Solutions Grass Roots Tour

Please join us March 14, 2015 - 7 p.m.-9 p.m. for the Solutions Grass Roots Tour.
At Schmidt Training and Technology Center.
Reading Area Community College.

Word of the Day

commensal
 \ kuh-MEN-suhl \ , adjective;  
1.eating together at the same table.
2.Ecology . (of an animal, plant, fungus, etc.) living with, on, or in another, without injury to either.
3.Sociology . (of a person or group) not competing while residing in or occupying the same area as another individual or group having independent or different values or customs.
noun:
1.a companion at table.
2.Ecology . a commensal organism.

Quotes:
Food is therefore extremely affective; its taste on our individual tongues often incites strong emotions, while the communal, commensal  experience of such sensations binds people together, not only through space but time as well, as individuals collectively remember past experiences with certain meals and imagine their ancestors having similar experiences.
-- Michael A. Di Giovine and Ronda L. Brulotte, "Food and Foodways as Cultural Heritage," Edible Identities: Food as Cultural Heritage , 2014

Ant colonies often entertain a variety of parasitic arthropods such as beetles and mites, and some that are merely commensal ; that is they merely cohabit with the ants, and thereby perhaps gain protection, or scavenge for scrap food, but do no obvious harm.
-- Kenneth Whitney, "Laboulbeniales: a meek and successful social disease," New Scientist , December 23–30, 1982

Either there was soil deeper down, or this species of tree was a remarkable instance of a commensal  or a parasite.
-- Yann Martel, Life of Pi , 2001

Origin:
Commensal  entered English in the 1300s. It derives from the Latin term commēnsālis , which combines com-  meaning "together" and mensa  meaning "table."

Dictionary.com

Library Pun Humor

This Day in History

*Feb 27, 1922: Supreme Court defends women's voting rights

In Washington, D.C., the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, providing for female suffrage, is unanimously declared constitutional by the eight members of the U.S. Supreme Court. The 19th Amendment, which stated that "the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State on account of sex," was the product of over seven decades of meetings, petitions, and protests by women suffragists and their supporters.

 In 1916, the Democratic and Republican parties endorsed female enfranchisement, and on June 4, 1919, the 19th Amendment was passed by Congress and sent to the states for ratification. On August 18, 1920, Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the amendment, achieving the required three-fourths majority of state ratification, and on August 26 the 19th Amendment officially took effect.

*http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/supreme-court-defends-womens-voting-rights

Word of the Day

solipsistic
 \ sol-ip-SIS-tik \, adjective;  
1.of or characterized by solipsism, or the theory that only the self exists, or can be proved to exist: Her treatment philosophy dealt with madness as a complete, self-contained, solipsistic world that sane people are not able to enter .

Quotes:
I mean that in the solipsistic  sense, the way a little boy sometimes assumes other people wind down like robots as soon as he leaves the room: People seem to stop existing as soon as Cheryl Glickman turns her eyes away from them.
-- Lauren Groff, "‘The First Bad Man,’ by Miranda July," New York Times , January 16, 2015

Your love must be very--what's the word-- solipsistic  if you don't even imagine or speculate about what I might feel.
-- Iris Murdoch, "The Black Prince ," 1973

Origin:
Solipsistic  descends from the Latin terms sōlus  meaning "alone" and ipse  meaning "self." It entered English in the late 1800s.

Dictionary.com

Library Humor

Feb 26, 2005 : This Day in History

Oscar winner Halle Berry accepts Razzie for Catwoman

*If the Academy Awards celebrate the best of what Hollywood has to offer each year, the Golden Raspberry (Razzie) Awards take a distinct pleasure in celebrating the worst. On February 26, 2005, the Razzies held their 25th annual ceremony at Hollywood’s historic Ivar Theatre. Making a surprise appearance was Halle Berry, an Oscar winner for Best Actress in "Monster’s Ball" (2001), who showed up to accept that year’s Razzie for Worst Actress for the title role in the poorly received action extravaganza "Catwoman".

Created in 1981 by John Wilson as a cynical counterpoint to the Oscars, the Razzies--named for the disapproving gesture known as “blowing a raspberry”--traditionally release their nominations one day before Academy nominations are announced and hand out their awards on the night before the Oscar ceremony. The actual Razzie statuette, which the organization itself values at under $5, is a “RAZZberry” about the size of a golf ball, perched atop a smashed, gold-painted Super-8 film reel.

At the 2005 ceremony, "Catwoman" led the pack of nominated films, earning seven nominations (including one for Worst Film)--one more than Oliver Stone’s epic "Alexander". In a show of humor and humility, Berry shocked everyone by coming onstage at the Ivar Theatre to accept her statuette for Worst Actress. 

Grasping her cheap Razzie in one hand and her Academy Award in the other, she made a lengthy speech (which she later admitted to have spent two days working on) that parodied her 2002 Oscar acceptance speech. “It was just what my career needed,” she claimed. “I was at the top and now I’m at the bottom.”

Perhaps understandably, Razzie winners rarely show up to claim their awards. Ben Affleck, a winner for 2003’s "Gigli", went so far as to smash his Razzie when Wilson presented it to him during Affleck’s appearance on "Larry King Live' in March 2004. Affleck had previously said he felt “stiffed” by the Razzie awards committee, claiming that it failed to send him his statuette for Worst Actor. ("Gigli" had become the first movie ever to sweep all six major Razzie categories.)

Berry was joined at the Razzies by "Catwoman" screenwriter Michael Ferris, who accepted the award for Worst Screenplay (for a script he co-wrote with Theresa Rebeck, John Brancato and John Rogers).
*http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/oscar-winner-halle-berry-accepts-razzie-for-catwoman

Library Pun Humor

Word of the Day

tenebrific
 \ ten-uh-BRIF-ik \ , adjective;  
1.producing darkness.

Quotes:
They shine like suns, these two, amid multitudes of watery comets and tenebrific  constellations, too sorrowful without such admixture on occasion!
-- Thomas Carlyle, Thomas Carlyle to Ralph Waldo Emerson, October 31, 1843, in The Correspondence of Thomas Carlyle and Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1834–1872

Jane's eyes were sad-making, not weak, not really sullen, but cheerless, tenebrific .
-- Percival Everett, "I Am Not Sidney Poitier ," 2009

Origin:
Tenebrific  comes from the Latin term tenebrae  meaning "darkness." The suffix -fic  is used in formation of adjectives borrowed from Latin and it means “making,” “producing,” “causing." Tenebrific  entered English in the late 1600s.

Library Humor

7 of the 10 War Films in The Yocum Library Collection

1.Zero dark thirty
Boal, Mark., Ellison, Megan., Bigelow, Kathryn., Chastain, Jessica,, Pratt, Chris,, Edgerton, Joel,, Clarke, Jason,
Chronicles the decade-long search for Osama bin Laden following the September 2001 attacks, and his death at the hands of Navy SEAL Team 6.
Film - Military

2.In the valley of Elah
Haggis, Paul., Boal, Mark., Jones, Tommy Lee,, Theron, Charlize., Patric, Jason., Sarandon, Susan,, Franco, James,, Corbin, Barry,, Brolin, Josh.,
Hank, a retired Sergeant with the Military Police, receives a call informing him that his youngest son, Mike, has gone AWOL.
Film - Military

3. Restrepo
one platoon, one valley, one year
Junger, Sebastian., Hetherington, Tim., National Geographic Entertainment
This documentary chronicles the deployment of a platoon of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley.
Film - Military

4. Jarhead
Mendes, Sam., Gyllenhaal, Jake,, MacDonald, Scott., Sarsgaard, Peter.,Foxx, Jamie., Vargas, Jacob., Deakins, Roger A.,, Newman, Thomas,,Swofford, Anthony., Universal Pictures (Firm)
Follows "Swoff, a third-generation Marine enlistee, from a sobering stint in boot camp to active duty, sporting a sniper's rifle and a…
Film - Military

5. The hurt locker
Bigelow, Kathryn., Boal, Mark., Chartier, Nicolas., Shapiro, Greg., Renner, Jeremy., Mackie, Anthony,, Geraghty, Brian., Lilly, Evangeline,, Camargo, Christian., Fiennes, Ralph., Morse, David,, Pearce, Guy,, Beltrami, Marco.,Sanders, Buck.
US Army Staff Sergeant Will James, Sergeant J.T. Sanborn and Specialist Owen Eldridge comprise the Bravo Company's bomb disposal unit…
Film - Military
Film Course Reserve

