Using a possessive without an object

You can use a possessive without an object if you know what the object is.

You: Whose jacket is this?
Your friend: It's Bob's.

You can also use a possessive pronoun without an object if you know who you're talking about.

You: Whose guacamole do you prefer, mine or Jessica's?
Your husband: Of course, I prefer yours.

Finally, when you're talking about a person's home, you don't have to use the object if you're using the person's name or title.

You: What are you doing tonight?
Mary: I'm going over to Bob's.

So when you read or hear things like "I always spent summer at my grandma's" or "the party will be at Mary's," you know that these possessives refer to homes.

Fickle

My word for today is fickle. Fickle is the opposite of loyal. It's an adjective we can use to describe a person, an animal, an organization or group, and behavior in general. Fickle is fairly negative, because we usually prefer our colleagues, cats, and customers to be loyal. Here are a few examples:

Your friend: "Nice cat!"
You: "Yeah, she's nice, but she's really fickle. I think she would go home with anyone who offered her something to eat."

Marketing manager: "Our data shows that people between the ages of 19 and 25 are fickle when it comes to mobile phones: they care more about the phone's functionality than about being loyal to any particular brand."

So... Are you more loyal or more fickle?

The wisdom of The Wizard of Oz

A brain, a heart, and courage... What else will you need? Maybe someone who recognizes these things in you, or reminds you that you already have them. Someone who remembers (or will remember) and remarks on the moments when you showed great heart, or intelligence, or bravery. Do you have this person? Are you this person for someone else?                                       

This post is dedicated to Jaume Gurt!

Beginners

Some of you know that I recently went to Georgia to visit my parents. I look forward to this trip all year long, and it's always a high point of the year.
What makes it so meaningful is the effort that my parents make for my visit. They do everything they can to show their affection, and to make the time as lovely as possible; given that we spend the other 350 days of the year far apart, I think this effort is very beautiful.
On the flight over to Atlanta, I watched only one film, Beginners.
It had been recommended to me, and if you haven't seen it yet, I think it's really worth your time. Everything about this film was appealing to me, and if you've seen it, or when you see it, I would love to hear your thoughts about it.
Leaving my parents at the end of our visit is always really tough, and it gets tougher every year. So it has meant a lot to me to have received such a warm welcome back to Barcelona, and to be reminded again of why I'm here...

Getting up there

We use the getting up there to comment on a person's age. It means "you're getting old" but in a nice way, or an ironic way, if we're talking to the person directly. If we're talking about someone's age without him or her present, then it could be ironic, or just a comment on how old they are. I think the concept of up in this phrasal verb is referring to the high number of the person's age. Here are a few example in different contexts:

You: How old are you now?
Your nephew: Ffff.... Four.
You: Wow! You're really getting up there!!!

Bob: It's Sue's birthday tomorrow.
Matt: Really? How old will she be?
Bob: I don't know, but I think she's getting up there...
Matt: What are you talking about? She can't be over 35!

"Now that my grandpa is getting up there, he's going to move in with my uncle. I don't know how they'll get along, but it seems like the best solution."