The Blogs in my head

Do you find yourself writing blogs in your head? I do. If I actually wrote our every blog I think up this blog would be overflowing--or at least daily.

Usually these blogs write themselves in my head while I am busy doing something. I make a mental note to "get this on my blog." But sometimes I don't get to my blog until hours or days later. By that time I have either forgotten what I wrote or the idea doesn't seem as relevant as it did when my mind crafted it. Occaisionally, the topic will show up on here but more often it doesn't.

Is this something that happens to others who keep a blog? Do you write blogs in your head?

Supreme Court Nominee Sonia

I had a bit of a bias against Sonia Sotomayor when President Obama nominated this Hispanic woman to the Supreme Court and asked that the confirmation hearings be rushed to let her join the court before the next Session in October.

I felt that Obama merely nominated her because she was both a woman and a minority. If confirmed Judge Sotomayor will be only the third female Supreme Court Justice ( the first two being Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsberg) and the first Hispanic.

Some controversy surrounding Judge Sotomayor some of her rulings and her speech that implies that she is biased towards people of color and towards women. Senate confirmation committee hearings have been taking place this week and Judge Sotomayer has been on the hotseat in front of a bipartisan panel of Senators.

I have been watching the hearings and although I don't know if my feelings have changed towards her nomination, but I do know that I have a respect for her. Sonia Sotomayor is intelligent, cool under pressure, and classy. If I am to take her for her words, I feel she would make an excellent Justice. The question is whether her words match her true nature.

New Words

A book my students like to read is Frindle by Andrew Clements. In short, it is the story about an upper elementary boy trying to create a new word after he finds out that the English language is dynamic. It is a great book--a favorite of not only my students, but of mine too.

I am reminded of Frindle this week after seeing that Merriam-Webster has released a sampling of the new words they are adding to the 2009 Update of the 11th edition of their dictionary. Just like the character in Frindle discovered, when people start using words and they become a part of the vernacular-they may just become "official" and be placed in the dictionary.

Here are some of the new words and their definition.

• staycation - staying home or close to it for vacation
• carbon footprint - the negative impact someone has on the environment
• frenemy- one who pretends to be a friend, but is actually an enemy
• locavore- one who eats foods produced locally whenever possible
• webisode- an episode that may or may not have been telecast but can be seen on the web
• zip line - a cable that is suspended above an incline, with a pulley and harness attached for a rider
• cardioprotective- serving to protect the heart

Now you can use these words formally and not be worried!