Book Meme: Tag, You're It
Here's what I like about that bastard Tom Hilton (insert winking emoticon, signifying that I don't really think he's so much of a bastard, *here*), proprietor of If I Ran The Zoo: He more or less forces me to post content on this blog, even in these days of too much work and too many distractions to keep up with my one-time cyber-obsession.
The latest subterfuge of his is something that our mutual friend (also occasional IIRTZ contributor, and essential blogger in his own right) Blognonymous author Kvatch, tagged him with, and he has chosen to pass along to me. These are the rules, as outlined by Kvatch and Tom and probably anyone else who has been likewise tagged; and, of course, the person who (may he burn in hell, or at least get sunburned very badly sometime after the next Memorial Day) started this insidious game in the first place:
* Find the nearest book
* Name the book
* The author
* Turn to page 123
* Go to the fifth sentence on the page
* Copy out the next three sentences and post to your blog.
* Tag three more folks.
As I read that challenge, I was sitting here at my mother's house, checking my email and my blog on my (t)rusty laptop, and my first thought was that I would not find a book to use for this exercise that wouldn't completely embarrass me, and, by extension, my mother. I thought about using the book that my very good friend Scott gave me as an early Christmas present, a book he found at the wonderful and invaluable Green Apple Books here in SF, a book that I have cherished since I first ripped open the wrapping paper a couple weeks ago, and that I brought with me just to show my family because I knew they would all get such a kick out of it. The book is by Johanna Spyri, the author of Heidi, and the title is... Eric and Sally. Okay, as Scott pointed out, that's something of a typo, but still. I couldn't have been more thrilled by a gift, especially one as unexpected and as fitting as that one is. (For those of you who don't understand why, well... too bad. Email me and I'll try to explain. Heh.)
But then I looked around, and much to my surprise, chagrin and ultimate satisfaction, there to my left, on the bookshelf in between the two recliners in the family room, within easy reach on the top shelf, up above the New Yorker and Vanity Fair magazines and Sudoku puzzle books and catalogs of all description was a hardbound copy of American Theocracy by Kevin Phillips. It was just there, serendipitous and a solid reminder of how my mother helped shape my political beliefs from an early age. Damn. Thanks, mom.
So here I present, without further ado (and blather), from page 123, the three sentences after the fifth full sentence on the page:
"The depleted ranks of Anglicans joined New England Congregationalists on the conservative (Federalist) side, whereas the anti-ecclesiastical Baptists of the southern backcountry were ardent Jeffersonians.
"In Religion and the American Civil War, another useful volume, Randall Miller, Harry Stout and Charles Wilson waited barely a page into their introduction before instructing that 'the United States was the world's most Christian nation in 1861 and became even more so by the end of the war. In the late 1830s, Alexis de Tocqueville had remarked on the pervasive influence of religion on American private and public life, and swelled by revivals during the 1830s and again during the 1850s, membership in churches rose dramatically.'"
Okay, mission (mostly) accomplished. Now I just have to name three other people to carry this silly exercise on. So I call on my friends nashtbrutusandshort (whose latest entry linking Random Flickr Blogging, Monty Python and Carl Sagan is an absolute must-read), lecram and mrgumby2u to pick up the torch and pass it along to others even more deserving.
***BTW -- for those of you who were wondering -- here is the entry I would have posted if I *had* picked Eric and Sally:
"'Yes, I will,' Eric gladly promised and then looked up once more freely and openly at his pastor.
"'And now,' said the pastor, after a while, 'something more, Eric. Did you ever know your father?'"
(Wow. That's more religious content than this blog usually gets in a month of observed Sundays.)
***UPDATE*** The post from mrgumby2u is up. So is the one from nashtbrutusandshort.
The latest subterfuge of his is something that our mutual friend (also occasional IIRTZ contributor, and essential blogger in his own right) Blognonymous author Kvatch, tagged him with, and he has chosen to pass along to me. These are the rules, as outlined by Kvatch and Tom and probably anyone else who has been likewise tagged; and, of course, the person who (may he burn in hell, or at least get sunburned very badly sometime after the next Memorial Day) started this insidious game in the first place:
* Find the nearest book
* Name the book
* The author
* Turn to page 123
* Go to the fifth sentence on the page
* Copy out the next three sentences and post to your blog.
* Tag three more folks.
As I read that challenge, I was sitting here at my mother's house, checking my email and my blog on my (t)rusty laptop, and my first thought was that I would not find a book to use for this exercise that wouldn't completely embarrass me, and, by extension, my mother. I thought about using the book that my very good friend Scott gave me as an early Christmas present, a book he found at the wonderful and invaluable Green Apple Books here in SF, a book that I have cherished since I first ripped open the wrapping paper a couple weeks ago, and that I brought with me just to show my family because I knew they would all get such a kick out of it. The book is by Johanna Spyri, the author of Heidi, and the title is... Eric and Sally. Okay, as Scott pointed out, that's something of a typo, but still. I couldn't have been more thrilled by a gift, especially one as unexpected and as fitting as that one is. (For those of you who don't understand why, well... too bad. Email me and I'll try to explain. Heh.)
But then I looked around, and much to my surprise, chagrin and ultimate satisfaction, there to my left, on the bookshelf in between the two recliners in the family room, within easy reach on the top shelf, up above the New Yorker and Vanity Fair magazines and Sudoku puzzle books and catalogs of all description was a hardbound copy of American Theocracy by Kevin Phillips. It was just there, serendipitous and a solid reminder of how my mother helped shape my political beliefs from an early age. Damn. Thanks, mom.
So here I present, without further ado (and blather), from page 123, the three sentences after the fifth full sentence on the page:
"The depleted ranks of Anglicans joined New England Congregationalists on the conservative (Federalist) side, whereas the anti-ecclesiastical Baptists of the southern backcountry were ardent Jeffersonians.
"In Religion and the American Civil War, another useful volume, Randall Miller, Harry Stout and Charles Wilson waited barely a page into their introduction before instructing that 'the United States was the world's most Christian nation in 1861 and became even more so by the end of the war. In the late 1830s, Alexis de Tocqueville had remarked on the pervasive influence of religion on American private and public life, and swelled by revivals during the 1830s and again during the 1850s, membership in churches rose dramatically.'"
Okay, mission (mostly) accomplished. Now I just have to name three other people to carry this silly exercise on. So I call on my friends nashtbrutusandshort (whose latest entry linking Random Flickr Blogging, Monty Python and Carl Sagan is an absolute must-read), lecram and mrgumby2u to pick up the torch and pass it along to others even more deserving.
***BTW -- for those of you who were wondering -- here is the entry I would have posted if I *had* picked Eric and Sally:
"'Yes, I will,' Eric gladly promised and then looked up once more freely and openly at his pastor.
"'And now,' said the pastor, after a while, 'something more, Eric. Did you ever know your father?'"
(Wow. That's more religious content than this blog usually gets in a month of observed Sundays.)
***UPDATE*** The post from mrgumby2u is up. So is the one from nashtbrutusandshort.
posted by Generik at 11:26 PM
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