Six word stories? Not so much.

A while back, Wired asked a number of writers to follow in Hemingway's footsteps. (No, not with the suicide thing - besides, Abercrombie & Fitch doesn't sell guns anymore.) The backstory is included in the article, but I'll recap: Hemingway once wrote a six-word story ("For sale: baby shoes, never worn."), and according to legend claimed it was his best work. So Wired decided to see what other authors could do in six words, and asked for submissions from a variety of writers in the fields of sci-fi, horror, & fantasy.

I remember seeing this piece in Wired when it was originally published. It's interesting that very few of those submitted to Wired have the same power that Hemingway's piece does. Hemingway's example uses specific details to force the reader to imagine the story behind those six words, and creates characters for whom we can have some empathy. Thinking about the tragedy of a child's death and its impact on the prospective parents made me realize that as much as I don't really enjoy much of Hemingway's work, he clearly had talent. So many of the pieces submitted to Wired lacked that. Meretzky's "I win lottery. Sun goes nova." and Lee's "Automobile warranty expires. So does engine." generate a momentary chuckle, and Moore's "Machine. Unexpectedly, I'd invented a time" is clever, but so few of these offer that deeper meaning that Hemingway provided. Even the writers I love (Joss Whedon, Neil Gaiman, David Brin, Margaret Atwood) didn't quite get there, although I did enjoy "Gown removed carelessly. Head, less so."

Spluh

So I haven't posted for a long time. A looooong time. Ages. As my readers know, Ben & I have moved. We are now living in Minnetonka, renting an apartment while we wait for our house in Rochester to sell. One of the most frustrating things about the apartment is that the bathroom has too many doors. Sounds weird, but trust me - there are too many.

Also annoying: The fridge has about two dozen little egg holders in the door. I've seen fridge's with them before, and never realized how useless they are until I'd gotten used to having functional space in the door.



In the history of refrigeration, nobody has EVER used those things. Who came up with that idea? Eggs are sold in containers. Why would I take them out of that container and put them in these stupid little cups? WTF?