My friend Ann Byle mentioned Above All, Love in an article in today's Grand Rapids Press.
Need copies for Christmas gifts? Order from the following:
Discovery House Publishers
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Me (send e-mail)
Above All, Love in the Grand Rapids Press
Mike Huckabee and Me
Jay and I went to the Mike Huckabee book signing at Schuler Books & Music last night. The line was moving so fast that Jay didn't even have time to get in the picture. I did, however, talk fast enough to tell the former governor that I almost got to work with him on a book several years ago. Len Goss, a former Zondervan colleague, contacted me when he was the editorial director at Broadman and Holman and asked if I'd like to be the ghost writer for a book Huckabee was writing for them when he was governor of Alabama. Unfortunately, I had a conflicting deadline, so I had to decline the offer.
Zondervan Buys onthecity.org from Mars Hill Church
Our church could sure use this! I wonder when it will be available. It looks better (and easier) than Facebook. Go here to watch a video demonstration.
Sherwood Wirt
The San Diego Christian Writer's Guild reports the death of founder Sherwood Wirt on November 8.
Good Example of Bad Layout
Business may be bad in the furniture industry, but not so bad that they're using their trucks to steal baby food! 
This was on the front page of woodtv.com earlier today. In journalism school, we call this very careless juxtaposition of headlines and photos.
Letter to Losers
Depending on your political persuasion, you will either be glad or sad when the results of today’s presidential election are made known. Those whose candidate wins will be amenable to the idea of submitting to the authority of the government he establishes. Most others will submit, but they may have trouble following the guidelines established for Christians by the apostle Paul.
In a letter to Titus, who was working among believers on the island of Crete, a place notorious for its unruly inhabitants, Paul wrote that Christians should not only submit to ruling authorities but also be peaceable, considerate, and to do good without slandering anyone. Based on what we know about the immorality in ancient Crete, there were good reasons to say bad things about people living and ruling there, but Paul warned Christians not to do it.
In fact, seven times in the short letter, Paul mentioned the importance of doing good instead (loving what is good, 1:8; teaching what is good, 2:3; doing what is good, 2:7, 14, 3:1, 8, 14).
Paul’s letter is a timely reminder that Christians are to do what is good for people whether or not we approve of their values or agree with their policies. It may not be easy, but it’s the right thing to do.
<<<>>>
Christians are a constructive force in society when we refuse to be destructive in our speech and behavior.
Sarah Palin and Our Daily Bread
Quite some time ago I wrote an Our Daily Bread devotional titled "Whose Side Is God On? It was published August 20 of this year. In it I used the Abraham Lincoln quotation that Sarah Palin cited during her interview with Charlie Gibson. You can watch the relevant part of the interview here:
You can read the ODB devotional here.
So now I'm wondering if Sarah Palin reads Our Daily Bread. Wouldn't that be cool?!
The Glass Ceiling
Jonathan Alter made a comment in his "Between the Lines" column in Newsday about Sarah Palin that shows him to be just another grain of sand in the glass ceiling:
The balance between work and family, always a ticklish issue, will be brought into bold relief by the fact that the Palins' fifth child, Trig, was born with Down syndrome in April. Todd Palin, a commercial fisherman, may shoulder the bulk of the child-rearing duties in their family. But many voters will nonetheless wonder whether Palin should undertake the rigors of the vice presidency (and perhaps the presidency) while caring for a disabled infant. The subject will no doubt arise on "Oprah" and in other venues.
His use of the phrase "many voters will nonetheless wonder" is a weak attempt to make someone other than himself (in other words, to keep himself invisible, i.e., like glass!) responsible for raising the typical kind of question that has been used for centuries to keep women "in their place," which, as Alter apparently believes, is at home when there is a disabled child in the family. I suppose the good news is that his comment indicates that women have made some progress. It used to be that they belonged at home whenever there were any children in the family.
Grammar Police "Sentenced"
Self-styled vigilantes wiped out errors on signs across the United States
Associated PressPHOENIX - When it comes to marking up historic signs, good grammar is a bad defense.
Two self-styled vigilantes against typos who defaced a more than 60-year-old, hand-painted sign at Grand Canyon National Park were sentenced to probation and banned from national parks for a year. They had removed an extraneous apostrophe and added a comma to the sign.
