From the Telegraph (London, England) birth announcements, from 28-June to 11-July.
Agatha Olive. Parents: Lucy and Justin. Agatha (which means "good" in Greek) and Olive are severe-sounding choices, even for Telegraph parents. I can understand the appeal of both names, but I wouldn't use them together.
Alba, sister to Emilio and Felix. Parents: Mariana and Paul. Alba is an interesting name. It means "dawn" in both Italian and Spanish and is also used occasionally as a name in those languages (much like Dawn or Aurora are used as names in English). It also means "white" in Latin (the word albino shares the same root-- albus), and it is the Scottish Gaelic name for the country of Scotland. At least once source gives it as possibly deriving from the Germanic alb, meaning "elf" or "spiritual being," as opposed to albus. I love finding names with so many different meanings and connections to different cultures. As a side note, the mother's maiden name, listed in the announcement, is Covarrubias Wonchee. That is awesomeness.
Annick Elizabeth. Parents: Corinna and Julian. Annick is a Breton nickname for Anna. Breton refers to the people and the language of Brittany, a region in Northwest France.
Aurelia Maisie Sarah, sister to Finlay. Parents: Sarah and David. Maisie originated in Scotland as a nickname for Mairead, the Scottish and Irish form of Margaret. Mairead is said mah-RADE or my-RADE. It's possible that Daisy became a nickname for Margaret, at least in part, by rhyming from this name. Josephine --> Josie --> Posie is another example of this type of rhyme.
Beatrice Daisy. Parents: Rosie and Damien
Betty Frances Beverley. Parents: Wendy and Richard. This combination fascinates me. You have a very traditional nickname for Elizabeth, the classic girl's name Frances, and what was originally a surname (meaning "beaver stream" of all things) that didn't become widely used on girls until the early 1900s. (I'm wondering if Beverley is a family surname in this case.) All three are considered very "old-lady" in America, with Frances emerging as a hipster chic throwback.
Cleo Rose. Parents: Sara and Rick
Elizabeth Miriam Catherine, sister to Seamus. Parents: Katherine and Joseph. Seamus is the Irish form of James. It's pronounced SHAY-mus, and is occasionally anglicized to the spelling Shamus or Sheamus in America, much like Sean has turned into Shawn or Shaun.
Emilia Myfanwy. Parents: Frances and Alistair. Myfanwy is a Welsh name meaning either "my woman" (from the prefix my meaning, well, "my," and banw meaning "woman") or "my dearest (from my again, and annwyl, meaning beloved). It's the name of a folk heroine in a Welsh story dating from the 1400s, and a poem and popular ballad from the 1800s. The ballad is still performed in Wales and England. Myfanwy is pronounced mi-VAN-wee.
Emma Jane Helen, sister to Ben. Parents: Sarah and Stephen
Eve Elizabeth Rose. Parents: Louise and Christian
Flora Mae, sister to Dylan. Parents: Tanya and Tom
Frances Elizabeth. Parents: Natalie and William
Francesca, sister to Ivor. Parents: Julia and Daniel. Ivor is a Scandinavian name originally spelled Ivarr, composed of the elements yr (yew, bow) and herr (army, warrior). It's fairly well-used in Britain, popularized by the entertainer Ivor Novello, who was extremely popular in the first half of the 20th century. Both EE-vor and IE-vor are given as pronunciations, though IE-vor appears to be the more common.
Francesca Patricia. Parents: Erica and Scot
Georgia Lauren, sister to James. Parents: Christanne and Ian
Georgina Maria Clare. Parents: Clare and Graham. Interesting, Clare, with this spelling, was the original English form of this name. Claire, which is much more common in America today, was the French version. Both names derived from Clara, which in turn derived from Clarus, meaning "clear, bright, famous."
Grace Emily Morgan, sister to James. Parents: Zoe and Charles. (Morgan is the mother's maiden name.)
Henrietta Alice Clementine, sister to Freddie. Parents: Charlotte and Oliver. I have a total crush on this combo.
Imogen Lucy, sister to James. Parents: Deborah and Simon. Imogen is one of those name mistakes that stuck around and became more popular than the name it was mistaken for. In Shakespeare's play Cymbeline, he featured a character named Innogen (that's with two n's, not one m). Innogen derived from the Gaelic word inghean, meaning girl or maiden. At some point, Innogen was misread as I-m-ogen, and that form has stuck around. It's pronounced im-o-jen, and has been elaborated (and Southernized, I'd say) into the name Imogene, which is said im-o-jean.
