In the blogosphere, a standard term is "meme." According to Wikipedia, a meme is "a unit of cultural information transmitted from one mind to another." In other words, it's a conversation-starter.
Adam's Blog - a non-Sherlockian blog at that - started a Sherlock Holmes meme, which I'll continue here. The idea is to either post a comment with your responses, or post your answers on your own blog, if you have one, providing a link to this post.
In Chapter 2 of A Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson atttempts to capture the essence of his new acquaintance for the reader by creating a list that he titles "Sherlock Holmes - his limits."
- Knowledge of Literature. -- Nil.
- " " Philosophy. -- Nil.
- " " Astronomy. -- Nil.
- " " Politics. -- Feeble.
- " " Botany. -- Variable. Well up in belladonna, opium, and poisons generally. Knows nothing of practical gardening.
- Knowledge of Geology. -- Practical, but limited. Tells at a glance different soils from each other. After walks has shown me splashes upon his trousers, and told me by their colour and consistence in what part of London he had received them.
- Knowledge of Chemistry. -- Profound.
- " " Anatomy. -- Accurate, but unsystematic
- " " Sensational Literature. -- Immense. He appears to know every detail of every horror perpetrated in the century.
- Plays the violin well.
- Is an expert singlestick player, boxer, and swordsman.
- Has a good practical knowledge of British law.
1) What is something you know practically nothing about?
Popular music2) What is something where your knowledge is weak?
Lately, it's got to be U.S. politics. I don't have any interest in following the presidential race, nor do I care to engage in petty party-based bickering.3) What is something you know just enough about to get by?
Current sports news4) What is something where you have a profound depth of knowledge?
The Sherlock Holmes Canon and all Sherlockiana; the emerging world of social media / new media and marketing.5) What is something that you do even though you don't do it well?
Golf
6) What is something you are expert at?
Navigating the streets of Boston by car - and finding a parking space while doing so.
What about you? What are your limits? If you have a blog, please post these questions and link back to this post; if you don't have a blog, I welcome comments.
