“Can you help me find a short story I read in high school? I want to read it again, but I can’t remember what it’s called or who wrote...
At the Newton Falls Public Library, we understand how discouraging it can be when you can’t find what you’re looking for. Our patron remembered that the story was about a son going through his father’s belongings to discover that he had been a prisoner of war in Vietnam. She also remembered that her high school had used the Language...
“I need a book with instructions on hemming blue jeans; it is getting too costly to have someone else hem them for me. I would also like them...
The staff of the Newton Falls Public Library has their own memories of children complaining about the appearance of clothing after shortening or alterations, and can understand a mother wanting to be frugal. We found a variety of instructions for hemming different types of clothing and fabrics in sewing books on our shelves, such as the “Reader’s Digest Complete Guide...
Old Farmers Almanac
I love the Old Farmer’s Almanac…I don’t necessarily take it as gospel but I do love the miscellany of STUFF that is in it. It is a veritable FOUNT of KNOWLEDGE of various off-beat and semi-useful pieces of information. I say semi-useful because some of the wisdom that this publication imparts, I would rather not have to actually have...
Comet ISON
AND…just in case you’ve been obsessing about the Comet ISON(International Scientific Optical Network—used by some Russian astronomers to first locate this fast-moving wonder) the one thing that most astronomers actually agree on is that it is highly unlikely to slam into the Earth, smashing us all to smithereens…that and the fact that nobody around right now is likely to...
Drawbacks To Unseasonable Weather
There ARE drawbacks to having a warm spell this late in the year. Yes, indeed. So…I’m sitting in the living room reading the paper; it’s a breezy, balmy (for November, anyway)fifty-something, sixty-something outside. The room is pleasantly warm enough. It’s evening, getting dark, I’m thinking about getting to bed early after a day that started fairly early for a weekend. Then...
“How do you get rid of a woodpecker?”
One of our Newton Falls Public Library patrons was being pestered by a woodpecker, and was hoping to chase it away before it caused damage to their barn. Fortunately, there are several methods they can try. According to the Audubon Society , woodpeckers peck for three reasons: to mark territory, to search for insects, and to make a hole in...
“Earlier this year, I was diagnosed with tenosynovitis in my hand. Could you find me some more information on it?”
“Earlier this year, I was diagnosed with tenosynovitis in my hand. Could you find me some more information on it?” Though none of us here at the Newton Falls Public Library are doctors, and therefore aren’t qualified to give medical advice, we could certainly provide the resources to help answer our patron’s question. First, we wanted to define tenosynovitis. -Itis...
A Fungus Among Us
The computer strikes again! Here I am typing away at my keyboard-in-the-corner, writing what I’m hoping will be more-or-less reproduced below and—WHAM! It all disappeared. Gone! Gone! Nowhere to be found(Not that I could find it anyway, technological klutz that I am). Nearly a page of deathless prose lost into the ether of cyberspace. What’s REALLY irritating about it...
Rants in My Plants
Weeding and quite a number of other garden/lawn tasks are so essentially mindless that they offer “quality time” for pondering totally unrelated topics that may have “gotten under my skin”, “stuck in my craw(What IS a craw, anyway?)”, “graveled my gizzard”, “frayed my last nerve”…whatever idiomatic expression you might prefer. So I’ve been using the time, perhaps not wisely,...
“I need a recipe for making buttermilk…”
“Help,” our caller said “I need a recipe for making buttermilk. Not the one that uses vinegar or lemon juice; the one that uses cream of tartar.” While the staff of the Newton Falls Public Library was more familiar with the latter, they had heard of the former. We were successful with an online search using the terms “buttermilk cream...
Rambutan? Huh?
Please pass the rambutan. Right. I didn’t know what it was either but it was mentioned in a recent filler article in the R-C. I’m not sure what’s behind it but there seems to be a rash of “record-setting” events and/or activities of all kinds that seem to be, basically, pointless. I imagine that the folks down at Guiness must...
40-Something is the New 20-Something
I’m beginning to think that 40-something is the new 20-something. And no, it’s not because of medical miracles, cosmetic surgery or skin cream. Rather, it’s a strange convergence of rising college costs, a constricted job market and renewed outlooks as a result of the first two economic realities. Middle age used to be a locked-in stage of life where home,...
Fatberg!
Have another piece of cake, Chubby? OMG! New scientific research indicates that obesity is likely about three times as great a factor in mortality rates as had been previously believed, up from 5% to 18%. Some 78 million people in the U.S. are struggling with the condition…or not. Some twenty per cent of deaths in the 40-85 yr. age group...
Ya Shoulda Been There!
Ya shoulda been there! “There”, in this instance was actually two places where it was all happenin’ last week. Not genuinely related places, really, but there were similarities, fo’ sure. The first one was the business-to-business open house at Facet Salon and Day Spa on Tuesday, August 6. The parking lot at the TLC was hopping and they weren’t all in...
Treatise on Spell Check
Spell Check can’t do everything. I was at the Farmers’ Market at Robinson the other day. Small but interesting; an assortment of vendors with good stuff. Dave Stotler had Lodi apples, good for the first apple pies of the season. A lady from Randolph was there with a food truck that had been featured on WKSU’s “Quick Bites”. Great Harvest...