Isabella Christina. Parents: Rachel and William
Isabella Juliet. Parents: Anne-Louise and Stuart
Isabella Rose. Parents: Lisa and Tom
Isobel Mathilde, sister to Eleanor and Emily. Parents: Vanessa and John. Isobel is a variant of Isabel that seems to have originated in Scotland. Mathilde is the French form of Mathilda/Matilda, and is pronounced ma-TEELD, with a very soft d.
Isobel Rose, sister to Ella. Parents: Victoria and Digby. Isobel and Ella are completely ridiculous on sisters. The father's name, Digby, is a place name turned surname meaning "ditch settlement." Lovely, isn't it?
Juliana Rose. Parents: Melanie and Andrew
Katie Maria, sister to Shannon and Bethany. Parents: Joanna and John. I'm wondering if Shannon is a boy or a girl. I'm assuming a girl, since it seems to be far more popular for girls in both England and Ireland.
Laetitia Mary. Parents: Elizabeth and Hugo. Laetitia is a Late Latin name meaning "joy, happiness." It evolved into the English forms Letitia, Leticia, and Lettice, and has now been mutilated into Latisha, Lateesha, and the like.
Lily Mary. Parents: Nicola and Charles
Lola Ellen Beatrice, sister to Daisy. Parents: Sophie and Edd. Lola was originally a Spanish pet form of Dolores, used mostly on children with this name. It has a fairly long history as a given name (probably since the mid-1800s). The pet form of this name, Lolita, has obviously been overshadowed by Nabokov's novel and is best avoided.
Maisy Deanna. Parents: Claire and Will. Deanna is one of those interesting names that everyone has heard, but no one really considers. It's probably either a variant of Diana or an attempt to feminize Dean. It first appeared in the Social Security Administration's Top 1000 list in 1936, at number 769. It skyrocketed the following year to 138, on the heels of the success of singer-actress Deanna Durbin, whose given name was Edna Mae Durbin. It's said she picked Deanna by rearranging the letters in Edna.
Matilda Rose, sister to Benjamin Arthur. Parents: Sarah and Gary. I flat-out adore the name Matilda. I'm glad it hasn't gotten uber trendy since Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams used it.
Mollie Carolynn Sarah, sister to Matilda. Parents: Georgina and Henry. Molly originated as a nickname for Mary from the now-obscure nickname Mally. Sara --> Sally and Henry --> Harry --> Hal(ly) are similar transitions.
Persephone Elizabeth, sister to Hermione, Ella, and Henry. Parents: Pollie and Paddy. This is what I mean when I say Telegraph readers love their esoteric names. Persephone, obviously, originates from Greek mythology. It's pronounced per-SEF-e-nee. It may be related to the Greek words pertho (to destroy) and phone (murder). (Another great meaning.) Hermione, made famous by JK Rowling's Harry Potter series, has similar origins. It's a variant of the Greek male name Hermes, and appeared in Greek mythology on a daughter of Helen of Troy and Menelaus.
Purdy. Parents: Lucy and David. I assume this is a variant of the surname Purdie, which is a contraction of the Norman French expression "pur die," meaning "by god."
Alexander Rupert Anthony, brother to Oliver. Parents: Antonia and Andrew
Alexis Roshan Michel Singh. Parents: Gael and Jaspal. This is a great example of name cultures mixing. On one hand you have Alexis, Michel, and Gael. Alexis, today a girl's name in the United States, has a long and distinguished history as a male name, and is still commonly used on boys in France and Belgium. Michel is the French version of Michael, pronounced mee-SHELL. Gael, the mother's name, is a French and Breton (from Brittany, remember?) name. Then you have Roshan, Singh, and the father's name, Jaspal. Jaspal appears to be a pretty common Indian name, though I'm not sure of it's origins. Roshan is a Persian name meaning "bright, shining," also used widely in India. Singh, which means "lion" in Sanskrit, is given as a middle or last names to most male members of the Sikh faith. So I'm guessing we have a French mother and an Indian Sikh father.
Andrew Alexander. Parents: Vicki and Chris. Alexander is the mother's maiden name.
Archie James, brother to Ralph. Parents: Susannah and Richard. Archie is, sadly, very popular in England. It was the 35th most popular boy's name in 2007. Re: Ralph, I wonder if they're using the more-common-in-American pronunciation, ralf, or the medieval English pronunciation, "rafe."
