This is that time of the year when news stations everywhere start running those safety demonstrations about what can happen if you’re not careful with fireworks. You can probably expect to see clothing on mannequins set on fire in an effort to show how easily clothing can ignite; you might see replicas of human hands being blown to smithereens to remind everyone that fireworks are explosives.
It’s sort of fun to watch, but at the same time, you’ll likely shake your head and ask yourself, “Do we really need to …

I didn’t realize that they actually had their own name, but those skyscraper paperbacks that have begun appearing in book stores seem to. They’re referred to as “venti,” the same name given to a “supersized” selection at Starbucks.
I’m not a fan of these venti paperbacks. They’re about an inch taller than those traditional paperbacks we all know and love. And they cost about two bucks more. The cost by itself is enough to turn me off. I am still old-fashioned — or is it cheap …

I was supposed to post these yesterday as part of the latest Round Robin Photo Challenge, but a long, meeting-filled day at work was just enough to make me forget.
In any case, these were taken this past weekend, when I took my parents to Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens here in Richmond. My mom feels that her hair was a mess on that particular outing, and has made it clear that I am to show no one the photos that I snapped of them, so I’ll stick to three samples …

Found this over at Wil‘s “Daily Snooze:”
You Are a German Shepherd PuppyIntelligent, quick witted, and a bit aggressive.You’ve got the jaw power to take a bite out of anyone you choose.
What Breed of Puppy Are You?

Found this over at “Anna’s Crazy World:”

You Are 51% IndieYou’re pretty indie, but you don’t make a fuss letting everyone know.You just do what you like. You enjoy many types of things – from trendy to bizarre.How Indie Are You?
Enjoy!

Are abridgements a good introduction to long, boring classics, or a blight on literature? I don’t care for the concept of abridgements. The reason the work is a classic because it was well-written as is. People who want only a CliffsNotes version should save themselves the time and just go buy CliffsNotes. Sure, they’ll miss out on the whole, but isn’t that the main point of an abridgement?

If abridgements have their place, what is it? The dust jacket copy. Condense, condense and condense some more. …

This little story was contained in a marketing newsletter I subscribe to. The source of it is unknown. You may have seen it before, but for those who haven’t, I thought you might enjoy it:
Start with a cage containing five monkeys. Inside the cage, hang a banana on a string and place a set of stairs under it. Before long, a monkey will go to the stairs and start to climb towards the banana. As soon as he touches the stairs, all of the other monkeys are …

My folks are in town this weekend, and we’ve been having a nice visit. They arrived on Friday afternoon just in time for a torrential thunderstorm, one of those sudden downpours that makes you think the end of the world might actually have arrived.
In the aftermath of the storm, there were a few Robins hoping around, trying to fly around, and having mixed success. By their size, they were clearly just past the “hatchling” stage but not quite at adulthood. I found one bird huddled on the wet …

How much do you surf through the web’s top destinations? A site called Web100.com has ranked the 100 best websites in a variety of categories. We’ll use their rankings for this week’s edition of the Sunday Seven.

But first, Carly, of “Ellipsis…Suddenly Carly,” was first to play last week! Congratulations Carly!
On to your challenge — and you might not have seven answers this time around!
THIS WEEK’S QUESTION:
Beginning with the top 10 websites as listed by Web100.com, list the websites from that list that you visit most …

Canon is one of those terms that pops up a lot in discussions of fanfic. At the recent Ravencon, I heard it pop up several times in a discussion of the “Star Trek” universe that had nothing to do with fanfic.
Canon, basically, refers to the history or backstory that the “official” writers establish. It is a kind of continuity in ongoing stories. For an extremely simplified example, if you were to write a “Star Trek” story about a Vulcan’s mating cycle, there’s that episode, “Amok Time” from …

The most recent “Patrick’s Place” Poll asked you about your feelings on the controversial subject of gay marriage. Voters had three choices:
People willing to commit to each other should be allowed to marry like anyone else. Same-sex couples should be allowed rights of marriage, but it should be called something else. Same-sex couples should not be allowed any legal rights or recognition of their relationship.
I’m happy to report that 84% of those who voted feel that gay couples should at least have a legal option, whether it be called …

Note: The quiz listed in question #4 featured a link to an old quiz. The link has been corrected, so if you’d like to update your responses, the new quiz is present. Sorry for the confusion.
I saw a preview trailer for the movie “Click” with Adam Sandler. Though the movie itself probably isn’t one I’d see, it did inspire one of this week’s questions!
But first, Cat of “Sweet Memes” was first to play last week’s set of questions. Congratulations, Cat!
Here are this week’s “Saturday Six” …

One of my newest readers, Julia of “Aesthetic Vibrations,” recently left this comment:
If you don’t mind me asking, how do you get so many readers to visit your blog?

I don’t mind admitting that it’s a question that I’ve often asked myself! I try to be informative, or entertaining, or amusing, or interesting, or a combination of any of these. Sometimes I succeed; sometimes I fall on my face.
As much as I’d like to pretend that I don’t, I know better. Believe me.
One of the things I find amusing …