I KNOW WHAT YOU MEME

 meme

/mēm/

Learn to pronounce

noun

1. an element of a culture or system of behavior that may be considered to be passed from one individual to another by nongenetic means, especially imitation.

 It took me a while to figure out what a meme was. Not having a cell phone or ever having sent or received a text message, I was a little behind the curve. All of a sudden people were communicating by meme and gif.  

GIF

/ɡif,jif/

noun

COMPUTING

1. a lossless format for image files that supports both animated and static images.

Even the definitions need definition. What the fuck is "nongenetic means" or a "lossless format"? In my understanding a meme is an image-- usually accompanied by text-- that is spread over the internet at a "viral" rate, making people scowl, laugh or nod in general acceptance that WE are all in on the joke. Case in point: the Bernie Sanders "mitten meme." Funny? I guess. Meme? Definitely. 

   Last week, as a bunch of us gathered, safely social distancing for cocktail hour, the subject of memes came up. Even people who never use social media seem to like memes. I get sent memes all the time. Most are stupid. I see memes like those corny posters from the 1970's picturing a cute kitten dangling from a tree branch with a bowl of spaghetti on its head, declaring Hang in There! GNJohn disagreed (surprise) schooling me that a true meme was an image, or part of an image, that is repeated ad nauseam in cyberspace. I stuck by my guns. If the internet had been around in the '70's that stupid kitten would have been hanging on everything from Nixon's nose to Johnny Wad's boner....a meme by any other name.

    Just to prove his point GNJohn sent me fodder for a my next meme-- a picture of me bicycling through the neighborhood a few years back. Feel free to lift it and spread across the internet with your own tag line. Know what I meme?