Above All, Love
Above All, Love is now available for purchase. Tonight we hosted a party to launch the book. Here are a few pictures.
Me with my new rock from Patty and Steve Doren and my cake.
My rock and my cake.
The "M" Word
When speaking to authors, never use the "m" word, says Jonathan Karp, publisher and editor-in-chief of Twelve, an imprint within the Hachette Book Group.
Many years ago, as a new editorial assistant at a venerable publishing house, I was warned by a senior colleague never to use a certain word when telling authors what would happen to their unsold books. The forbidden word was . . . [click here to read the entire article]
Be quiet and eat your Wheaties
David Wroblewski is as surprised as anyone by the success of his first novel, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. Bestselling author Stephen King wrote this about it:
I flat-out loved The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. Dog-lovers in particular will be riveted by this story, because the canine world has never been explored with such imagination or emotional resonance. Yet in the end, this isn't a novel about dogs or heartland America — although it is a deeply American work of literature. It's a novel about the human heart, and the mysteries that live there, understood but impossible to articulate. Yet in the person of Edgar Sawtelle, a mute boy who takes three of his dogs on a brave and dangerous odyssey, Wroblewski does articulate them, and splendidly. I closed the book with that regret readers feel only after experiencing the best stories: It's over, you think, and I won't read another one this good for a long, long time. [Click here to read this and other reviews.]Here's an excerpt from a PW interview with the author.
PW: Having made such a splash with your debut, are you worried about novel #2, and have you started work on it?
DW: I’m not worried about the second novel because one of the things I know is that you just have to sit down and do the work. So it’s not like I’m wringing my hands in any way over it. I have a basic story in mind; I have a character that I’m crazy about and I have a set of moments that are perfectly clear to me about what’s going to happen. But it’s in its very early days; it won’t be for a couple of weeks before I get going. But I’m sort of pawing at the ground and I know that you have to get a first draft done before you know what you’ve got. My sense is that I need to be quiet and eat my Wheaties and do the work—and it’s gonna be what it’s gonna be. Basically I’ve no anxiety about living up in any sense to Edgar: it’s going to be a different story and it’ll have its strengths and weaknesses. I think it’s the only way to do it; otherwise you just tie yourself up in knots. I’m 48 years old and I’ve been making software for 30 years in my other career. I know that to get stuff done you sit down and it’s work. I think that’s one of the advantages to having an experience like this a little later in life than when you’re 20. [Click here to read the entire interview.]
It's a book!
Above All, Love is now a real book! My friend Rika and I met at Color House to watch it go through the binding process.
Above All, Love
The cover: hot off the press . . .
The text: ready to go on press . . .
The text: rolling off the press . . .
enjoy the sight and sound of the press room
unfortunately, no smell of ink . . . technology still has its limitations
This morning at 9 AM, Above All, Love went on press at Color House Graphics here in Grand Rapids. Having my first book published is exciting, but having Color House print it makes it especially meaningful. Color House was started by Ken Postema and Bill Landheer, former publishing colleagues at Zondervan, and Bill's son, Steve, in September 1987, the same month that Paul Hillman, Judith Markham, and I founded Blue Water Ink.
In addition, the book was published by Discovery House, also founded in 1987 when RBC Ministries hired two other former Zondervan colleagues, Bob DeVries and Carol Holquist, to get it started. Bob has retired, and Carol is now the publisher.
Also, due to a rather convoluted set of circumstances beginning with 9-11, Judy Markham, my mentor, friend, and former business partner, is now the managing editor at Discovery House, so she was my editor.
In the past 20 years, we have combined our talents on many projects in our individual roles as editor, publisher, and printer. But this is my first time working with everyone in my new role as author. I am delighted to have them as my editor, publisher, and printer.
The Risk of Writing
The Best Worst Book Ever
If ever there were an example of why publishing houses were, are, and will continue to be necessary, Aaron Rayburn, author of The Shadow God, has (unintentionally) provided it. By writing and self-publishing what one reviewer called "the worst book ever written," Rayburn has affirmed the need for publishing houses and their traditional role—to serve as gatekeepers to help keep really bad books from making their way to bookstore shelves.
Every now and then, it's good to be reminded that editors provide a vital service. It's also a good warning to wannabe authors that self-publishing is not for anyone with a fragile psyche.
