A Christmas Carol Ann Howell

I'll be home, like, sometime,
don't wait up for me,
all my friends will be at Jen's
so that's where I will be.

Christmas Eve will find me
at the mall with Trevor.
I'll be home for Christmas,
like, sometime,
stop bugging me,
whatever.

The Ten Steps of Sudden Celebrity (as exhibited most recently in the curious cases of Sarah Palin and Joe the Plumber)

1. Rush of excitement/media fanfare

2. Intense media scrutiny of past missteps, embarrassments

3. Public humiliation, revulsion, repudiation

4. Subject complains of media mishandling

5. Sympathetic stories appear

6. Other celebrities express support

7. Public loses interest

8. Plucky comeback

9. Back to obscurity

10. Book deal