Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Chased by Meme..ster's


"Are you looking at me? " Broadway and Prince St. Prada Store/ New York SoHo


I've just been tagged by Neda and John for the Book Meme.

What on earth is a "meme" you might ask?

According to the American Heritage Dictionary a meme pronounced m(long e)m as in meem is:
n. A unit of cultural information, such as a cultural practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another.

posted on Jargon file a hacker term:
/meem/ n. [coined by analogy with `gene', by Richard Dawkins] An idea considered as a replicator, esp. with the connotation that memes parasitize people into propagating them much as viruses do.

[Shortening (modeled on gene) of mimeme, from Greek mimēma, something imitated, from mimeisthai, to imitate; see mimesis.]

Andrea's take in short...a replicating, virus of tags for more memes.

So here I meme, broken hearted, found my read and just got started.

What to do next?
1) pick up the nearest book, in my case books that I'm currently reading 123 pages or more.
2) Find Page 123.
3) Find the first 5 sentences.
4) Post the next 3 sentences. Tag 5 people.

Since I've been tagged by (2) I'm giving you double the dose.



I am reading:
"ZEN and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" an inquiry into values
by Robert M. Pirsig /First copyright c. 1974

excerpt: "That's also in someone's mind...Ghosts. That's really what Phaedrus was talking about when he said it's all in the mind. It sounds insane when you just jump up and say it without reference to anything specific like an engine."

My take so far... it's modern day Greek philosphy, life altering, thought provoking motorcycle ride and examination of how we live and are led by our beliefs.

I am also reading:
"Getting Things Done" The Art of Stress-Free Productivity"
by David Allen, Penguin Books /copyright 2001

excerpt: "You may find you have a tendency, while processing your in-basket, to pick something up, not know exactly what you want to do about it, and then let your eyes wander onto another item farther down the stack and get engaged with it. That item may be more attractive to your psyche because you know right away what to do with it-- and you don't feel like thinking about what's in your hand. This is dangerous territory."

My take so far: I desperately need this book. There are way too many good thoughts going on here that need attention. "Mind like Water"

So there you have it my friends, I will ask unconventionally, respectively and with love, that you tag yourselves if you are interested in playing memely along.

Carpe Diem! "ThE ArTfuL EyE"

7 comments:

Irene said...

So, Babelfish does do Dutch translations! That is good to know. I'll tell my daughter about that.

And the information about the meme is very good, I had heard it was about Me Me, but had no idea it really had Greek origins. Now it doesn't sound like such a silly thing after all, doesn't it? It gives it a certain amount of status, besides being very often about egos.

"ZEN and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" an inquiry into values, is one of Eduard's favorite books and he also rides a motorcycle and it definitely is his kind of philosophy. Eduard is a free thinker and likes to make up his mind independently of the popular opinion. I like that about him. He is my beloved anarchist.

John M. Mora said...

Who really has an "in-basket" anymore?

We have black_and_blueberrys....

Kicks is the word of the day round here.

Great Prada picture too.

Artists With Artitude said...

Thank you for being a good sport, and double kudos for honoring both our requests (except that John should have checked my list before annoying you...haha). Love the window shot..

"The art of zen..." was one of the first book my college friends recommended to me when I moved to the US (I had mostly been reading French up to that time)..Never picked it up..Do you think it's worth the read?

The second book: he is describing me! Is it "dangerous" to be scatterbrained, unorganized...and dare I say...imaginatively absent-minded? Please enlighten us :)

Kris Cahill said...

Nice book choices! I enjoy "Zen" and it looks like the other book would have some very good advice.

I have something for you over at my blog, and it's not a meme!

Rui Caetano said...

Good Choices.

Kris Cahill said...

I think you already know it, but I have moved my blog over to Wordpress. Here's my new address:
http://kriscahill.wordpress.com/

Corinne said...

OMG- I read Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance when I was 16. I loved it then and have saved it with all of its side notes from me and I pick it up every so often and read little passages or even chapters.