Bookshelf Repository

Merriam-Webster names 'culture' word of the year
15 DECEMBER 2014  ASSOCIATED PRESS  LEANNE ITALIE

NEW YORK -- ... The Springfield, Massachusetts-based dictionary giant filters out perennial favorites when picking word of the year, but does that formula leave them chasing language fads?

"We're simply using the word culture more frequently," said Peter Sokolowski, editor at large for Merriam-Webster... Before the word culture exploded, Sokolowski said, "we used to talk about `society' a lot. Certain groups are taking `society' out of their names now. It seems to be receding. Part of that seems to be because it's elitist. We're using the word culture more frequently in that place."  Read More

33 Creative Bookshelf Designs

16 OCTOBER 2012  BORED PANDA  LINDA D.

If you don’t read books and don’t care about the bookshelves don’t be too quick to close this article. Just think about it. What impression does a room full of books make? That’s right! It will immediately make you look smarter!

Just make sure to put some smart books about topics you barely understand like quantum physics, advanced mathematics or neuroscience. Of course, you might run into a problem if some smart ass tries to chit chat about something you have in your library. Don’t worry, just fake a phone call and when you finish, no one will ever remember the topic.  Read More

‘Gudeg’… in a can? 

13 DECEMBER 2014  JAKARTA POST  ALEZ KURNIAWAN

People are surprised when they hear that gudeg — one of Yogyakarta’s most famous dishes — is available in cans.

Elies Dyah Dharmawati has been selling the dish, made from young jackfruit stewed in coconut milk from her warung (stall), Gudeg Bu Lies, since 1992.
The 61-year-old cooks gudeg the old-fashioned way, packaging it in kendil (earthen pots) or plaited besek (bamboo containers), in a restaurant less than a kilometer from the Yogyakarta Palace. 

... "My canned gudeg does not contain preservatives. Customers can keep it for a year. The taste of the canned gudeg is still fresh." ... The secret, he says, is bringing the gudeg — which might contain duck eggs, slices of chicken, spicy krecek (fried and crispy buffalo skin) and tempeh and tofu, depending on the version — to a boil before sealing it into cans that have themselves been boiled in water.  Read More 

7 Japanese daily planners to suit every lifestyle, from hostess to otaku!
12 DECEMBER 2014  ROCKET NEWS 24  EVIE LUND

For the past six years, I’ve made a point of buying myself a little Rilakkuma daily planner each January and using it to keep track of my appointments, deadlines, to-do lists, etc. These kinds of daily planners are widely used in Japan, perhaps as a result of the Japanese love of punctuality and efficiency (or maybe they’re so punctual and efficient because everyone uses daily planners?) Sure, you could use the functions built into your smartphone or tablet, but there’s something about writing things down that just makes you feel like you’ve got it all together. Also, and this is kind of geeky, but it’s sorta fun to flip through your old schedule books and see what you were up to on x date 3 years ago. In fact, Japan loves schedule books so much that you can now choose from a huge range of styles which are tailor-made to cater to specific lifestyles. Read More