Nachos are a Mexican regional dish from northern Mexico that consists of heated tortilla chips or totopos covered with melted cheese (or a cheese-based sauce), often served as a snack or appetizer.  More elaborate versions of the dish include other ingredients, and may be substantial enough to serve as a main dish.  Ignacio "El Nacho" Anaya created the dish in 1940.  The original nachos consisted of fried corn tortilla chips covered with melted cheese and sliced jalapeño peppers.  In the United States, National Nacho Day is celebrated on November 6.  See graphics at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nachos 

The word surgeon is another spelling for chirurgeon, from Greek cheir (hand).  In Medieval Europe, a pilgrim brought back a palm branch as a token of their pilgrimage and hence was known as a palmer.  A palm tree is called so because of the resemblance of the shape of its frond to the palm of a hand.  What’s common between Boca Raton, Florida, and Oral, South Dakota?  Both are named after the mouth.  Boca Raton is Spanish for a mouse’s mouth.  Anu Garg 

Ellen Price, the early-20th-century Danish ballerina, has two claims to immortality.  Firstly as the model for Edvard Eriksen's statue of The Little Mermaid, the tourist face of Copenhagen; and secondly as one of the very first ballerinas whose dancing has been preserved on film.  Price belonged to one of Denmark's great performing dynasties, founded by an English circus rider and pantomime artist, James Price, who settled in Copenhagen in the late 18th century.  Price's descendents became dominant throughout Danish theatre and ballet:  his granddaughter Juliette was the first ballerina to dance Giselle for the Royal Danish Ballet:  Ellen's mother and father (Juliette's cousin) were themselves principal dancers, and Ellen made her debut with the company in 1895.  It was Ellen's performance of the Little Mermaid in Hans Beck's 1909 ballet that led to her modeling for Eriksen's statue.  And while it was only her face that he copied--she refused to pose nude--on stage she was acclaimed for the full-bodied and full-hearted expressiveness of her dancing.  In this first exquisite fragment, shot in 1903 by pioneering documentary maker Peter Elfelt, Price's animation shines through the jerky speed of the film.  She's dancing the title role of August Bournonville's 1836 version of La Sylphide.  And while the buoyancy and character of her performance is partly a reflection of the naturalistic style in which all Royal Danish Ballet dancers were trained, it's clear that Price herself was an outstanding performer.  Judith Mackrell  Link to videos at https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2013/sep/05/ellen-price-first-ballet-film-star 

Origin of Bone to Pick   Pick has several meanings.  One of these is to repeatedly pull at something.  This is the sense the word has in this idiom.  Most sources state that this expression comes from a dog trying to pick off the meat from a bone, and one connotation of this idiom is trying to solve a difficult time-consuming problem.  This is likely related to the fact that dogs often gnaw on a bone for very long periods of time, even when most of the meat is gone.  This type of usage dates back to the 1500s.  https://writingexplained.org/idiom-dictionary/bone-to-pick 

Lettuce (Lactuca sativa) is an annual plant of the daisy family, Asteraceae.  It is most often grown as a leaf vegetable, but sometimes for its stem and seeds.  Lettuce is most often used for salads, although it is also seen in other kinds of food, such as soups, sandwiches and wraps; it can also be grilled.  One variety, the celtuce (asparagus lettuce), is grown for its stems, which are eaten either raw or cooked.  In addition to its main use as a leafy green, it has also gathered religious and medicinal significance over centuries of human consumption.  Europe and North America originally dominated the market for lettuce, but by the late 20th century the consumption of lettuce had spread throughout the world.  As of 2017, world production of lettuce and chicory was 27 million tonnes, 56% of which came from China.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lettuce

October 21, 2021  Just hours after releasing a new license plate design unveiled by Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, the Ohio Department of Safety assures aviation and history enthusiasts that the design has been corrected.  The last license plate released was the “Ohio Pride” plate introduced in 2013.  The plate features the Wright Brothers’ first powered aircraft along with a banner flown with Ohio’s tag line “The Birthplace Of Aviation.”  The problem was that the banner was attached to the nose of the plane and not the tail.  The new license plate will be available for purchase by the end of the year.  Kathy Laird  See graphic at https://crawfordcountynow.com/local/department-quickly-gets-it-wright/ 

Renowned children’s book illustrator Jerry Pinkney, winner of the Caldecott Medal and five Caldecott Honor citations, widely acclaimed for his picture books honoring his Black heritage as well as for his richly detailed works reimagining well-loved fairy and folktales, died on October 20, 2021.  He was 81.  Jerry Pinkney was born December 22, 1939 in Philadelphia to James H. and Williemae Pinkney, the fourth of six children.  In an autobiographical essay for Something About the Author, he recalled growing up “on an all-black block” in the Germantown section of the city on a street bustling with activity and many other children.  Pinkney took an interest in drawing very early on, imitating his two older brothers who would draw images from comic books and photographic magazines like Life.  He first believed that drawing and art might one day play a big role in his life when he received encouragement from his teachers and classmates whenever he created drawings for his elementary school projects.  Shannon Maughan  https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-industry-news/article/87686-obituary-jerry-pinkney.html

 On October 24, 2021, Tom Brady found Mike Evans late in the first quarter for his second touchdown pass of the game and 600th of his career, furthering his record-setting mark and becoming the first player to reach 600 touchdown passes.  While the historic pass extended Tampa Bay's lead over Chicago to 21-0 before the first quarter was up, it was not without some drama.  Evans was apparently unaware of the significance of the pass, and handed the ball to a fan in the front row near the end zone.  Once the gravity of the moment was realized, team staffers were deployed to work out a deal with the fan in return for the ball.  Nick Selbe  https://www.si.com/nfl/2021/10/24/tom-brady-600th-touchdown-pass-bucs-bears-negotiate-fan  Tampa Bay beat Chicago 38-3.  

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2444  October 25, 2021