The Word Detective (language, education)

REVIEWED BY: Marguerite Zelle

MY RECOMMENDATION: YES

AMAZON SUBSCRIPTION LINK: The Word Detective , by Evan Morris

WEB ADDRESS: http://www.word-detective.com/category/sideblog/

BLOG DESCRIPTION: The Word Detective on the Web is the online version of The Word Detective, a newspaper column answering readers’ questions about words and language. The Word Detective is written by Evan Morris and appears in finer newspapers in the U.S., Mexico and Japan.

On the web since 1995, The Word Detective also offers a free searchable online archive of thousands of past columns.

The Word Detective is published monthly.

MY REVIEW: This website is excellent - you need to visit it directly to search for and "find a column on a particular word or phrase."

The blog is a "sideblog," updated only once or twice a week. If you're interested in the English language, you'll enjoy it.

Sample post:

The BP spill has poisoned our tongues … our poor, crisp, British tongues
Charlie Brooker in the Guardian:

Flippantly putting the grave environmental tragedy of it all to one side for a moment, the Deepwater Horizon oil leak isn’t just causing extensive damage to the Louisiana coastline. What about our accents? Our lovely British accents? Thanks to the BP link, they’ve been destroyed too. Don’t know about you, but whenever I’m around Americans, I tend to exaggerate my Britishness in a pathetic bid to win their approval. Those days are gone.

The first time I visited the US, I ran into trouble at immigration. Half the group I was travelling with decided to get drunk on the plane, which probably would’ve been fine with all the other passengers if it hadn’t been for the unrelenting cackling and yelping and removal of trousers. I was fairly drunk too, incidentally, but only because I was so terrified of flying I’d decided to blot out the whole of reality by glugging myself into an inflight coma. From my slumbering perspective the flight was a warm 15-minute snooze. To the other passengers it must’ve felt like a 30-year sentence in baboon prison.

Upon arrival, we were identified as troublemakers and hauled off one-by-one for a comprehensive bothering. Instantly I realised my only hope of avoiding instant deportation was to behave like a minor royal – not an aloof, chilly posho, but a genial gosh-what-a-wonderful-country-you-have Hugh Grant-type, one who smiles a lot while using slightly formal language. I apologised profusely by saying, “I apologise profusely.” The officer started out prickly – one of his opening gambits was, “You could be spending the night in jail, wiseguy”, which simultaneously impressed and scared me – but several minutes of profuse apologies and crikey-I’m-sorry delivered in an embellished British accent appeared to disarm him, and I was released without being subjected to gunfire.

RECENT POSTS:
--OUPblog » Blog Archive » The Gender-Neutral Pronoun: 150 Years Later, Still an Epic Fail
--If you mean "literal" literally, we should start lining up investors.
--xkcd: Period Speech
--Gene Weingarten column mentions Lady Gaga.
--The BP spill has poisoned our tongues … our poor, crisp, British tongues

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Check out the following blogs:
Seaborn: Oceanography Blog
Star Trek Report: Space Sciences
Volcano Seven: Treasure and Treasure Hunters
Rush Limbaugh Report

In Vera Cruz (local travel, Mexico)

REVIEWED BY: Marguerite Zelle

MY RECOMMENDATION: YES

AMAZON SUBSCRIPTION LINK: In Vera Cruz, by Leah Flinn

WEB ADDRESS: http://inveracruz.blogspot.com/

BLOG DESCRIPTION: See life through the lens of a young American woman in Veracruz, Mexico, where she and her Mexican husband have lived since January of 2009. Thoughts and stories about navigating through the Mexican culture and learning the Spanish language are insightful and thought-provoking. The author perceives the world around her with an ever-evolving consciousness of cultural comprehension and a spirit of adventure.

MY REVIEW: This is an enjoyable blog, and interesting as well. You learn a lot about other cultures - specifically Mexico and central America, by reading this. Author writes well and is interesting.

Recommended.

Sample post

No Seas Chismosa
My husband and I speak both English and Spanish - he possesses greater fluency in English than I in Spanish, but I believe I am closing the gap.

In our home it's typical for us to begin a sentence in one language and switch intermittently. This is normal conversation for us:

Me: Did you get a chance to hablar con el mecanico?
Husband: Sí, ya hablé con él.

Me: ¿Y cómo te fue?
Husand: Me dijo que hay un oyito in the fuel line and he'll fix it tomorrow pero tenemos que comprar la refacción tonight before it gets too late.

Me: ¿Y cuánto te cobrará?
Husband: He said it'll cost between 400-450 pesos and he'll have it ready en la tarde mañana. ¿Cómo vez?

Me: Sí, esta bien. Glad I didn't go with you or he might have given you la gringa price.
Husband: Así es.
*Both chuckle*

This is quintessential verbal exchange between me and my Mexican husband. Our own hybrid of Anglo-Latino linguistics. Another reflection of our bi-racial, bi-cultural lives, which we find exciting.

