According to local Washington, D.C. lore, the term lobbyist was coined by President Ulysses S. Grant during his tenure in office (1869-1877).  Grant, it is said, would frequent the famous Willard Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue to seek reprieve from the demands of office. Despite his best efforts to keep his outings private, individuals standing in the hotel lobby would approach Grant and ask him for special favors or jobs.   President Grant apparently referred to these people as lobbyists.  It turns it turns out that the origin of the word lobbyist cannot, in fact, be traced to the majestic lobby of the Willard Hotel.  Rather, "lobbyist" was a part of the lexicon in the United States since well before 1850, with the name reportedly first used to refer to petitioners who would wait to speak to legislators in the lobby of the New York State Capitol in Albany.  Furthermore, the word "lobbying" can be found in print dating back to 1820.  Although history does not offer a definitive answer as to the very first derivations of the term lobbyist, several accounts trace the expression to London, England, where members of Parliament and their peers would gather in the lobbies of the Palace of Westminster before and after debate.  Lobbyist was reportedly in common usage in Britain throughout the 1800s, with one report suggesting that the origin of the moniker dates back to as early as 1640.  http://www.watermandc.com/origin-of-lobbyist.html

Paraphrase from The Silver Spoon, second book in the trilogy "A Modern Comedy", second part of the Forsyte Chronicles, Part III, Chapter 1, Circuses by John Galsworthy   Sensation-hunting had become a disease, and no one was being inoculated for it.  http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200741h.html

Three exceptional men from Dayton, Ohio, Wilbur Wright, Orville Wright and Paul Laurence Dunbar, found their creative outlet here through accomplishments and failures, and finally success.  However, these men offered the world something far greater, they offered the world hope, and the ability to take a dream and make it a reality.  Read about Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park at https://www.nps.gov/daav/index.htm   See pictures and descriptions of 16 trail sites  at http://www.aviationtrailinc.org/trailsites   Call  937-225-7705 for the current park schedule.

What’s the Difference Between “O” and “Oh”?  O say can you see . . . that this line begins with an “O” and not an “Oh”?  “O” may seem like just an old fashioned way to write “Oh,” but it actually has a slightly different meaning.  Consider some other famous O’s:  O Captain, my captain, O Pioneers, O Come All Ye Faithful, O Canada, O Brother Where Art Thou, O ye of little faith, O Christmas Tree.  These are all examples of what’s known as the vocative O—it indicates that someone or something is being directly addressed.  When you say “O Christmas tree” the “O” means you are talking right to the Christmas tree.  The rest of the song bears this out.  (Your branches are lovely! You’re always wearing that dress of green!)  Same for “O Canada” and pretty much any anthem.  The words to your school song probably go something like “O [alma mater], your campus is beautiful, and we think you’re great.”  “Oh” has a wider range.  It can indicate pain, surprise, disappointment, or really any emotional state.  While “oh, man!” could mean a number of things, “O man!” means “hey, you there … you man over there.”  The convention now is that while “oh” can be lower case, and is usually followed by a comma, “O” is always uppercase and without a comma.  But there hasn’t always been a strict separation between the two forms.  “Oh” and “O” were used interchangeably for a long time.  The meanings often overlap  too. When Juliet says, “O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?” is she addressing him in her imagination or sighing with emotion?  A little of both.  It’s not hard to see why it’s so difficult to keep a firm border around vocative O in English.  Arika Okrent, author of In the Land of Invented Languages  http://mentalfloss.com/article/56582/whats-difference-between-o-and-oh  See also a list of interjections (words that have no grammatical meaning, but just signify emotions, such as "Aha" and "Wow") and their meanings at https://www.vidarholen.net/contents/interjections/

