More of the Muser’s favorite authors:  John Angus McPhee (born 1931)  Clive Staples Lewis (1898-1963)  Gabriel García Márquez (1931)  Richard George Adams (1920-2016) George Eliot (1819–1880)  Franz Kafka  (1883–1924)  John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (1892–1973) 

John Arthur Lithgow (born October 19, 1945) is an American actor.  He studied at Harvard University and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art before becoming known for his diverse work on stage and screen.  He has received numerous accolades including six Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and two Tony Awards as well as nominations for two Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, and four Grammy Awards.  Lithgow has received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2001 and was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2005.  Lithgow launched into a career as a recording artist with Singin' in the Bathtub, a 1999 album of children's music.  In June 2002, Lithgow released his second children's album Farkle and Friends; however, Waylon Jennings died four months before its release, and it was dedicated to his memory.  It was the musical companion to his book The Remarkable Farkle McBride, which tells the story of a young musical genius.  Farkle and Friends features the vocal talents of Lithgow and Bebe Neuwirth, backed by the Bill Elliott Swing Orchestra as well.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lithgow   His last name is pronounced LITH-go.   

The Nobel Prize in literature was awarded October 9, 2024 to South Korean author Han Kang for what the Nobel committee called “her intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life.”  Han, 53, won the International Booker Prize in 2016 for “The Vegetarian,” an unsettling novel in which a woman’s decision to stop eating meat has devastating consequences.  https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/nobel-prize-literature-awarded-south-korea-author-han-kang-rcna174811   

John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton received the Nobel Prize in Physics for their research in machine learning with artificial neural networks.  Find listings for 2024 at https://www.nobelprize.org/all-nobel-prizes-2024/    

The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences is awarded to Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, and James A. Robinson for their studies of global inequality.   

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2865  October 16, 2024

Sassafras (Sassafras albidum) is a North American tree steeped in Indigenous culture throughout its range within deciduous woodlands of the northeast and southeast United States.  Indigenous names for the tree include kvfi, pauame, and winauk.  The origin of the name sassafras is difficult to pinpoint but date to a mispronunciation by 16th century European explorers of the botanical family Saxifrage.  The root bark has long been enjoyed as a flavorful hot or cold tea and also used as a traditional remedy for treating a variety of illnesses, including common head colds and fevers, and as a digestive aid and general restorative tonic for overall health.  Indigenous people have long known that Sassafras leaves are edible.  Above ground, Sassafras has many admirable features, but its most noteworthy characteristic lies beneath the soil.  Cinnamon-colored bark that contains safrole, an aromatic oil cherished for its spicy scent covers the tree’s roots.  Its scent is a combination of star anise, cinnamon, citrus, and vanilla. The bark has imparted its flavor to fragrant tea, soft drinks, and its extracted oil has been used to scent candles, soaps, and perfumes.  However, safrole is considered a carcinogen and has been banned for human consumption by the Food and Drug Administration since the 1960s.  In the late 19th century, sassafras tea evolved into a refreshing soft drink, thanks to Philadelphia-based pharmacist, Charles Hires. Aromatic sassafras root bark was one of many botanical ingredients in Hires original root beer recipe, which was promoted as a healthy alternative to hard liquor and other alcohol-based drinks.  Fall is the ideal time to look for the characteristic mitten-shaped leaves of the sassafras tree while the leaves are their most colorful.  See pictures at https://cornellbotanicgardens.org/sassafras-native-gem-of-north-america/  The Muser has two sassafras trees in her backyard.     

Brooklyn Heights is a residential neighborhood within the New York City borough of Brooklyn.  The neighborhood is bounded by Old Fulton Street near the Brooklyn Bridge on the north, Cadman Plaza West on the east, Atlantic Avenue on the south, and the Brooklyn–Queens Expressway or the East River on the west.   Adjacent neighborhoods are Dumbo to the north, Downtown Brooklyn to the east, and Cobble Hill and Boerum Hill to the south.  Originally referred to as Brooklyn Village, it has been a prominent area of Brooklyn since 1834.  The neighborhood is noted for its low-rise architecture and its many brownstone rowhouses, most of them built prior to the Civil War.  It also has an abundance of notable churches and other religious institutions.  Brooklyn's first art gallery, the Brooklyn Arts Gallery, was opened in Brooklyn Heights in 1958.  In 1965, a large part of Brooklyn Heights was protected from unchecked development by the creation of the Brooklyn Heights Historic District, the first such district in New York City.  The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1966.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklyn_Heights   

The Nobel Prize in Literature is awarded to South Korean poet and novelist Han Kang.

