You're Kidding - it's Really a Gun?

How many nicknames do you know for firearms?  Beyond 'Saturday Night Special' I got nothing.  Here's a story for you.  It all started with Christian Sharp, who patented a .50 caliber hunting rifle in 1848.  (Nope, his name has nothing to do with the phrase 'sharp-shooter').  Enter Reverend Henry Ward Beecher, (1813-1877) an abolitionist and not your Ghandhi type of activist.  He stated outright that, in fighting slavery, Kansans wielding rifles would be more effective than those wielding arguments from the Bible. He was not fooling around. The Reverend used the money he raised to buy Bibles ... to send rifles to Kansas. Hence the term "Beecher's Bibles", occasionally used to refer to Sharps' rifles. You've been desperate to know, right?  Glad I could clear that up for you.

I Hear America Talking p. 92

America Says Ain't Ain't a Word

But 'tis.  According to I Hear America Talking, ain't used to be an't, a contraction for "am not".  They do not address the eternal question, was there a contraction for am too!?  Ain't earned it's bad bad reputation when people started misusing it.  It just means "am not".  It does not mean "is not" as in 'he ain't quite tracking today'.  It does not mean "are not" as in 'those sisters ain't making mud pies'.  It does not mean "have not" or "has not".  It's predilection for green ham and eggs is unknown.  But you get the picture.  If the poor word hadn't been abused we would not scorn ain't now.  Not that it stops us from using it.  Ain't it the truth.

I hear America. Say what?

I was pondering the phrase 'long in the tooth' yesterday, wondering how it came to mean 'old'.  Then I remembered that curse of middle age, receding gums. Duh.  This leads me to the fabulous reference book I Hear America Talking.  What say we explore American language this week?   First up:  "cow catcher".  In the beginning trains ran over cows, which was good for neither party.  In 1832 Isaac Drips invented a guard for the front of the train.  The first versions were too sharp and too high and the cows wound up, ahem, attached to the train if you get my meaning.  The guards were re-designed to be blunter and push the cow aside.  The public also called these protectors of the rails 'horse catchers' but we know what they were for.  Cows.  They just don't get out of the way.

I Hear America Talking

Who is She Really?

We have the following in our libraries' collections:

38 titles by Jean Plaidy

25 titles by Victoria Holt

13 titles by Phillipa Carr

That's 76 titles. Just the titles we own mind you, and guess what!  They were all written by the same person! For comparison, we have 68 titles by Stephen King including the Bachman books. Not only did Eleanor Burford Hibbert - proud owner of all three pseudonyms - write more than 150 books, she put some heavy lifting into them.  The Jean Plaidy novels were historical fiction with the emphasis on history as Hibbert did beaucoup research for them.  These babies were not dashed off in a fortnight.  She's British so I have an excuse to use 'fortnight'.  Finally!  And her reward for all this work?  Well, not actually a reward but you'll never believe it.  She died on a cruise ship!  In the Mediterranean! Glad she was having herself some fun at the end. She certainly earned it.

Born: 1906 in London, United Kingdom
Died: January 18, 1993 on a cruise ship

Nationality: British

Sources:

Contemporary Authors Online, 2003

Contemporary Popular Writers, 1997

as accessed through Ebscohost

Open Today and Academically Speaking

Did you know... that you can find dissertations on the Internet? First of all, let me say that I have nothing but admiration for those who have produced a dissertation and gotten it approved. I understand the process is grueling. With that disclaimer, let us turn to titles. So much fun. "Remote sensing of vegetation using multi-baseline polarimetric SAR interferometry". For all I know this has immense practical application. But I'd have to understand the words to know that. "Anticaries efficacy of a new low-fluoride liquid acidic dentifrice." Or "does this liquid tooth-cleaner work"? "Hydration effect on human nail permeability." I knew if I looked hard enough I could find a fingernail study. Students do have to use the scientific terminology, it's not like they're allowed to say "what happens when your fingernails aren't dry?". But that doesn't mean I can't enjoy the jargon. Does it?


OpenThesis
Dictionaries of Science

Honoring Veterans

All six locations of the Des Moines Public Library are closed in today in honor of Veterans Day.
In September the Citizens Bank and Trust in Chillicothe, Missouri sponsored a Citizens Patriot Flight to Washington D.C. for twenty-one World War II veterans.  My sister Patti Leatherman got to assist, and she shared with me the details of the day. When the group (all men on this trip) gathered, one old soldier recognized another that he had not seen since the war. The trip coordinator, Betty Preston Steele, arranged a 'mail call' for all the men, with letters written by local grade-school students, family and friends.  The GI's visited The National WWII Memorial where one gentleman was able to find the name of his co-pilot who had died in the war. For these honorees, special permission was granted to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  It was handmade by Betty Preston Steele and one man from each of the four services - Army, Navy, Marine and Air Force - participated in laying the wreath.  Our father (Patti's and mine) was a GI and would have just loved a trip like this, so it was a deeply emotional day for Patti as well as the veterans. I hope this type of recognition continues through the years for all veterans. If you have a vet in your life, now is the perfect time to express your appreciation.  If you know them really well, hug a vet today!
About Iowa World War II Veterans

Veterans Day Tomorrow

All six locations of the Des Moines Public Library will be closed Thursday November 11th in observation of Veterans Day.

The first American casualty of Operation Desert Storm was Navy pilot Lt. Commander Michael Scott Speicher. His plane was shot down over west central Iraq on the opening evening of the attack, January 17 1991. For years there was hope he was alive since Speicher had gone down in a remote  area of Iraq and the remains were not found.  Until the summer of 2009, that is.  A long time for the family to wait.  Speicher had family in Iowa including a cousin, Des Moines native Julie Speicher.

Sources: Des Moines Register, 1/19/1991 p. 1A
Military History; Jan 2010, Vol.26 Issue 5, p9-9 as accessed through EbscoHost

Art of Gravy

Gravy.  Mystery or Monster?  It's a little like pie crust.  Those who can, make their own.  Those who can't buy perfectly delicious frozen pie crust imposters at the store.  If you can make gravy you have the patience of a saint and the hand-eye coordination of a videogame master. I remember my mother, whose gravy (albeit mighty tasty) was not silky smooth, bending over the pan gently swirling that huge spoon trying to get the annoying flour to become one with the gravy.  Instead of clumping. CLUMPS!  The bane of every gravy-maker.  She did however make ham gravy which some people consider to be a myth. Want to get on the gravy train?  (I tried not to, but it's mandatory. You are not allowed to write about gravy without making the train reference.  Look it up.)  Meanwhile, Get saucy!  This book is so good even the title is happy.  Gravy-making made fun!

Pogo - It's Been Awhile

Did you enjoy your extra hour of sleep this weekend?  I know, it gets dark earlier and nobody likes that, but the heaven of that one beautiful hour of sleep!  Aaaahh.  Back to Pogo.  Every so often, the Walt Kelly's comic strip Pogo pops up in the media.  One reason is this incredibly famous quote:  "We have met the enemy and he is us."  I always figured this was a general comment on the human condition, but it turns out 'Pogo' was speaking specifically about pollution.  Huh. I know the strip was brilliant and hilarious political satire but you really have to pay attention. Here's a sample of the dialogue, having to do with the loss of a chapeau:  "Huh! Ol' deacon is guv my hat to Miz Stork without so much as a bayou leave."  Guess Kelly also liked your garden-variety puns.