Chuck Finley appears to be a voracious reader, having checked out 2,361 books at the East Lake County (Florida) Library in a nine-month period this year.  But Finley didn't read a single one of the books, ranging from "Cannery Row" by John Steinbeck to a kids book called "Why Do My Ears Pop?" by Ann Fullick.  That's because Finley isn't real.  The fictional character was concocted by two employees at the library, complete with a false address and driver's license number.  After allegations by an unidentified person made in November 2016, an investigation by the Lake County clerk of courts' inspector general's office concluded that Finley was a fake, and the county has since requested a systemwide audit of its libraries.  The goal behind the creation of "Chuck Finley" was to make sure certain books stayed on the shelves--books that aren't used for a long period can be discarded and removed from the library system.  George Dore, the library's branch supervisor who was put on administrative leave for his part in the episode, said he wanted to avoid having to later repurchase books purged from the shelf.  He said the same thing is being done at other libraries.  Jason Ruiter   http://www.newsherald.com/news/20170102/fake-readers-help-save-books

How To Make Zucchini Noodles by Elana Amsterdam   Some people use a spiralizer to make zucchini noodles (zoodles).  I prefer the julienne peeler for a couple of reasons.  First, it’s half the price of a spiralizer.  Second, it takes up about a tenth of the space.  So if you’re wondering how to make zucchini noodles, my advice is to do so with the julienne slicer!  It’s a breeze.  Find recipe and pictures at https://elanaspantry.com/how-to-make-zucchini-noodles/

Audrey Niffenegger (born 1963) is an American writer, artist and academic.  Niffenegger's debut novel, The Time Traveler's Wife, was published in 2003.  A film adaptation was released in 2009.  She has written a graphic novel, or "novel in pictures" as Niffenegger calls it, called The Three Incestuous Sisters.  This book tells the story of three unusual sisters who live in a seaside house.  The book has been compared to the work of Edward Gorey.  Another graphic novel, The Adventuress, was released on September 1, 2006.  The 2004 short story 'The Night Bookmobile' was serialised in 2008 in 'Visual Novel' format in The Guardian.  In March 2009, Niffenegger sold her second novel, a literary ghost story called Her Fearful Symmetry, to Charles Scribner's Sons for an advance of $5 million. The book was released on October 1, 2009 and is set in London's Highgate Cemetery where, during research for the book, Niffenegger acted as a tour guide.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audrey_Niffenegger

The American Library Association announced its annual children's book awards on January 23, 2017.  While the Caldecott and Newbery medals are the best known of these honors, this year, one of the lesser-known awards might attract the most attention.  That's because the Coretta Scott King Award for best African-American author went to Rep. John Lewis and his collaborator Andrew Aydin for March: Book Three, the third installment in the civil rights leader's graphic memoir.  Lewis' book also won three other awards from the library association—the first time an author has won that many awards in a single year.  In November, March won a National Book Award.  A Coretta Scott King Award is also given to the best African-American illustrator, and this year's went to Javaka Steptoe for Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat.  Steptoe also won the prestigious Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book.  The Newbery Medal for outstanding contribution to children's literature went to Kelly Barnhill for The Girl Who Drank the Moon, a fantasy novel for middle school readers.  http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/01/23/511230924/john-lewis-graphic-novel-wins-4-american-library-association-awards

Book publisher orders more copies of ‘1984’ after sales surge by Matt Jaworowski   According to the report, “1984” first appeared on the online retailer’s top sellers list on January 23, 2017.  By the next day, it had risen to No. 1.  The list is updated every hour based on latest sales.  CNN is reporting Penguin, a book publisher with rights to Orwell’s “1984” has pushed through an order for 75,000 copies this week--notably larger than their average reprint.  Orwell’s novel tells a dystopian tale of a people ruled by an overbearing government fraught with surveillance, “doublethink” and public manipulation.  CNN also reports “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley and “It Can’t Happen Here” by Sinclair Lewis--which follow similar themes of “1984”--also cracked Amazon’s top 100 top sellers list this week.   http://wtnh.com/2017/01/25/book-publisher-orders-more-copies-of-1984-after-sales-surge/

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1682  January 25, 2017  On this date in 1858, Wedding March by Felix Mendelssohn was played at the marriage of Queen Victoria's daughter, Victoria, and Friedrich of Prussia, and became a popular wedding processional.  On this date in 1890, Nellie Bly completed her round-the-world journey in 72 days. 

Word of the Day  Burns night  noun  An event held on the evening of 25th January in celebration of the Scottish poet and lyricist Robert Burns (born on that day in 1759), usually involving Scottish foods and recitals of his poetry.