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry is divided, with half awarded to Demis Hassabis and John M. Jumper for their work on protein structure prediction and the other half to David Baker for his work on computational protein design.  Wikipedia  October 12, 2024  

The second Friday of October, 11 October in 2024, was established as International Egg Day by the International Egg Commission to raise awareness about the benefit of eggs as an inexpensive and nutritious food source. 

overegg verb (third-person singular simple present overeggs, present participle overegging, simple past and past participle overegged)

(transitive, idiomatic, originally UK, regional) to overdo. 

over-egg

overegged, over-egged (adjective)

overegg the pudding, over-egg the pudding

See also

gild the lily

go overboard

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/overegg#English    

George Bernard Shaw once quipped, "I often quote myself; it adds spice to my conversation." A.Word.a Day with Anu Garg  October 14, 2024   

October 14:  Indigenous Peoples' Day in the United States (2024); Thanksgiving in Canada (2024)  Wikipedia   

The first Columbus Day celebration took place on October 12, 1792, when the Columbian Order of New York, better known as Tammany Hall, held an event to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the historic landing.  The Columbus Obelisk in Baltimore was erected in 1792.  Many Italian Americans observe Columbus Day as a celebration of their heritage and not of Columbus himself, and the day was celebrated in New York City on October 12, 1866.  The day was first enshrined as a legal holiday in the United States through the lobbying of Angelo Noce, a first-generation American, in Denver.   The first statewide holiday was proclaimed by Colorado governor Jesse F. McDonald in 1905, and it was made a statutory holiday in 1907.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbus_Day   

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2864  October 14, 2024

Ogden Nash was a famous American poet well known for his light verse.  At the time of his death in 1971, The New York Times said his droll verse with its unconventional rhymes made him the country's best-known producer of humorous poetry.   Nash wrote over 500 pieces of comic verse.  The best of his work was published in 14 volumes between 1931 and 1972.  https://www.best-poems.net/ogden_nash/index.html 

Ogden Nash’s most famous poem is probably ‘The Song of the Open Road,’ which was published in his 1931 collection Hard Lines.  The poem is a humorous take on the American dream of freedom and adventure.  https://poemanalysis.com/ogden-nash/biography/    

Camille Saint-Saëns’ The Carnival of the Animals

Saint-Saëns, who lived from 1835 to 1921, composed the Carnival in 1886, but, concerned that such a lighthearted work might harm his reputation as a serious composer, allowed only private performances of it during his lifetime.  Its public premiere took place in 1922, and it quickly became one of his best-loved works.  In the late 1940s, Goddard Lieberman of Columbia Records and conductor Andre Kostelanetz had the inspired idea of adding poetry to Saint-Saëns’ score.  Ogden Nash was their first and only choice as poet, as was Noël Coward as speaker for the projected recording.  https://derricksblog.wordpress.com/2016/11/30/saint-saens-the-carnival-of-the-animals-with-verses-by-ogden-nash/  

FOOD  VERSES

“Bring salad or sausage or scrapple,
A berry or even a beet.
Bring an oyster, an egg, or an apple,
As long as it’s something to eat”

“I'm sure that Europe never had.  A fish as tasty as the shad” 

Play the music of Haydn or Honegger, But lace it with honest oil and vinegar!”

“Let us call Yorkshire pudding A fortunate blunder.” 