Arthur. Parents: Jodie and Roy
Barnabas James. Parents: Gwyneth and Simon
Barnaby Rollo Horatio, brother to Jasper and Felix. Parents: Emma and Luke. Very interesting combo. To simplify a very complicated etymology, just think of Rollo was a distant cousin of the German name Rolf, which is a contracted form of the name known today as Rudolf. Rollo was the name of the first Duke of Normandy in the 10th century. It's pronounced RAHL-oh.
Benedict Simon Jackson, brother to Connie. Parents: Lucy and Bennett. Bennett, the father's name, is the medieval vernacular form of Benedict, which is from the Latin Benedictus, meaning "blessed."
Benjamin James Howard. Parents: Catherine and David
Benjamin William, brother to Isabella, Lily, and Max. Parents: Lavinia and Charlie
Charles Edward Hutchins, brother to Emily. Parents: Nicky and Tom
Daniel Ethan, brother to Louis and Olivia. Parents: Claire and Steve
Edward. Parents: Helen and Ben
Edward Alban, brother to Anna Rebecca. Parents: Kate and David. Alban again! See Alba for more discussion of its roots.
Frederick Louis Henry, brotehr to Ranulph. Parents: Louisa and Thorold. Ranulph, or Ranulf, is an Old Norse name from the elements regin (advice, decision) and ulfe (wolf). Like Ivor, it was introduced to the British Isles by Scandinavian settlers in the Middle Ages. The father's name, Thorold, appears to be both a city in Ontario, Canada, and a prominent surname among the British nobility. I imagine it's use here originates from a family surname.
George, brother to Poppy. Parents: Katie and Dan
George Arthur. Parents: Sarah and Ross
Harry William, brother to Grace. Parents: Gayle and Ian
Henry Griffith, brother to Charlie and Phoebe. Parents: Caroline and Chris
Henry Horatio Arthur, brother to Hubert and Siegfred. Parents: Alice and James. Wow, what to say. Henry and Arthur are standard Telegraph fare, and Horatio, which comes from the Roman family name Horatius, is surprisingly common. Henry's brothers' names are a different kettle. Hubert is an Old French name of Germanic origins, from the elements hug (heart, mind, body-- Hugh and Hugo come from this root as well) and berht (bright, famous). Siegfred, more commonly seen as Siegfried, also has Germanic roots: sige (victory) and frid (peace). Both unusual choices, even for the Telegraph.
Henry Robin Horsman, brother to Edward and William. Parents: Jocelyn and Joseph
Jack Angus, brother to Callum Arthur. Parents: Emma and John. Angus is an Anglicized form of the Scottish name Aonghas or Aonghus, from roots meaning "one" and "choice" or "force, strength, energy." It's the name of an ancient Celtic god and is pronounced EEN-yis. Callum, pronounced just the way it's spelled (KAL-um), is a variant of Calum, which is the Scottish form of Columba, meaning "dove."
Jack Patrick Cole, brother to Oliver and Rose. Parents: Chloe and Jeremy
Jacobi William Charles. Parents: Antoinette and Julian. Jacobi appears to be a surname of Germanic origin, most widely seen on the British actor Derek Jacobi.
Jolyon Jean, brother to Thomas. Parents: Keri and Jean-Paul. Jolyon is the medieval form of Julian, and is pronounced JOE-lee-un.
Harold Antony, brother to Rhys, Bethan, and Oliver. Parents: Charmaine and Paul. Bethan is a Welsh diminutive of Elizabeth.
Harry James Christy. Parents: Clare and Charlie. I assume Christy is used here in reference to the surname, but it's not an uncommon nickname for males named Christopher in Scotland and Ireland. Famous bearers include the Irish singer Christy Moore and the Irish author and painter Christy Brown (portrayed by Daniel Day-Lewis in the film My Left Foot).
Harry Jaques. Parents: Lauren and James. Jaques appears to be a surname that almost certainly originated from the French name Jacques.
Jasper. Parents: Vanessa and James
Kit James. Parents: Alexandra and Jonjo. Kit is a diminutive for both Christopher and Katherine. I have no clue what Jonjo is. Google brings up a few Irish and English men with this name, but I can find no clues as to its legitimacy. I assume it's a contracted form of John Joseph or Jonathan Joseph.
Lachlan Alexander Todd. Parents: Melissa and Alistair. Todd is the mother's maiden name. Lachlan is a very popular boy's name in Scotland, originally used to refer to an immigrant from Norway-- the "land of the lochs (lakes or sea inlets)" or "Lochlann."
