For those unfamiliar with the word "meme" (blogspeak version), it refers to an idea posted by one blog, which then asks others to respond, sort of like a chain letter but potentially more entertaining. (I also like this definition, from Aware new media design of New Zealand: a "viral encapsulated idea, with built-in feedback loop.") I was tagged by Tonic Blotter and shortly thereafter by Steve Smith, with the following assignment:
1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people, and acknowledge who tagged you.
The result:
"We've spent a happy weekend together, all three of us. We haven't talked about my scheme. Or scarcely."
This regrettably brief excerpt from Michael Frayn's novel Headlong (1999) hardly shows this author's comic timing and intellect; he's the author of two of my favorite plays, Noises Off (1982) and Copenhagen (1998). This story concerns a philosopher and his art-historian wife, who believe they have found a Bruegel painting in their chimney. I'd offer more comments, but I haven't finished it yet, since it surfaced just last weekend in Philadelphia at one of my favorite haunts, The Book Trader.
All right, I choose: Robert Kirkpatrick, George Hunka, Miguel Frasconi, Clayton G. Koonce and Emily XYZ.
[Vintage label from The Virtual Absinthe Museum]
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