Captain Kidd against the Black Pearl

You can blame chanaleh for this.

The Big Read reckons that the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books they've printed.

( Cut for Big Read Meme and Entertainment Weekly Meme )

And thus we learn that I prefer books to movies. :) Or at least, classic books to classic movies.

Gacked (a word which always makes me think of coughing. I want to say "gack gack" whenever I type it, but as you cannot hear the noise I am making, I feel the fun gets lost somewhere) from rymenhild, horrid purveyeur of memes.

I've chosen three keywords from the IMDB listings of several of my favorite TV shows and movies. Guess what I'm watching. Some made particularly difficult out of necessity.

1. Slacker. Hologram. Slapstick. Red Dwarf, guessed by ayelle
2. Small town. Inn. Female Chef. Gilmore Girls, guessed by abilouise
3. Ambition. Sexuality. Acting. Stage Beauty, guessed by lynnoxford
4. Wish Fulfillment. Betrayal. Door Knocker.m Labyrinth, guessed by lynnoxford
5. Detective. Corpse. Child Murder. Homicide, guessed by kraada.
6. Backstage. Tennis. Boat. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, guessed by kraada.
7. Spoof. Bear. Theater. Muppet Show, guessed by kraada.
8. Myth. Hedgehog. Beggar. Jim Henson's The Storyteller, guessed by ayelle
9. Educational. Math. Variety. Square One, guessed by rymenhild
10. Nudity. Manipulation. Incest. Rome, guessed by lynnoxford

Tagged by rymenhild

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next 3 sentences on your LJ along with these instructions.
5. Don’t you dare dig for that "cool" or "intellectual" book in your closet! I know you were thinking about it! Just pick up whatever is closest.
6. Tag five people.

Olympos, by Dan Simmons. Ha! I don't need to dig for the intellectual book in my closet. (Georgette Heyer was second closest.) Look:

"Don't make me download Latin," said Mahnmut. He nodded toward the huge horses being reined to a stop not five yards in front of them all, throwing up a cloud of dust that rolled over the Achaean captains.

Furious, Penthesilea leads a battleline of Amazona," translated Hockenberry. "With crescent shields, and she glows in the middle of thousands, fastening golden belts around the exposed breast, female warrior, and the maiden does run with men."

And I shall tag... oh, lynnoxford, countessofgroan, fleurdelis28, dushai, and ayelle, if any of you feel like doing it. I would quite like to tag Bran, but I don't think I'm allowed.

(Well, if "meme" and "doom" are synonyms, the subject line makes sense.)

On Saturday, zippysilver and I went for our first-ever plane flight with countessofgroan piloting! It was too hazy to see the mountains, but there was still plenty to see on the ground. The marshes were my favorite part, but I also quite enjoyed seeing the horrifically ugly roofs of otherwise normal buildings. One building, in a particularly improbable shade of green, was so astonishing that it spurred this entire line of thought. I also picked out my future home on the trip. It's big, of course, and is located on a lovely large peninsular spit of land. countessofgroan plans to use my yard for her own personal runway. With my permission, of course, but as I expect it will just induce her to visit my home frequently, I have no objection.

I might have promised to not mention any of my presents, but there is one whose excitement might be partly transferable to LJ. The Book Lover's Cookbook! With recipes for the Tea Cakes that Algernon of The Importance of Being Earnest dislikes so greatly (as well as "Consolation Bran Muffins", whose purpose I have less understanding of), Fried Green Tomatoes, and Turkish Delight. There are also recipes for tea, which leaves me simultaneously puzzled and desirous of immediately making some. Anyone for tea?

No, I'm not as real a cook as, say, the Roommate. If I was, I would probably be sneering at the gimmickry instead of desperately scanning the pages to see how many recipes are easy enough to look tempting.

It is now January 2nd, which signals the end of my vacation. As such, I am reviving the meme of a month ago, as gacked from rymenhild. Reply to this post, and I'll tell you one/a lot of reasons why I like/love/adore you. Then post this in your LJ and share the love. Disclaimer: I don't promise to respond quickly, but I will respond.