And for those of us who write and speak about writing, a really good example of bad writing is always fun to find.
Love: A Holy Command
Compiled by Blue Water Ink
Recently published by Discovery House Publishers
Click here to read an excerpt.
Click here to purchase from Discovery House Publishers.
Getting Organized
Jay's dad visited us over the weekend, and before leaving this morning he gave me some advice about organizing my office.
Part 1
Part 2
How Amazon Could Change Publishing
Publishing is "archaic beyond belief," says Sramana Mitra in "How Amazon Could Change Publishing." She accuses the industry of treating "its most important asset—the author—badly," and then sites statistics showing what a tiny percentage of publishing profits go to authors: The book market in the United States is worth about $32 billion a year; the rest of the world, an additional $36 billion. Who makes the money? Not the author. Retailers take almost 50%. The agent takes 15% to 20%. The publisher gets squeezed—it's cause for huge celebration if they make 20%. "On a book that costs $24.95, the author gets at most $1 to $1.50," says Eileen Gittins, chief executive of Blurb, an online print-on-demand publisher of photography books.
Technology, says Mitra, is allowing that to change . . .
Click here to read the entire article on Forbes.com.
When Slower Is Better . . .
"When the quantity of activity goes up, quality goes down and stress takes a toll." —Bill Weir
Click here to read "Efficiency Overload: Why Demanding More May be Wearing Us Thin."
Click here to watch the video.
Back to Blue Water Ink
The California cousins' reunion has come to an end. What a time we had! We walked the beach a few times and also made it to the end of the pier in the map below. At the end of the pier is an old ship that was turned into a nightclub back in the 20s or 30s. The ship was made out of cement. Click here for more information.
View Larger Map
California, here I come!
This is where you can find me for the next five days—April 24-29.
View Larger Map
Click here to find out the weather in Aptos, California.
Maybe today . . .
Perhaps the last of this season's ice will melt into history today!
Festival of Faith and Writing at Calvin College starts today. Praise God for sending warm weather!
Self-Publishing
Every so often it happens. After collecting a pile of rejection letters, an author decides to publish his or her own book, and it goes on to become a best-seller.
Novel about God hits a chord in Nashville.
When the dollars start rolling in, publishers see "value" previously invisible to them.
Congratulations, William Young.
Letter to Charter
Last Thursday evening I wanted to send an email to a friend who, for some reason, is not able to receive the emails I send using my primary email address. Despite numerous attempts, I could not log on to my alternate email account, hosted by Charter. I kept being sent back to the login page, so I called technical support. After the first half hour, I should have given up and made a simple phone call to my friend, but once I get through to technical support, I don't want to lose my place in line. Unfortunately, my time was not well spent, so this morning I sent this email.
Last Thursday I spent more than an hour online with technical support because I could not access my email. By the end of the conversation, the support person acknowledged (reluctantly) that it was Charter's problem, not mine, and said it would be fixed within 24 hours. It is now Monday, and the problem still is not fixed.Within a few minutes I received this highly annoying and worse-than-nothing response.
E-Mail Not WorkingI re-read my email to see if there was anything in it indicating that I needed help setting up my email account. Can't find it. Even their assigned category "Email Not Working" seems to imply that the email account has already been set up. Duh!
Dear Charter Internet Customer,, Thank you for your inquiry about setting up E-Mail. We have provided the most common browser type instructions below to assist you as quickly as possible. Other browser type instructions are located at Charter.com:
Web mail and E-Mail Support Setting Up E-mail in Outlook Express for Internet Explorer
- Open your Outlook Express, either by clicking the Outlook Express icon on your desktop or selecting "Read Mail" from the Mail menu in Internet Explorer.
- In Outlook Express, select "Accounts..." from the Tools menu.
- On the pop up menu, select the "Mail" tab.
Since my attempts to communicate directly with them have proven fruitless, I am now trying the indirect approach. By making this public, I am hoping they will see themselves as others see them and be motivated to improve their service.
The "humor" of the situation is that Charter keeps trying to sell me their phone service. When I explain that their internet service stinks, they claim that their phone service is better because it's government regulated. Have you ever heard a more ridiculous sales pitch?