The problem is when others are within earshot of us. Mexicans, including all of Saul's family can only follow the Spanish half and my family, the English half.

While most of the family ignores us or finds it entertaining to try and understand, it drives my suegra (mother-in-law) crazy.

Self-described as chismosa (a gossip), she can only handle a couple of these hybrid phrases before an outburst of "Why don't you speak Spanish?! She understands and then we all can understand!", in Spanish of course.

My husband finds this hilarious and never passes up the opportunity to fire back a tongue-in-cheek, "No seas tan chismosa!", (Don't be so nosy!) which makes everyone laugh.

It's not only my mother-in-law that seems perturbed. We've received plenty of stares in public while speaking this way.

All people are curious, but most Mexicans here are particularly poor at hiding their nosiness. They can burn a hole in your head with that fixated stare of intrusion.

I'm used to this, but sometimes I imagine it humorous if my husband would sic a "No seas chismosa!" on them.

RECENT POSTS:
--mexican coke la coca mexicana
--lizard walk
--new month new rule
--no seas chismosa
--noisy children repellent
--hot dog new ham
--come little closer
--three strikes for mexican business
--my bags are packed im ready-to-go
--nothing to cry about

_______________________
Check out the following blogs:
Seaborn: Oceanography Blog
Star Trek Report: Space Sciences
Volcano Seven: Treasure and Treasure Hunters
Rush Limbaugh Report

Aboard Madrigal (lifestyle & culture, liveaboard boat)

REVIEWED BY: Marguerite Zelle

MY RECOMMENDATION: YES, with reservations

AMAZON SUBSCRIPTION LINK: Aboard Madrigal, by Jenny Halteman

WEB ADDRESS: http://aboardmadrigal.blogspot.com/

BLOG DESCRIPTION: Justin and Jenny live aboard a 35' Ericson sailboat in Boston Harbor with their dog Willie and cat Gollum. Follow their adventures and dreams and learn more about living aboard as they blog about their life.

MY REVIEW: Why live in a house when you culd live on a sailboat? Although why you'd live on a boat in Boston Harbor when you could be sailing the world... at least, those areas of it which are still safe, shrinking though they may be..

Anyway, this is an interesting blog, with a single problem, the authors don't post in it enough. A married couple, the wife is just now pregnant...how she is going to handle living on water and dealing with morning sickness I do not know.

It's an insight into a different way of life, check it out.

RECENT POSTS:
--Hurricane Earl
--Guppy
--Week 8
--Cruising World

_______________________
Check out the following blogs:
Seaborn: Oceanography Blog
Star Trek Report: Space Sciences
Volcano Seven: Treasure and Treasure Hunters
Rush Limbaugh Report

Freebies Are Fun (saving money)

REVIEWED BY: Marguerite Zelle

MY RECOMMENDATION: YES

AMAZON SUBSCRIPTION LINK: N/A

WEB ADDRESS: www.freebiesarefun.com

BLOG DESCRIPTION:

“Why buy it when you can get it for free”? We have heard that many times and in this economy we all looking for a little something extra. Companies want to give you a free sample, free trial, and sometimes full size product so you will try what they have to offer and hopefully buy it or at least tell your friends (word of mouth marketing). When we say free we mean free. If we post free samples, free trials, or anything else that is free you can be sure it will be 100% free for you, no strings attached.

Sometimes we find great offers that do require a purchase or they are free when you pay for shipping. We like to pass these along to our readers as well. These offers will always indicate if a purchase if required so you will know they are not 100% free.

We don’t actually send you the freebies and samples you see listed on our site. We scour the web to find free stuff for you and put them all in one place on Freebies Are Fun so you don’t have to do the work of finding them.

We post freebies for the United States and Canada.

MY REVIEW: This blog would be unsuitable for the Kindle - so it's perfectly alrght that it's not there!

In essence its a coupon site. You check it out daily to see if they have any offerings that interest you. The blog authors state:

All of the freebies you see listed on this are legit offers but you should always read the information carefully on the site we are referring you to if you are unsure of giving out your information. You should always be careful when giving out your personal information online. You may want to consider signing up for a separate email just for requesting freebies or entering sweepstakes you find on the Web. We are not responsible for what is posted on the sites we list, only what is listed on our site. We CANNOT be held responsible for contents on those sites because we are not connected to them in anyway. We try to give accurate information and if there is something posted incorrectly we will gladly change it. Just contact through the form below.

Souds like a great idea to me, especially in these tough economic times. So check it out!

RECENT POSTS:
Free Beach Towel offer from Arbor Mist + Coupon
Arbor Mist is running a promotion on thier Facebook page. The first 500 people that upload a picture of one (1) photograph of a White Pear Pinot Grigio bottle from a retailer before 10/31/2010 will receive a 30X60 beach towel....