6. Lone survivor
Berg, Peter,, Wahlberg, Mark,, Foster, Ben,, Hirsch, Emile,, Bana, Eric,, Kitsch, Taylor,, Universal Studios Home Entertainment (Firm), Emmett Furla Films.
The story of four Navy SEALs sent on an ill-fated covert mission to neutralize a high-level Taliban operative. They are ambushed by enemy…
Film - Military

7. Black Hawk down
Bruckheimer, Jerry., Scott, Ridley., Nolan, Ken.,Hartnett, Josh,, McGregor, Ewan,, Sizemore, Tom,,Bana, Eric,, Fichtner, William., Bremner, Ewen.,Shepard, Sam,, Idziak, Slawomir., Scalia, Pietro,,Zimmer, Hans., Revolution Studios., Jerry Bruckheimer Films., Scott Free Productions.,Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment (Firm)
With exacting detail, the film re-creates the American siege of the Somalian city of Mogadishu in October 1993, when a 45-minute mission…
Film - Military

Library Humor

This day in history - February 23, 1868

* W.E.B. DuBois is born

On this day in 1868, William Edward Burghardt (W.E.B.) DuBois is born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. A brilliant scholar, DuBois was an influential proponent of civil rights.

DuBois' childhood was happy, but during adolescence he became aware of a "vast veil" separating him from his white classmates. He devoted most of his life to studying the position of blacks in America from a sociological point of view. He took his doctorate at Harvard but was unable to get a job at a major university, despite his impressive academic achievements and the publication of his doctoral thesis, about the slave trade to the United States in the mid-1800s. He taught at Wilberforce College in Ohio, then spent a year at the University of Pennsylvania, where he wrote his first major book, The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study (1899). The book was the first sociological case study of a black community.

DuBois came to national attention with the publication of The Souls of Black Folks (1903). The book explored the thesis that the "central problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color line." One controversial essay attacked the widely respected Booker T. Washington, founder of Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, which trained blacks in agricultural and industrial skills. DuBois accused Washington of selling out blacks by advocating silence in civil rights issues in return for vocational training opportunities for blacks.

In 1909, DuBois helped found the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. He edited the association's journal, The Crisis, from 1910 to 1934, reaching an audience of more than 100,000 readers. But he resigned after an ideological rift with the group. In 1935, he published Black Reconstruction, a Marxist interpretation of the post-Civil War era. At Atlanta University, where he later taught, he founded a review of race and culture called Phylon in 1940 and the same year published Dusk at Dawn, in which he examined his own career as a case study of race dynamics. He rejoined the NAACP from 1944 to 1948 but broke with the group permanently after a bitter dispute. He joined the Communist Party in 1961 and moved to Ghana, where he became a citizen in 1963, the year of his death.

*http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=4254

Daily Writing Tips - Moral vs. Ethical

*By Maeve Maddox

A reader has asked for a discussion of the adjectives moral and ethical:

I have been writing professionally for 40 years and I still cannot get these straight. There seems to be more than a casual or preferential distinction.

One difference between the adjectives moral and ethical is that moral has been in the language longer. A similarity is that moral is a translation of the ancient Greek word ethikos from which the adjective ethical derives.

Both words refer to human character and behavior.

Moral entered English in the 14th century from Old French moral: “pertaining to character or temperament.” It derives from the noun moralis, from the Latin noun mos in its genitive form (moris): “one’s disposition.” The adjective ethical entered English in the 16th century with the meaning “pertaining to morality.”

Note: The plural of mos gives us the word mores: “the shared habits, manners, and customs of a community or social group.”

Greek philosopher Aristotle used ethikos as the title of a treatise on the branch of knowledge dealing with moral principles. Clearly, the two words, moral and ethical, are closely related in meaning.

In the 14th century, moral meant “morally good, conforming to moral rules.” Moral stories taught moral behavior. Everything Chaucer’s Oxford student said was “filled with moral virtue.”

The first definition of the adjective moral in the OED gives ethical as a synonym:

"moral (adjective): of or relating to human character or behavior considered as good or bad; of or relating to the distinction between right and wrong, or good and evil, in relation to the actions, desires, or character of responsible human beings; ethical."

Both words, moral and ethical, describe human behavior in reference to right and wrong. Modern usage assigns moral to behavior dictated by internal standards and ethical to behavior dictated by external standards.

Sometimes the two types of behavior coincide. For example, taking a child away from abusive parents is both moral and ethical. Sending a child back to abusive parents for legal reasons is ethical, but not moral.

*http://www.dailywritingtips.com/moral-vs-ethical/

Pun Humor

Word of the Day

epistolize
 \ ih-PIS-tl-ahyz \  , verb;  
1.to write a letter.
2.to write a letter to.

Quotes:
…there are some who in lieu of letters write homilies; they preach when they should epistolize : there are others that turn them to tedious tractates: this is to make letters degenerate from their true nature.
-- James Howell, James Howell to Sir J.S., July 25, 1625, in The British Letter Writers , 1892

"I can't epistolize  while you make those unearthly  noises," Mrs Sixsmith complained.
-- Ronald Firbank, "Caprice ," 1917

Origin:
Epistolize  derives from the Latin word epistola  meaning "message" or "letter." It entered English in the mid-1600s.

Dictionary.com

Library Humor

This Day In History - February 21

February 21, 1965:
Malcolm X assassinated

*In New York City, Malcolm X, an African American nationalist and religious leader, is assassinated by rival Black Muslims while addressing his Organization of Afro-American Unity at the Audubon Ballroom in Washington Heights.

Born Malcolm Little in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1925, Malcolm was the son of James Earl Little, a Baptist preacher who advocated the black nationalist ideals of Marcus Garvey.


Threats from the Ku Klux Klan forced the family to move to Lansing, Michigan, where his father continued to preach his controversial sermons despite continuing threats. In 1931, Malcolm's father was brutally murdered by the white supremacist Black Legion, and Michigan authorities refused to prosecute those responsible.

In 1937, Malcolm was taken from his family by welfare caseworkers. By the time he reached high school age, he had dropped out of school and moved to Boston, where he became increasingly involved in criminal activities.

In 1946, at the age of 21, Malcolm was sent to prison on a burglary conviction. It was there he encountered the teachings of Elijah Muhammad, the leader of the Nation of Islam, whose members are popularly known as Black Muslims. The Nation of Islam advocated black nationalism and racial separatism and condemned Americans of European descent as immoral "devils." Muhammad's teachings had a strong effect on Malcolm, who entered into an intense program of self-education and took the last name "X" to symbolize his stolen African identity.

After six years, Malcolm was released from prison and became a loyal and effective minister of the Nation of Islam in Harlem, New York. In contrast with civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X advocated self-defense and the liberation of African Americans "by any means necessary." A fiery orator, Malcolm was admired by the African American community in New York and around the country.

In the early 1960s, he began to develop a more outspoken philosophy than that of Elijah Muhammad, whom he felt did not sufficiently support the civil rights movement. In late 1963, Malcolm's suggestion that President John F. Kennedy's assassination was a matter of the "chickens coming home to roost" provided Elijah Muhammad, who believed that Malcolm had become too powerful, with a convenient opportunity to suspend him from the Nation of Islam.

A few months later, Malcolm formally left the organization and made a Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, where he was profoundly affected by the lack of racial discord among orthodox Muslims. He returned to America as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz and in June 1964 founded the Organization of Afro-American Unity, which advocated black identity and held that racism, not the white race, was the greatest foe of the African American. Malcolm's new movement steadily gained followers, and his more moderate philosophy became increasingly influential in the civil rights movement, especially among the leaders of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee.

On February 21, 1965, one week after his home was firebombed, Malcolm X was shot to death by Nation of Islam members while speaking at a rally of his organization in New York City.

* http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/malcolm-x-assassinated

Word of the Day

dalles
 \ dalz \, plural noun;  
1.the rapids of a river running between the walls of a canyon or gorge.