Unfortunately, not only is cable internet not regulated by the government, it's a government protected monopoly. Yoo hoo, I thought fair competition was one of the legs that keeps capitalism running. Perhaps this is a clue as to why it's stumbling.
Hillary's Red Phone
Are we to believe that if Hillary becomes president and is awakened by a phone call at 3 in the morning, she won't answer it until after she puts on her makeup?
If I Were Obama . . .
Tonight there will be yet another debate between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. The alarming thing about the Clinton campaign is that after all these months, her team still hasn't figured out a strategy "that works." She claims to be the candidate who is "ready on day one" to step in and take over as president. But her claim is lame. Even with the Clinton "machine" working for her, she hasn't yet figured out how to campaign for the presidency; why would anyone believe she knows how to be the president.
Hillary's campaign is like three legs of a stool—attack, admire, emote. The reason they don't work is because there is no seat holding them together!
If I were Obama, I would respond to her attacks with simple words like these: "Hillary, there may well be things in your past that I could dredge up and use against you. But my staff members and I have better things to do. We're not going to waste our time and energy dragging you down; we're going to use every minute of our time and every ounce of our strength building up America."
Hillary just doesn't "get it," and she surrounds herself with equally clueless advisers. Good-bye Clintons!
Eagles at Norfolk Botanical Garden
keep viewers guessing
Is this the mom? the dad? or the other woman? No one seems to know for sure. If you've not been following the soap opera at the Eagles' Nest in Virginia, you can watch the action (or inaction) and catch up on previous episodes here: http://www.wvec.com/cams/eagle.html
Show, don't tell
This passage from the Bible doesn't seem to have anything to do with writing and publishing, but take a closer look. It confirms advice that editors keep telling authors: "Show, don't tell."
A man with leprosy came to [Jesus] and begged him on his knees, "If you are willing, you can make me clean."But, surprise, the man didn't do what he was told to do, but what he wanted to do. Instead of showing himself to the priest, he went around telling everyone what had happened.
Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured.
Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: "See that you don't tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them." (Mark 1:40-44)
Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere. (Mark 1:45)The phrase "to talk freely" used along with "spreading the news" is the ancient form of publishing. It means to preach or to proclaim widely. Only in modern times has the word "publish" become synonymous with "print."
Jesus wanted this man to "show" that he had been changed before he told everyone about it. I wonder what would have happened differently if he had obeyed.
Pleasant Words
Pleasant words are a honeycomb,
sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.
—Proverbs 16:24
Working at a remote location. :-)
Pleasant Words
The wise in heart are called discerning,
and pleasant words promote instruction.
—Proverbs 16:21
Rules & Writing
While I was speaking on Saturday at the Women's Leadership Conference at Cornerstone University, I surprised myself by saying something I had not thought of before.
I was explaining that it's generally better, in a series, to use short words or phrases first, as in "arts and letters" and "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Early in my editorial career, I would explain to authors that it just sounds better this way. But then I discovered that there really is a "rule" about this. On Saturday, while I was speaking, I realized that authors are more likely to go along with changes I make when I can tell them there's a rule about it than when I just say, "Trust me, this is better."
This got me thinking about human nature and our love/hate relationship with rules. We don't like rules, but we don't believe something is true or right if there isn't a rule for it. So then I started thinking about Adam and Eve and whether God's real reason for giving rules is to find out if we trust him enough to believe what he tells us is good and what is not. When he finds out that we don't trust him, he has to add more rules to protect us from our failure to trust.
In Christ, God proclaimed once more, in yet another way, that the good life he has in mind for us is not about following rules; it's about being in a loving and trusting relationship with him. As a result, we'll also enjoy a good relationship with others—one in which everyone looks out not only for personal interests but also for the interests of others (Philippians 2:4)—not because there's a rule, but because there is love.
Writing and Publishing | The Romance and the Reality
Today's workshop at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary
Scripture Verses: Psalm 19:14; Psalm 33:4; Psalm 139:4; Deuteronomy 27:8; Jeremiah 30:2; Luke 24:20; 1 Corinthians 1:17; 2:4-5; 1 Peter 4:11; Philippians 4:8
Metaphor Maniac
I am a metaphor maniac. I love symbols, and I love searching for their hidden meaning. But symbols are not truth; they simply help explain truth.
