'Twas a dark and stormy night...

This was the view out my window tonight:
Edward George Bulwer-Lytton's famous opening line to Paul Clifford continues, of course:

It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents--except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness.

This line is famous for its terrible writing. It inspired the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, where authors compete to write the most terrible opening line possible. If you have not seen this contest before, follow that link right now. It's hilarious.

This post's theme word is precatory, "expressing a request," or "nonbinding: only expressing a wish or giving a suggestion." My last statement above was merely precatory, of course.