What's a Meme?

...aside from the nickname of my future mother-in-law, whom I adore. :) Here's a photo taken on the beach last summer, after she renewed her wedding vows with Papa...at which Neil and I got engaged in front of his family. Isn't she so cute??



Anyway, I looked up "meme," not knowing the difference between a "meme" and a "tag," but knowing I generally enjoy any meme or tag I come across, unless it's religion- or political-based. Or too cutesy, or too short (the latest one in librarian blogs is "How did you get into the profession?"--that's it! Bo-RING!), or too mom-oriented (nothing against moms, people, but it ain't easy to fill out a survey thing about my kids when the closest things we have to children are cold-blooded and eat frozen mice and live crickets).

So I googled "What is a meme?" and went right to the unreliable source: Wikipedia. (DO NOT even get me started. Am I right, Rienne?) The entry was very long, very dull, and very makes-no-sense, given-what-I-know-about-memes. It began in a promising way:

A meme (pronounced /miːm/)^[1] consists of any idea or behavior that can pass from one person to another by learning or imitation. Examples include thoughts, ideas, theories, gestures, practices, fashions, habits, songs, and dances. Memes propagate themselves and can move through the cultural sociosphere in a manner similar to the contagious behavior of a virus.

...but quickly grew into this ridiculously tedious entry I had no interest in.

So, I tried again. And found a site called The Daily Meme, which basically means you'll be subjected to a lot more of these because I like structure, and if I was allowed to blog about whatever I want, this would just be a blog about me bitching about car payments and how many invites I have left to send out. And no one wants that.

Here's what TDM had to say:

In the context of web logs / 'blogs / blogging and other kinds of personal web sites it's some kind of list of questions that you saw somewhere else and you decided to answer the questions. Then someone else sees them and does them and so on and so on.

I like this much better. It sounds a little healthier than the first definition.

SO. This is a long entry, but I'm getting to the point. Seriously.

I found a great meme today, and I am dying to know what everyone else would do for this one...so please, please do this! If you're reading this, you're on my blogroll (if you have a blog, that is...and if you don't, let me know if you start one so's I can stalk you), and I want to see yours! It's harder than you'd think, but also WAY FUN!! You have to go back in your memory and pick out any weird little adventurous thing that stands out...show off your accomplishments...

Without further ado:

10 Things I've Done That You Probably Haven't

1. Seen "Rent" onstage 20 times.

Not that anyone cares, but...1. Kansas City; 2-8. London (original cast, baby...Adam, Anthony, Jesse, & Wilson!); 9. Des Moines; 10. Iowa City; 11. NYC; 12-15. Columbia, MO; 16. NYC (Joey FREAKIN' Fatone, folks!); 17-20. Columbia, MO. I will admit, by the 7th show in London in the space of a few months, I was a little restless in my seat. But it hasn't happened since, even when I saw two shows two days in a row in Columbia when it blew through the second time. I'll never, ever get tired of the BLAST that signals the beginning to the titular song, nor the chills it gives me. So exciting! Adam & Ant are reprising their roles next summer at the Fox, RIGHT ON my birthday, and I am determined to go!! Sure, they're nearing 40, but I'll betcha Adam still rocks those plaid pants like nobody can.

2. Touched Boy George.

I went to see "Amadeus" in London, and the theatre was all a-buzz about somebody famous in attendance. I got a cheap student ticket on, like, the 7th row, and looked up at the box seats expecting to see a duchess or something. The strong smell of cigarette-smoky clothing made me turn around, and SMACK DAB behind me was the gorgeously blue-eyed Boy himself. He was dressed in a ratty drab green coat and had a small entourage, and I knew I had to make contact.

When intermission rolled around, I suspected he'd be getting up to feed his nicotine habit, so I leaned wayyyyy back in my seat so he had to brush past me. I know what you're thinking--I have no shame, right?

3. Attended five schools post-high school.

Does that make me sound like a delinquent?

I just couldn't decide...and I wanted no regrets, so I was determined to try everything. First, of course, was Grinnell...where I received a kick-ass education. Wish I'd been in a functional relationship (or better yet...met Neil at that time), but whatevs. Second was NYU, an unforgettable time at the Summer Publishing Institute. My roommate, Whitney, was the sweetest girl I've ever met, and she had to deal with *me* for two months, the poor thing! Next was MU Law School...I quit before Thanksgiving, because WOW was law school not for me. I can't even remember the courses I took. CivPro? Torts? I think. Emily's papa taught us a class in the law library, and he asked me a question, and for perhaps the ONE time in law school, I knew the answer! Fourth was the school that stuck, earning my Master's in Library Science in the MU Education department. (Does that count as a separate school? It was like two different worlds, for sure.) And finally, I took a library seminar with Oxford University & Univ. of North Carolina-Chapel Hill last year, in Oxford.

