to improve future naval understanding and decision-making.  The Gray Book was declassified in 1972.  The Naval History and Heritage Command, located at the Washington Navy Yard, is responsible for the preservation, analysis, and dissemination of U.S. Naval history and heritage.  It is composed of many activities including the Navy Department Library, the Navy Archives, the Navy art and artifact collections, underwater archaeology, Navy history, nine museums, USS Constitution repair facility and the historic ship Nautilus.  http://navylive.dodlive.mil/2014/02/23/nimitz-gray-book-unveiling/

Find the Gray Book at http://usnwc.edu/Academics/Library/Naval-Historical-Collection.aspx#items/show/849

Absorb vs. Adsorb  Absorb is a process by which a material imbibes some amount of liquid or gas into it.  Adsorb is a process by which some liquid or gas gets accumulated on the surface of another material.  Read much more at http://www.differencebetween.net/science/difference-between-adsorb-and-absorb/

The prefix ab means away or from.  The prefix ad means movement to, change into, addition or increase  Find much more, including examples, at http://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/prefixes.htm

We use “versus” to indicate that two entities are opposed to each other—for example, in a courtroom or in sports.  The origin of “versus” is simple:  it comes from Latin and it means “against.”  It’s a preposition, just like the words “above” and “over.”  How about when you want to abbreviate “versus”?  The only time you should use “v.” as an abbreviation [for “versus”] is in legal contexts.  In American law, the widely used citation standard is the Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, which demands that opposing legal parties be separated by “v.” when referring to a particular case. This usage is also used by the news media and other writers when referring to legal cases.  In other contexts, “vs.” (American English) or “vs” (British English) can be used as an abbreviation.  This usage is more casual than writing out “versus.”  In British law, “v” without the period is the standard.  This is also often the standard in countries whose dialect of English is substantially drawn from British English--for example, in Commonwealth nations like Australia and South Africa.  http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/versus

Feb. 28, 2014  March marks the 25th anniversary of the World Wide Web. Sophie Curtis takes a look at some of the pioneers that have helped make the Web what it is today.  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/internet/10665375/25-years-of-the-World-Wide-Web-25-Web-superstars.html

Pepper and Egg Sandwich

Italian style  http://www.food.com/recipe/italian-pepper-and-egg-sandwich-463555  25 min. time

Chicago style  http://www.squidoo.com/pepper-and-egg-sandwich  10 min. time

Getty Images, the world's largest photo agency, has made vast swathes of its library free to use, in an effort to combat piracy.  Millions of images - including famous shots of Marilyn Monroe and Barack Obama - will now be available without cost to blogs and social media sites.  The photos will be "framed" with a code that links back to Getty's website.  Getty said it had made the move after realising thousands of its images were being used without attribution.  "Our content was everywhere already," said Craig Peters, a business development executive at the Seattle-based company.  "If you want to get a Getty image today, you can find it without a watermark very simply," he added.  "The way you do that is you go to one of our customer sites and you right-click.  Or you go to Google Image search or Bing Image Search and you get it there. And that's what's happening…"  

http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-26463886

The first International Women's Day was held in 1911 and is celebrated annually on 8 March with thousands of events across the world.  The United Nations has its own official theme each year. Their theme for 2014 is 'equality for women is progress for all'.  Heather Saul  See Google Doodles at http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/international-womens-day-2014-google-doodle-compiles-celebratory-video-9176517.html

 Issue 1119  March 7, 2014  On this date in 1850, Senator Daniel Webster gave his "Seventh of March" speech endorsing the Compromise of 1850 in order to prevent a possible civil war.  In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell was granted a patent for an invention he called the telephone.