The Meme Queen Checks Out My Speedo, Says, "Hey, I'd Tag That"

So, the Meme Queen, herself, Ellen, to whom a day without a Meme is like a day without sunshine, passed this one on to me:

Grab the closest book to you. Resist the urge to get hold of one of the cooler, intellectual ones! You've gotta be honest. Turn to page 123. Go down five sentences, and then post the next three sentences in your blog. Simple.

Simple?  You'd think. 

Except the honest to God's closest book to me is Raymond Carver's A New Path To The Waterfall and, no shit, it freaking ends on page 122.  Page 123 is totally blank.

After that, the only other books anywhere near me, since my computer is in a room I use as an office, are, like, reference books and really mindnumbingly dull--unless you're into it--books that deal with my profession.

I didn't really think anyone would be interested in any of that.  So, to be fair, I went into my bedroom and grabbed the closest book to my bed, which is a pretty good novel.  I can't believe how old it is now.  Bonus points to anyone who can name it:

The fashion designer has the same name as a famous Renaissance painter, and she thinks it is not too much to compare the impact of his work in couture with that of the Old Master in painting.  Meanwhile, the bartender tells you that the bar is closed until after the show, but he makes an exception for you and your ten-dollar bill.  He is about your age.

It's not that hard.  There aren't all that many decent novels written in the second person.

Who to pass this onto?  It's difficult to think, as my good friend Elke, has also tagged me for another meme.  That's a lot of people to piss off!

Okay, for this one, my friend Anna, who has disappeared--maybe she's been busy reading!  And she'll have three interesting sentences to share!  The Spangle Monkey.  And, hmmm, oh!  Back to you Elke!

And, Elke, I'm working on your meme.  I had to make a monkey movie first.  Because it was fun.

Comments

[Elkit]

Ey, no rush ... I'll be checking out your speedo while you ... umh, do whatever it is you do with your monkey. Errr. Blush.

Sitting in my office, the closest book is "Eric Meyer on CSS", and the three sentences on page 123 are:

"We can also see that the sidebar cells have collapsed to no width at all. This has happened because they have no visual content, and that's generally a good thing. We can use them to achieve another design goal, though: that of making the article text not quite as wide as the page."

But that's too geeky ... I'll give you another one when I get home tonight.

[Jo]

How great is this! The nearest book is the BOOK I AM WRITING! My novel! How often does someone ask you to read the first three sentences on page 123 of YOUR OWN BOOK! HA! It's definitely a redletter day. BEHOLD!

"I remember a slight taste when I looked at my children as babies, almost remeber the smell of their milk, curdled and sour or sweet, how their shit was proud confirmation of the earth from which they sprung, the smell of it loamy and sweet. And that was what I must have remembered. I'm lost."

[FB]

I am going to take a guess here and say Kerouac, "On The Road"? Sounds familiar. Or maybe Hunter S. Thompson?

[Karen]

The only second-person present-tense book that comes to mind is Bright Lights, Big City.

[ricky]

Damn, Karen, that didn't take you long at all.

[cookie]

Tom Robbins has a book in second person. I think it's Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas. (No, not paisley pajamas, but frog pajamas).

And thank you so much, Ricky for passing me the Really Hard Music Meme and not this easy one.