Wednesday, September 16, 2009

A Meme by any other name... would still be a MEME!

Agh! I've never done one of these! Thank you very much Ayak! Yes you may well read a bit of blank look in that phrase. So I looked up "meme" and got some very interesting definitions. The best one seems to be here, I think.

Ayak's blog is called Turkish Delight and it really is a delight.

~~~

So.  The object of this meme is: First, you pick up the book nearest to you...turn to page 161 and copy out the 5th sentence.

In my case that would be, "I can't remember is if it was then or later on that he explained the colours under which he was sailing, 'I tried the Irish Guards,' he said, sadly, 'but they wouldn't take me because of health."

That was by Patrick Leigh Fermor from the book Words of Mercury

Patrick Leigh-Fermor was only 18 when he set off on foot from Holland in December of 1933, to make his way to Constantinople.  What happened during that trip influence how he would choose to live the rest of his life.

This book is filled with bites of marvelous places, fascinating people and wonderful experiences, it's a great book to pick up if you only have a short time to read or are interrupted frequently..  It's divided up into five sections: Travel, Greece, People, Books and Flotsam. (which actually is sort of how I describe my own life!)  In each section there are three to twelve page morsels of reading to flavor your life.  It makes you want to read more of his books.

In the end, though, it gives you a great desire to visit the places and find the people to make your own amazing experiences..  It includes excerpts from books, letters and journalistic essays written over Leigh-Fermor's lifetime. I really enjoy this book, as much in the re-reading,  as the first time I read it a couple of years ago when I picked it up in Athens airport.

Now comes the "good part" I get to pick 5 blogs and see what book they have to hand... so here goes:

I pick Miss Footloose at Life in the Expat Lane
Cheryl at Rice, beans & pastichio
She at She means well, but...
Helena at Helena Halme
and finally Vic at What were you thinking? (who just managed to link homework, Sumeria and kittens into a coherent post!)

I'm sorry to do this to you all, but I am interested!

5 comments:

  1. Truestar, what a lovely story you gave me in your comment to my blog post this week. Thank you! I am looking forward to learning about Corfu and your life there.

    So here goes with the meme:

    << Have they nothing to say to one another at all? >>

    Not very exciting, is it? It is a thought-reaction of Italians to tourists reading books on the beach.

    The book quoted here is one of my favorites about expat life in Italy. It makes me laugh and smile. I like laughing and smiling.

    Title: RIPE FOR THE PICKING by Annie Hawes. It's a follow-up of EXTRA VIRGIN.

    I love her writing style, her descriptions of people and customs and her wonderful sense of humor. I have just bought another book by her titled A HANDFUL OF HONEY, set in Morocco.

    How's this? My first meme. Cheers!

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  2. very nice. yours must be the meme that meryem told me to check out when we met at the brilliant agiotfest. cheers! DR

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  3. Very interesting:)
    Thanks for the tag...I'll do it.
    Have a great day.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Well done! It was my first meme too. So we survived it! The book looks interesting...one for me to look out for I think.

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  5. Dear Miss Footloose,

    Your book sounds like one I would really enjoy. Thanks for playing along with the meme. (I've actually had several bizarre yet strangely interesting "lunches", over the years. Sometimes it's all about where you've maneuvered yourself - and then of course, situations often follow don't they...)

    I do enjoy your blog, and I disagree with the publisher. Have you sent any queries to Lonely Planet?


    Dear D.R.

    welcome to the blog! I can't figure out who you are by your initials, so you have to give me a better clue! Agiofest will continue, as I understand, so plan for a bigger and better one next year!




    Dear Cheryl,

    I look forward to seeing what you are reading! Thanks for being a good sport about it!




    Dear Ayak,

    Yes well, it's a odd thing -this memeing (is that a word?) is a little bit like a chain letter. I suppose it depends on how you approach it.

    [I must say, I think Miss Footloose was very clever to send her meme reply to the comments! HA! I will remember that one!]

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