Quotes:
With ropes they tie themselves to the platforms so they won't slip in, Mr. Bowman says, though someone told me the fish make the platforms slippery and if they did fall in the rush of the dalles  they wouldn't survive.
-- Jane Kirkpatrick, "A Light in the Wilderness ," 2014

...we were ordered to return to the Dalles , and on the 16th of November started across the Simcoe mountains.
-- Robert Allen Bennett, "A Small World of Our Own ," 1892

Origin:
Dalles  is an Americanism that comes from the Canadian French word (originally from Normandy) dalle  meaning "sink."

Dictionary.com

Pun Humor

Library Humor

Scheduled Classes for Computers

9:30 a.m. - 10:50 a.m. Reserved—Mr. Walentis
Where: Yocum Instruction Area
Description: Mr. Al Walentis COM121 (20) Computers only, reserve 12 computers in
instruction area.

11 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. Reserved— Dr. Diken
Where: Y116 NOTE IN CLASSROOM!
Description: Dr. Bahar Diken COM121 (20) Using ProQuest databases presented by Ms.
Brenna Corbit.

12:30 p.m. - 1:45 p.m. Reserved— Dr. Diken
Where: Y116 -- NOTE IN CLASSROOM!
Description: Dr. Bahar Diken COM121 (20) Using ProQuest databases presented by
Ms.Kim Stahler.

2 p.m. - 3:15 p.m. Reserved—Dr. Diken
Where: Y116 -- NOTE IN CLASSROOM!
Description: Dr. Bahar Diken COM121 (20) Using ProQuest databases presented by Ms.
Kim Stahler.

6 p.m. - 7:20 p.m. Reserved—Mr. Walentis
Where: Yocum Instruction Area
Description: Mr. Al Walentis COM121 (20) Computers only, reserve 12 computers in
instruction area.

Chinese Spring Festival 2015

Chinese Spring Festival 2015

Spring Festival, widely known as Chinese New Year in the West, is the most important traditional festival, and most important celebration for families in China. It is an official public holiday, during which most Chinese have 8 days off work.

The Date Is Based on the Lunar Calendar
12 Chinese zodiac animal signs12 Chinese zodiac animal signs, Read more on Chinese zodiac
Chinese New Year 2015 begins on Thursday 19 February, and end on 3 March. It is day one month one of the Chinese lunar calendar, and its date in January or February varies from year to year (always somewhere in the period January 21 to February 20).

The Chinese lunar calendar is associated with the Chinese zodiac, which has 12 animal signs: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, Rooster, dog, and pig. Each animal represents a year in a 12-year cycle, beginning on Chinese New Year's Day. 2015 is a year of the goat.

2015 — a Goat Year (“Wood Goat”)
2015 is a year of the “Goat” according to the Chinese 12-year animal zodiac (Heavenly Stem) cycle. If you were born in a Goat year you should be particularly careful in 2015, according to Chinese astrology. See more on the year of the Goat.

2015 is furthermore a year of the “Wood Goat”, according to Chinese Five Element (Earthly Branch) Theory. A “Wood Goat” year occurs every 60 years. See a Five Element Character and Destiny Analysis for People Born in a Year of the Goat.

See More, http://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/special-report/chinese-new-year/

Word of the Day

Brobdingnagian
 \ brob-ding-NAG-ee-uhn \ , adjective;  
1.of huge size; gigantic; tremendous.
noun:1.
an inhabitant of Brobdingnag.
2.a being of tremendous size; giant.

Quotes:
I wish she'd call back now, because I'd like to share with her the last of my dreams, in which the new College of Technical Careers building has turned out to be yet another replica of my own house, like Julie's, this one on a Brobdingnagian  scale.
-- Richard Russo, Straight Man , 1997

Back in 2007, when the New York–based web advertising giant DoubleClick sold itself to Google for a Brobdingnagian  $3.1 billion, the sale was a big deal not only because it made millions for DoubleClick's backers and provided Google with the cornerstone of its ad-revenue juggernaut.
-- Kevin Roose, "Tumblr’s Sale Is a Billion-Dollar Trophy for the New York Tech Scene," New York , May 20, 2013

Origin:
Brobdingnagian  entered English in the mid-1700s by way of Jonathan Swift's novel Gulliver's Travels, in which Brobdingnag is the name of a region where everything is of enormous size.

Dictionary.com

Library Pun Humor,

Word of the Day

vespertide
 \ VES-per-tahyd \  , noun;  
1.the period of vespers; evening.

Quotes:
There must the baron rest/ till past the hour of vesper-tide ,/ And then to Holy-Rood must ride…
-- Sir Walter Scott, Marmion: A Tale of Flodden Field , 1808

In the Park Avenue penthouse of Publisher Condé Nast, at vespertide  Nov. 29, some 340 international celebrities jovially jostled and joked and juggled canapes in pre-Christmas camaraderie.
-- "Life Goes to a Party," Life , December 23, 1940

Origin:
Vespertide  comes from the Latin word for "evening star" or "evening," vesper . The second element, tide , refers to a season or period in the course of the year, day, etc., and is used chiefly in combination. Vespertide  entered English in the early 1800s.

Dictionary.com

Ash Wednesday

The History and Meaning of Ash Wednesday
By Dr. Richard P. Bucher

Ash Wednesday is the name given to the first day of the season of Lent, in which the Pastor applies ashes to the foreheads of Christians to signify an inner repentance. But what is the history and the meaning of this Christian holy day?

Ash Wednesday, originally called dies cinerum (day of ashes) is mentioned in the earliest copies of the Gregorian Sacramentary, and probably dates from at least the 8th Century. One of the earliest descriptions of Ash Wednesday is found in the writings of the Anglo-Saxon abbot Aelfric (955-1020). In his Lives of the Saints, he writes, "We read in the books both in the Old Law and in the New that the men who repented of their sins bestrewed themselves with ashes and clothed their bodies with sackcloth.

Now let us do this little at the beginning of our Lent that we strew ashes upon our heads to signify that we ought to repent of our sins during the Lenten fast." Aelfric then proceeds to tell the tale of a man who refused to go to church for the ashes and was accidentally killed several days later in a boar hunt! This quotation confirms what we know from other sources, that throughout the Middle Ages ashes were sprinkled on the head, rather than anointed on the forehead as in our day.

As Aelfric suggests, the pouring of ashes on one's body (and dressing in sackcloth, a very rough material) as an outer manifestation of inner repentance or mourning is an ancient practice. It is mentioned several times in the Old Testament. What is probably the earliest occurrence is found at the very end of the book of Job. Job, having been rebuked by God, confesses, "Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes" (Job 42:6). Other examples are found in 2 Samuel 13:19, Esther 4:1,3, Isaiah 61:3, Jeremiah 6:26, Ezekiel 27:30, and Daniel 9:3. In the New Testament, Jesus alludes to the practice in Matthew 11:21: "Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes."

In the typical Ash Wednesday observance, Christians are invited to the altar to receive the imposition of ashes, prior to receiving the holy Supper. The Pastor applies ashes in the shape of the cross on the forehead of each, while speaking the words, "For dust you are and to dust you shall return" (Genesis 3:19). This is of course what God spoke to Adam and Eve after they eaten of the forbidden fruit and fallen into sin. These words indicated to our first parents the bitterest fruit of their sin, namely death.

In the context of the Ash Wednesday imposition of ashes, they remind each penitent of their sinfulness and mortality, and, thus, their need to repent and get right with God before it is too late. The cross reminds each penitent of the good news that through Jesus Christ crucified there is forgiveness for all sins, all guilt, and all punishment.

Many Christians choose to leave the ashes on their forehead for the remainder of the day, not to be showy and boastful (see Matthew 6:16-18). Rather, they do it as a witness that all people are sinners in need of repentance AND that through Jesus all sins are forgiven through faith.

Ash Wednesday, like the season of Lent, is never mentioned in Scripture and is not commanded by God. Christians are free to either observe or not observe it. It also should be obvious that the imposition of ashes, like similar external practices, are meaningless, even hypocritical, unless there is a corresponding inner repentance and change of behavior. This is made clear in Isaiah 58:5-7 when God says,

Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself? Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes ? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD? 6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? 7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter-- when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

With this in mind, however, the rite of ashes on Ash Wednesday is heartily recommended to the Christian as a grand opportunity for repentance and spiritual renewal within the framework of confession and absolution. A blessed Ash Wednesday observance to all.