In college I had a Bible professor who used the phrase “Don’t make the parable walk on all fours.” Due to my fetish for figurative language, I was intrigued by his statement but unclear as to its meaning. Since parables don’t really “walk”—on two feet or on four—the statement itself is a metaphor. So what was my professor trying to teach me about interpreting metaphors that I had not learned in any literature class?
Years later, a friend and I were discussing the symbol of yeast in the Bible. After hearing Bible teacher Ray VanderLaan mention “the yeast of the Pharisees,” which Jesus referred to as hypocrisy (Luke 12:1), my friend commented, “I always thought the Bible taught that yeast was good.”
“Oh, no,” I said, drawing from the archives of my Baptist background, “yeast symbolizes sin.”
Later that week my devotional reading was from Matthew 13, which states: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough” (v. 33).
“Aha,” I thought, “this explains it.” My friend grew up in a church that emphasizes the redemptive power of God’s kingdom. To her, yeast symbolizes the kingdom of God, not sin.
Then I recalled “walking” metaphors, and the mysterious meaning that had eluded me for so long became clear.
The professor had used a metaphor to explain the proper use of metaphors: Don’t make them “do” what they’re not intended to do. Don't make them carry more meaning than they are meant to hold; don't make them apply to all situations at all times, and don’t make them more important than the truth they illustrate. In the case of yeast, it is neither good nor bad, but it can be a symbol for both.
Symbols are good when used to explain truth, but not when we make them more important than truth.
For metaphor maniacs, that’s important to remember.
Creativity
"Creativity is a road out of pain and misery and unhappiness." —Stephen King, The Today Show, 22 January 2008
Click here to watch Matt Lauer interview author Stephen King about his new book Duma Key.
Books and Authors
In general, I find that books are more interesting than their authors. Oscar Wilde expressed a similar opinion:
Basil, my dear boy, puts everything that is charming in him into his work. The consequence is that he has nothing left for life but his prejudices, his principles, and his common-sense. The only artists I have ever known, who are personally delightful, are bad artists. Good artists exist simply in what they make, and consequently are perfectly uninteresting in what they are. A great poet, a really great poet, is the most unpoetical of all creatures. But inferior poets are absolutely fascinating. The worse their rhymes are, the more picturesque they look. The mere fact of having published a book of second-rate sonnets makes a man quite irresistible. He lives the poetry that he cannot write. The others write the poetry that they dare not realize. —Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray
Idiots on Ice
"Show, don't tell," writing coaches advise would-be writers. Instead of telling me that someone is an idiot, show me a person who is deficient in judgment and good sense. Here, for example, is an idiot . . .
And here are two idiots . . .
Keep in mind that just yesterday, this was open water. The lake has been "frozen" for barely 24 hours, not nearly enough time to become solid.
Good Writing
From Scot McKnight's blog: jesuscreed.org . . .
Good writers have an ear for what works, what sounds right, what brings both meaning and pleasure at the same time. And good writers have a personal style, and they have some wit (we don’t need boring, scientific books about important topics very often), and they make you smile but not laugh aloud. (That’s the difference between humor and comedy; the former make you smile, the latter make you laugh.)—Scot McKnight, from "What I Would Do Differently"
When is praise not a compliment?
One of the things I have noticed on researching a book through the Amazon review system before I buy it is that so often reviewers state that they were able to finish the book in two hours, three hours, four hours. Do they honestly think that is a compliment to the author? —J. Lesley, review of Persuasion by Jane Austen.
Such a compliment is like praising a meal for how quickly it can be devoured.
MLive.com is a joke!
Michigan needs better online news. Eight of the state's major newspapers use mlive.com as their online presence: Ann Arbor News, Bay City Times, Flint Journal, Grand Rapids Press, Jackson Citizen Patriot, Kalamazoo Gazette, Muskegon Chronicle, and Saginaw News. Citizens of these cities are being woefully served.
When I search for Huckabee using the mlive.com search feature, I get two results and a question asking me if I really meant "Hecuba." Who the heck is Hecuba?!
When I search mlive.com using Google, I get more than 300 results.
Wake up, Michigan! The news in our state is pitiful.
Money Can't Buy You Love
Dick DeVos learned last year that money still can't buy certain things—in particular, Michigan elections. Mitt Romney may be about to learn from his own experience what he apparently did not learn from Dick's.