Ogden Nash (1902-1971)    

The Kitten Playing with the Falling Leaves (excerpt) by William Wordsworth
--But the kitten how she starts!
Crouches, stretches, paws, and darts:
First at one, and then its fellow,
Just as light, and just as yellow:
There are many now--now one--
Now they stop and there are none.
What intentness of desire
In her up-turned eye of fire!
With a tiger-leap half way,
Now she meets the coming prey.
Lets it go at last, and then
Has it in her power again.  https://www.jigidi.com/jigsaw-puzzle/is42prhj/kitten-playing-with-fallen-leaves/

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2863  October 9, 2024

A copse (or coppice)—a grouping of trees and shrubs—was akin to a clump or thicket in the choice and the arrangement of vegetation.  A copse, however, was sometimes distinguished from these other features by virtue of its association with husbandry.  Copses were thinned regularly by removing branches and limbs, which were then used for purposes other than ornamentation by the landowner.  According to Walter Nicol (1812), this practice of trimming trees and shrubs also distinguished a copse from a wood, since the former included trees and shrubs that were never permitted to grow to “any considerable size.”  

Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 1847, excerpt from “Walden”:  

“There [in my garden] broad-armed oaks, the copses’ maze,

The cold sea-wind detain;

Here sultry Summer over-stays

When Autumn chills the plain.”  https://heald.nga.gov/mediawiki/index.php/Copse 

Thomas Rhodes Rockwell (1933–September 27, 2024) was an American author of children's books.  Rockwell was the son of the American artist Norman Rockwell and his second wife Mary Rockwell, a school teacher and unpublished author.  He grew up in Arlington, Vermont, a very rural small town.  He attended a one-room schoolhouse; there were 23 students in his high school graduating class.  His early mentors were Jim and Clara Edgerton, local farmers.  He attended Bard College.  Rockwell said that he always wanted to write.  He was co-writer of his father's 1960 autobiography, My Adventures as an Illustrator.  He got the idea of writing children's books when he started reading to his own son, Barnaby.  His wife Gail illustrated several of his books.  His best-known book is How to Eat Fried Worms (1973), about a boy who accepts a US$50 (equivalent to $340 in 2023) bet to eat one worm per day for 15 days.  Although it was rejected by 23 publishers before finally coming out in print, the book sold 3 million copies and received the Mark Twain Award, the California Young Reader Medal, and the Sequoyah Book Award.  It was made into an animated TV episode of CBS Storybreak in 1985 and a 2006 film.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Rockwell    

The Persimmon Festival celebrated its first year in 1947 when longtime Mitchell, Indiana educator and native, George Bishop, came up with the plan to start a three-day festival in late October as a homecoming for those who called Mitchell their home.  From there, the festival grew into a week-long celebration that encompasses Spring Mill State Park as well as downtown Mitchell as an all-volunteer staff of community members plan nightly musical entertainment, craft shows, fantastic food offerings, a carnival, a historical re-creation, car shows, queen contests, and fun for people of all ages.  http://persimmonfestival.org/?page_id=2   

The persimmon (/pərˈsɪmən/) is the edible fruit of a number of species of trees in the genus Diospyros.  The most widely cultivated of these is the kaki persimmon, Diospyros kaki–Diospyros is in the family Ebenaceae, and a number of non-persimmon species of the genus are grown for ebony timber.   In 2019, China produced 75% of the world total of persimmons.  Like the tomato, persimmons are not berries in the general culinary sense, but its morphology as a single fruit derived from the ovary of a single flower means it is a berry in the botanical sense.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persimmon 

Art Deco proper noun

A style of decorative art (often used in household objects) and architecture originating in the 1920s and 1930s, characterized by bold geometric forms, strong contrasting colours, and simple composition.  It is also marked as World Architecture Day by the International Union of Architects.  It is marked as World Architecture Day by the first Monday of October in 2024, is designated by the United Nations as World Habitat Day.  Wikipedia   

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2862  October 7, 2024  

As winter moisture rolls in from the Pacific Ocean and makes snow on the Sierra Nevada range, it also can create blankets of white across the Central Valley below. Known as Tule (too-lee), this opaque fog spread across California in time for the 2020 winter solstice.  Though it can look pretty from above, the dense fog can be hazardous for people on the ground.  With more frequent rain and lighter winds during winter, moist coastal air masses moving in through the lowlands, and cooler air slipping down from the mountains, the San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys are fertile territory for fog formation.  Daytime sunlight warms the soil and causes evaporation, while nighttime cooling can cause that moisture to saturate the air.  If winds are calm, the water droplets accumulate until fog clouds form near the ground.  Tule fog tends to form after sunset and becomes thickest just before dawn. It slowly thins as the air warms in daytime sunlight.  The name is derived from its formation over reedy, wetland vegetation—Los Tules or tullin.  https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/147712/cool-yule-tule    

