Memes?

In my short two-month bloglife, I'm learning there's a whole new language associated with the 'blogosphere'.

I kept coming across the word "meme" and "getting tagged" with a meme. I thought I figured it out in a vague way, but being the inquisitive soul I am, had to look up the official definition.

First stop, Wikipedia. Not exactly what I was looking for, but I got the derivation of the word and a nice article about memetics, genes, biological and philosophical analogies, propogation of ideas, language, viruses, etc., etc. None of it applied directly to what I was observing on blogs. Not only that, but I got side-tracked clicking on all the interesting related articles -- something I always end up doing with encyclopedias and dictionaries.

Next, a Google search. The first returned item was the Wikipedia article, but a little further down, I found this site that says, "Christianity is a 'meme', a mind virus that infects people and manipulates their behavior." Hmm, very interesting, but still not what I was looking for.

I added a few more search words and finally hit upon
About.com's definition of meme:

Pronunciation: meem
Also Known As: ideas; writing prompts; community projects
Common Misspellings: mem, meem
Examples: Some bloggers enjoy writing blog content using memes.

A few more links, clicks, examples and I've got it.

Okay, so here is a meme I'm borrowing from Simply Coll, who got it from Follow That Star. As the two of them stated, it's quick and easy, but reveals quite a lot.

The Four Meme
Four jobs I've had in my life:
1) Cannery worker - a summer job, paid 85 cents/hour sorting green beans
2) Waitress - working part-time at my uncle's restaurant
3) Nurse's Aide - another summer job
4) Public Health Nurse, Community Health Nurse

Four Movies that I could watch over and over:
1) Jaws
2) The Shawshank Redemption
3) The Joy Luck Club
4) Glory

Four Places I have lived:
1) New Westminster, BC
2) Burnaby, BC
3) Toronto, Ontario
4) Vancouver, BC

Four places I have been on vacation:
1) New York City
2) Hawaii
3) Mexico
4) French Polynesia

Four Websites I visit daily
1) The Book Forum
2) My webmail addresses
3) Most of the links on my blogroll
- but that's changing cause I'm trying out a new tracking system.
4) Sitemeter - to see who's visited

Four of my favorite foods:
1) Sashimi/Sushi - any and all. I'll try just about anything, no matter how exotic.
2) Roast turkey
3) Prime rib, medium rare - As a treat when dining out because I'm cutting down on red meats, in general.
4) Rocky Road ice-cream

Four places I would rather be:
1) Hawaii - on a beach, reading
2) Moorea - snorkelling
3) Whistler, BC - skiing on soft-packed powder
4) Kona, Hawaii - watching the sunset

Anyone else game?

Comments

Anonymous said…
The same thing happened to me the first time I was tagged with a meme... I had no idea what was going on or what was expected of me. I found out the same way you did.. by doing a Google search. :-)

I think you did a great job with this meme. I had no idea you were a nurse... so am I!!!!
January 15, 2006 4:09 pm
Anonymous said…
Coll, I haven't been nursing for some years now, but once a nurse, always a nurse. ;-)
January 16, 2006 12:19 pm
Anonymous said…
i lived in coquitlam, right beside the mountain. i took the train at new westminster everyday into the city to work at city square mall.
January 16, 2006 3:07 pm
Anonymous said…
jane, when were you here? I grew up in New West and my family doctor's office was in Coquitlam.
January 16, 2006 6:18 pm
Anonymous said…
it would have been in 96. matt and i lived there for a year before we moved home and got married. i think we lived on thompson ave.
my grandparents all lived in van. my gramma in kerrsdale(sp?) and my grandad and granny on dunbar.
my aunt still lives in the west end.
January 17, 2006 6:46 am
Anonymous said…
Kerrisdale was my first area assignment as a Community Health Nurse after I graduated from UBC.
January 17, 2006 1:29 pm
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