*http://www.orlutheran.com/html/ash.html

Library Pun Humor

Scheduled Classes for Computers

9:30 a.m. - 10:50 a.m. Reserved—Mr. Walentis
Where: Yocum Instruction Area
Description: Mr. Al Walentis COM121 (20) Computers only, reserve 12 computers in
instruction area.

6 p.m. - 7:20 p.m. Reserved—Mr. Walentis
Where: Yocum Instruction Area
Description: Mr. Al Walentis COM121 (20) Computers only, reserve 12 computers in
instruction area.

Happy Mardi Gras

Word of the Day

succorance
 \ SUHK-er-uh ns \  , noun;  
1.the act of seeking out affectionate care and social support.

Quotes:
Here, food in general, and the feeding of someone else in particular…are equated with love, succorance , with a bond between caring parties, with the largely selfless, human act, and Chaplin uses food in motifs that point us toward what distinguishes a civilized society from a jungle.
-- Jay Boyer, "Cry Food: The Use of Food as a Comic Motif in the Films of Charlie Chaplin," Beyond the Stars: Studies in American Film , 1993

Here Woolf returns to her metaphor of the outsider seeking warmth, shelter, succorance , yet courting danger.
-- Shirley Panken, Virginia Woolf and the "Lust of Creation,"  1987

Origin:
Succorance  is formed from the root word succor  meaning "help; relief." Succor , in turn, stems from the Latin term succurrere  meaning "to go beneath, run to help." Succorance  entered English in the 1930s.

Dictionary.com

History of Mardi Gras

*Mardi Gras

A Christian holiday and popular cultural phenomenon, Mardi Gras dates back thousands of years to pagan spring and fertility rites. Also known as Carnival, it is celebrated in many countries around the world–mainly those with large Roman Catholic populations–on the day before the religious season of Lent begins. Brazil, Venice and New Orleans play host to some of the holiday's most famous public festivities, drawing thousands of tourists and revelers every year.

Origins of Mardi Gras
According to historians, Mardi Gras dates back thousands of years to pagan celebrations of spring and fertility, including the raucous Roman festivals of Saturnalia and Lupercalia. When Christianity arrived in Rome, religious leaders decided to incorporate these popular local traditions into the new faith, an easier task than abolishing them altogether. As a result, the excess and debauchery of the Mardi Gras season became a prelude to Lent, the 40 days of penance between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday. Along with Christianity, Mardi Gras spread from Rome to other European countries, including France, Germany, Spain and England.

Traditionally, in the days leading up to Lent, merrymakers would binge on all the meat, eggs, milk and cheese that remained in their homes, preparing for several weeks of eating only fish and fasting. In France, the day before Ash Wednesday came to be known as Mardi Gras, or "Fat Tuesday." The word "carnival," another common name for the pre-Lenten festivities, may also derive from this vegetarian-unfriendly custom: in Medieval Latin, carnelevarium means to take away or remove meat.

Mardi Gras in the United States
Many historians believe that the first American Mardi Gras took place on March 3, 1699, when the French explorers Iberville and Bienville landed in what is now Louisiana, just south of the holiday's future epicenter: New Orleans. They held a small celebration and dubbed the spot Point du Mardi Gras. In the decades that followed, New Orleans and other French settlements began marking the holiday with street parties, masked balls and lavish dinners. When the Spanish took control of New Orleans, however, they abolished these rowdy rituals, and the bans remained in force until Louisiana became a U.S. state in 1812.

On Mardi Gras in 1827, a group of students donned colorful costumes and danced through the streets of New Orleans, emulating the revelry they'd observed while visiting Paris. Ten years later, the first recorded New Orleans Mardi Gras parade took place, a tradition that continues to this day. In 1857, a secret society of New Orleans businessmen called the Mistick Krewe of Comus organized a torch-lit Mardi Gras procession with marching bands and rolling floats, setting the tone for future public celebrations in the city. Since then, krewes have remained a fixture of the Carnival scene throughout Louisiana. Other lasting customs include throwing beads and other trinkets, wearing masks, decorating floats and eating King Cake.

Louisiana is the only state in which Mardi Gras is a legal holiday. However, elaborate carnival festivities draw crowds in other parts of the United States during the Mardi Gras season as well, including Alabama and Mississippi. Each region has its own events and traditions.

Mardi Gras Around the World
Across the globe, pre-Lenten festivals continue to take place in many countries with significant Roman Catholic populations. Brazil's weeklong Carnival festivities feature a vibrant amalgam of European, African and native traditions. In Canada, Quebec City hosts the giant Quebec Winter Carnival. In Italy, tourists flock to Venice's Carnevale, which dates back to the 13th century and is famous for its masquerade balls. Known as Karneval, Fastnacht or Fasching, the German celebration includes parades, costume balls and a tradition that empowers women to cut off men's ties. For Denmark's Fastevlan, children dress up and gather candy in a similar manner to Halloween–although the parallel ends when they ritually flog their parents on Easter Sunday morning.

* http://www.history.com/topics/mardi-gras

Presidents Day

White House History

White House The White House is the official residence of the President of the United States. Originally called the President's Palace, the President's House, or the Executive Mansion, it was officially proclaimed the White House by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1901.

The site for the White House was determined by George Washington and Pierre L'Enfant, the French architect who developed the master plan for the capital city in 1791. The building was designed by the Irish architect James Hoban, who won a medal worth $500 in a contest judged by three commissioners of the District of Columbia.

The White House cornerstone was laid on October 13 , 1792, and the sandstone building was completed in November 1800, just in time for occupancy by John and Abigail Adams. Thomas Jefferson, one of the losers in the design competition, started construction of the East and West Wings during his Presidency, working with architect Benjamin Latrobe. He patterned them after his plantation at Monticello.

On August 24 , 1814, during the War of 1812, the British burned the White House to the ground. Only the shell—and the kitchen's ironware and stove—remained. James Hoban supervised the rebuilding of the entire structure by September 1817. Hoban built the South Portico during James Monroe's Presidency and the North Portico during Andrew Jackson's Presidency. At that time the first plumbing and sewer lines were put in. Martin Van Buren installed a furnace, James Polk installed gas lighting, and Franklin Pierce installed bathrooms with running water in the family quarters. The first telephone was put in by Rutherford Hayes, and Chester Arthur installed an elevator.

The interior was rebuilt in 1902 by architect Charles McKim. The family rooms were enlarged and each bedroom was given its own bath. The West Wing was enlarged and a Presidential office included, and the State Dining Room was enlarged by one-third for diplomatic receptions. Plumbing, heating, and electrical wiring were modernized. An East Wing to accommodate guests at official functions was built. The East Room was redecorated in a colonial revival style for the wedding of Teddy Roosevelt's daughter Alice to Nicholas Longworth. After the work was completed, a time capsule containing memorabilia of the period was placed under the marble floor of the Great Hall entrance.

The next major overhaul took place in Calvin Coolidge's administration in 1927. A third floor with 18 rooms for guests and servants was added, and the roof was replaced. A sun room was built on top of the South Portico. During Franklin Roosevelt's Presidency, the West Wing was rebuilt and underground office space was added. The East Wing was converted to office space for the growing Presidential staff. An indoor swimming pool was added.

From 1949 to 1950, during Harry Truman's Presidency, the entire building was gutted. It was then rebuilt and reinforced with steel beams and a new foundation. Among the improvements were a balcony on the second floor of the South Portico, a grand stairway leading from the family quarters to the first-floor state rooms, and central air-conditioning.

Starting in 1978, the exterior paint was scraped down to wood and stone, and much ornate carving was revealed. The exterior restoration and repainting was completed in 1993.

The White House contains 132 rooms, 29 bathrooms, and 29 fireplaces, all cared for by a chief usher and 96 housekeepers. The National Park Service has 36 workers who take care of its 18.7 acres. The U.S. Secret Service provides protection for White House occupants.

