Best Quality

Jade Pendent Links-

Different Grades of Jade

Type A jadeite has not been treated in any way except surface waxing.

Type B the impregnation of died polymers into the jade colors it.

Type C jade has been artificially stained or dyed. The effects are somewhat uncontrollable and may result in a dull brown. In any case, translucency is usually lost.

B+C jade is a combination of B and C- has been both artificially dyed as well as impregnated.

Type D- this is a jade top with a plastic backing.

This is a link that details this history of chinese jade-

http://www.antiquejades.com/cnhistry.htm

The "Six Ritual Jades"- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_jade

bi- a flat disk with a hole in its center. Represents the heavens. Reserved for barons.

Hu- flat and circular. Represents west

Cong- a ring cuff shape. Represents earth.

huang- a flat, half-ring pendant. Represents the north. Reserved for dukes

gui- flat and blade like. Represents the east. Reserved for earls.

zhang- Flat and blade like. Represents south. Reserved for the king.

Jade Jewelry- http://www.jadefinejewelry.com/

Jade Care-

1. Jade is delicate- avoid bumping it. Although sometimes a crack cannot be seen by the naked eye, the interior structure may have been damaged. As time goes on, it will appear and reduce the value of the piece.

2. Jade is porous so its important not to let it become greasy.

3. When not in use store in a box away from sunlight.

4. Avoid perfume, perspiration or chemicals. The brightness of jade risks corrosion, especially emerald and other high quality jade.

5. Avoid long periods of sunlight for a long time, or it may expand and the quality will change slightly.

6. Jade has certain water content so keep it in an area of humidity to protect it from over-drying.

Folk lore and Jade Legends-

http://www.bernardine.com/gemstones/jade.htm

Best Quality

this is a comic from page 206. The paragraph in the middle of the page is written in a choppy, inconsistent manner which is uncharacteristic of the rest of the novel. The style of writing represents the disconnection among all the members of the joy luck club and the situation they are in.

Best Quality - 3/5/12 - Poem: Limerick

My mother gave me a jade pendant,

Right before her life was ended;

It was too large and too green,

An old miserable thing,

Unfortunately, it was my jade pendant.

A bartender wore the same one as me,

And yes, it was too large and too green;

I then asked him why,

He looked at the sky,

He shrugged, didn't know, the same boat as me.

Before my mom died, we went to the market,

Crabs, so bright, were an easy target;

I picked it up by the head,

It was missing a leg!

But we still took it from the market.

At dinner, I saw Waverly Jong,

That whore, we never got along;

I made a mean joke,

Only to provoke,

That mean old Waverly Jong.

The plate was filled with crabs, so meaty.

Waverly took the biggest one, how greedy!

The plate got to me,

And what did I see?

A leg missing, a crab not too meaty.

After dinner, mom and I discussed,

How could I fight with Waverly? Such a terrible fuss;

I was smarter, she hinted,

And said I thought different,

And that Waverly couldn't come between us.

My father hasn't done well since mom died,

He doesn't eat, though I think he's tried;

I made the bean-curd dish,

and with an obsurd hiss,

The tomcat stood there; alive!

Zodiac Signs

Characters symbols-

Ying Ying St. Clair- Tiger

Lena St. Clair- Tiger

Waverly- Rabit

Lindo- Horse

Rat- Pro: Smart, Wealthy, Flexibility, Adaptable, Materialistic, Tidy Con: Timid, Lack Stability, Year: 2013

Oz- Pro: Honest, Industrious Con: Poor at communication, Prudish, Distant Upcoming Year: 2010

Tiger- Pro: Tolerant, Trustworthy, Con: Short tempered, Conflict with authority. Upcoming Year: 2011

Rabbit- Pro: Hope, Gentle, Sensitive, Modest Con: Stubborn, escape reality. Upcoming Year: 2012

Dragon- Pro: Hate Gossip, Leaders, Like things Perfect Con: Arrogant, Impatient, Over confident. Upcoming Year: 2013

Snake- Pro: Good temper, Communicating skills, good at keeping goals. Con: Jealous, Suspicious Upcoming Year: 2014

Horse- Pro: Clever, Kind, Perceptive, Leaders, Cheerful Con: Talk too much, bad at finances, Independent Upcoming Year: 2015

Sheep- Pro: Tender, Polite, Wise, Economical Con: Shy, Moody, Indecisive, Over Sensitive, Closed off about love. Upcoming Year: 2016

