Must be a slow news day.

A screen cap from Col. Chris Hadfield's Facebook feed.

Sometimes, you just have to wonder what goes through the news editor's head when they're assigning stories.

How to Show You're Really Listening

I love the lacy foliage of our Japanese maple. It has nothing to do with the content of this post.

Today, I'm going to share a communication skill that, I believe, could be one of the secrets to happy relationships.

Endangered-Grammar List: My Top Four

Grammar Ninja isn't back. She never really left. 

The other day, one of my favourite Facebook pages posted the following:

What caught my attention was the question they asked: Is the apostrophe endangered?

Oh, Interwebs!

Narcoleptic kitty tries to reach the box and fails. (Pleated Jeans)

Welcome to my periodic round-up of things I've found online that make me smile, cry, laugh, think, shout, or drop my jaw. 

California: Flora

The appropriately named "powderpuff" flower.

Canadian winters are long and, in our region of Ontario, completely kill any and all flowers. By March, my eyes are hungry for those splashes of colour and vibrant life. On our trip to California, I was treated to a banquet of glorious flowers.

California: Fauna

A whimbrel, a shore bird found on the beaches in Southern California.

I'm kind of funny about wild animals: I get excited about them, so long as they aren't close enough to touch me. I like to think they appreciate that.

California: Beachy

Sign at the Crystal Cove historic district

For me, water has a magnetic pull: my eyes are drawn to it, I want to touch it. I am fascinated by its mercurial nature: one minute calm, another roiling with destructive power. I love how it catches the light and doubles the magic.

California

Sunset at Crystal Cove Beach, October 7, 2011

Once upon a time, I snapped up a "free" weekend at a resort in exchange for a 90-minute sales pitch that I had every intention of resisting.

Stop laughing.

So Many Questions

Cholla (pronounced "choya") cactus flower, taken in at Crystal Cove State Park, California

That picture is just a sneak peek of what I've brought back from our week in California. It was beautiful there, as always, but I have scads of pictures to go through, and I want to present them in a way that makes sense thematically. So it'll be a while before you see those.

In the meantime, my fan club* has lamented that I haven't posted in a while, so here's a little something to tide you over.