‘Tis the Season?!
“Tis the season! For just about everything, I guess. The other day, a container of blueberries and two squash magically appeared on my front porch sitting on some literature from the Jehovah’s Witnesses or some other well-meaning group and next to the comic strip umbrella from the AB-J. Tasty stuff! Then the model neighbors on the corner (You know who...
Time Flies
My, how Time flies! Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana. So, if the line above is an example of a “garden path sentence” or syntactic ambiguity or a pun, a double entendre or an antanaclasis—well, it would be, wouldn’t it—possibly by that great linguist, Groucho Marx, these recent weeks have been an example of pandemonium! (from the...
“I’ve heard the expression ‘like white on rice,’ but I’m not really sure if I’m correct in understanding what it means. Can you find me the information?”
English has some very unusual phrases that the patrons and staff of the Newton Falls Public Library have found to be interesting. Our search began in the library’s reference collection. On the cover of Cassell’s Dictionary of Slang by Jonathon Green, which is, according to Evening Star Standard reviewer Jonathan Meades says “. . . a terrific piece of work...
PARTY CENTRAL!!!
You know, the saying goes, “Be careful what you wish for.” Ain’t it the truth! The Villager took a brief hiatus on the Fourth, giving staff and media stars (That’s you, Benjamin.) a little time to set off and/or observe firecrackers and recoup after all of the frenetic activity of the SummerFest—BEST EVER—and come out swinging for the rest of...
“I remember many years ago that there were a pair of pianists who played the song Exodus. Can you find me their names?”
“I remember many years ago that there were a pair of pianists who played the song Exodus. Can you find me their names?” Some of the more mature library staff also remembered the pair and that their initials were F & T, but nothing more. The online search for the words “dual pianists played Exodus” brought immediate results. The Wikipedia...
No Computer! Received via email — Thank Goodness!
So…the lightning storm took out the computers—desk top, laptop, probably the remote control for the alarm clock, for all I know—and the Villager deadline is looming on Monday. What to do? What to do? The schedule is filling up : The computer guru who is working on the problem will be arriving with his bag of magic spells and incantations,(...
“I need a chart of the growing periods of tomatoes. Can you help me?”
The Newton Falls Public Library staff understands the importance of this information to home gardeners, so they can determine the best selection of plants for our growing season. We showed our patron Ortho’s Complete Guide to Vegetables by Jacqueline Hériteau which has several pages of descriptions of various tomatoes with growing periods. Our patron stated that he wanted a printed...
Good Grief
If it isn’t one thing, it’s another…how’s that for original thought? I went to my computer, the desktop, which is one of the newer dinosaurs, as compared to the iPads and tablets and such, intending to turn it on and get started on my weekly offering of deathless prose and witty repartee before journeying off into the wilds of assembled...
Costume Crises
Well, it’s all the talk. Superman, in the new movie coming out soon, “Man of Steel”, has a new look--no tights! The new costume still sports the iconic red capital “S” across the--very broad--chest on an all-blue, sort of metallic, more-armored-look unitard. No belt, exactly, but a waist-defining red detail on the sides and red cuffs and a red...
“Why is Fido a popular name for a dog? Where does it come from?”
Over the years, the Newton Falls Public Library staff has found that patrons are often interested in the origins of words. We began our search with a selection of print materials including the Oxford English Dictionary and Cassell’s Dictionary of Slang by John Green, and Pet Names by Jean E. Taggart. In our shared Clevnet catalog we found the title...
Spam
Just in time for the summer cooking-out season, the Hormel company has now fessed up to producing ten--that’s 10 different kinds of SPAM. Well, who’d a thunk it? Yes! You have your regular old Spam ( which the company likes to call “Spam Classic”). You have Spam Lite, Spam ”with real Hormel Bacon”, Spam with cheese, hot & spicy Spam...
A Bad Spell
It wasn’t pretty. The brain trust here at the Weekly Villager sallied forth to adventures in orthography by participating in the22nd Annual Community Spelling Bee for Literacy, co-sponsored by the Portage County Literacy Coalition Community Partners at the NEOMED Conference Center on Friday, May 24, 20013. And fourth…maybe fifth… was about where we wound up…out of five. Like lots of vital...
That was a fine old time!
That was a fine old time! Well, if you weren’t trying to get anyplace in a hurry, that is. The annual Garrettsville community garage/yard/porch sale seems to have attracted quite a crowd for most of the weekend. Some of the narrower thoroughfares were a challenge for those just trying to get into their own driveways. Down Park Ave. some savvy...
“I need a book about chipmunks.”
“I need a book about chipmunks.” The Newton Falls Public Library staff member wasn’t too surprised by the statement; we have another patron who enjoys books about squirrels. After careful questioning as to the exact nature of information wanted about chipmunks, it was learned the our patron is having a problem with chipmunks in their garden. She wished to...
Ha Ha!
`You thought that spring had come, just because you looked at a calendar and got out your flip-flops and sunscreen (I wear sunglasses all year, so that’s really no indication), not to mention making pool plans. Think again, Hummingbird-watcher. I DID hang out four loads of wash on the line to dry; they didn’t even freeze. Planted several new flowers--I...
