Creme de la Meme

You know those email chain letter emails that ask you to fill in the blank: favorite movie, color you're wearing RIGHT NOW, food currently working its way through your intestinal tract, etc? Pass it on.

I hate those. I am especially not into the ones that end that not only request that you sully your friends, but demand that you prove you love the sender, by sending your answers back to them. Aaaarrrrgggghhhh, the pressure! I love you! Don't make me prove it by filling out a form that asks me to reveal my favorite movie quote.

Except that, because I do love you all, I'll tell you that my favorie movie quote is a tie between The Godfather's "Leave the gun; take the canoli," and any line from Young Frankenstein, like, oh, say, "Tafetta, darling" or "Could be worse. Could be raining" or "Abby Someone" or ... good gawd, I love that movie. It's surprising how often those quotes were appropriate when I was a waiter.

Anyhoo. Among my loved ones is Rekabek. She recently tapped me in the blog version of a chain letter, known as a meme. She, in turn, was tapped by Palinode. The challenge is this:
   1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
   2. Open the book to page 123.
   3. Find the fifth sentence.
   4. Post the next three sentences.
   5. Tag five people.

Shit. Rekabek clearly doesn't have an emotional investment in whether we post or not, since she also tapped Pierre who is currently pretending not to have a blog. Yes. Dude. We see you.

But, here's the surprising bit. Both Palinode and Rekabek's closest books are smartie pants books.  Palinode is reading Douglas R. Hofstadter's Gödel, Escher, Bach, a "crazy 1979 "metaphorical fugue on minds and machines in the spirit of Lewis Carroll." Rekabek is reading Anais Nin's Delta of Venus--lyrical and naughty.

I'm less brainy. I like travel books. The closest book to me right now (Portland Hill Walks) rendered a page 123 with only three sentences, so I'm using them:

"Before returning to your car, you may want to check out the Contemporary Crafts Gallery at 3934 SW Corbett, two blocks north of Lowell. It was founded in 1937 by a group of women whose mission was to foster an appreciation for fine craftsmanship while providing a market for artists. The atmosphere is mellow, and the art and crafts, in both permanent and changing exhibits, are superb. Most items, except in the permanent exhibits, are for sale."

Okay, Herb, BIAZ Bonnie, Wendy, and Innkeeper ... tap,tap. Get on with it. Prove your love. Peter, I'm tapping you too, because you clearly must be shamed into getting your art out there.

Comments

[Rebecca]

Sounds like a pretty solid recommendation (for the crafts gallery, I mean).

I found this preface to Delta of Venus to be very interesting: http://tinyurl.com/28taoz

[innkeeper]

Okay, I can do this one. Do I get gorgonzola ice cream as a reward?

[Tree]

OK, so you didn't tap me but I played along anyway and thought the sentence I found was rather a good one. So I'm posting it here:

"Yes, the cowboys are still out there, a few of them, working mostly for absentee ownership, still wearing their comical hats, still overgrazing the hell out of our public lands and still shooting down the last of our eagles, mountain lions, bears, etc."

That's from Postcards from Ed - collected letters from Edward Abbey.

[Tree]

OK, so you didn't tap me but I played along anyway and thought the sentence I found was rather a good one. So I'm posting it here:

"Yes, the cowboys are still out there, a few of them, working mostly for absentee ownership, still wearing their comical hats, still overgrazing the hell out of our public lands and still shooting down the last of our eagles, mountain lions, bears, etc."

That's from Postcards from Ed - collected letters from Edward Abbey.

[Bonnie]

tap, tap, tap ... I played along.