Author Michael Ondaatje's name is pronounced as:  on-DARt-she (the t is not silent but is barely heard and rolls into the final syllable).  He became  famous for The English Patient, a 1996 epic romantic war drama film directed by Anthony Minghella from his own script based on the 1992 novel.   

derring-do  Action displaying heroic courage.  The term comes (in the late 16th century) from late Middle English dorryng do ‘daring to do’, used by Chaucer, and, in a passage by Lydgate based on Chaucer's work, misprinted in 16th-century editions as derrynge do; this was misinterpreted by Spenser to mean ‘manhood, chivalry’, and subsequently taken up and popularized by Sir Walter Scott.  derring-do in The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable.  https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095712317    

When magnolia buds begin to swell, their petals splitting snug casings of protective winter velvet, spring begins to feel like a sure thing.  In cities across North America, Asian magnolias are the urban harbingers of spring’s relief, blooming when a touch of frost can still singe their flowers’ smooth edges. Farmers markets still carry the previous season’s produce (unless it’s greenhouse-grown). Even local rhubarb is a month or more from harvest.  Seasonal eaters long for something fresh, and vibrantly delicious.  So regard your magnolia tree—it is an unexpected source of flavor.  Magnolia buds and petals are edible; they taste like a breath of cardamom-scented ginger, with a whisper of cloves, and, sometimes, camphor.  They can be eaten raw or cooked, and preserved in sugar, vinegar, and hooch.  The spicy, complex flavor profile of magnolia buds and flowers makes them extraordinarily versatile and inspiring as an ingredient.  They can be used fresh, or dried. Magnolias infuse warming winter toddies, summer syrups, and sweltering curries; magnolia buds can be pickled, or their aromatic petals caught in sugar and salt.  (And yes, native North American magnolias, which bloom in summer, can be used the same way.  Read our previous story about edible Magnolia grandiflora.)  https://www.gardenista.com/posts/many-ways-eat-magnolia-flowerss/xx

 

Age doesn’t guarantee wisdom, any more than age guarantees intelligence.”  Nicholas Sparks, Two By Two  https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/8151594-here-s-what-else-i-ve-learned-age-doesn-t-guarantee-wisdom-any 

 

In 1952, a gathering of artists in London calling themselves the Independent Group began meeting regularly to discuss topics such as mass culture's place in fine art, the found object, and science and technology.  Members included Eduardo Paolozzi, Richard Hamilton, architects Alison and Peter Smithson, and critics Lawrence Alloway and Reyner Banham.  Britain in the early 1950s was still emerging from the austerity of the post-war years, and its citizens were ambivalent about American popular culture.  While the group was suspicious of its commercial character, they were enthusiastic about the rich world pop culture seemed to promise for the future.  The actual term "Pop Art" has several possible origins:  the first use of the term in writing has been attributed to both Lawrence Alloway and Alison and Peter Smithson, and alternately to Richard Hamilton, who defined Pop in a letter, while the first artwork to incorporate the word "Pop" was produced by Paolozzi. His collage I Was a Rich Man's Plaything (1947) contained cut-up images of a pinup girl, Coca-Cola logo, cherry pie, World War II bomber, and a man's hand holding a pistol, out of which burst the world "POP!" in a puffy white cloud.  https://www.theartstory.org/movement/pop-art/#:~:text=The%20actual%20term%20%22Pop%20Art,Pop%22%20was%20produced%20by%20Paolozzi.   

When you add "-ness" to an adjective, it becomes a noun.  The suffix "-ness" means "state : condition : quality" and is used with an adjective to say something about the state, condition, or quality of being that adjective.

Bashfulness means "the state of being bashful."  Friendliness means "the state of being friendly."  The bashfulness of the new student soon became friendliness.

https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/eb/qa/Nouns-ending-in-ness#:~:text=The%20suffix%20%22%2Dness%22%20means,quality%20of%20being%20that%20adjective.   

GOOS (not comparable) paper  Adjective  Of paper: blank and usable on one side but not the other; also, of a container: intended for holding such paper.  quotations ▼ https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/GOOS#English   

April 22 is Earth Day, a day for observing the need to protect the Earth.  United States Senator Gaylord Nelson first proposed holding a nationwide environmental teach-in on this day 55 years ago in 1970.   

http://librariansmuse.blogspotcom  Issue 2931  April 22, 2025