White House furnishings are selected by the curator of the White House (a post established by Lyndon Johnson in 1964) in consultation with the First Family. All furnishings are public property and are inventoried annually. Jacqueline Kennedy created a White House Fine Arts Committee chaired by Henry Francis Du Pont, founder of the Winterthur Museum (a decorative arts museum in Delaware) to advise on the restoration of the state rooms. She also created a Special Committee on Paintings. The White House displays selections from the 444 paintings and sculptures in its permanent collection. Most of the paintings in the collection were done by American artists, but it also includes works by the French painters Paul Cézanne and Claude Monet.

The White House Historical Association and the White House Preservation Committee are private organizations that raise money to preserve furnishings and acquire new pieces. Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter created the White House Endowment Fund, which is supported by private contributions and provides financial support for the maintenance and renovation of first-floor museum rooms.

Ronald and Nancy Reagan spent more than $1 million in private donations to redecorate the second and third floors, using primarily 19th-century American furnishings. Since 1925 Congress has appropriated $50, 000 for Presidents to paint and decorate the living quarters at the start of each term.

The first floor contains five state rooms, and Congress requires that it be maintained in “museum character.” Patricia Nixon, working with White House curator Clement Conger and the restoration architect Edward Vason Jones, redid the entire first floor in early 18th-century styles.

The state rooms include the East Room ballroom, 80 feet long and 40 feet wide, where press conferences are held. Seven deceased Presidents lay in state there. President Grover Cleveland was married in the East Room. For his daughter Nellie's wedding Ulysses Grant decorated it in a neoclassical style, with Corinthian columns, heavy wooden mantels, and gilt carved framed mirrors. Today it has a polished oak floor, carved wood paneling, and golden drapes.

The State Dining Room, where official state dinners are held, contains a long centerpiece for the table from the Monroe administration. It has wooden paneling and golden silk draperies. Dinners in the State Dining Room may seat as many as 140 guests. Nancy Reagan created a complete dinnerware set executed by Lenox, which includes 220 place settings of 19 pieces each. (Along with the other White House china, it is displayed in the China Room on the ground floor. The White House silver is located in the Vermeil Room, also on the ground floor.) The Family Dining Room has rarely been used for meals since Jacqueline Kennedy installed a President's Dining Room and kitchen on the second floor in 1961. It serves as a pantry during state dinners.

The Blue Room, a small oval room facing onto the South Portico, is used for small formal dinners and entertaining. It has the original French furniture used in Monroe's day.

The Red Room is used by First Ladies to entertain after dinners and for teas, and Dolley Madison held receptions there. Rutherford B. Hayes was sworn in as President in the Red Room before his public inauguration ceremony. Eleanor Roosevelt held press conferences there for women reporters.

The Green Room was used by Thomas Jefferson for meals and by James Monroe for card games. It became a drawing room for small receptions, teas, or dinners. The carpet is green, as are the silk wall coverings.

The second floor contains the family living quarters. It has 13 rooms, including the Yellow Oval Room, where Presidents receive visitors and entertain guests. It opens onto the balcony and looks over the Mall. Next to it is the President's study, and at the end of the hall is the President's bedroom and dressing room. On the other side is the Treaty Room (which served as the cabinet room in the 19th century), then the Lincoln Bedroom and sitting room (once the Presidential office). The “Queen's Bedroom,” which has been occupied by Queen Elizabeth (the queen mother) and Elizabeth II, both of Great Britain, and Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, and sitting room are on the opposite side of the hall. There are three other bedrooms for personal guests. There are no bedrooms for foreign heads of state or other official guests; they stay at Blair House, across the street.

Jacqueline Kennedy did the key restoration of the family quarters. She commissioned New York decorator Sister Parish to design a “country home in the city” on the second floor. An important change was to install a kitchen and dining room opposite the President's bedroom, so the First Family would not have to eat on the first floor.

The third floor contains the White House solarium. It is used as a nursery when the First Family has small children. Teenage children have used it for parties and to entertain their friends—without Secret Service intrusion.

On the lower level are offices for some of the staff of the National Security Council. The White House Communications Agency, also located in the basement, operates the Signal Board, which connects the President with senior staff members, top military commanders, and national security officials.

There are two annexes off the main mansion. The West Wing, containing Presidential offices, was destroyed in a fire in 1929. It was completely rebuilt and now contains the Oval Office, the Cabinet Room, and offices for the President's principal aides. Three dining rooms on the lower level of the West Wing, known as the White House Mess, can serve almost 100 staffers at a time. The Rose Garden, outside the President's office, was created during the Kennedy Presidency.

The East Wing contains staff offices, the Visitors' Office (which coordinates public tours), and the Family Theater. The President's doctor and nurses have a medical suite in the White House residence. The White House garage has military chauffeurs to drive the Presidential limousine and cars for senior aides on official business.

The public may visit the state rooms of the White House on most weekdays. There are also annual spring and fall garden tours, an annual Easter egg roll for children, the lighting of the National Christmas Tree, and three nights of candlelight tours to see Christmas decorations. More than 1.2 million people tour the White House each year. On February 14 , 1962, “A Tour of the White House with Mrs. John F. Kennedy,” a television program broadcast by CBS, had an estimated audience of 80 million people. See also Children of Presidents; Executive Office Buildings; First Lady; Kennedy, Jacqueline; Madison, Dolley; Oval Office; Secret Service, U.S.

Sources
Lonnelle Aikman, The Living White House (Washington, D.C.: White House Historical Association, 1982).
William Seale, The White House: The History of an American Idea (Washington, D.C.: The American Institute of Architects Press, 1992).


How to cite this entry:
"White House" The Oxford Guide to the United States Government. John J. Patrick, Richard M. Pious, and Donald A. Ritchie. Oxford University Press, 2001. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. 24 August 2011

Word of the Day

winnow
 \ WIN-oh \  , verb;  
1.to separate or distinguish (valuable from worthless parts) (sometimes followed by out ): to winnow falsehood from truth .
2.to free (grain) from the lighter particles of chaff, dirt, etc., especially by throwing it into the air and allowing the wind or a forced current of air to blow away impurities.
3.to drive or blow (chaff, dirt, etc.) away by fanning.
4.to blow upon; fan.
5.to subject to some process of separating or distinguishing; analyze critically; sift: to winnow a mass of statements .
6.to pursue (a course) with flapping wings in flying.
7.to fan or stir (the air) as with the wings in flying.

Quotes:
Whoever decides to crash the unabridged dictionary game next--and it will probably be General Motors or Ford--they will winnow  this work heartlessly for bloopers.
-- Kurt Vonnegut, “The Latest Word,” New York Times , October 30, 1966

A six-man jury, working four days, winnowed  the colossal collection down to the "happy few" now on exhibit.
-- "Colossal Collection of Art," Life , January 27, 1958

Origin:
Winnow  comes from the Old English term windwian , which means "to fan." It entered English before 900.

Dictionary.com

Daily Writing Tips - Cat Connotations

Cat Connotations
by Mark Nichol

*I recently discussed senses of words for various species from the dog family as they apply to human behavior and characteristics. Every dog has its day, but now it’s time for the cats to come out.

1. Cat
This word for any feline or, specifically, the small domesticated species became a term of contempt for a woman and slang for a prostitute (brothels have been called cathouses), and vicious or sniping comments or behavior, probably from an association with the behavior of agitated cats, are still referred to as catty.
Similarly, noisy protests from spectators at a performance or competition are referred to as catcalls, presumably from the unpleasant sound of cats howling out during fighting or courtship. However, cat also came, first in Black English and then in more widespread usage, to be synonymous with fellow or guy and became a label for a jazz aficionado.
A fat cat is, by analogy with the physical aspect of an obese feline, a wealthy, self-satisfied person. Many idioms and expressions employ the word cat, including proverbial references to cats having nine lives and letting the cat out of the bag.

2. Cougar
This relatively recent slang term, from an analogy with feline predation, refers to older women who seek younger males as sex partners.

3. Kitten
The word for a young cat applies to a seductive or alluring woman; it’s sometimes expanded to “sex kitten.”

4. Lion
Because of this animal’s regal nature, its name is used to celebrate noble bearing; the word also alludes to bravery (as in the epithet Lionhearted) but also to greed or tyranny. The verb lionize refers to adulation; leonine is an adjective that often describes a person’s feline appearance or comportment.

5. Tiger
The ferocious nature of the tiger has inspired the use of its name to express admiration for a person’s tenacity or competitive spirit. By contrast, a paper tiger is just what the idiom suggests: an apparently powerful entity that is not a force or a threat.

