Stylish Reading

My four year old Haddie, stretched out on the sofa as though lounging at the beach, had a book in her hands. A rather large, klunky book. Opening it to a center page, she peered at me over the top.

"Mommy, aren't I stylish?" she cooed, cocking her head in posing.

I laughed. "Yes you are stylish. Reading is very stylish. But what book are you reading?"

"It's my favorite book. It's called Numbers," she replied.

"Oh. But doesn't the title read 501 Japanese Verbs?" I hinted.

Raising her eyebrows, she examined the cover title. "Oh yeah! It's Japanese. But it also has numbers in it." She pointed to a page number proudly, to prove her point.

I'm so glad she finds the page numbers of her favorite book to be so interesting.

They Don't Have Nintendo in Heaven?

Andy said to me, "But Mommy, I don't WANT to die. Because I won't be able to play my DS anymore."

I'm glad he's got his life priorities in order.

:)

The First Engrish?

Yet another hilarious book for your perusal. As a fan of Engrish.com, I appreciate the unintentional humor in linguistics. While not of Japanese origin, this book just may be the first kind of "Engrish".

This is Amazon's description:
In 1855, when Jose da Fonseca and Pedro Carolino wrote an English phrasebook for Portuguese students, they faced just one problem: they didn't know any English. Even worse, they didn't own an English-to-Portuguese dictionary. What they did have, though, was a Portuguese-to-French dictionary, and a French-to-English dictionary. The linguistic train wreck that ensued is a classic of unintentional humor, now revived in the first newly selected edition in a century. Armed with Fonseca and Carolino's guide, a Portuguese traveler can insult a barber ("What news tell me? All hairs dresser are newsmonger"), complain about the orchestra ("It is a noise which to cleve the head"), go hunting ("let aim it! let make fire him"), and consult a handy selection of truly mystifying "Idiotisms and Proverbs."

Ben Franklin loves to fart!

Can you imagine anyone more wonderful than a brilliant historical figure who speaks openly of farting and nudity?



If you're not familiar with Ben Franklin, beyond what the history books teach, you should check out books like this. He was a gas (pun intended)!

How to Good-Bye Depression

This has to be the funniest book I've ever seen. It's called How to Good-Bye Depression: If You Constrict Anus 100 times Everyday. Malarky? Or effective way?

Read the blurb, but also read the reviews, which are, IMO, just as funny as the book premise.