one word

And so you say over drinks: what is this meme business bloggers are always going on about?

Good question.  In simple terms, it's a list of questions, usually on related themes, passed from blogger to blogger, rather like a game of Chinese Whispers or Consequences in hyperspace.

What the appeal of memes is, I'm rather less sure.  Like Janet said in a previous comment, you start by thinking memes are childish nonsense then become fascinated by them.

They're good for fuelling procrastination or giving you something to blog about if you're in need of subject matter. 

Beyond that, I suspect their appeal lies in the combination of some of a blogger's primary preoccupations: communicating something about yourself in order to connect with other bloggers...while at the same time not communicating more than is necessary or is wise about yourself.

Anyway, I've joined the happy throng attaching itself to the latest meme (see over the fold):

Yourself: befuddled
Your partner: non-existent
Your hair: humid
Your mother: eccentric
Your father: quiet
Your favourite item: camera
Your dream last night: perverse
Your favourite drink: bombaysapphireg&t
Your dream car: Citroen
Your dream home: treehouse
The room you are in: open-plan
Your ex: mad
Your fear: insomnia
Where you want to be in ten years: overseas
Who you hung out with last night: Jane
What you're not: short
Muffins: raspberry
One of your wish list items: travel
Time: eight-ish
The last thing you did: washed
What you are wearing: unzipped
Your favourite weather: Autumn
Your favourite book: AnnaKarenin
Last thing you ate: chicken
Your life: circuitous
Your mood: subdued
Your best friends: faraway
What are you thinking about right now: mother
Your car: Getz
What are you doing at the moment: typing
Your summer: scorching
Relationship status: spinster
What is on your tv: static
What is the weather like: stifling
When is the last time you laughed: tonight

I found this meme a lot easier to do than the feminist one, tho it is difficult to resist the urge to add a qualifier to make your answer smarter.

Comments

[Mikhela]

Is bombaysapphireg&t one word?
I know,I know, you're the writer...

[elsewhere]

I thought someone would pull me up on that...what am i meant to do? lie? say fanta?

Open-plan and AnnaKarenin are also suspect.

[nick cetacean]

Easier, sure...

but not so much psychological detritus for us vultures to pick through...

[elsewhere]

It's ok, Nick: I know that really you're a girl beneath your shell.

[Janet]

This meme has struck me as very elegant and somewhat poignant each time I've read it. I am sometimes a tad wistful for my life as a spinster. How I loved using that word. Must stop blabbing, have come to pinch absurd gender meme...

[elsewhere]

Yes, well, one loves mithering on about how much one feels they've missed out in the relationship stakes. But I'm sure the boot would be on the other foot if one was happily enpartnered, looking back at the good ole days of spinsterdom...