I think I'm done with schools. I hope.

4. Gotten banned from a TGIFriday's.

So I was working at one in Chicagoland, and I did a bad thing. I grew so complacent there that I figured no one would notice if I served a co-worker alcohol, "forgetting" to check her ID. Yeah, I totes knew she was 20...and so did the bartender, since we all worked there. It was stupid. I was stupid. I was fired the next morning, and told I wasn't supposed to come back. That was a super fun job, too...I kinda regret losing it!

5. Pissed off Dave Attell.

Oh my GOSH, that little dude is a jerk. I was working his show at Jesse, kind of a stage manager gig--I was the only one on stage right...really the only one around at all. First off--he is short. Way short. Troll short. (Nothing's wrong with short, but I don't like him, so I choose to mock.)

So it's a long story, but the dude who opened for Dave dropped a glass bottle onstage, and it shattered, and the mess wasn't completely cleared off before Dave was due on. I told him I could hold the cue music and lights and clean it up, but Dave got all snippy and said "NO, it's fine. WhatEVER." Hello, munchkin??? I'm offering to clean it up for your sorry ass. Don't get ticked at ME for a problem you won't let me solve.


6. Shouted at Joe Rogan.

One experience I wanted to have before leaving NYC that summer was to be in the audience for "The Daily Show" with my friends from the program. Kat, Katie, Marissa and I got tickets, and lined up outside to get fabulous seats.

Know who got better seats than us, in the V.I.P. section? Nick from the second season of "Survivor." No one else was gutsy enough to say anything, but I was feeling like the world was my oyster, so just as we were passing him to go into the studio, I said "Good work surviving!" as we neared him. His friend laughed, but Nick didn't. Later, after the show was over and we passed him again, I made sure to brush hard against his yellow backpack. Not sure if that counts, but I tried.

Anyhoose, this was the summer right before "Fear Factor" began, so Joe Rogan was Jon's guest. (Oh--I also yelled "Big Apple Tours!" at Jon during his opening monologuey thing, and he looked right at me! The P.A. almost kicked me out! Man, was I in rare form that day.)

I don't particularly care for Joe Rogan, but he was wearing some righteous black and white wingtips, almost Doc-Marten-y. After the show was over, my friends and I hung back to take some photos underneath the Daily Show awning outside, and suddenly Joe came running out right behind us to his car. I yelled "Good work Joe, nice shoes!" He looked at me oddly, almost stricken, and hurried on.

YES!


7. Snuck into a corporate building in the middle of the night to deliver a Valentine's Day present.

You know...sometimes, explaining these takes away from the actual event. So I'm leaving this one mysterious. Those who know what happened, know what happened.

8. Took a walk through the actual moors that inspired Wuthering Heights.

Kinda self-explanatory. A great experience, though...we went on one of many, many weekend field trips to northern England, this time to Bronte-territory, and found the moors and the building she used as inspiration for the story. I know lots of folks hate the book, but I sure don't. Doesn't really hurt that Ralph Fiennes played Heathcliff at one point. Yummo.

9. Saw "Great Balls of Fire" five times in the theatre.

Yeah...my only explanation for this is that I was 13 years old and Dennis Quaid made me feel funny in my tummy. And since his character in the movie married a 13-year-old, maybe I figured I could be next. This was also the beginning of a Winona-Ryder-obsession that would continue through to my other favorite movie of that time, "Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael." Not many have seen it, but I watched that one til the tape deteriorated.

10. Seen Harry Potter bare-ass naked.

The novelty of this is short-lived, since he's reprising his role on Broadway starting very soon. I felt kind of dirty, especially since there was an eleven-year-old girl literally sitting next to me as I gawked at his privates.

No, I jest. The moment of nudity was so intense in terms of the plot that his nakedness was quickly forgotten. It was astounding to see Richard Griffiths in such a role (love him!), and I do think Daniel proved that he could play more than a boy wizard effectively.

Finis.

Okay...so mine are sorta celebrity-centric. I wish I could say things like "Sky-dived without a parachute" or "Eaten a rubber tire on a dare," but the only times I take risks are when it involves a famous person. I'm terribly shallow, I know. I know.


I'd love to read yours, you guys. Come on! You don't even have to get me a wedding present if you do it.

(Unless you already got me one, in which case, why waste it? Go ahead and give it to me, thanks.)