Thomas Stearns Eliot OM (1888–1965) was a poet, essayist, publisher, playwright, literary critic and editor.  Considered one of the 20th century's major poets, he is a central figure in English-language Modernist poetry.  Born in St. Louis, Missouri, to a prominent Boston Brahmin family, he moved to England in 1914 at the age of 25 and went on to settle, work, and marry there.  He became a British citizen in 1927 at the age of 39, subsequently renouncing his American citizenship.  Eliot first attracted widespread attention for his poem "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" in 1915, which, at the time of its publication, was considered outlandish.  It was followed by "The Waste Land" (1922), "The Hollow Men" (1925), "Ash Wednesday" (1930), and Four Quartets (1943).  He was also known for seven plays, particularly Murder in the Cathedral (1935) and The Cocktail Party (1949).  He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948, "for his outstanding, pioneer contribution to present-day poetry".  In 1939, Eliot published a book of light verse, Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats.  ("Old Possum" was Ezra Pound's friendly nickname for Eliot.)  The first edition had an illustration of the author on the cover.  In 1954, the composer Alan Rawsthorne set six of the poems for speaker and orchestra in a work titled Practical Cats.  After Eliot's death, the book was the basis of the musical Cats by Andrew Lloyd Webber, first produced in London's West End in 1981 and opening on Broadway the following year.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._S._Eliot   

outlandish  adjective  From Middle English londish, londiss, from Old English *lendisċ (attested in inlendisċ, ūtlendisċ, uplendisċ, etc.) equivalent to land +‎ -ish.  landish (comparative more landish, superlative most landish)  Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of the land quotations ▼ Related terms:  inlandish, outlandish, uplandish  https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/landish 

The spiral is one of the oldest symbols of human spirituality, carved or painted into rocks from thousands of years ago, on every continent of the world.  Symbol of movement and progressive development, growth, expansion, cosmic energy, symbol of the sun . . . symbol that represents the continuous cycle of birth, life, death and regeneration.  Spirals have been found in burial sites, in vases, in jewelry, clothing, weapons and many other objects.  They can be seen in every aspect in nature, like the tides in the oceans, the winds, the plants, the shells.  The spiral phenomenon has been explained through mathematics from the time of Archimedes, the great Greek mathematician.  Various meanings depending on the culture in which the symbol is used, it has been and continues to be, century by century, an everlasting symbol of the eternal forces of nature that touches our subconscious.  https://culturetaste.com/blog/51_spiral-symbol-history-meaning.html 

Brave New World is a dystopian social science fiction novel by English author Aldous Huxley, written in 1931 and published in 1932.  Largely set in a futuristic World State, whose citizens are environmentally engineered into an intelligence-based social hierarchy, the novel anticipates huge scientific advancements in reproductive technology, sleep-learning, psychological manipulation and classical conditioning that are combined to make a dystopian society which is challenged by only a single individual:  the story's protagonist.  Huxley followed this book with a reassessment in essay form, Brave New World Revisited (1958), and with his final novel, Island (1962), the utopian counterpart.  The novel is often compared to George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four (published 1949).  In 1999, the Modern Library ranked Brave New World at number 5 on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brave_New_World 

Suspended from the ceiling of the 31st Street mid-block entrance of Moynihan Train Hall, The Hive is a 1:100 scaled architectural model that offers a surreal and fantastical vision of a global metropolis.  Dozens of illuminated high-rise buildings descend toward visitors, their downturned orientation inviting new and varied perspectives as visitors move around the space.  Artist duo Elmgreen & Dragset has combined miniaturized skyscrapers of their own invention with iconic high-rise buildings from megacities around the world, distilling these towers into their most essential forms.  This fictional city combines landmarks from Chicago, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, London, and Paris as well as iconic New York City silhouettes.  The Hive is the artists’ first permanent public sculpture in New York.  See picture at https://moynihantrainhall.nyc/elmgreen-dragset/  Thank you, Muse reader! 

BOOK ADDICTS by Martha Esbin

Book addicts fear having no books,

take extra books on trips in case

they run out, store books on the floor,

have books in each room of the house,

make up reading lists for themselves.

(a cinquain with five eight-syllable lines) 

April 15, 2022  Rachel Massman scanned her library card in the reader, punched in a four-digit code and opened the door of the Express Library West Arvada, Colo.—entering into a first-of-its-kind standalone “ghost library,” where there is no staff on hand and cameras watch your every move.  Jefferson County Public Library is touting its new express library as a novel and convenient approach to providing library services to a society that is increasingly accustomed to automation and self-service.  John Aguilar  https://www.governing.com/community/jefferson-county-colo-opens-first-self-service-library  Thank you, Muse reader! 

Born in Gloucester, England, poet, editor, and critic William Ernest Henley (1849–1903) was educated at Crypt Grammar School, where he studied with the poet T.E. Brown, and the University of St. Andrews.  His father was a struggling bookseller who died when Henley was a teenager.  At age 12 Henley was diagnosed with tubercular arthritis that necessitated the amputation of one of his legs just below the knee; the other foot was saved only through a radical surgery performed by Joseph Lister.  As he healed in the infirmary, Henley began to write poems, including “Invictus,” which concludes with the oft-referenced lines “I am the master of my fate; / I am the captain of my soul.”  Henley’s poems often engage themes of inner strength and perseverance.  His numerous collections of poetry include A Book of Verses (1888), London Voluntaries (1893), and Hawthorn and Lavender (1899).  Henley edited the Scots Observer (which later became the National Observer), through which he befriended writer Rudyard Kipling, and the Magazine of Art, in which he lauded the work of emerging artists James McNeill Whistler and Auguste Rodin.  Henley was a close friend of Robert Louis Stevenson, who reportedly based his Long John Silver character in Treasure Island in part on Henley.  Link to the poem Invictus at https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/william-ernest-henley   

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2523  April 20, 2022