Saturday, February 2, 2008

"The Saturday Meme": Three Weeks Late

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Well, it's probably been obvious by now that after a couple of years of doing this blog thing, I kinda ran out of gas after Christmas and pretty much took the month of January off, without any explanation. But, not that I'm rarin' to go, but at least I'll jump back into the saddle (poor horse) and see what I can do about holding up my end of the deal. I suppose the fact that nominations for "Best Catholic Blog" are coming up might have something to do with it.

And I just heard some great Catholic gossip, but sorry, if I told you the details, I'm afraid that would be the end of you. You just couldn't handle it.

Anyhoooo, the patient (and extremely funny) Ironic Catholic tagged me with one of those irritating memes a few weeks ago and that as much as anything (other than a promise to Adoro) has got me back in the traces. Lots of metaphors, too.


Rules: Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people.

Well, being that I'm in the early stages of reorganizing my desk, it happened to be full of piles of books (well, it has been that way for a considerable period of time, actually, being in my library area) and I had to decide which book was "nearest at hand." Would it be "as the crow flies", or would it be in a "linear" mode, taking into consideration the five books, the magnifying glass, the daytimer, the ring binder and the assorted papers that were piled on top of the book only two inches from my right paw. If I chose the "linear method", it would have been a Webster's Dictionary. That would have been no fun. So I chose the crow's method:


Book: The Book of Days, a Miscellany of Popular Antiquities in Connection with the Calendar including Anecdote, Biography & History, Curiosities of Literature and Oddities of Human Life and Character, edited by R. Chambers, in Two vols., Vol. I, 1888 [Boy, they sure knew how to write book titles in the olden days, didn't they?]

P. 123, January 16, tidbit on Sir John Moore who achieved some bit of fame at the Battle of Corunna, January 16, 1809, which must have been some naval engagement between Napoleon and England: [5th sentence] "At thirteen he danced, fenced and rode with uncommon address; his character was a fine compound of intelligence, gentleness and courage."

"The connection with the Duke of Hamilton had cost Moore very nearly his life. The Duke, though only sixteen, was allowed to wear a sword. One day, 'in an idle humour, he drew it, and began to amuse himself by fencing at young Moore, and laughed as he forced him to skip from side to side to shun false thrusts." [For the sum of only 50 cents, I'll give you the fourth sentence if you can't stand the suspense.]

I'm not sure who has been tagged with this, but it would be interesting to see who owns books, and what kind: How 'bout Mitchell Hadley, Judith Hadley; Laura the Crazy Mama, Swiss Miss; and Sanctus Belle.






1 comment:

The Ironic Catholic said...

Always good to take some time off. That was a fun response to the meme.