During the Bush years, as Justice Souter's place on the liberal side of the bench became ever more firmly anchored, the cry of "no more Souters" was often heard from Republican activists, dismayed at how the president's father's choice had turned out.
Many owners of these creatures swear that their offbeat choices have turned out to be nearly as satisfying as a dog or a cat.
So couples often create a family myth about why they made these choices, why it has turned out for the best, and why they are still equal in their hearts even if they are not sharing the kind of life they first envisioned.
One can only determine whether it was the right choice after the calendar has turned over a few more times.
Aside from raising large questions about his relationship with himself, these bizarre choices mean that Coetzee has turned his back on the entire autobiographical tradition, which has always grappled with the tension between the "then" of event and the "now" of recollection as a way of drawing out the complexity of individual experience over time.
I tasted everything submitted, some wines more than once, and concluded that, by staying away, Paumanok, which has turned out choice rieslings for years, had deprived itself of potential top honors.
Though she was by no means first choice for the role, Bullock has turned out to be absolutely inspired casting, injecting a quotidian human warmth to the role that, possibly, may have been lacking had Angelina Jolie, the original lead, not jumped ship.
She had pleaded with a doctor not to cut it off, but there had been no choice: It had turned gangrenous after being trapped beneath Mr. Wang in the collapse.
Amidst all the squabbling over parenting and career choices, we have turned a blind eye to the fact that the so-called "choice" to stay at home is most often made by those occupying extreme ends of the spectrum.
And Mr. Fiennes has made unusual choices that have turned out to have a strange resonance with recent events — the Arab Spring, the London riots, Occupy Wall Street — by placing the action in a contemporary, war-ravaged city populated by cellphone-toting youth rebelling against an authoritarian government.
