Among the 100 new words just added to the new edition of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary are two very geekish items: Mouse potato (n) - an intensive computer user.

Google (v) - to use the Google search engine to retrieve online information.

As I've yet to get my copy of M-W's new edition, these definitions aren't taken directly from its pages. I usually wait until the dictionary's new edition drops in price (around November) before I make my annual trip to Wal-Mart to purchase my copy. I then spend a long weekend sipping brandy at fireside and reading every page of my new treasure.

It is amazing how something like Google can so rapidly capture the concsiousness of society that it becomes an official word in the English language. It was just eight short years ago that Google, Inc. first started its three-person office, based in a Menlo Park, CA, garage.

While an arts organization can't expect to become a dictionary word, this is further proof that technology is the fastest and most powerful way to connect with people. After all, "mouse potato" wouldn't be a word if there weren't tons of them out there just waiting to hear about your art. ;)

Geeks rejoice... we have two new rungs on the ladder of legitimacy!