My First Blog Meme

For those of you who don't know what a meme is, Wikipedia says it's a "unit of cultural information, such as a practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another." In the e-mail world, this usually amounts to an "All About Me" quiz you receive in a message from a friend, wherein you replace their answers with yours and send it on to your friends, asking them to do the same. It's a big time-suck, but also is a charming way to get to know your friends, coworkers, distant cousins, etc. Not as good as actually talking to them, but good for a brief illusion of intimacy nonetheless. And a great opportunity to talk about yourself, because nobody gets enough of that.

Usually blog memes are about the same. I think the one I've seen most is "Tell your readers ten weird things about yourself." Now, I don't consider myself to be all that ordinary, exactly, but I had a hard time coming up with weird facts about me that other people would find remotely interesting--or that aren't deeply embarrassing or just gross (yes, everybody has something like that). So up until this point I have decided to spare you the tedium of discovering (or being tagged for) a meme on this blog.

All of that changes today!

I've been tagged for a meme that actually seems worthwhile--and doesn't require a lot of navel-gazing on my part as far as divining what you might find fascinating about little ol' moi. It's not about me at all! Yay!

So, here goes. The rules are:

1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find sentences 5,6, and 7, and post them.
4. Tag five people.

Here's mine, from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, by Barbara Kingsolver:

"Local food is a handshake deal in a community gathering place. It involves farmers with first names, who show up week after week. It means an open-door policy on the fields, where neighborhood buyers are welcome to come have a look, and pick their food from the vine."

I'll add the final sentence in the chapter (#8 on this page), because it hardly deserves to be left behind:

"Local is farmers growing trust."

*******
Can't wait for the growing season!

And I'm tagging these folks to continue the meme:

Heetmyser
Writermom
RicoSuave
Lady Mayhem
Ringdahls

UPDATE, March 5: Lookee what showed up on our departmental word-a-day calendar today!