Arch Mission Foundation is a non-profit organization whose goal is to create multiple redundant repositories of human knowledge around the Solar System, including on Earth.  The organization was founded by Nova Spivack and Nick Slavin in 2015 and incorporated in 2016.  The Arch Mission plans to deliver multiple backups of civilization to locations around the Solar System as part of a distributed backup strategy.  The foundation plans "multiple . . . Arch libraries intended to preserve and disseminate humanity's knowledge across time and space for the benefit of future generations".  The foundation is technology agnostic and will use whichever storage technology is best for its purposes including multiple technologies.  The first method used is "5D laser optical data storage in quartz", which will reportedly remain readable for up to 14 billion years, resist cosmic radiation, and can withstand temperatures up to 1,000°C.  The foundation also plans on spinning off companies based on patents from research groups involved with the technologies it uses to fund itself in the future.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arch_Mission_Foundation    

This salad is a make-ahead marvel!  The salad needs to chill for a couple of hours anyway, but you can safely make it a full day ahead if needed.  The flavor gets better as it sits!  The key to make Seven Layer Salad in advance is to ensure all of the layers are totally dry.  Spin that lettuce in a salad spinner or blot with clean kitchen towels.  Your peas should go in thawed, not frozen.  Celery and onion aren’t water-logged anyway, so you’ll be good to go there.  And the mayonnaise layer provides a nice moisture barrier for the cheese and bacon.  

Lettuce:  Iceberg, crispy head lettuce, or Romaine.

Red onion:  I love the color of this one, but you can substitute white, yellow, or sweet onion if you prefer.  Tame harsh raw onions by soaking in ice water for 10 minutes, then draining well.

Celery:  A few ribs for extra crunch.

Peas:  Run frozen peas under cold water until thawed and drain well.

Mayonnaise:  Plain, good quality mayo like Hellman’s or Best Foods is perfect.

Sugar:  A little sugar transforms your mayo into salad dressing, but you can leave it out if you want to.

Cheddar cheese:  Or change the cheese to the one you love like smoked provolone, blue cheese, or feta cheese.

Bacon:  You could layer in some turkey or ham instead of the bacon. 

Meggan Hill  https://www.culinaryhill.com/seven-layer-salad/#h-7-layer-salad-ingredients    

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2861  October 4, 2024

mee (personal pronoun)  Obsolete spelling of me.  quotations ▼

obsolete emphatic of me quotations ▼

Noun  mee (countable and uncountable, plural mees-style wheat noodles. coordinate terms ▲quotations 

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mee#English    

Are you are old enough to remember hearing the words, “Meet me at the Eagle”?  It was quite common for people who were shopping at the John Wanamaker Department Store in Philadelphia to arrange to do so with their family or friends.  Moreover, if one were to become lost or even separated from their loved one while shopping, then this phrase took on real significance and became very sound advice!  The Eagle was the centerpiece of the Grand Court in the John Wanamaker Main Store located in Philadelphia.  This prominent symbol would become the meeting place for thousands of Philadelphians since Mr. Wanamaker brought it to the store from the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition held in St. Louis.  Separately made parts form the heavy plates of the inner structure and the outer features and other surface parts.  The Eagle contains some 6,600 bronze feathers and each individual feather was made and painstakingly placed by hand.  Created by the noted German sculptor August Gaul, the dimensions of his creation measured 6’6” in height, 3’3” wide and 9’10” in length.  In 2001, the Philadelphia Historical Commission designated the Eagle an historic object.  The original Eagle is currently located at what is now Macy’s Department Store at 13th and Market Streets in Philadelphia.  See pictures at https://rivertonhistory.com/2019/06/meet-me-at-the-eagle/    

