Midday fog.

The end of the ice rainbow.

We've been watching ice melt here today, so let's see the delicate end:

I bring my ice rainbow inside.

It was melting outside anyway.

8 rules for writing a short story.

Found in this Wikipedia article about Kurt Vonnegut, whom I was thinking about because my commenter Bissage linked to a book of his here and because — also this morning — I was in a long IM conversation that ended up — though it started being about the New Hampshire primary — being about the number 57, Tom Cruise and Scientology, whether humans are the most rational or the most irrational animals, why we love our ideas so much, religion, and "Cat's Cradle."

1. Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.
2. Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.
3. Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.
4. Every sentence must do one of two things — reveal character or advance the action.
5. Start as close to the end as possible.
6. Be a sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them — in order that the reader may see what they are made of.
7. Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.
8. Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To hell with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.

I like the way somebody put in Wikipedia links for "sadist," "pneumonia," and "cockroaches." It seems to mean something. Perhaps you could write a short story in which it does and which follows the 8 rules.

ADDED: Here's a nice NPR interview with Vonnegut in which he talks about these rules, some other things about writing and reading (it's meditation), and laughs about the time Nazis wanted very much to surrender to him.

"Family of 'Eleanor Rigby' will go to burial."

A headline today, from Scotland.

[Olive Archer's] lonely death, of a stroke five days before Christmas, drew comparisons with Eleanor Rigby, the subject of a Beatles song about a woman who was "buried along with her name. Nobody came"....

The Rev Akasha Lonsdale, was so dismayed at the prospect of being the sole witness at the funeral on January 14 in Swindon, Wiltshire, she launched an appeal in her local newspaper on New Year's Eve.....

"The response to the campaign has been touching. I hope it can raise awareness of the plight of elderly people. There is a bigger question to be considered here in terms of social services provisions for the old."

Lonsdale's campaign gathered momentum when she found an old photograph of Archer at the home, when she had what she described as "film-star" looks.

This should inspire new hope for all the lonely people... if they are beautiful.

The ice rainbow of hope.

Discovered here in Madison, Wisconsin, where — as George Harrison once sang — the ice is slowly melting. It's been a long cold lonely winter... the smiles returning to their faces... it seems like years since it's been clear....

"She seemed dogmatic, almost angry, like she was vicious..."

Undecided voters interviewed by Frank Luntz about last night's Democratic debate:



I must say, I find most of the talk about "change" and "hope" rather inane. Luntz keeps establishing that everyone's "for change" and then presses them on which candidate, for them, most embodies change. Toward the end of the clip, he asks which "messsage" — "hope" or "experience" — works better, and when "hope" wins, he asks whether it's fair to question whether Obama can "make hope happen." The question seems to defy the whole nature of "hope." Obama has already inspired hope. If you want more than that, you want something other than hope. If hope is enough, Obama is transcendently perfect.

ADDED: I think this video illustrates what people were reacting to. Note that the content is fine, but the way she looks and sounds sets off an emotional response in the human animal:



AND: The Anchoress surveys the reaction to Hillary and opines:

I watched the video and didn’t think she came off too shrewish. A little incoherent, desperate sounding and clearly angry - she must so ticked off that she is finding herself in this position when she was pretty sure she was gliding to a coronation - and I think I read somewhere a while back that her claims about insuring National Guardsmen are a stretch, but stretching is what Clinton’s do, so no one will care. Perhaps it played worse in the context of the whole debate, but to me this video does not seem like the “moment of implosion” which many are waiting for. I think she’s going to get a lot angrier before that happens.

Waiting for the woman to blow up. Is that wrong?

"You paint all Islamics the same way."

Ron Paul rails at Rudy Giuliani at the debate tonight. And Giuliani responds:



Now, watch Rudy's new ad:



Discuss.

"They all hate Mitt."

Jonathan Martin, blogging the Republican debate.

Sorry not to liveblog. I forgot it was on, but, watching from the midpoint, I was struck by how lively — and testy — it was.

On to the Democratic Debate.

ADDED: Hillary sounds terrible — saying "uh" and "you know" a lot and haranguing in a yelly voice. Meanwhile, Edwards and Obama are keeping their temper and playing super-nice. Richardson... well, why is he there, getting the same amount of time? He just keeps trying to insert info from his résumé. ("Is experience a leper?")

MORE: Will any of them admit the surge is a success? No. Obama thinks any improvements are due to the election of Democrats in 2006 (and the consequent threat that American troops would leave).

AND: "Well, that hurts my feelings." Funny answer by Hillary to the ridiculous question that was nothing more than an assertion that people don't like her.

BY THE WAY: I loved the format tonight.

"Everybody knows Frankie doesn't say 'Submit.' Frankie says 'Relax.'"

Uh oh! Uncle Jimbo is out and about in Madison, Wisconsin, checking out the chalkings.



(Frankie background... in case you missed the '80s.)

Hillary's problems.

Joe Gandelman thinks Bill Clinton is ruining Hillary's campaign. He doesn't seem to think Bill is doing it on purpose (which is what I think). (Great cartoon at the link too.)

Karen Tumulty says things are all awry inside Hillary campaign.

Secret Service agents told Bill O 'Reilly to calm down and get behind a barricade.

Supposedly, he was "screaming" at a 6'8" Obama aide. Called him "low class." But eventually, he got to tell Obama he loved him and invited him on the show. I don't know. Is that news? It's getting talked about...

