Seven

Been thinking about seven recently as Daniel and I debate which Narnia book to read first -- The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (as the first written and the first I read) or The Magician's Nephew (which CS Lewis thought should be read first, although it was written sixth). What do you all think?

In an interesting juxtaposition of sevens, the Silent K has tagged me for a meme (the Seven Meme). I don't like memes, partly because they seem an artificial way of finding out about someone and partly because they're basically viruses (virii? oh the folly of a superficial classic education) which rely on our thwarted need for community to propogate. But, as she said, misery loves company and I will not abandon her to her own misery but fill out this memeything with her.

On a side note, how interesting is it that these little blog-games are called memes (a cultural virus, basically) which to me had always implied something like the handing down of cultural knowledge or norms via folktales, the "everyone knows that" clause or those little sayings we know and say but know not whence they came. This seems to lend the blogmeme a veneer of importance that it does not deserve. Blogmemes are small talk or party games, a way of hiding while apparently revealing oneself. One could use them to be truly honest, but that would work against the form.

Also interesting is that a few bloggers I have read think that meme should be pronounced me-me (instead of meeem). The former pronunciation seems to more accurately describe what function these games have -- and, by extenstion, the function of blogs in general. ME! ME!

Um. Yes. Not like I'm narcissistic or anything. No indeedy. I need to stop thinking now before I think myself right out of blogging at all.

Right -- The Seven Meme

Seven Things To Do Before I Die:

1. Tidy the house so the people who find me won't know the true depths of my slobbiness
2. In the process of tidying, make sure that the most interesting documents are left easily accessible so that future biographers and PhD students will have an easier time of it.
3. Make sure that the more incrimating ones are burnt (note to self -- this includes the story of that incident with the Bishop and a snapping turtle).
4. See? This is what happens to me when I try to do these things. I mix honesty and facetiousness (sp?) so that even I am unsure what I really mean to say. Boo hiss to me.
5. Be more straightforward.
6.Learn to embrace life in a more zen-like manner so I will not die sooner than I need to of heart failure.
7. Publish several amazing novels, have hand kissed by hundreds of admiring young men while holding court in the preeminent literary salon of the 21st century, wear impractical clothing and practical shoes at all times, live by the sea, find some bloody peace with this parenthood thing and see my children happily grown to adulthood.


Seven Things I Cannot Do:

1. Drink Bushmills whiskey (Richard and Ed know why).
2. Grow taller.
3. Refrain from dancing.
4. Refrain from arguing with idiots
5. Stop reading, except in the car because it makes me carsick within seconds
6. Be content
7. Run


Seven Things That Attract Me To My Mate:

(My MATE! I love it. My mate Marmite, me old china, my rampant beast gene-sower. Luckily, Ed is my (best) mate so I can answer this without constantly thinking about foxes and rabbits).

1. His willingness to descend to the trenches when necessary
2. His love of all things science-fictiony
3. His sordid past
4. His sordid future
5. His intelligent and attractive visage
6. His patience
7. Himself. Him. Him in all his Edness. It is not separable into things. It is the universal Ed whom I love and un-blindly adore.


Seven Books I Love: (Oh this is a farce -- seven?!)

I'm going to tell you a story instead. My great uncle was a bishop and one day, my mother was driving him somewhere and I was in the backseat. He leaned over and asked me if I had read The Good Book. I was, despite being the Catholic daughter of Catholic parents, confused. The good book? THE good book? This must be, I though, a trick question.

Well, I said, very slowly and thoughtfully, I had read A good book recently -- a very good book indeed called The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goodge, but that I didn't think it was possible for any book to be so good that it could be the only good book.

They both laughed, but even when the whole thing was explained to me, I thought it was a stupid description. There were too many good books for even the Bible to be thus denoted. Perhaps I should have saved myself a few decades of agonizing and realized I wasn't a good Catholic right then and there.

Oh, and if you haven't read The Little White Horse you must do so now. Read it to your children and if you have none, read it to yourself. It's wonderful.


Seven Things I Say:

(Let me just say that pre-children, this list would have been different and stocked with Oscar Wilde-worthy aphorisms and witticisms that would have brought you to your knees.)

1. Okeydokey Okefenokee
2. Hey there Kiddiminster
3. Take a deep breath and calm down
4. Do you need a pee?
5. What do you say?
6. You want egg in your beer?
7. Upsadaisymaisy


Seven Movies I've Loved:

Not really that attached to cinema on the whole. But I have a few.

1. The Scarlet Pimpernel (with Anthony Andrews and Jane Seymour -- not with Richard whatsisname even though he himself is brilliant)
2. Star Wars (4, 5 and 6)
3. Casablanca
4. Wings of Desire (Der Himmel über Berlin)
5. Brazil
6. Some Like It Hot
7. Being John Malkovich

That's it boys and girls. What have we learned today?