The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia.  The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division.  The team plays its home games at Lincoln Financial Field in the South Philadelphia Sports Complex.  The franchise was established in 1933 as a replacement for the bankrupt Frankford Yellow Jackets when a group led by Bert Bell secured the rights to an NFL franchise in Philadelphia.  After more than a year of searching for a suitable replacement for the Yellow Jackets in the lucrative Philadelphia market, the National Football League granted an expansion franchise to an ownership group headed by Bert Bell and Lud Wray, who were also awarded the liquidated assets of the defunct Yellow Jackets organization.  Drawing inspiration from the Blue Eagle logo of the National Recovery Administration, a centerpiece of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal policies, Bert Bell and Lud Wray named their new franchise the Philadelphia Eagles.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_Eagles   

Samuel Maverick (c.1602—c. 1670) was one of the first colonists to settle in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.  Arriving ahead of the Winthrop Fleet, Maverick became one of the earliest settlers, one of the largest landowners and one of the first slave-owners in Massachusetts.  He signed his name as "Mavericke".  He is the ancestor of rancher Samuel Maverick, from whom the term maverick for "independently minded" and an unbranded animal derives.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Maverick_(colonist)#  For the Texas politician and landowner (1803–1870), see Samuel Maverick.  For the Texas soldier and businessman (1837–1936), see Samuel Maverick Jr.    

Debating in various forms has a long history that can be traced back to the philosophical and political debates of Ancient Greece, such as Athenian Democracy or the Shastrartha in Ancient India.  In Imperial China's Han Dynasty, debate amongst scholars was most famously portrayed in a series of debates known as the Discourses on Salt and Iron, held in 81 BCE.  Named by Emperor Zhao for its two most famous debates, those debates focused on the reformation of the economic policies implemented by Zhao's predecessor, Emperor Wu.  Modern forms of debating and the establishment of debating societies in the Western world occurred during the Age of Enlightenment in the 18th century.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debate   

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2860  October 2, 2024

Synonyms of 'powwow' in British English  verb  

confer 

parley 

discuss 

talk 

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english-thesaurus/powwow   

Synonyms of ‘powwow’ in American English  noun   a large gathering organized by Native Americans for socializing, dancing, singing, and celebrating their culture. *  a council or conference of or with Native Americans.  *  (historically, among North American Indians) a ceremony accompanied by spiritual, religious, and ritual practices, along with dancing, performed for the cure of disease, success in a hunt, etc.  *  (among Native Americans) a priest or shaman.  Informal: often offensive. any conference or meeting.  https://www.dictionary.com/browse/powwow   

The Dewey Arch was a triumphal arch in Madison Square, New York City.  It was erected for a parade on September 30, 1899, in honor of Admiral George Dewey, to celebrate his victory at the Battle of Manila Bay in the Philippines the previous year.  Constructed around two months before the parade, the arch was made of the plaster-based material staff, typically used in temporary buildings.  After the parade, the arch began to deteriorate and it was demolished in 1900 after an attempt to raise money to rebuild it in stone was unsuccessful.  The arch's larger sculptures were sent to Charleston, South Carolina, for an exhibit, after which they were either destroyed or lost.  Wikipedia    

Adjective  grimdark  (fandom slang) Of a film, television programme, video game, written work, etc.: having a gloomy, dystopian atmosphere. antonyms ▲quotations ▼

Antonyms:  hopepunk, noblebright

Noun  grimdark (uncountable)  The first edition of the rulebook for the tabletop strategy game Warhammer 40,000, from which the word is derived, was published September, 1987.    

Kris Kristofferson (died September 28, 2024) frequently topped the U.S. country charts and his songwriting led stars including Janis Joplin, Gladys Knight and Johnny Cash to cover his work.  Over a six-decade career, Kristofferson won three Grammy Awards.  In 2014 he received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.  Known for his mastery of gritty and heartfelt lyrics, as well as unusual rhythms and phrasing, Kristofferson penned hits including “Me and Bobby McGee,” “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down” and “Help Me Make It Through the Night.”  In 1971, Kristofferson began a side career as an actor and would go on to win a Golden Globe for his 1976 performance in “A Star Is Born” opposite Barbra Streisand.  Wall Street Journal  September 30, 2024   

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2859  September 30, 2024