It's not my fault, I'm memetic...

I'm not at all sure where the value lies, but other people are doing this, and you know what I'm like, I do just have to join in...

So, the rules:

1. Grab the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence (grab next nearest book if fewer than 7 sentences found).
4. Post the text of the next 3 sentences on your blog along with these instructions.
5.Don't you dare dig for that "cool" or "intellectual" book in your closet! I know you were thinking about it! Just pick up whatever is closest.

...And in obedience I have done just that, picked up what is closest - and y'know what? It's my own book, "Bridge of Dreams". Look, this is my desk, okay? Work occurs here. I've been writing the sequel, so of course I had this to hand. And I'm not apologising for it. Much.

So. Counts sentences, dives in:

Only give them long enough, fuel enough to stoke that smouldering curiosity, and one of them might even divine the truth: he's been out there all his life, roofrunner, strandfly, always in the Shine - I bet it's in his blood now, souring his water-magic. I never heard of a dogtooth with talent, but if there was one, wouldn't you just bet it'd be like that? We should throw him out, before he poisons the rest of us.

Random sample, as edifying as random samples always are. I wonder who thought of this, and why? (Talking of edification, though, I was reminded today that reaedify is a legitimate alternative spelling for re-edify. If only I had a use for the word...)

The Emperor's Terrapin, et seq

Gotta love jade. How not? Even without its being so tied in to the history of China and my own creative obsessions, I have always loved the colours, the textures, the variety of jade.

Sunderland is currently being visited by a prime object, a great terrapin carved from a boulder of nephrite jade (I have been known to get sniffy about nephrite, poor cousin of the true jadeite, Imperial jade - but not tonight); so of course we had to go and pay our respects. I was there last night with friends: Gail-Nina Anderson, comics god Bryan Talbot and his wife Mary (Wikipedia has an entry for 'notable people named Mary Talbot', but none of them can hold a candle to ours), durham_rambler and shewhomust, who has written up the Terrapin and the evening here to far greater effect than I could, 'cos she knows more than I do and is wiser.

So I stayed overnight with Bryan & Mary, and came back this morning via a meeting at the Arts Council, wherein we discussed my plans to obtain money from them for this year's Phantoms projects and my own return to Taipei. Please to cross fortunate digits and engage in luck-wishing.

And tonight I have just picked up this week's bag of organic veg. I have green beans, wet garlic, summer squash, courgette, fennel, shallots, carrots and potatoes, and count myself a fortunate man.