Let's Hear it For Over-Achievers

This story is so full of wonderful visual images: an eagle with aspirations that exceed his talons' strength and wing lifting capacity. Sadly he didn't live to tell his grand-eagles about the day he scored a major trophy, but I love that he tried.

And enjoy another tale with a better ending, so far. Shot, refrigerated, and revived during surgery...that's one tough duck.

Here's to all the over-achievers, whether winged or finned or furred or human. You've got to love 'em.

She's Got Grammar and It's a Hit

This does my heart good – to learn that a grammar geek has a highly rated podcast! With the English language under assault from sloppy emails and text message abbreviations, the thought that someone could have a hit with grammar is delightful. A few years ago it was the book "Eats, Shoots, and Leaves" that grabbed attention. Now it is Mignon Fogarty and her "Grammar Girl's Quick & Dirty Tips for Better Writing."

As CNN reports, "The show is currently the 47th most popular podcast on Apple's iTunes service, right behind 'Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day.'" Fogarty says the shows have been downloaded more than 1.3 million times, and have ranked as high as number two on iTunes.

My writer and editor friends are all grinning with me, I'm sure.

Surprise = Laughter

Don't you love it when something small and surprising makes you laugh out loud? That's happened twice for me in the past couple of days. Uncontrived humor gets me every time.

First, I was scanning the Inman News bulletin. Twice a day the latest real estate news appears in my inbox. Endless articles about the housing market in different areas of the country share space with advice on problems and advice on everything from dealing with appraisers to insect infestations (yuck). There's a blog, of course, and I usually scroll quickly through the most recent posts. Here's what - or who - stopped me this time: Lt. Worf. Seems a Silicon Valley real estate brokerage is doing everything they can to accommodate their clients whatever their origin. Besting every other broker around, they employ agents who speak a world of languages - including Klingon. K'plah!

And then there was the koala baby. The Tokyo Zoo introduced its baby koalas to the public on December 20. The babies are clingy and adorable, of course. But watch the brief Reuters video and you'll see a furry headlock that had me hooting. Fuzzy and funny - an unbeatable combination.

So what made you laugh today?