Sunday's media madness...

With the tragedy that is still unfolding in Japan I thought I would focus dedicate today's blog to the people there with the hopes of keeping the people of Japan in everyone's thoughts and prayers.

The first book is Discovering the Arts of Japan: A Historical Overview by Tsuneko S. Sadao and Stephanie Wada.  This beautiful paperback is a concise reference book great for anyone who loves Japanese art.  It covers many periods and styles of art including Paintings, Sculptures, Architecture, Textiles and more.  There is also a select bibliography and list of major museums housing collections of Japanese art.  I was able to find it for the lowest price at The Book Depository on sale for $10.36 with free shipping.

The next book is Harumi's Japanese Home Cooking: Simple, Elegant Recipes for Contemporary Tastes by Harumi Kurihara.  Harumi Kurihara is Japan's most popular cooking expert and this, her second book, features a collection written specifically with the Western palate in mind.  The lowest price on this book that I found for a new hardcover copy was at Amazon for $18.45.  If you spend over $25.00 or are a Prime member you will qualify for free shipping.

The third book is Ortho's All About Creating Japanese Gardens for all the folks that love to garden and are looking forward to Spring finally arriving.  This book covers designing your layout to fit with your space and specific plants and their structure in relation to your aesthetics.  It shows how to work with nature to create harmony using all the elements.  I was able to find this for the lowest price new at Amazon for only $4.78.  If you are a Prime member or spend over $25.00 you will qualify for free shipping.

Finally, the last book is Japanese for Dummies, the AUDIO+CD version.  The back cover says "Speak Japanese – the fun and easy way! Packed with clear explanations and real-world examples. Your friendly guide to understanding Japanese – quickly and easily!

Whether you’re a student, a traveler, or you just want to pick up basic Japanese, this unintimidating guide will help you start speaking the language in no time. Inside you’ll find a wealth of fascinating cultural facts and handy references – including a Japanese-English mini-dictionary, lists of common expressions and verbs, and much more!

All this on the bonus audio CD

• Pick up Japanese the easy way –through actual conversations
• Features dialogues by native Japanese speakers
• Allows you to hear Japanese as it’s really spoken
• Reinforces lessons from the book

I found the lowest price on this book at Overstock for $16.16, with Overstock they charge $2.95 to ship your order no matter how big it is so if you want something else while your there it won't change your cost of delivery.  And just a reminder, there is a rebate for all the Dummies series of books until the end of March.

I know times are tight everywhere, but if you can spare it please consider donating to the American Red Cross.  The money is desperately needed to help not just the people of Japan but all the people they help all around the world wherever the need arises.  My mom used to work for the Disaster Core and they did so much, everything from helping in the wake of a tornado, to driving shut-ins to Doctor appointments.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend and remembered to set your clocks ahead if you are in an area that observes daylight savings time.

C.Q.

Wednesday's learn and earn...

~WORD OF THE DAY~

gormandize \GOR-mun-dyze\ ~verb

DEFINITION: to eat gluttonously or ravenously

EXAMPLES: Lady Baleforth watched in horror as Lord Hoggwood gormandized the hors d'oeuvres, polishing off the entire lot before any of the other guests even arrived.
"People stuff themselves, they gorge, they gormandize; their fingers are greasy from morning to night." -- From Philippe Sagant's 2008 book The Dozing Shaman

DID YOU KNOW? "Gormandize" entered English in the mid-1500s as a modification of "gourmand," a term borrowed from the French that served as a synonym for "glutton." The meanings of both "gourmand" and "gormandize" were clearly disparaging until the 19th century, when "gourmet" came into use to refer to a connoisseur of food and drink. Since then, the meaning of "gourmand" has softened, so that it now suggests someone who likes good food in large quantities but not in a way that is disgusting or gluttonous. "Gormandize" still carries such negative connotations, but it can also imply that a big eater has a discriminating palate as well as a generous appetite.


~THE REBATE~

Well March is the month for me, its officially Dummies month!  Buy any For Dummies book for $6.99 or more before March 31, including E-books and audio books, and you can and you can a rebate of $5.00 or a Dummies t-shirt.  All yo need to do is fill in the rebate form and mail it in with the original or legible photo copy of your purchase, you can request up to four rebates per form.  To make it even better Amazon is having a half off sale on the huge array of the Dummies books (there are over 1,400 now) so now is the time to learn a new language, take up crafting, learn about your computer or start bee keeping.  Have fun and learn something new.

Have a great day everyone and remember, if you follow me on Facebook you get three entrees into my $10.00 Amazon gift card drawing on Friday.  What even more entries?  Check out the original post.
 
C.Q.