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New! Free Pampers Dry Max Diaper Samples
Sam’s Club is offering a free Pampers Dry Max diaper sample and you don’t need a membership number to get it. Fill out this form to receive a free Pampers® Dry Max sample. Limit one sample per household. You must...


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Free Sample of Aveda Men’s Dual Action Aftershave
Go to www.avedathanksman.com and wait for the page to load. Then click Skip Intro at the top left and you will see the buttons at the bottom to request the sample. Read More →


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Free 2011 Calendar from WomensHealth.gov
Go to www.womenshealth.gov/pub/calendar to request your free 2011 calendar in either English or Spanish. They plan on shipping the calendars in December. 1 Per person Read More →


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Free Ziploc “Fall Meals” Gift pack to the first 10,000
You must be a member of Right@Home but it is free and easy to signup and you must not have received a Right@Home> gift pack in the last 6 months. The gift pack includes: Ziploc Vacuum Freezer Starter Kit, Ziploc Freezer...


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New $3.00 Huggies Coupon
Coupons.com just came out with a high value $3.00 Huggies Coupon. Go here to print it. If you don’t see it type the zip code, 06339, in the box when it asks you for local deals. Read More →


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Check out the following blogs:
Seaborn: Oceanography Blog
Star Trek Report: Space Sciences
Volcano Seven: Treasure and Treasure Hunters
Rush Limbaugh Report

Moving at the Speed of Creativity (education)

REVIEWED BY: Marguerite Zelle

MY RECOMMENDATION: YES, with reservations

AMAZON SUBSCRIPTION LINK: Moving at the Speed of Creativity, by Wesley Fryer

WEB ADDRESS: http://www.speedofcreativity.org/

BLOG DESCRIPTION: Moving at the Speed of Creativity blog posts and podcasts focus on blended learning, digital literacy, technology integration, web 2.0 tools, authentic assessment, school transformation, digital storytelling, and educational leadership issues.

MY REVIEW: I'm giving this blog a recommendation of "Yes, with reservations" because, although it is an excellent blog, most entries have videos or podcasts that of course cannot be viewed or heard on the Kindle, so you need to go to the website to listen to them.

However, for getting an idea of what's going on in education, I think this is an extremely valuable blog.

Here's a bio of the author from his website:

Wesley Fryer is a digital learning consultant, author, digital storyteller, educator and change agent. With respect to school change, he describes himself as a "catalyst for creative engagement and collaborative learning." Wesley serves as a co-convener for the annual K-12 Online Conference and is the executive director of the nonprofit Story Chasers Inc., the lead partner in the statewide Celebrate Oklahoma Voices digital storytelling project. His blog, "Moving at the Speed of Creativity" (www.speedofcreativity.org) was selected as the 2006 "Best Learning Theory Blog" by eSchoolnews and Discovery Education, and is utilized regularly by thousands of educators worldwide. Wesley secured $1.3 million in grant funding for West Texas schools participating in the Texas Technology Immersion Pilot Project in 2004-2008. He was named an Apple Distinguished Educator in 2005. He was an elementary classroom teacher for six years in Texas public schools before serving as a college director of distance learning for five years. He worked for AT&T from 2006 - 2008 as the Director of Education Advocacy, and the Director of Technology and Education Outreach for the Oklahoma Heritage Association from July 2008 - January 2009. Wesley is completing his doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction at Texas Tech University.

Sample post:
YouTube and iTunes fame paying off for Alabama family
The news article, "Internet Meme Turns Headline into iTunes Hit" shares the inspiring story of crime victims turned empowered entrepreneurs in Alabama. Antoine Dodson's angry rant to reporters following the attempted rape of a family member in his home went viral on YouTube, and he recorded a song about the incident which is now being purchased by thousands on iTunes. He hopes their family will move out of "the projects" soon with the extra funds. An inspiring tale well worth reading and sharing.
All of us are a YouTube post away from national media attention. Are your students equipped to make ethical choices with the power at their fingertips in our "publish at will" era? Remember to make discussions about digital citizenship a regular part of your curriculum this year. This would be a good story to share and discuss together.
[I dont' share the video]

RECENT POSTS:
--Best games for kids on the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch
--Cell Phone Computers or Mobile Learning Devices (MLDs)
--Free eBook: Henry Jenkins on Participatory Culture and Media Education
--Laptop Learning in Massachusetts: BYOL on the horizon?
--Why publish school updates on Facebook?
--Easily Sync Google Calendars to your iPhone

_______________________
Check out the following blogs:
Seaborn: Oceanography Blog
Star Trek Report: Space Sciences
Volcano Seven: Treasure and Treasure Hunters
Rush Limbaugh Report