MORE: Here:

When the popular Fox News entertainer arrived at the Obama event in Nashua, people turned to him but not always approvingly. "Hey O'Reilly," yelled a man. When O'Reilly turned he got a single-finger salute. A few people approached Bill to shake his hand but the overwhelming sentiment was unfavorable. "O'Reilly hatemonger," yelled a woman. A few other people gave him the bird. "I hate you Bill," yelled a man. "You can't stop us Bill," yelled another. I thought someone might brain him with one of those Obama "Hope" signs.

Irony. It's amusing. You mean, Obama hasn't actually called us back to our highest selves, to the place where America exists as a glittering ideal, and where we, its honored inhabitants, seem capable of achieving it, and thus of sharing in its meaning and transcendence? (I was going to write a post about Ezra Klein's goofball creative writing assignment, but it seems like everyone else already did, and I'm afraid it's too late now.)

A number of people shouted falafel, the word O'Reilly used in a racy set of telephone conversations with a young woman he was trying to seduce as he described a shower they might take together. He meant loofa, which is not a Middle Eastern delicacy but a bath item....

Now, that's funny. Giving him the finger and shouting "I hate you" is only helping him, giving him the video to skewer you. (You kebab.) But yelling "falafel" — he can't use that. Nothing like a good personalized insult that's horrifying for you but not even a dirty word.

Romney wins!

In Wyoming. 12 delegates. Coming in second: Duncan Hunter.

Do you feel a little sorry for Wyoming? It tried to get attention by going early, but it still didn't get attention. It's just really small — in population. Beautiful place, though. I've been there. See?



Hard to find voters.

"Imagine if you could have Superman fight the Hulk!"

Jonah Goldberg enthuses about how cool it would be if we ended up with Obama versus McCain. (Video, quote at 17:34.)

IN THE COMMENTS: Allen S: "Does anyone really think that Chuck Norris is going to let that happen?"

"I'm imagining this 22-year-old guy with his scenario for, you know, marrying Scarlett Johansson."

Jonathan Chait talks to Matthew Yglesias about what it would take for Rudy Giuliani to win the nomination. Video.

Why was Hillary booed twice in New Hampshire?

Time's Jay Newton-Small writes:

The first time was when she said she has always and will continue to work for "change for you.["] The audience, particularly from Obama supporters (they were waving Obama signs) let out a noise that sounded like a thousand people collectively groaning. The second time came a few minutes later when Clinton said: "The there [sic] are two big questions for voters in New Hampshire. One is: who will be ready to lead from day one? The second," and here Clinton was forced to pause as boos from the crowd mixed with cheers from her own supporters. "Is who can we nominate who will go the distance against the Republicans?”

Could Time blog a little better? This piece fails to say when this dinner took place. And: "If the New Hampshire Democratic Party’s 100 Club dinner is any bell weather – Barack Obama will handily win here." Bell weather? One reason to avoid trite phrases is that you may have no idea what image you are invoking:

It is not entirely wrong to say bell weather, although it is certainly an archaism, "weather" having been used by Shakespeare and having died in the 19th century. It describes the sheep, usually a ram, castrated but hung (speaking of irony) with a bell to lead the flock.

Of course, we prefer bellwether (and without a hyphen). Very well, we insist upon it. This is what our style guide says: "bellwether - sheep that leads the herd; customarily misspelt, misused, or both".

So if you meant to compare New Hampshire to a castrated ram with a bell around its neck, well then, fine. Perhaps you intended a reference to Shakespeare:

First, an intollerable fright, to be detected with a iealious rotten Bell-weather: Next to be compass'd like a good Bilbo in the circumference of a Pec ke, hilt to point, heele to head. And then to be stopt in like a strong distillation with stinking Cloathes, that fretted in their owne grease: thinke of that, a man of my Kidney; thinke of that, that am as subiect to heate as butter; a man of continuall dissolution, and thaw: it was a miracle to scape suffocation. And in the height of this Bath (when I was more then halfe stew'd in grease (like a Dutch-dish) to be throwne into the Thames, and coold, glowing-hot, in that serge like a Horse-shoo; thinke of that; hissing hot: thinke of that (Master Broome.)

If you were thinking of Shakespeare, well, then, I'm really iealious of your erudition.

So let's turn to Jonathan V. Last of The Weekly Standard for a better report of that dinner:

Twenty-four hours after finishing their brawl in Iowa, the Democratic candidates are all in the same room together to speak at the New Hampshire Democratic party's 100 Club dinner....

There are 3,500 ticket-holders in attendance, theoretically from the full spectrum of party regulars. And whenever Obama's name is mentioned, they go insane--shouting, chanting, holding up small round "O" signs....

[Hillary Clinton] gets a long standing ovation to start.

But a few minutes into her speech she trots out her standard line about how "some people think you get change by demanding it and some people think you get change by hoping for it" (a dig at Edwards and Obama)--there's actually some booing. It throws her off. After starting the speech upbeat and sunny, she becomes a bit brittle. The response from the audience gets fainter with each applause line until you can actually see the Obama supporters sitting on their hands, their "O" signs resting on their laps.

"We have to pick a president who is ready on day one," she says, to muted applause from her small contingent. The Obama crowd then waves their signs and begins chanting "Obama! Obama!" while she keeps speaking. It's a tense moment and Clinton seems rattled by it.

I was saying yesterday that it seems as though Hillary has already showed us every possible permutation and that there is no way now for her to come up with anything new. But getting booed — to her face, anyway — puts her in a new place. She might find some new way to play off that. You can build a reputation on booing.