Here, as in a photograph, a woman bent to pick up flowers. Still farther over, their images burned on wood in one titanic instant, a small boy, hands flung into the air higher up, the image of a thrown ball, and opposite him, a girl, hands raised to catch a ball which never came down.

Tim writes...

Blogmemes are the new tags e.g., the latest thing LiveJournal has been doing for years but "real" bloggers are only just now getting excited about. Can emoticons and fey movie-quote-graphics be far behind?

... and then proceeds to infect myself and others. So with my dying breath, I present:

A book that's changed my life - Godel, Escher, Bach by Douglas R. Hofstadter.

A book I have read more than once - The Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson.

On a desert island - SAS Survival Handbook by John "Lofty" Wiseman.

A book that made me laugh - Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett.

A book that made me cry - Galatea 2.2 by Richard Powers.

A book that is overrated - The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

What I wish had not been written - Nothing should be unwritten.

One book I am currently reading - Phantom by Susan Kay.

What I've been meaning to read - Kingdom Come by J.G. Ballard.

The German World War II general Erich von Manstein is said to have categorized his officers into four types. The first type, he said, is lazy and stupid. His advice was to leave them alone because they dont do any harm. The second type is hard-working and clever. He said that they make great officers because they ensure everything runs smoothly. The third group is composed of hardworking idiots. Von Manstein claims that you must immediately get rid of these, as they force everyone around them to perform pointless tasks. The fourth category are officers who are lazy and clever. These, he says, should be your generals. Discovering this information set me to wondering how General von Mansteins categories might apply to business organizations today.

From Snow Crash...

These days, most states are franchulates or Burbclaves, much too small to have anything like a jail, or even a judicial system. So when someone does something bad, they try to find quick and dirty punishments, like flogging, confiscation of property, public humiliation, or, in the case of people who have a high potential of going on to hurt others, a warning tattoo on a prominent body part. POOR IMPULSE CONTROL. Apparently, this guy went to such a place and lost his temper real bad.

... and then from CNN...

An inmate serving a life sentence for molesting and murdering a 10-year-old girl named Katie was apparently forcibly tattooed across the forehead by a fellow prisoner with the words "KATIE'S REVENGE," authorities say.

The world's most popular goals, according to 43 Things.