* http://www.dailywritingtips.com/cat-connotations/

Library Pun Humor

Saint Valentine's Day "Love Quotes"

"How do I love thee? Let me count the ways."

- Elizabeth Barrett Browning

*Authors, poets and playwrights have been trying to capture love in words for thousands of years. Their work speaks to the enduring power of love across the ages of human history. Check out this collection of quotes about love from some of the world's most famous romantics.

"Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies."
- Aristotle

"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage."
- Lao Tzu

"My bounty is as boundless as the sea, My love as deep; the more I give to thee, The more I have, for both are infinite."
- William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

"How do I love thee? Let me count the ways."
- Elizabeth Barrett Browning

"Young love is a flame; very pretty, often very hot and fierce, but still only light and flickering. The love of the older and disciplined heart is as coals, deep-burning, unquenchable."
- Henry Ward Beecher

"Age does not protect you from love. But love, to some extent, protects you from age."
- Anais Nin

"Life has taught us that love does not consist in gazing at each other but in looking outward in the same direction."
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

"Love has no desire but to fulfill itself. But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires; To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night. To know the pain of too much tenderness. To be wounded by your own understanding of love; And to bleed willingly and joyfully."
- Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet

"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart."
-Helen Keller

"Love does not dominate; it cultivates."
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"Love makes your soul crawl out from its hiding place."
- Zora Neale Hurston

"Love is life. All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love." Everything is, everything exists, only because I love.
- Leo Tolstoy

"Love is like quicksilver in the hand. Leave the fingers open and it stays. Clutch it, and it darts away."
- Dorothy Parker

"I have learned not to worry about love; but to honor its coming with all my heart."
- Alice Walker

"I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride; so I love you because I know no other way than this: where I does not exist nor you, so close that your hand on my chest is my hand, so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep."
- Pablo Neruda, "Love Sonnet XVII"

*http://www.history.com/topics/valentines-day-quotations

The Yocum Library Collection - Books About Love

A list of a few books in the Yocum Collection. For more books, DVDs and other love related items check out the catalog. - http://catalog.berks.lib.pa.us/

Love for love : selected poems
Wyatt, Thomas Sir., Cooper, Louise.
PR2400 .A5 L68 2008

Falling in love : why we choose the lovers we choose
Malakh-Pines, Ayala.
HQ801.M366 M34 2005

Born for love : reflections on loving
Buscaglia, Leo F., Kimber, Daniel.
BF575.L8 B82 1992

The Lore of love /
Time-Life Books.
GR460 .L67 1987

Daily Writing Tips - Does Everyone Know Every One?

Does Everyone Know Every One?
by Mark Nichol

Writers are sometimes confused about when to attach any, every, and no to one or body as a closed compound and when to treat one of these word pairs as just that: a two-word phrase. Here are guidelines and sample sentences for each combination:

Any Body/Anybody The two-word alternative, which refers to people’s physical form rather than the complete body-mind package, might be used as an advertising-copy play on anybody, as in “We can get any body into shape,” but that’s rare; it might also appear as a modifier-noun pair that itself modifies another noun: “People with any body type are at risk.” Anybody is the default version when referring to unspecified people: “Is anybody there?”

Any One/Anyone “Any one brand is as good as the other” points out that each brand has equal merit. “Anyone can see that I’m right” notes that any person, considered one by one among a class of all possible people, would agree.

Every Body/Everybody When “every body” begins a sentence, the meaning is indistinguishable from when the closed compound is employed: “Every body in the room was tanned” differs only in emphasizing the physical forms of the people, while “Everybody in the room was tanned” focuses on the people who sport bronzed skins.
In that case, because the distinction is so slight, the more comprehensive latter form prevails. However, the phrase form is common in such wordplay-conscious constructions as “The Clothing Corral has attire for every body,” which, as in the previous example using the phrase, is nearly synonymous with its alternative (“The Clothing Corral has attire for everybody”) but calls attention to the corporeal manifestation of people, rather than their entire being, to make a point.

Every One/Everyone When Tiny Tim declares, “God bless us, every one!” in A Christmas Carol, he’s emphasizing that he wishes blessings bestowed on each individual present. If Charles Dickens were to have declared that all the revelers in the Cratchit household repeated the statement in unison, he would have written something like this: “Everyone affirmed the blessing by repeating it as with one voice.” Everyone means “all of them.”

No One/Noone (or No-One) “No one” is the only correct form in American English (and is fading in usage in British English), whether one is a pronoun or an adjective: “No one is home”; “There is no one right way to do it.” Noone and no-one are erroneous.

No Body/Nobody The phrase refers to the lack of the presence of an animal’s living or dead physical form: “No body was lying in the room when I entered it this morning.” The compound means simply “no person,” and usually indicates a class of people whose commonality is their exclusion from another class: “Nobody saw it last night, either.” (Nobody can also be a noun meaning “nonentity, inconsequential person”: “Ever since his last film flopped, he’s been a nobody.”)

Summary Note that in each case, the two-word phrase consists of a noun preceded by a modifier, and the one-word compound (with the exception of the noun sense of nobody) is a pronoun, a word standing in for a proper or common noun. The commonsense take-away is that use of the phrase forms are exceptional; usually, it’s the pronoun you’re looking for. * http://www.dailywritingtips.com/does-everyone-know-every-one/

Library Pun Humor

This Day In History - February 12

February, 12, 1809:
Abraham Lincoln is born

*On this day in 1809, Abraham Lincoln is born in Hodgenville, Kentucky.

Lincoln, one of America's most admired presidents, grew up a member of a poor family in Kentucky and Indiana. He attended school for only one year, but thereafter read on his own in a continual effort to improve his mind. As an adult, he lived in Illinois and performed a variety of jobs including stints as a postmaster, surveyor and shopkeeper, before entering politics. He served in the Illinois legislature from 1834 to 1836, and then became an attorney. In 1842, Lincoln married Mary Todd; together, the pair raised four sons.

Lincoln returned to politics during the 1850s, a time when the nation's long-standing division over slavery was flaring up, particularly in new territories being added to the Union. As leader of the new Republican Party, Lincoln was considered politically moderate, even on the issue of slavery. He advocated the restriction of slavery to the states in which it already existed and described the practice in a letter as a minor issue as late as 1854.

In an 1858 senatorial race, as secessionist sentiment brewed among the southern states, he warned, a house divided against itself cannot stand. He did not win the Senate seat but earned national recognition as a strong political force. Lincoln's inspiring oratory soothed a populace anxious about southern states' secessionist threats and boosted his popularity.

As a presidential candidate in the election of 1860, Lincoln tried to reassure slaveholding interests that although he favored abolition, he had no intention of ending the practice in states where it already existed and prioritized saving the Union over freeing slaves. When he won the presidency by approximately 400,000 popular votes and carried the Electoral College, he was in effect handed a ticking time bomb.

His concessions to slaveholders failed to prevent South Carolina from leading other states in an exodus from the Union that began shortly after his election. By February 1, 1861, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas had also seceded. Soon after, the Civil War began. As the war progressed, Lincoln moved closer to committing himself and the nation to the abolitionist movement and, in 1863, finally signed the Emancipation Proclamation. The document freed slaves in the Confederate states, but did not address the legality of slavery in Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska or Arkansas.

Lincoln was the tallest president at 6' 4. As a young man, he impressed others with his sheer physical strength--he was a legendary wrestler in Illinois--and entertained friends and strangers alike with his dry, folksy wit, which was still in evidence years later. Exasperated by one Civil War military defeat after another, Lincoln wrote to a lethargic general if you are not using the army I should like to borrow it for awhile.

An animal lover, Lincoln once declared, "I care not for a man's religion whose dog and cat are not the better for it." Fittingly, a variety of pets took up residence at the Lincoln White House, including a pet turkey named Jack and a goat called Nanko. Lincoln's son Tad frequently hitched Nanko to a small wagon and drove around the White House grounds.

Lincoln's sense of humor may have helped him to hide recurring bouts of depression. He admitted to friends and colleagues that he suffered from intense melancholia and hypochondria most of his adult life. Perhaps in order to cope with it, Lincoln engaged in self-effacing humor, even chiding himself about his famously homely looks. When an opponent in an 1858 Senate race debate called him two-faced, he replied, If I had another face do you think I would wear this one?