Monkey- Pro: Lively, Flexible, Versatile. Con: Jealous, suspicious, cunning, selfish. Upcoming Year: 2017

Rooster- Pro: Thinkers, Honest, Bright, Warmhearted. Con: Easily lose interest, critical, selfish. Upcoming Year: 2018

Dog- Pro: Loving, Faithful, Confident, Good Leaders Con: Stubborn, lack stability Upcoming Year: 2019

Pig- Pro: Honest, Frank, Friendly, Sweet Con: Naïve, Hot tempered, impulsive, prank people. Upcoming Year: 2020

Best Quality

When I first read this chapter, I noticed the emphasis characters were putting on the "crabs" they ate for dinner. While researching, the chapter begun to make more since. The symbolism of the crab is very big in chinese. The crab represents success, prosperity, and high status. Many of the Chinese wear crabs as charms to express a desire for peace. In the chapter Waverly made sure the crabs of "Best Quality" went her daughter first, then herself, and then Rich. The Chinese symbolism of the crab played a big role in the choosing of the crab with "Best Quality", which is also the name of the chapter. Early in the chapter, Suyuan explained that the feistiest crabs are of the best quality; even beggars would reject a crab that has died before being cooked. This again shows the importance of a crab in Chinese culture. Not even a man with no food wants a bad crab. Every person wants success, prosperity, and high status.

David Foster Wallace Lobsters--Best Quality

http://www.gourmet.com/magazine/2000s/2004/08/consider_the_lobster

I read David Foster Wallace’s article about the Maine Lobster Festival.  It is a very interesting article that explains and debates all aspects about lobsters.  David Foster Wallace uses footnotes, parenthetical writing, and his unique voice to make the article very interesting.  The beginning of the article talks about, anatomically, what a lobster is.  David then describes the hectic setting of the lobster festival. David then goes on to describe the “preparation” of lobster (as he keenly points out in the article preparation is a kinder word for killing).  Inevitably he then raises the ethical question about eating lobster: “ Is it all right to boil a sentient creature alive just for our gustatory pleasure? A related set of concerns: Is the previous question irksomely PC or sentimental? What does ‘all right’ even mean in this context? Is it all just a matter of individual choice?”  Similarly to in the “The Joy Luck Club” David explains the scene and feelings that rise when you drop a lobster in the pot.  Jing Mei experience guilt when her mother threw the crabs in the boiling water:

I remember that crab screaming as he thrust one bright red claw out over the side of the bubbling pot. It must have been my own voice, because now I know, of course, that crabs have no vocal cords. And I also try to convince myself that they don’t have enough brains to know the difference between a hot bath and a slow death (201).

In the article David Foster Wallace looks at all angles of the ethicalness of boiling lobster.

Best Quality-- Links

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/art/2011/03/135_79296.html

This link describes the traditional food Koreans eat when they celebrate a new year. They beleive that eating the snow crab's meat will provide them with 12 months of excellent health. The chemical coumpounds that are found in the snow crab are believed to break down cholestorol, clean the liver and purify the body for a fresh start to the new year
In the book, the Chinese eat crab as well to kick off the new year.

In the book Waverly makes fun of Jing Mei for going to her gay hair stylist implying the stylist has AIDS. I thought that this link about Statistics of HIV and AIDS is really interesting because it shows true numbers of people who are gay that have been infected

Asian Americans are the lowest ethnicity group that are infected. Asians are less than 20%

http://aids.gov/hiv-aids-basics/hiv-aids-101/overview/statistics/


I thought this link was very intriguing because it describes that there is in fact a way you can contract HIV through cutting hair. If a barber does not properly dispose of a utensil that leaves an abrasion and if that person is HIV positive there is a possibility that the virus will stay on the sharp tool and will be transmissed to someone else. There have specific cases of this is countries in Africa and Asia, because of poor hygiene and the repetiveness of re-usable cutting tools.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2932524/

http://www.gourmet.com/magazine/2000s/2004/08/consider_the_lobster?currentPage=7

This article illustrates a visit to the Maine Lobster Festival. It pretty much everything you can think of lobster related. It focuses mostly on the debate as to wether or not boiling Lobsters alive is cruel. PETA makes there position clear while the lobster farmers continually say that lobsters lack a cerebral cortex and there fore feel no pain. When it gets down to it, people don't really know wether or not they feel pain or to what degree they feel pain. It talks about how this festival could almost be concodered a masacre with 100s of cooker boiling lobsters alive one after the other. Over all it was an interesting article over an issue I frankly never thought about.