Louis William Dickson. Parents: Fiona and Tom
Lucas Vaughan, brother to Amelia and Madeleine. Parents: Suzanna and Leighton. The father's name here, Leighton, has recently been popularized in America by an actress on the TV show Gossip Girl, Leighton Meester. It will be interesting to watch and see if this name goes to the boys or the girls, as I've seen it used in recent months on both sexes. It's a surname that originated from the surname Layton, which means either "settlement by the watercourse" or "leek or herb garden."
Max Edward. Parents: Jessica and Ian
Maximilian Edward Wilfred, brother to Alexander. Parents: Rebecca and Justin
Oliver Cowan, brother to Charles. Parents: Sarah and James
Oscar Alexander Louis, brother to Max and Sasha. Parents: Marina and Edward. What's strange about this is that Oscar's middle name, Alexander, is what Sasha is traditionally used as a nickname for in Russia. I'm wondering if Sasha is a boy or a girl, and if it's a stand-alone name in this family. "Sha" is a common diminutive suffix in Russia; other examples include Misha for Mikhail and Masha for Mary.
Owen Alexander Lowdon, brother to Clio. Parents: Georgina and Matthew. Clio should not be confused with Cleo, which is a shortened form of Cleopatra. Clio comes from the Greek Kleio, which means "glory." She was one of the Nine Muses, the goddess of history and heroic poetry.
Rafferty Mungo Kit. Parents: Rachel and Chris. Another interesting one. Rafferty appears to be an Anglicized version of the Irish surname Raifeartaigh. I'm not sure as to it's origins. It's best known, to me, as the oldest son of actor Jude Law. Mungo is a terribly unfortunate-sounding Welsh/Scottish name of unknown origin. The only other time I've seen it used on a person is on the actor Hugh Grant, whose full name is Hugh John Mungo Grant.
Robert James Edward, brother to Evie. Parents: Sara and James
Robert Keith. Parents: Katie-Louise and Charles
Sebastian William Larsen, brother to Alexander. Parents: Emily and Duncan
William Edward Keir. Parents: Victoria and Edward. Keir is from a Scottish surname and is pronounced KEER.
William Jack. Parents: Emma and Jonathan
William James Edward. Parents: Sarah and Brent
William Henry Kitchener, brother to Annabel. Parents: Emily and David
William Robert Willoughby, brother to Anastasia, Antonia, and Octavia. Parents: Abigail and Edward. The sisters' names are so flamboyant and elaborate, William looks rather dull by comparison. I guess that's why they threw in the Willoughby. Hmm.
Twins:
Lana Mabel and Romy Constance. Parents: Francesca and Andrew. Very unusual pairings here. Lana could be considered shortened form of Alana and Svetlana, but it appears to have first been used as a stand-alone name by the actress Lana Turner, who was born Julia Jean Turner, and given the name Lana by an early director. Mabel is a shortened form of the forgotten Amabel (an M there, not a N), which means "loveable" and shares a root with the much more common Amanda. Romy is a nickname for Rosemary, and Constance, obviously, a virtue name.
Alice Elizabeth Isabella and Ophelia Beatrix Plum, sisters to Harrison and Florence. Parents: Kristin and Eoin. Okay, if you take nothing away from this, learn this: Elizabeth and Isabella are the same name. Isabel is the Spanish form of Elizabeth (they just deleted the first syllable, the El, and changed the "th" to the more-common-in-Spanish L). When you use them together, it's the same thing as doing Elise Elizabeth or Margaret Mairead or Shosanna Susannah. It drives me up the freaking wall. Plum, which is retarded as a name, is probably being popularized by the British author Plum Sykes, whose real name, thank god, is Victoria. The father's name, Eoin, is the Gaelic form of John, and pronounced O-in.
- telegraph, week two.
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makebeliever- July 11th, 3:57
- Well, don't that just beat all.
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- makebeliever
- July 11th, 2:48
There is an artist on etsy.com who will make a personalized pendant of your vulva for you to wear as a necklace.
A picture of some of her work (look away, children!):
She also makes vulva pillows, cups, zip pouches, wallets, earrings, picture frames; uterus pillows and pins; and breast pillows.
What I want to know, is where you would wear, say, a pair of vulva earrings? To work? Grocery shopping? Out to dinner?
And if you did order a pendant based on your own vulva, and someone asked you about it, what do you say? "That's my vulva!!" Wow.
Thoughts?
