A Meme! How original!

Meme refers to a piece of cultural information that gets passed from one person to another. The term was created by Richard Dawkins. A meme can be a song, a catch-phrase, some kind of technology, etc. Useful memes survive to be passed on to others; useless ones die out. They mutate, blah, blah, you get it.



In the blogosphere, a meme is an entry topic that gets passed from one blogger to another. Usually memes are questionnaires that basically serve as blog small-talk. The blogger then "tags" other bloggers, encouraging them to complete the meme as well. Incidentally, if you ever give a talk about blogs and include this particular form of meme in the presentation, be prepared: the old philosophy professor will get fussy and say that you are using the term incorrectly. And even if you say that it's not you who developed this use of the term, he will be obnoxious about it.



Anyway, from an impression management perspective, memes are important because they allow the blogger to reveal mundane and/or personal things about himself or herself without appearing self-absorbed. The blogger isn't providing this information because s/he assumes that readers will find it riveting--the blogger was tagged by someone else.



So, here's a meme for the new year. I read it on someone else's blog. And you know what? I was not tagged. This is a completely unsolicited meme. I know. I'm conceited.



1. What did you do in 2007 that you'd never done before? Performed jazz in front of a bunch of (very supportive) people.



2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year? Last year I resolved to spend less time working. I did. I have made more resolutions for 2008. I will not reveal them here.


3. Did anyone close to you give birth? My friends, Penni & John, had a lovely baby girl, and I’m her fairy godmother.


4. Did anyone close to you die? No, but I found out a couple weeks ago that a friend from jazz camp died. I had lunch with him several times, and I liked him a lot. He was very kind to me and seemed like a great person. We talked a lot about his work as a school nurse.



5. What countries did you visit? Just the US



6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007?? More get-up-and-go.


7. What dates from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? I couldn’t even tell you the specific dates, but I would say the day of my tenure interview, the reunion weekend, the week we spent in Maine, the week of jazz camp, and my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary party definitely stand out. June 13th is when my god daughter was born.


8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? I suppose I should say the tenure thing, but it was really the singing thing.


9. What was your biggest failure? Geez. Let’s not focus on the negative here . . .


10. Did you suffer illness or injury? My IT band decided to be chronically irritated when I ran. Also, I lost a lot of hearing in my left ear over the course of the past four or five months. But really not much suffering took place.



11. What was the best thing you bought? This one’s easy: The Viva.



12. Whose behavior merited celebration? My friends. It takes me a long time to make good friends, and I have wonderful friends who live far away but are willing to keep in touch. And I’ve made great friends here now, and they’re some of my favorite people in the world.



13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? This is a double-barreled question—someone’s behavior might have made me appalled, but not depressed or vice versa. I’ll answer the question anyway. Generally, people who don’t seem to give any thought to how their actions influence others make me sad.



14. Where did most of your money go? The stuff of daily living: mortgage payment, groceries, etc.


15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Seeing old friends.



16. What song will always remind you of 2007? Lots. Catch Hell Blues (The White Stripes), anything from Wincing the Night Away (The Shins), Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most (Irene Kral), Twin Cinemas (The New Pornographers), Pilo Erect (March Fourth Marching Band), Dakar (John Coltrane), Half Asleep (Hem). Many others. Also, Have You Met Old Jones and Midnight Sun.


17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer? a) happier b) same c) richer, in more ways than one



18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Running. Practicing.



19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Work. Worrying .



20. How did you spend Christmas? With Mr. Banality’s family. It was insane, but fun.



21. Did you fall in love in 2007? Yes.



22.What political issue stirred you the most? You know, four years ago, I got involved in politics because I thought it was the right thing to do, even though I had no interest in it. That experience reaffirmed my disinterest in it. But I do get worked up about agricultural issues.


23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? Yikes. I'm not a hater. Someone who was really difficult is now out of my life, though, and it’s a very, very good thing.


24. What was the best book you read? I loved This is Your Brain on Music by Daniel Levitin, and I enjoyed The Golden Compass (now a major motion picture!) by Philip Pullman.


25. What was your greatest musical discovery? I really, really like the Shins. There’s something about that music that makes me lightheaded (in the best way possible).


26. What did you want and get? Band-in-a-Box, which I haven’t used in a while.


27. What did you want and not get? This shirt. Seriously. I love it.






(Oh, crap. I should have said a baby. That didn’t even cross my mind. Does that mean I'm not fit to be a parent?)

28. What was your favorite film of this year? I didn’t see many movies, but I did like The Golden Compass. Fabulous costumes. And the armored bear! If I knew an armored bear, I’m sure that I would be his BFF.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? 38. As for what I did . . . I don’t remember!

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? More courage.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007? Same as 2006—skirt, boots, tights, jacket, occasional sweater, fabulous bag made my Mr. Banality.

32. What kept you sane? Mr. Banality is the new Abilify.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? No one in particular.

34. Who did you miss? Justine & Sandy. Anna & Len.

35. Who was the best new person you met? There are some cool new faculty members. Also, Rod, my accompanist at jazz camp. (I know . . . again with the jazz camp)


36. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007. I'm not sure who "us" is given that no one tagged me for this meme, but here's the lesson: anxiety can be a useful warning signal that something bad is about to happen, but for me, it usually just means that I’m doing something worthwhile.


37. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year. “If you go lookin’ for hot water, don’t act shocked when you get burned a little bit.” Actually, I don’t think that sums up the year at all, but it’s the only lyric that comes to mind right now.


Tag your damned self, if it suits you.