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Hump Day History

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  In April of 1800, John Adams approved legislation to appropriate $5,000 in order to purchase "such books as may be necessary for the use of Congress." On this day in 1814, the British burned the Capitol, and more than 3,000 books were lost. Thomas Jefferson responded by selling his collection of 6,487 volumes to Congress. By 1851, when a second fire broke out, there were 55,000 books, and nearly 2/3 were destroyed.  Within a few years though, the majority of books had been replaced. Today, there are more than 17 million books and millions of maps.  The Library of Congress is one of the largest in the world. The remaining Jefferson books are on permanent display in the Great Hall, as part of the Rare Book and Special Collections Division. "I cannot live without books." Of note, it's also Bucket List Day, and this is on mine.  I went to Washington DC when I was in middle school, and certainly appreciated what I saw and learned, but Hubby and I have talked about
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National Parks Week

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  The famous tunnel view from Yosemite. On this day of National Parks Week, we learn about the innovative projects happening in the parks. When we visited in 2015, they were restoring the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias.  This year they are working on traffic flow and shuttle stops as well as campground rehabilitation. Conservancy will be done surrounding Bridalveil Falls, to reduce crowding and protect natural resources.  (It wasn't flowing on our trip). The park is also establishing a new welcome center, but here is their first. Built by the Sierra Club in 1903-04 to honor charter member, Joseph LeConte, the memorial served as an information center at the northern terminus of the John Muir Trail. "It demands of those seeing it for that first time that they reorganize their sense of proportion about the real world."
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Best Dressed - Week of April 22

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  Lily Gladstone Zendaya Eiza Gonzalez Nicola Coughlan Rachel Brosnahan Emily Blunt Melissa Barrera Ella Travolta I really like this shot of Dua Lipa. And another bridal, this one from Tony Ward.
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Science is Fun Fridays!

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  Scientists have caught an evolutionary event in real time - primary endosymbiosis is thought to have occurred only two other times in the history of life on Earth. That is when two lifeforms merge, one engulfing the other, using it like an internal organ.  In exchange, the host cell provides nutrients, energy, and protection. The first time this happened, an archaea swallowed a bacterium that became the mitochondria, "the powerhouse of the cell." The second time, some of those advanced cells absorbed cyanobacteria that could harvest energy from sunlight, becoming chloroplasts, and giving us plants. And now, a species of algae has engulfed a cyanobacterium that allows them to use nitrogen fixation - combining nitrogen from the air with other elements to create more useful compounds. The scientists will continue studying these nitroplasts. NewsAtlas
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Shoutout - Shirley Temple

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  Her birthday is coming up next week, but today is Animal Crackers Day, so there's this. This was on some sing-a-long cassette we had, so it's long been in my life.   I told my mom I wanted to dance like Shirley, but I only lasted a few intro classes. And surely you've had a Shirley Temple. Grenadine with ginger ale and/or lemon-lime soda. Add some vodka to make it dirty.  ;-) Top with maraschino cherries!
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Hump Day History

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  On Sunday I went to a lecture at the library, hosted by the Historic Reno Preservation Society, about our local San Rafael Park.  The speaker is the horticulturalist of the arboretum. Initially, a small segment of what is currently the park was a cattle ranch for the Pincolini brothers in the 1890's.  They sold in the 20's to Russell Jensen, who built the first ranch house.  They had sheep instead of cattle. Russell died in a car accident and Mrs. Jensen sold the property to Raphael Herman.  He expanded and developed the area into what it is today.  He had another ranch house built, and it was designed by Paul Revere Williams, who's been mentioned here a time or two. I've been to many weddings there. Raphael's sister in law was left with the ranch after he passed, she leased it for grazing and it went up for sale in the 70's.  The university wanted to purchase, but the city decided to maintain the open space.  Today, it looks much the same as the Pincolini'
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Book Club - Shakespeare

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  Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor as Petruchio and Katharina. One of the main reasons I started reading Shakespeare for myself was to know the origins of quotes in pop culture, such as "Kiss me, Kate!" in this instance. When they first met, I enjoyed their back and forth of witty insult and innuendo.  But now heading into Act IV, I don't like this guy at all.  Instead of matching her, he must overpower her, break her.  I don't see that being necessary, especially as she isn't railing against the marriage or anything. On the other hand, Bianca seems to have more power in her courtings.  She's aware of Lucentio's trick, (disguised as Cambio), and she's playing on Hortensio's desire.  She is about to "practice how to bride it" from the bedroom her sister was just taken from.  No wedding party for Kate. Summary and Analysis
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