Lincoln is remembered as The Great Emancipator. Although he waffled on the subject of slavery in the early years of his presidency, his greatest legacy was his work to preserve the Union and his signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. To Confederate sympathizers, however, Lincoln's signing of the Emancipation Proclamation reinforced his image as a hated despot and ultimately led John Wilkes Booth to assassinate him on April 14, 1865. His favorite horse, Old Bob, pulled his funeral hearse.

*http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/abraham-lincoln-is-born

Word of the Day

doggo
 \ DAW-goh, DOG-oh \, adverb;  
1.
Informal . in concealment; out of sight.

Quotes:
Others have walked 20 or 30 miles to freedom, lying doggo  by day, bluffing past challenges at night.
-- Alan Moorehead, "Desert Tank Fighting," Life , January 19, 1942

He was lying doggo  in a village about fifteen miles off, waiting to get a fresh gang together.
-- Rudyard Kipling, "Life's Handicap: Being Stories of Mine Own People ," 1891

Origin:
Doggo  is thought to come from the word dog , alluding to the light sleep characteristic of that animal. The suffix -o  is used in formation of slang terms. Doggo  entered English in the late 1800s.

Dictionary.com

Books on Abraham Lincoln - Yocum Library Collection

Books on Abraham Lincoln in the Yocum Library Collection

Lincoln : a life of purpose and power
Carwardine, Richard.
E457 .C43 2006

A. Lincoln : a biography
White, Ronald C.
E457 .W597 2009

Lincoln : an illustrated biography
Kunhardt, Philip B., Kunhardt, Philip B.,, Kunhardt, Peter W.
E457 .K94 1992

Lincoln /
Donald, David Herbert,
Call number:E457 .D66 1995

DVD
Young Mr. Lincoln
Zanuck, Darryl Francis,, Ford, John,, Trotti, Lamar,, Fonda, Henry,, Brady, Alice,, Weaver, Marjorie,, Whelan, Arleen,, Moore, Pauline,, Cosmopolitan Productions., Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation., Criterion Collection (Firm)
In this unforgettable portrait of the early life of the Great Emancipator, young Mr. Lincoln, after teaching himself law, has barely started…
Film - DramaYear:[2006]

For a list of other items about Abraham Lincolm go to: http://catalog.berks.lib.pa.us/?uilang=en

Quotes

10 Authors Who Write the Low-Tech Way

*Writers Who Don't Use Modern Technology

Thinking you might need to ditch the longhand and start writing on a computer? Think again. In this piece produced by Mashable, 10 authors fess up to how low-tech they'll go. With the likes of Danielle Steele, Neil Gaiman, and Amy Tan on the list, it's pretty clear to us that sticking with old-school tactics has not impacted their success. So proudly wield your pen! Type triumphantly on that Selectric! But most important of all? Just keep writing!

1. Quentin Tarantino
The famed director, who writes his own screenplays, pens his masterpieces with actual pens.
"My ritual is, I never use a typewriter or computer. I just write it all by hand. It’s a ceremony. I go to a stationery store and buy a notebook -- and I don’t buy like 10. I just buy one and then fill it up. Then I buy a bunch of red felt pens and a bunch of black ones, and I’m like, ‘These are the pens I’m going to write Grindhouse with,'" he said in an interview with Reuters.

2. George R. R. Martin
Game of Thrones fans might not know why it takes George R. R. Martin so long to write his books, but maybe this fact will help: He writes everything on an old word processor.

The famed sci-fi writer shared the tidbit in a 2011 post on his LiveJournal account.
"Yes, I have been using a computer for 20 years now, but while I cruise this interwebby thing with a PC and Windows, I still do all my writing on an old DOS machine running WordStar 4.0, the Duesenberg of word processing software (very old, but unsurpassed)," he writes.

3. Joyce Carol Oates
The prolific author of books such as Blonde and them, Oates prefers to write everything by longhand, for up to eight hours a day.
In an interview with Salon, she said of her process: "Why is this so unusual? Every writer has written 'by hand' until relatively recent times. Writing is a consequence of thinking, planning, dreaming -- this is the process that results in 'writing,' rather than the way in which the writing is recorded."

4. Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaiman is a sci-fi jack of all trades. Though he writes screenplays on a computer, he prefers to write his novels by hand.
"For novels, I like the whole first and second draft feeling, and the act of making paper dirty," he said in an interview with TimeOut.

5. Amy Tan
Author Amy Tan prefers to write early drafts of her work longhand. She eventually types everything up on a computer, but loves the act of physical writing.
"Writing by hand helps me remain open to all those particular circumstances, all those little details that add up to the truth," she said in an interview with The Atlantic.

6. Tom Wolfe
Tom Wolfe is old school. The celebrated author of The Bonfire of the Vanities likes using a typewriter, but ended up writing his 2012 novel Back to Blood entirely by longhand.
In an interview with NPR, he said he'd love to keep using typewriters, but "you can't keep typewriters going today -- you have to take the ribbons back to be re-inked. There's a horrible search to try to find missing parts."


7. George Clooney
Multi-talented actor, director and writer George Clooney isn't the best at technology.
During a Reddit AMA, he admitted that he writes everything out by hand, and then has his producing and writing partner, Grant Heslov, type scripts up on a computer.

"I write by hand and Grant, who I co-write with, has 'skill on the computer.' I'm probably the least computer literate writer there is... Literally when I cut and paste, I cut pages and tape them together. But somehow we make it work!"

8. Danielle Steel
The illustrious romance novelist, currently the bestselling author alive, has one mainstay she uses to type up her more than 100 books.
An interview with the Roanoke Times revealed Steel writes all her books on a 1946 Olympia manual typewriter, during a 20-hour writing shift.
"There are people who show up nicely dressed, they work from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. I can't do that," she says. "Sometimes I don't leave my house for two or three weeks."

9. Jhumpa Lahiri
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jhumpa Lahiri says she writes better when she pens books by hand. Though she eventually types up her prose, she does it on a computer without Internet.
"I don’t write exclusively by hand but I think I feel freer when I write by hand. In fact, I know I do. I write at odd times. I have a notebook by the bed. A lot of things will come to me, which I’ll note down longhand," she said in an interview with Harper's Bazaar.

10. P.J. O'Rourke
Political satirist P.J. O'Rourke denies he is a Luddite, but his actions speak differently. The author uses a Selectric typewriter to pen his numerous works.


*http://mashable.com/2014/02/15/modern-writers-technology/#gallery/writers-who-dont-use-modern-technology/52ffa59b3182974ba000001c

Library Humor

Six Words that Can Ruin Your Sentence

*Actually
[ak-choo-uh-lee]
Crutch words are words that we slip into sentences in order to give ourselves more time to think, or to emphasize a statement. Over time, they become unconscious verbal tics. Most often, crutch words do not add meaning of a statement. Actually is the perfect example of a crutch word. It is meant to signify something that exists in reality, but it is more often used as a way to add punch to a statement (as in, "I actually have no idea"). The next word is one of the most chronically misused crutch words in English. Click ahead to find out what it is.

Literally
[lit-er-uh-lee]
This adverb should be used to describe an action that occurs in a strict sense. Often, however, it is used inversely to emphasize a hyperbolic or figurative statement: "I literally ran 300 miles today." Literally is one of the most famously used crutch words in English. The next one, however, may surprise you.

Basically
[bey-sik-lee]
This word is used to signal truth, simplicity, and confidence, like in "Basically, he made a bad decision." It should signify something that is fundamental or elementary, but too often this word is used in the context of things that are far from basic in order to create a sense of authority and finality. What's our next adverb offender?

Honestly
[on-ist-lee]
This crutch word is used to assert authority or express incredulity, as in, "Honestly, I have no idea why he said that." However, it very rarely adds honesty to a statement. The next crutch word is perhaps the most famous one out there.

Like
[lahyk]
The cardinal sinner of lazy words like is interspersed in dialogue to give a speaker more time to think or because the speaker cannot shake the habit of using the word. Like should describe something of the same form, appearance, kind, character, or amount. But, very often, it is used involuntarily in conversation, just like um. Our next and final word is not so obvious.

