Michelle at In The Louvre tagged me for two memes in the same post — so here goes!

6 things about me:

Last year (almost to the day!) I told you 8 things about me; now let’s see if I can come up with six more.

1. I hate money, and I have no interest in saving it or managing it in any way. Unfortunately, my husband feels the same way.
2. The Borders family used to live in my neighborhood; I babysat their kids a few times and they also took piano lessons from my mom. I used to shop at the original store on State Street, around the corner from its current location. Every book had a computer punch card in it for inventory control; when you paid, they took the punch card out of the book and put it in a box. The whole town was excited when the store expanded to the second floor of the building.
3. I can’t stand audio books or talk radio. All my life I have hated being read to.
4. I have terrible wanderlust. If it was up to me we’d live in an RV and never stay in the same place for more than a week. There is a scene in a Doctor Doolittle book where he explains to the boy that he chooses where to go next by closing his eyes, opening the atlas to a random page, and pointing. Whatever he lands on, that’s where he goes, unless he’s been there before. The boy’s awed response: what if your finger lands on the North Pole? Doctor Doolittle: Oh, I’ve already been there. Me: sigh.
5. I am not a dog person. I know this because we have the best dog in the world, and frankly, I just don’t like her all that much. Our two cats, on the other hand, give us nothing but tsoris, yet I love them deeply.
6. I love being in, on, or near water. Whether it’s the beach, a swimming pool, or even the sprinkler, I can never get enough.

The 123 meme:

I think I have done something like this before. Go to page 123 of the nearest book, find the fifth sentence, and post the next three sentences. Then post a comment on the blog of the person two steps up the chain (so if I tag you, you would leave a link to your post on Michelle’s blog).

[A few minutes later]

This is turning out to be harder than I expected. The nearest book is Siri Hustvedt’s What I Loved, and the sentences in question, if I were to post them, would probably bring, um, unsavory traffic to my blog. The book itself is not at all unsavory; it’s just an unfortunate coincidence. But I’m not going to do it.

Next nearest book? Actually, it’s a whole shelf, just about within arm’s reach of where I’m sitting. I think I will do like Doctor Doolittle. Close my eyes and pick one. Ok, here’s Wringer by Jerry Spinelli:

The pigeon was due home any minute. Dorothy laughed and bounced the weightless ball off Palmer’s forehead. “Stop me,” she growled, scooping up the ball, and suddenly she was leaping into him, over him, her knees in his chest, jamming the ball into the four-and-a-half-foot high basket and shrieking, “In your nose, out your toes!”

Hmmm. I am trying to remember this book. I know I read it a few years ago. I think it’s somewhat similar to The Giver — a dystopia kind of thing, but I can’t remember the details. According to the blurb on the back it “presents a moral question with great care and sensitivity.” And it’s a Newbery Honor book. Maybe worth another look.

Tag, you’re it!

Here you go: Lightheaded, Bibliolatry, Liesl, Melissa, and Bethany. Anyone else who wants to do it? Consider yourself tagged, too.