I’m doing a meme?

Yes, I really am.

I have three good reasons:

1) I’m still trying to change the subject, as I mentioned last night. It’s either this or finally post that running comment onthe search terms that have led people to my blog.
2) It came from Pistol Pete at Necessary Therapy, who is apparently one of the few people who can actually get me to do one of these things.

3) I’m going to prattle on about books.

You see, I’m not the type who does these. I’ve ignored two or three of them. I refer to my e-mail inbox as “the place where forwards go to die.” It’s really not my thing.

Today, however, it was different. I decided to do it. The game this time was:

Pick up the nearest book of 123 pages or more. No cheating!
Find Page 123.
Find the first 5 sentences.
Post the next 3 sentences.
Tag 5 people.

The nearest book … At my right hand, I have a stack of books on a corner table. At the top of that stack, which probably makes it the closest, is “Character Makes A Difference” by Mike Huckabee. Under that is “Utopia” by Sir Thomas More, “The Communist Manifesto” by Karl Marx, “The Divine Comedy” by Dante, and “The Wealth of Nations” by Adam Smith.

However, these are slightly past an arm’s length on the right. But the rules said “No cheating.” Sigh …

For I meant to kill this brute — the most formidable of any left now upon the island — at the first excuse. It may seem treacherous, but so I was resolved. I was far more afraid of him than of any other two of the Beast Folk.

That is from “The Island of Dr. Moreau” by H. G. Wells. I was planning to reread it, and so it’s right here beside me on the couch.

So, given the opportunity to show off my literacy and culture, I’m quoting cheap science fiction.

Ah, well …

So, now I’m supposed to tag five people. Whom do I know that might actually do something like this?

Hmmm …

I don’t know. Instead, I’ll just tag people about whose reading habits I’m particularly curious. And I’ll accept that most of them have better things to do.

So, here goes:

Tam from barethoughts.com. Given our recently-discovered shared interest in science fiction, this might be interesting

Sam Riddleburger, author of “The Qwikpick Adventure Society,” a kidlit book my younger son and I are going to read together later this month

Any of the guys from the Axis of Right

OneMom

Econ Grad Student from Bounded Irrationality

So, there we go. I’ll post something worthwhile later.