Ruth Bell Graham (1920-2007)

Ruth Bell Graham passed away yesterday, leaving quite a legacy. Check out some of the books by and about her at the library.

Scrabblefest!

Scrabble
Originally uploaded by merfam

We are having a Scrabblefest event this Saturday, June 16, in Meeting Room C at the Main Library, from 2:00 to 4:00 pm. Come play in this all ages, just for fun event. We'll provide the games, snacks, and the chance to win a game to take home!

100 Words Every High School Graduate Should Know

100 Words Every High School Graduate Should Know
by Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries


The following is the entire list of 100 words:

abjure abrogate abstemious acumen antebellum auspicious belie bellicose bowdlerize chicanery chromosome churlish circumlocution circumnavigate deciduous deleterious diffident enervate enfranchise epiphany equinox euro evanescent expurgate facetious fatuous feckless fiduciary filibuster gamete gauche gerrymander hegemony hemoglobin homogeneous hubris hypotenuse impeach incognito incontrovertible inculcate infrastructure interpolate irony jejune kinetic kowtow laissez faire lexicon loquacious

lugubrious metamorphosis mitosis moiety nanotechnology nihilism nomenclature nonsectarian notarize obsequious oligarchy omnipotent orthography oxidize parabola paradigm parameter pecuniary photosynthesis plagiarize plasma polymer precipitous quasar quotidian recapitulate reciprocal reparation respiration sanguine soliloquy subjugate suffragist supercilious tautology taxonomy tectonic tempestuous thermodynamics totalitarian unctuous usurp vacuous vehement vortex winnow wrought xenophobe yeoman ziggurat

How do you fare? :)

Mr. Wizard dead at 89

Mr. Wizard, aka Don Herbert, died yesterday at the age of 89. When I found that out, I looked him up on Wikipedia (linked above), to find out what I didn't know about him. What I did know was that he did science on TV ... back in the 60s, wasn't it?

Well, yes, but people between the ages of 15 and 30 (and their parents) are beating me to the punch: He reinvented his earlier show (that ran from 1951 to 1965) for Nickelodeon in 1983, and it ran until 1990. Reruns were shown on Nickelodeon until 2000, making it the longest running show ever on Nickelodeon. You can still see some of his books at the library.

I also didn't know that he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in World War II.

He was quite a guy.