Obviously
[ob-vee-uhs]
This word should signify an action which is readily observable, recognized, or understood. Speakers tend to use it, however, to emphasize their point with regards to things that aren't necessarily obvious: "Obviously he should have thrown the ball to first base." What crutch words do you rely on?

*http://dictionary.reference.com/slideshows/umwords#actually

Word of the Day

nonesuch
 \ NUHN-suhch \, noun;  
1.a person or thing without equal; paragon.

Quotes:
Charles thinks her a nonesuch , since she is never weary of hearing him read aloud.
-- Amanda M. Douglas, A Little Girl in Old Washington , 1900

This is a deeply strange book. In fact, it is, to the best of my knowledge, a nonesuch : a 400-plus-page first novel by a 49-year-old American male, dedicated to the highly dubious proposition that such a thing as perfect romantic love is possible in these doomy, gloomy, over-psychologized, terminally ironic, post-humanist, post-postmodern times.
-- James Kaplan, "Reader, He Married Her," New York Times , February 24, 2008

Origin:
Nonesuch  entered English in the mid-1500s. It is a portmanteau of the words none  and such .

Dictionary.com

Word of the Day

sodality
 \ soh-DAL-i-tee, suh- \, noun;  
1.fellowship; comradeship.
2.an association or society.
3.Roman Catholic Church . a lay society for religious and charitable purposes.

Quotes:
...watching the mystical flicker of the world caught and sealed in the little box everybody called by the diminutive just to express their sodality  with it.
-- T. C. Boyle, "Drop City ," 2003

Up and down both sides of Prudence's short block lived an involuntary society, a sodality  of widows.
-- Melissa Pritchard, "Late Bloomer ," 2004

Origin:
Sodality  comes from the Latin word sodālitās  which means "companionship," from the root sodāl  meaning "companion."

Word of the Day

Babelism
 \ BAY-buh-liz-uhm, BAB-uh- \, noun;  
1.a confusion, as of ideas, speech, etc.

Quotes:
Her " babelism ," as Claudine, who finds her wildly amusing, calls it, and her carefully cultivated gibberish, attract attention like an additional charm.
-- Colette, translated by Antonia White, "Claudine and Annie , " 1903

Indeed all of these bodies of work materialize the idea of " babelism ," a kind of scrambled opacity, which Ferrari identified in the early 1960s and which really sums up his entire poetic oeuvre...
-- Luis Pérez-Oramas, León Ferrari and Mira Schendel: "Tangled Alphabets ,"  2009

Origin:
Babelism  emerged in the late 1700s from the word Babel , which refers both to a Biblical city and to "a confused mixture of sounds or voices."

Dictionary.com

Daily Writing Tips - 25 Synonyms for “Story”

25 Synonyms for “Story”
by Mark Nichol

*So, you’re writing a story? What kind of story? No, don’t unreel the plot for me. Provide some context for the narrative style by telling me what your model is for your tale. This is not about genre, though there may be some overlap; it’s all about the form. Choose from one or more of these words denoting the storytelling technique:

1. Account: a retelling of an event or series of events, sometimes with a connotation of bias or at least subjectivity
2. Anecdote: a short, entertaining story, often involving the person telling it
3. Allegory: a story that expresses ideas about human nature through the actions of stock characters undergoing challenges
4. Annals: historical records of events, generally without subjective annotation
5. Bedtime story: a story read or recited to children before they go to sleep, or anything resembling one at face value or ironically
6. Bildungsroman (German: “education novel”): a novel that charts the lead character’s psychological development
7. Chronicle (see annals)
8. Exemplum: an anecdote or similar story intended to provide a moral or argue a point
9. Fable: a story with supernatural or imaginary elements (such as anthropomorphic animals), often to make an observation about human nature
10. Fairy tale: a story with improbable elements including magic, often incorporating such formulas as a quest, a granting of three wishes, and triumph over evil forces
11. Folktale: a tale originally passed down orally featuring vague, universal story elements
12. Legend: a story significant to a culture and originally passed down as if it had actually occurred
13. Myth: a putatively factual account from the distant past that figuratively explains a cultural phenomenon
14. Narrative: a relation of factual or fictitious events
15. Novel: a long, complicated story featuring an assortment of characters experiencing a series of events
16. Novelette: a short novel
17. Novella (see novelette)
18. Parable: a short tale that a religious or moral principle
19: Record: (see annals)
20: Roman a clef (French, “novel with a key”): a story with thinly disguised versions of actual characters and events
21: Short story: a tale shorter than a novel, featuring relatively few characters and focusing less on plot than on mood
22: Short short story: an especially brief story
23: Tall tale: a story intended to entertain through the introduction of exaggerated elements
24: Urban legend/urban myth: a moralistic or sensational story presented and widely perceived as fact
25: Yarn: a story that is adventurous or humorous or both, and perhaps is a tall tale (see “tall tale,” above)

*http://www.dailywritingtips.com/25-synonyms-for-%E2%80%9Cstory%E2%80%9D/

Genealogy Roadtrip: Do You Brake For Cemeteries?

VanFossen stone, Norris City Cemetery, Norristown, Pa.
Photo by: Kathy Nye

Posted by Anne Gillespie Mitchell on July 9, 2014 in Ask Ancestry Anne, Research

This summer, you may venture out from behind your computer and into the sun to travel to the places that your ancestors lived and where they were buried.

Cemeteries are great places to find information about your ancestors. Standing in front of the grave of those that have come before you can be a moving experience.

 Here are 10 tips to consider before you go.

1. Be Respectful
This is the final resting place for many who have gone before, and there may be people there who are mourning the recent loss of loved ones. This is not the time to shout “Eureka!” no matter how good the find is.

2. Dress Appropriately and Bring Supplies
Don’t wear your Sunday best. Wear comfortable clothes that can get dirty. Open-toe shoes are probably not a good idea. A hat, sunscreen and some water might make your trip more comfortable. A pair of clipping shears can be used to cut away grass that is in the way of the information on the marker. Wrap some aluminum foil around a piece of cardboard to help illuminate a marker that is hidden in shadows when you take a picture.

3. Take Pictures and Videos
Take a lot of pictures. And then take more. Take up close photos from all sides and photos from the distance that show surrounding graves. Also, many cameras and phones can take videos. This allows you to show markers in relation to each other. Check out my blog post “A Few Steps Closer to a Death Date and a Burial Place” for an example. Also check out “How to Photograph a Tombstone” and “Tips for Taking Great Cemetery Pictures” for more ideas on how to take pictures at the cemetery.

4. Check the Back of the Marker
There can be names, inscriptions or other information on the back of a grave marker. Don’t miss what might be an important clue.

5. Sketch a Map of the Marker
Sketch out a map of the marker and what is around it.  Make a note of anything you don’t want to trust to your memory. And don’t trust anything to memory!

6. Look for Surnames in Your Tree
Look around for surnames in your family tree. If you have the Ancestry.com app on your phone or tablet, you can easily look people up. If you see a name that sounds familiar, take a picture.

 7. Check with the Office
If this your first time at this cemetery, call the cemetery office (or the church that runs the cemetery) and ask if there are rules you should be aware of and if there are records that you could see when you visit. Also, find out what the hours of the office are. (Also double-check the hours for the cemetery. You don’t want to plan an early morning visit only to discover they don’t open the gate until 9:30.) Do they have a copy machine?  Will they allow you to take pictures of documents?

8. Look for Indications of Military Service
If your ancestor served in the military, there may be a marker from the U.S. Veteran’s Administration, which will indicate that service. Some tombstone will even note the exact unit and his/her religion. Make sure to get good photos or take good notes. Or better yet, both! Here are some tips for understanding military tombstones.

9. Look for Symbols on the Marker
Symbols such as an anchor or praying hands may have meaning.  Check out “Gravestone Symbolism” and “Photo Gallery of Cemetery Symbols and Their Meanings” for more clues.

10. Look for Other Cemeteries
Your ancestors may not have all been buried in the same place. Check out online maps such as the  USGS topographic maps (free to download!) that often have cemeteries marked.  Also use the Cemetery Search on FindAGrave or the Search Cemeteries feature on the FindAGrave app. You may have driven by your ancestor’s final resting place and never have known it.

Happy Searching!

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