Hip drive is the basis for squatting power, and even though it is anatomically complex, hip drive can be learned easily and quickly.

-- Starting Strength, Mark Rippetoe

Ars Amatoria I (Ovid, with notes by Elizabeth Block):

"Apollo was so horrified by the sight that in mid-course he turned his sun-chariot back toward dawn."

...this does not bode well.

Gak!

"You promised, my love, you promised to destroy me."

- Ventriloquism, Catherynne M. Valente.

Mine also doesn't bode well.</p>

From Pompeii by Robert Harris.

"Behind them--obsequious, malevolent, inescapable--came Corax."

None of the other books in the pile fair any better.

"Of the forthcoming pictures only one was in Class 1. The Sound of Music, called in Spanish Smiles and Tears.

And even worse....

"Everyone hates you."

Clearly I need different reading material.
Anon

Huh. I figured being at work with the nearest book being Oracle 8: the Complete Reference would go poorly. However, I ended up with "SQL: From Beginner to Expert", which doesn't sound like a bad progression for a sex life.

I didn't have any books near me so I just went with the two books I am currently reading.

"Every little bit helps." - Up Against It by M.J. Locke (Er-)

"The question 'Who am I?' is one of our basic existential queries." - Somebodies and Nobodies: Overcoming the Abuse of Rank by Robert W. Fuller (So there may be some memory loss involved...)

"The capability to pass arguments to error messages greatly increases the flexibility of the error system."

-Teach yourself Transact SQL in 21 days

Er. I think this either means 'communicate communicate communicate' or I'm in real trouble.

I can't decide wether mine is the most irrelavant or the most relevant sentence:

"Peeta's the baker's son."
-The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins

(On page 44 two werewolves are arguing about who she belongs to. She states that it would have been flattering but) p45 "... at least one of them was talking about dinner and I wasn't certain about the other."

The first complete sentence is, "While Adam had Matt distracted, I reached behind me and grabbed my big crowbar from the shelf directly behind us." (She hits him with it.)



Edited at 2012-01-11 07:38 pm (UTC)

Chicken Maryland - deep fried battered or crumbled chicken pieces with corn fritters and bacon.

Don't know if this is good or bad. At least I won't go hungry.

"Mario Rioz was glad he was awake so that he could watch again"

Hmmm, I am not sure if that bodes or not.

(Extract from Asimov's 'The Martian Way', in a collection of bits of his work called "Opus" - in this case, talking about space-walking.)

I REALLY don't like this one:
"He knew the penalties for aggravated rape, exploitation of a person in a subordinate position, abuse, and aggravated abuse; he reckoned he would get at least six years in prison." -- THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE, Steig Larsson

I grabbed the nearest book as instructed. The first complete sentence on p. 45 of Charlie Stross's Palimpsest is "Pierce was to remain on convalescent leave for an entire year-subjective'. Gee, thanks Bear.

"Forgotten, I'd wager," said Dearly. - Fragile Things, Neil Gaiman ... October Was in the Chair

Well I hope that doesn't come true.

Following the letter of the law: "Kuhn et al. (2004) have produced a trait data base for about 3500 German species." (Shipley, From Plant Traits to Vegetation Structure)

Following the spirit of the law: "Will you give us your blessing, sir?" (Kurtz, Camber of Culdi)

Apparently 2012 holds a large European wedding.

Oh dear.

"Lady Sybil's placid expression did not change."
--Snuff</>, Terry Pratchett

It was a comic book (Thor, Son of Asgard) and there were no page numbers. Obviously, this means the Mayans were right.

The only books on my desk right now are two review copies I'm currently working on.

Page 45 of Megacatastrophes: Nine Strange Ways the World Could end, by David Darling and Dirk Schulze-Makuch (you couldn't get away with either of those names in a piece of fiction!): " A single type of bacterium comes in a slew of different strains, each having subtle natural genetic variations which distinguish itself from the rest of its kin."

Pg 45 of The Story of Earth, by Robert M. Hazen, offers "The physics of planet formation dictate where the Moon could have formed."

Possibly there's an astro-biology bacchannal in my future?



Edited at 2012-01-11 08:46 pm (UTC)

Distance-wise, it's a tossup between The Mauritius Command by Patrick O'Brian . . . and Emerald Empire, which is a Legend of the Five Rings gaming book.

Let's see how they compare!

"How I hope you have." -- O'Brian

"Ordinary Crane look for freshness and balance of flavor in their foods; the Crane elite are fanatical about it." -- L5R, which I love for having an entire section on the cuisine and dining customs of the various clans

Not sure what to make of the latter . . . .

Do not fear the ghosts in this house; they are the least of your worries. Neil Gaiman, The Hidden Chamber in Fragile Things

Probably not bad as far as these things go.

From The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiousities

"They sold the Boston townhouse and moved into an apartment, with, according to Birch, 'a third of the space given over to half-finished inventions.'"

"Either a medley, a mutual interlacing of atoms and their scattering; or unification, order, providence."

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 6.10.

Forecast: unclear.

The last couple times a nearest-book meme came round, it was the same nearest book, a volume of poetry. Today, though, there's an origami book in the way. Page 45 gets me:

Two triangular sheets of paper are folded separately and joined to form the lily.

... sounds like a machine-translated Chinese sex manual, actually.

---L.

"A series of non-stop, 24-hour relay races run over distances up to 200 miles across America."

World's Ultimate Running Races

Gee, guess I'd better get into training then. Ultra-marathon sex, here I come!

"Polly's arm was vibrating with the inner shakes"

10lb Penalty by Dick Francis

(Yes really - and it's about politics and racing.)