It’s that time of year again to vote for the Merriam-Webster 2007 Word of the Year. They’ve chosen words from popular searches, and submissions on their web site, and came up with this list of 20 words. You’ve got until Friday, December 7, 2007 to vote, so look over the words and make your decision.

Make sure to tell me which one you picked, and why you chose that particular word.

1. apathetic - having or showing little or no feeling or emotion.
2. babymoon - a short vacation for a couple before the birth of their child.
3. blamestorm - sitting around in a group, discussing why a deadline was missed or a project failed, and who was responsible.
4. charlatan - one making usually showy pretenses to knowledge or ability.
5. conundrum - a riddle whose answer is or involves a pun.
6. cruft - an element in computer coding typified by lack of style, quality, or relevancy.
7. eleemosynary - of, relating to, or supported by charity.
8. facebook - to get on a facebook website.
9. hypocrite - a person who puts on a false appearance of virtue or religion.
10. linkability - the attractiveness of a Web site’s overall quality of content as a measure of potential Internet links made.
11. melancholy - an abnormal state attributed to an excess of black bile and characterized by irascibility or depression.
12. Pecksniffian - unctuously hypocritical.
13. pretentious - making usually unjustified or excessive claims (as of value or standing).
14. pugnacious - having a quarrelsome or combative nature.
15. quixotic - having a quarrelsome or combative nature.
16. sardoodledom - mechanically contrived plot structure and stereotyped or unrealistic characterization in drama.
17. sputum - expectorated matter especially from the air passages in diseases of the lungs, bronchi, or upper respiratory tract.
18. subpoena - a writ commanding a person designated in it to appear in court under a penalty for failure.
19. vanity sizing - A term used to explain arcane practices attributable to sizing evolution or inflation.
20. w00t - an interjection expressing joy (it could be after a triumph, or for no reason at all); similar in use to the word “yay.”

It took me awhile to decide, and then I went with the word linkability. “I would like to think that my blog has linkability.”

EDIT - (December 12, 2007) w00t made the Merriam-Webster 2007 Word of the Year!

Merriam-Webster, 2007 Word of the Year, linkability

There is a very large Big Bear California fire burning right now that has burnt over 18,000 acres so far.

Our weather here in Las Vegas had called for sunny clear skies yesterday, but the smoke from the fires drifted here, and turned our sky into a beautiful picturesque scene last night. We went up on the mountain and took some pictures.

Here is a picture of the radar showing no clouds.

But this is what it really looks like in our skies. Yes, that is the sun behind the smoke.

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I don’t know where you guys go to read about your favorite train wrecks, errr, I mean celebrities, but I’ve got Perez Hilton in my feed reader, and it’s basically the first blog I read every morning.

He’s dirty and rotten and I love him. I want to marry him. Michael has a better shot at him than I do though, and if he wants to swing on the rainbow side of life, he’s got my permission to bang Perez. I just want to work for him. Look at me pimping out my husband so I can get a job. HAHA! Gimme a job Perez!

So tonight is his big television debut and I can hardly wait!!! This one is going on the DVR recording list for sure! Catch What Perez Sez on VH1, tonight at 9:00PM. Don’t miss it. I’m sure it will be the most shiteous show ever, and I mean that in the best possible way.

Perez Hilton, What Perez Sez, VH1, celebrity gossip, pop culture

Our dependency on Middle East oil is something that I think everyone in the US can agree with. We shouldn’t rely on it. Period. The country is in shambles, they send people over to kill us, and quite frankly they don’t have enough oil to go around. Especially since China and India rely on this same source. It’s time to move away from this dependency and rely on other sources.

Take Canada for instance. BP oil refinery in Whiting, Indiana is going to be getting oil from Canada in the near future. As I applaud their efforts in using other sources than the Middle East, this doesn’t come without an environmental impact.

In order to get this oil from Canada, Indiana regulators have allowed BP to release 54 percent more ammonia and 35 percent more sludge into Lake Michigan each day. BP fires back saying that only treated water is going to be released into Lake Michigan. This treated water is 99 percent water, not sludge and ammonia. It’s also a fact that BP’s new regulations, are less than half of what the federal environmental guidelines currently are.

This $150 million dollar project expansion is also going to increase jobs at the BP Whiting plant, as they plan to hire 2,000 contract workers, and 80 more full-time BP employees.

Sources

BP gets break on dumping in lake

BP Whiting Fact Sheet

It’s really a give and take. As environmentally conscience that I am, I’m going to have to take BP’s side on this one, believe that the federal environmental agency is doing what they should do, the impact on Lake Michigan is being exploited by the media, and Canada will soon become our oil supply.

BP Whiting, Lake Michigan, environment

Awwww, I just heard that Lady Bird Johnson has died. She was the wife of Lyndon B. Johnson, the president when I was born. Boy, that certainly dated me didn’t it? LOL!

She was a really neat lady. She headed up the Highway Beautification Act, and was a strong advocate for the Head Start Program.

Here’s the story:

Lady Bird Johnson dead at 94.

Lady Bird Johnson