Question from the peanut gallery:

Any predictions on tomorrow’s Iowa caucuses?

Predictions? No. What do I want to happen? I want Santorum to win and Ron Paul to come in second, because I think that would precipitate the maximum possible amount of panic within in GOP establishment brain trust — as it should — which would fill me with childlike glee.

Oh, don’t look at me like that, people. You know this isn’t my political race. The only fun I’m going to get out of it is if it’s a wacky chaotic mess, and the Republicans wait until the last possible minute to give the nomination to Romney, already. If the dude just waltzes out of the Iowa caucuses with a win, it’s going to be a boring primary season for everyone. But Santorum on top, so to speak? Oh boy. That’s going to be fun.

Could it happen? Hell, yeah: a Sunday poll has Romney, Paul and Santorum polling within the poll’s margin of error of each other, and Talking Points Memo notes that of the three, Santorum is the one whose numbers are significantly on the upswing in recent Iowa polls; i.e., the dude’s got momentum. He could totally take it, Paul could totally place, and Romney could totally have to spin a third place finish.

Please note that my prior assessment of Santorum as a querulous bigot still stands, and that despite how much fun I’ve been having over on Twitter making Santorum jokes, I think it’s appalling that the man is now suddenly a viable candidate out there in Iowa. Seriously, conservative Iowans: Santorum? Why not take a Sharpie to a posterboard, write “We Don’t Want That Lousy Presidency Anyway” and just stay home tomorrow? Isn’t it snowing? Don’t you have a cozy fire?

Oh, fine. Do what you want, then. You kids have fun. And if you do put Santorum on top, well. You’ll have put a smile on my face. How fun would Santorum be in the general race? More fun than Gingrich. Think about that, why don’t you.

The desktop suffered a meltdown in December, which will require at least an entirely new C: drive and all the attendant frippery that goes with resurrecting a desktop computer, and I have decided that for now the best course of action is blow off entirely doing a thing about it until I complete the current project. As a side “benefit” this will cut down on the number of distractions I have since the Mac Air is not exactly a primo gaming machine. That decided, I cleared off the desk of the massively large monitor which usually resides there and shoved it and the desktop into the closet for the time being. Don’t worry, they’ll be back at some point. But for now, this is what the desk looks like. It features the bare essentials, including (of course) Coke Zero.

I’ll note that having a laptop, I don’t actually have to be chained to my desk, and indeed for most of the last month (i.e., since the meltdown), I’ve been wandering about the house, trying out different places to see how I like them. It’s been fun but I think there is something to be said about having a place that really is meant for work, such as, you know, one’s home office. Anyway, we’ll see how long it stays this clean. I give it a couple of weeks.

Which is to say it’s the first work day of the new year and I have work to do, so the “no talking to the rest of the world until I meet the daily writing quota” thing is in effect, starting as soon as I post this (you see what I did there). For those who are going to ask, and who don’t remember from the last time I did this, the daily writing quota is 2,000 words or until noon, whichever comes first. This will continue until the project I’m working on is completed.

So: Catch up with you all a bit later.