Tuesday, December 11, 2007

First Lines Meme

It's terribly lazy of me to do memes two days in a row. But I'm grading essays, and formulating exam questions, and finishing an article, so blogging of the sort that requires a sustained attention span is out of the question. Besides, I like this meme, which I've borrowed from Danielle, who in turn borrowed from Sylvia. It involves "posting the first sentence of each month from your blog," thereby creating a patchwork representation of your year in blogging. I've fudged it a bit, skipping to the second post of the month if the first began with a quotation rather than a sentence I penned myself.

January: In 2007, I plan to do the following… [I realize that’s only part of a sentence, but it leads to five detailed reading resolutions of which, nearly a year later, I must shamefacedly admit I have accomplished only one.]

February: I'm in Boston and Cambridge this weekend.

March: The 2007 Tournament of Books kicks off at The Morning News on Thursday.

April: I'm a born procrastinator.

May: This time last year I was in Scotland, and I'm feeling rather mournful about the fact that I'm not there now.

June: I acquired many new books on my recent travels.

July: I'm not planning any further actual travel this summer, and I'm a great fan of travel writing, so how could I resist the Armchair Traveler Reading Challenge?

August: Recent circumstances have propelled me into a spate of light reading and I've come across a few good books along the way.

September: I've been mulling over Litlove's meme about the joy of language.

October: I've been mulling over Grace Paley's "A Conversation with My Father" for weeks now.

November: I have long been familiar with the work of Scottish writer Edwin Muir, particularly with his poetry and his extraordinary travelogue Scottish Journey.

December: There's a lovely essay by Denise Hamilton in this weekend's Los Angeles Times on her enduring fondness for the books of Beverly Cleary.

If you're curious about where any one of those first sentences leads, click on the month to read the full post from whence it came. It sounds as though I'm forever travelling, thinking longingly of travel, and/or mulling over some book or other. An eerily accurate snapshot of my life…

2 comments:

Melwyk said...

Yes, it's strange how a single sentence can reflect a month so well. I've just cribbed this meme from you, but my lines are not quite as wide-ranging as yours.

Danielle said...

I'm a bit afraid to look back at the goals I set for myself at the beginning of the year as well. I'm not too sure how well I did. Thanks for linking to your posts.