Mike Huckabee, on the other hand, understands what money can't buy. At his appearance this morning at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel, he told the story of a Michigan woman who offered him a family heirloom to help support his campaign. "I can't tell you how much that meant to me," Huckabee said. "You can raise all the money in America, but you can't buy spirit like that."
Like I said earlier, I really wanted to like Mitt Romney—I tried to like him—but his inability to relate to ordinary Americans leaves me cold.
Advice for Mitt Romney
Dear Mitt,
I'm trying to like you. I really want to like you. I grew up when your father was governor here in Michigan, and I liked him. But every day you are giving me new reasons not to like you. Today your machine called me. I was polite enough to answer the questions asked by your machine. Your machine was not polite enough to say thank you after getting the information it wanted. This is rude. Your advertisements about Mike Huckabee are rude. Rudeness is not a value I get excited about voting for. I think you might need someone with a warmer heart to run your campaign. I think you'd better hurry up and find someone.
The Power of Words
"I believe in rhetoric. I love the history of American political rhetoric, but one lesson I brought out of government is that sometimes there is a limit to the power of words. Americans eventually respond to the situation on the ground. The media pounce on you when you're down. They go after the weak." —Michael Gerson, Washington Post columnist and former Bush speech writer, speaking at a question-and-answer session at The King's College in New York City, reported in World Magazine (January 12, 2008, Vol. 23, No. 1)
Thinking & Writing
"I don't know what I think until I read what I write," said Flannery O'Connor.
This is generally true for me as well. But sometimes I find out what I think when I read what someone else has written. This blog by Kevin Walker is a case in point. After reading it, I have a new way of thinking about the presidential primary season: Change, Change, Change.
January Thaw
Today's view from Blue Water Ink.
Yes, you did indeed hear thunder. Today's afternoon temperature reached 64 degrees. The average high temperature for this date is 29 degrees, and the previous high was 52.
But what does weather have to do with writing? Today's weather reminded me of mediocre writing.
As the temperature rose and the snow receded, fog settled in. This resulted in low visibility and dangerous driving conditions.
Mediocre writing does the same thing. It warms hearts—it may even cause an emotional meltdown. But it clouds thinking and makes mental navigation difficult and dangerous. Mediocre writing also does the opposite. Careless attempts to clear up foggy thinking can freeze people's hearts.
Good writing softens hearts without creating foggy thinking; it clears thinking without hardening hearts.
The same might be said of good theology.
January "unthawed."
Delirius?
On Monday, 7 January, Christian musicians will begin collaborating on a project to raise money for charity. Participating artists include Michael W. Smith, Steven Curtis Chapman, Chris Tomlin, Darlene Zschech, and Matt and Beth Redman. Martin Smith, lead singer for Delirius, is organizing the five-day retreat in Perthshire, Scotland.
According to Smith (Martin, I assume), the charities will own the copyright. "That way, we can bypass the publishers, the managers, the agents, ASCAP, BMI," the Associated Press quoted Smith as saying. "One hundred percent of the money comes directly to the copyright holder." <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22201600/>
Help me understand. How will copyright owners make money on a song by bypassing all the people who sell it and collect money for it?
A good writer . . .
Good writers define reality; bad ones merely restate it. A good writer turns fact into truth; a bad writer will, more often than not, accomplish the opposite. —Edward Albee
How would you finish this sentence: "A good writer . . . "?
A good editor . . .
“He never tells you what to do . . . He suggests to you, in an extraordinarily inarticulate fashion, what you want to do yourself.”
—an author speaking of editor Maxwell Perkins
Color of the Year
Good news for Blue Water Ink. The color of the year chosen by pigment professionals at Pantone is (drum roll) BLUE. Blue iris, to be exact—not exactly a watery blue, but blue nonetheless. According to Leatrice Eiseman, the executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, “Blue Iris brings together the dependable aspects of blue, underscored by a strong, soul-searching purple cast. Emotionally, it is anchoring and meditative with a touch of magic” (Cathy Horyn, New York Times, 20 December 2007). What more could a person expect from a color?!
A Good Example of Bad Grammar
Thanks to TruTV.com for an amusing example of bad grammar. Apparently Betty Gore had more lives than a cat!
Housewife and church-member Betty Gore is found murdered in her own home. She has been axed to death 41 times.
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