humbug  noun  1751, student slang, "trick, jest, hoax, imposition, deception," of unknown origin.  Also appearing as a verb at the same time, "deceive by false pretext" (trans.).  A vogue word of the early 1750s; its origin was a subject of much whimsical speculation even then.  "[A]s with other and more recent words of similar introduction, the facts as to its origin appear to have been lost, even before the word became common enough to excite attention" [OED]. Meaning "spirit of deception or imposition; hollowness, sham" is from 1825.  https://www.etymonline.com/word/humbug

Interview with Tony Shalhoub:  We know how to put the fun back in dysfunction--(Tony discussing his annual family reunions) on Late Night with Seth Meyers  July 24, 2018 

Taffeta (archaically spelled taffety) is a crisp, smooth, plain woven fabric made from silk or cuprammonium rayons.  The word is Persian in origin and means "twisted woven".  It is considered to be a "high-end" fabric, suitable for use in ball gowns, wedding dresses, and in interior decoration for curtains or wallcoverings.  An extremely thin, crisp type of taffeta is called paper taffeta.  There are two distinct types of silk taffeta:  yarn-dyed and piece-dyed.  Piece-dyed taffeta is often used in linings and is quite soft.  Yarn-dyed taffeta is much stiffer and is often used in evening dresses.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taffeta

The people who live in the Blue Zones—five regions in Europe, Latin America, Asia and the U.S. researchers have identified as having the highest concentrations of centenarians in the world—move their bodies a lot.  They have social circles that reinforce healthy behaviors.  They take time to de-stress.  They're part of communities, often religious ones.  And they're committed to their families.  And to qualify as a Blue Zone, these communities also have to be largely free of afflictions like heart disease, obesity, cancer and diabetes.  Dan Buettner's book, The Blue Zones Solution, is aimed at Americans, and is mostly about eating.  Tips:  Stop eating when your stomach is 80 percent full to avoid weight gain.  Eat the smallest meal of the day in the late afternoon or evening.  Eat mostly plants, especially beans.  And eat meat rarely, in small portions of 3 to 4 ounces.  Blue Zoners eat portions this size just five times a month, on average.  Drink alcohol moderately and regularly, i.e. 1-2 glasses a day.  Eliza Barclay  https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/04/11/398325030/eating-to-break-100-longevity-diet-tips-from-the-blue-zones

The Goldilocks Zone refers to the habitable zone around a star where the temperature is just right--not too hot and not too cold--for liquid water to exist on an planet.  Liquid water is essential for life as we know it.  Where we find liquid water on Earth we also find life.  "The only life we know about is our carbon-based life, and water plays a crucial part in our own existence, and so it's only natural that we direct our attention to planets in locations capable of having liquid water," Professor John Webb of the University of New South Wales said.  Stuart Gary  Read more at http://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2016-02-22/goldilocks-zones-habitable-zone-astrobiology-exoplanets/6907836

One Pot Spicy Thai Noodles are SO good and easy to cook up.  This is a vegetarian recipe, but there are options for added protein too! by Allyson  https://domesticsuperhero.com/one-pot-spicy-thai-noodles/  Thank you, Muse reader!

Are you familiar with the word  anodyne?  It’s certainly been getting a lot more use lately.  Why is that?  The word has been around for a long time (since the first half of the 16th century, as both a noun and an adjective, according to the OED), with the primary meaning of ‘something that soothes pain’ (either physical or psychological).  It was always uncommon, but use steadily dropped across the 20th century (as determined using Google Ngrams).  Anodyne seems to have taken on a slightly different meaning in modern use, more along the lines of “harmless.”  In 2007 the OED included an additional draft definition, which is worth giving here in full: “Unlikely to provoke a strong response; innocuous, inoffensive; vapid, bland.”  They date the first use of this sense to 1933.  Anodyne recently seems to have gone from being one of those words you could—quite literally—go a couple of years without encountering to one that you can hardly avoid on a weekly basis.  Over the past few months, I’ve heard it used in speech almost regularly and have come across at least one print use (without looking for it).  In a sure sign that something is viral (I’ve been infected!), I caught myself using the word a couple of weeks ago. While anodyne is, of course, a perfectly good word, I can’t remember ever having a pressing need to use it.  But I’d caught the bug.  This kind of uptick in popularity does seem to spread like an infection, affecting more and more victims over a greater and greater area.  We can’t blame all such outbreaks on the media, but the sudden popularity of an unusual word is often the result of journalists, commentators, columnists, or others with a broadcast forum, who hear an unusual word, decide that it has some cachet in the moment, and then repeat it.  Before you know it, it seems like every talking head is dropping that word into their own speech or writing.  You know this is true:  I’ve noticed similar word trends in the past and you probably have, too.  For instance, a few years ago every financial journalist and commentator under the sun seemed to be using the word “tranche.”  In very little time, all sorts of non-financial speakers were also using it (often incorrectly). “Curate” (frequently used without regard to accuracy) is also a word that’s reached infectious levels over the past few years.  Another that I’ve got my eye on is “weaponize” (which might be overused, but seems to usually be used correctly—as long as you view it as a metaphor rather than literally).  Tranche has largely faded back into obscurity, but curate seems likely to retain its new prominence; if I had to place bets on the others mentioned here, I’d guess that weaponize will stick around but that anodyne will recede again before long.

Christopher Daly  https://thebettereditor.wordpress.com/2018/06/29/what-does-anodyne-mean-its-really-not-very-exciting/

A braid is any technique that involves crossing one section of hair over another.  You can have a braid with two, three, four, or five sections before the sections get too hard to hold.  See instruction for basic (English) braid, inside-out (Dutch) braid, French braid, inside-out French braid at https://rapunzelsresource.wordpress.com/2009/10/13/braid-basics/  See Luana braids at https://rapunzelsresource.wordpress.com/2009/10/22/luana-braids-civil-war-variation/  See also A Tribute to Victoria’s Gloriously Over-the-top Updos by Anna Silman at https://www.thecut.com/2017/01/a-tribute-to-victorias-gloriously-over-the-top-updos.html

The hardest part of preparing peaches for freezing is peeling them.  By scoring the bottom of each peach with a paring knife and quickly dunking it in a boiling water bath and then an ice bath, the peach skin loosens, making it incredibly easy to peel.  You can discard the peach skins or cover them with a bit of vodka in the fridge for a few days.  Meghan Splawn  Read more at https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-freeze-peaches-234168

With a cat in it, a home was never empty.  "Echoes, like mice, were frightened from the corners, and loneliness, though still possible, had blunter teeth."   "The grace and delicacy of the coral cities put Anna in mind of Dr. Seuss's Whoville."  Flashback, novel # 11 in the Anna Pigeon series by Nevada Barr 

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1924  July  25, 2018