@jeanm.bsky.social
Librarian, gardener. Here for books, nature, music, history (esp. seldom told), NFL, visual arts, New England, Ireland, Italy, France. Bring on the witty, the creative, the kind, and (of course) the cats.
Before he was a myth, he was a student of sound.
@drshabazzz.bsky.social on who shaped Prince — and how those influences made Purple Rain possible.
cc: @uncpress.bsky.social
Press play and rethink the genius. 🎧
Share this with someone who still argues Prince vs. MJ.
#BlackHistoryMonth is a great time to celebrate #biochemist Marie Maynard Daly (1921-2003), 1st Black woman to earn a PhD in #chemistry in the US! 🧪🐡👩🏿🔬 #histsci She made important research contributions to our understanding of the biochemisty of the cell nucleus & cardiovascular issues & the 🧵
Highly recommend reading this post by book critic Ron Charles and subscribing to his substack.
Nearly 280 filmmakers entered the Internet Archive's annual contest celebrating creative freedom without copyright restrictions. n.pr/45iSrw2
Check out his personal library, now held in Morehouse College's "Martin Luther King Jr. Collection," and cataloged on LibraryThing as one of our Legacy Libraries. www.librarything.com/profile/Mart...
Most gratifying (non-family) happening for my 2025 was the launch of the Satchel Paige Project. A work in progress, I have logged 1,909 games thus far. (I have another 145 as "plausible".) If you have questions, ideas, or wish to help, let me know!
marklaurencearmour.wordpress.com/2084-2/
Blue spotted salamanders have been seen walking across snow and new research suggests how they get by in the cold. n.pr/3L6Mqvo
The National Library of Ireland have received a donation of letters from a Donegal family on both sides of the Atlantic many of which deal with the American Civil War. No surprise a Pennsylvania Regiment features! highlandradio.com/2025/12/23/n...
I'm very pleased to formally launch "Yankee Pensioners in Ireland 1845-1905: An Interactive Map" with location/bio info on 720+ women & men receiving U.S. pensions in Ireland-significantly more than previously thought: storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/4e3d...
A note from our CEO Andy Hunter expressing our gratitude for our extended book family and stressing the importance of supporting independent bookstores this holiday season and beyond 💜
Lenticular clouds above Mt. Washington today. Completely harmless, they form when stable air is forced to rise over a mountain range. Note the striking resemblance to “mothership” supercell thunderstorms - which can be precursors for tornadoes.
Two scientists who are fast friends, one Nigerian and one American, have won the MacArthur Foundation's 100&Change competition for their network to catch the next disease with pandemic potential.
Merriam-Webster, the country’s oldest dictionary publisher which is headquartered in Springfield, just released an updated Collegiate edition with 5,000 new entries.
One of my fave more recent songs of Neil Young
"It's Only A Dream" RS
youtu.be/SxrdX0WiZqk?...
For fans of graphic design, planes, or travel, here is a marvelous collection of airline luggage labels. Some of the airlines were new to me, like Air California, Deruluft, Spantax, and Wardair.
From 1900 to 1974, Italian immigrant Marino Persechini traveled the streets of Boston with his barrel piano. That same 126 year old instrument will be played live and in person November 2nd at the West End Museum!
Image: Credit Unknown, Marino Persechini on the streets of Boston, circa 1955.
Reminder: Our #FreedomToRead Special Edition Library Card is available at your nearest QPL location!
www.queenslibrary.org/spotlight/fr...
Learn more about Sammi Wu, the winner of our Library Card Design Contest, and the inspiration for her design.
youtu.be/li0jk8o6_4w
Yes, they really seem to love the rain. Similar here with very few blooms this summer, though the plant itself was thriving.
Interesting about your vegetables. A cucumber near the end of October seems pretty remarkable. I was quite surprised yesterday to be greeted in the garden by this large flower and a bunch of buds on the morning glory.
Northeastern University Library has developed a server and plugin that work with any LLM or chatbot to improve search results and answer the question “What if we could combine the LLM’s better understanding of a student’s aims with the rigorous index and robust collection of a research library?”
Massport has officially launched a new program named “BOS PAWS”, which introduces dogs at Logan Airport to help reduce stress for those coming in and out of Boston. wbznewsradio.iheart.com/content/mass...
what motivated a young man from a rural Vermont town to fight. Alexander was especially struck by the passion and eloquence with which Mason, a white rank-and-file officer with no more than a high school education, wrote about the moral wrong of slavery.”
“More than 100 missives [to his hometown sweetheart Harriet Clark] from Mason—who served as a soldier in the Sixth Vermont Infantry, then as an officer in the 19th U.S. Colored Troops—were remarkable, both for their vivid descriptions of war’s harsh realities and as a window into …
On the evening of Saturday, October 9, 1920, Lili Shapiro registered to vote at the North End's Prince Street School in Boston. Lili was an artist who designed and crafted original ceramics. She was also an active participant in the North End’s Saturday Evening Girls. Image: Historic New England
People perceive thickness of letters very individually, and that’s why we are conducting Font Weight Survey to understand the regional preferences of font weight. Could we ask you for 10 min of your time? The findings will be published publicly once we have some results.
tptq.com/weight
Unless you are already a lover of swamps, this beautifully written essay by Ashley Stimpson is sure to alter your view of them. It taught me a lot, not just about swamps but about American history. Highly recommended
'The Ann Arbor District Library announced that it plans to acquire the Ann Arbor Observer, one of Ann Arbor’s most beloved publications, serving the community since 1976. The acquisition is subject to the parties finalizing the terms of a purchase agreement.' buff.ly/EFSbWGi
What the world needs now is …
Reading Rainbow with Mychal Threets.
In the spring as the #Bookbinders near the end of their first year, they create a set of sample books: 10 books, two boxes, one slipcase, and one four-flap. Many of them chose a theme for their series too. Check out some the lovely results from last May!
Learn more: nbss.edu/full-time-pr...
"It’s the 50th anniversary of 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show,' and nostalgia has me in a bit of a 'Time Warp.' A jump to the left, and it’s 1988, and an awkward, more-anxious 16-year-old version of me accompanies a friend to a late-night 'Rocky' showing at the Balboa Theatre in Newport Beach, CA."