Memetic Tagging

Warning to the unwary reader: the following entry contains nothing about Germany; it is instead my attempt to keep up with the new thang....

I have apparently be tagged in a 'meme' but esteemed but twisted Middento (who has some of the best kid-raising stories I've ever read...). This is a new thing to me, but you're talking to a relative luddite when it comes to anything more sophisticated than email. These are apparently the rules:

1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123.
3. Locate the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences on your blog and in so doing...
5. Tag five people, and acknowledge who tagged me.

Naturally, as always when encountering a new cultural trend or fact, I turned to Wikipedia to find out what the heck this is. To quote the entry:

'A meme ... consists of any unit of cultural information, such as a practice or idea, that gets transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another. Examples include thoughts, ideas, theories, practices, habits, songs, dances and moods and terms such as race, culture, and ethnicity. Memes propagate themselves and can move through a "culture" in a manner similar to the behavior of a virus.'

So back to this new viral cultural infection, which reminds me of concepts developed in Neal Stephenson's Snowcrash. With dismay I noted the only books in view were a book of fairy tales and an Asterix adventure comic. Then I remembered a few reference books under the coffee table behind me, among which I found the Amy Sedaris gem 'I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence' (Yes, this does pass as a reference book in my house. Please don't ask for what). Sadly, excepting bullet points, there are 4 sentences on this page, so I'm taking the liberty of moving on to pages 124-5:

'Everyone should have a living will. You can pick one up at the post office for peanuts and it's good because all your belongings will go to someone specific instead of going to a holding area for a few years. If you are grieving, have someone stay at your house while you are at the funeral parlor because crooks will comb the obituaries to see who has died and break into your home to steal things.'

Words for us all to live by.

Now here's the problem: Besides Middento, I only know one blogger: the inlaw over at My Extended Musings. So I guess I'm one the hook for 4 more as they come along. Check back for updates.