- park in the shade and dance on the ground
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- makebeliever
- July 6th, 2:15
I am going to make red beans and rice from DRY rice and DRY beans today. Not a mix! I've never attempted this before, so hopefully it will be good. I tend to make a fatal error whenever I try to cook something-- too much water, too little water, etc. The only way to actually get better at it is to practice, so that's what I'm going to do. Luckily I have an iron stomach so I can eat anything remotely edible with few ill effects.
Vanity Fair has a cover story about Heath Ledger next month. It's so terribly sad to think about all the wasted potential in his life. Same with River Phoenix and Jeff Buckley, and even Montgomery Clift to some extent-- I think had Clift been born a few decades later his life would have been so drastically different and more peaceful. I want to rewatch the Screen Actor's Guild award speech Daniel Day-Lewis gave, dedicating his award to Heath's memory, but it's too depressing for this time of night.
Speaking of greatness, I bought The Ballad of Jack & Rose, starring DDL and directed and written by his brilliant wife Rebecca Augusta Miller. They had it in the bargain bin at work so I got it for about $5. Yay, bargains! I can't wait to see Nine. I don't go to the movies like ever, but I'm going to see that opening weekend... assuming it opens here. (Nine is DDL's new movie, a musical co-starring a bevy of wonderful actresses, including Judi Dench, Marion Cotillard, Nicole Kidman, Sophia Loren, Penelope Cruz... and Fergie. Fergie? WTF?)
I finally watched Rob Roy the other night. I am the worst person in the world to lend movies to. I liked it a lot. Tim Roth is wicked in that movie, and wicked awesome in general. Name digression: He has a son named Cormac-- I love that name. Liam Neeson was impressive, as always. The sword fight at the end was well-done, particularly given that Liam is like a foot taller than Tim Roth so he was kind of looming over him, but Roth actually held his own. I didn't care for Jessica Lange very much, but I've never been a fan of hers. Whenever she tries to do angry scenes, she comes across very spitty and over-the-top. And always peculiarly Southern Gothic-seeming, even in the Scottish highlands.
I'm SO glad Sarah Palin resigned, and I just hope it wasn't a move towards running for President in 2012. I simply do not understand how anyone could vote for her. She comes across a few beers short of a sixpack. Or, as she would probably say, a few dead fish short of... a pile of dead fish.
- sometimes is a second chance
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- makebeliever
- July 5th, 3:49
I figure maybe if I start forcing myself to write I'll find things to write about.
I had a stressful night at work. We've been having to call the cops on crazy homeless guys a lot lately. On Tuesday, a black guy was standing in our parking lot next to his car with no shirt and no shoes on, just staring at nothing. He did this for about twenty minutes. It was the middle of the day and hella hot, so I have no idea what was going on with him. Eventually he got back in his car and put on a shirt, and it was such a hideous shirt that I actually said to my coworker, "Ugh, he looked better with the shirt off!" and stood around some more.
All the while that was going on, we had a very skinny, 50 to 60-year old man in the cafe who told our barista that he was schizophrenic and manic depressive (or maybe just manic, I don't remember) and if he started freaking out or screaming, she should call the cops. Um... 'kay. At one point he started wandering around the front of the store very agitatedly, muttering to himself, and then he went outside and, in full view of the windows, did what I will call A Crazy Dance.It incorporated several things:
the waving of his arms like he was being attacked by a swarm of bees
pulling up his shirt to expose his old, gross, pale, concave stomach
talking to himself (I could see his lips moving)
stomping his feet
Once the seizure dance ended, he started smoking a cigarette and the black guy, wearing his shirt and shoes at this point, thank god, wandered over and they started talking. It was a meeting of crazy that was comparable to "crossing the streams" in Ghostbusters. I was just waiting for them to start screaming and crash through the huge windows at the front of the store. Fortunately, at this point the cops arrived-- called by a customer, not by us-- and made the black guy leave. The crazy guy got taken off in an ambulance somewhere.
This store has the most fucked-up clientele.
Tonight's wannabe criminal was more mundane. It's this random black guy who stands outside our store all the time asking for spare change. He's asked me for change more than once as I walked in to go to work, and I always tell him he's not allowed to solicit here and he usually leaves. I wonder if he knows what solicit means, now that I think about it. Anyway, today he was hanging out in the store sleeping (so many homeless people sleep in our store. They lie on the floor, which is Not a Good Thing) and my boss called the cops to make him leave. This was before I got in today, unfortunately. He told my boss he was "selfish" and as the cops were escorting him out, he turned around and pointed at my boss in that Robert De Niro, Meet the Parents type way. I miss all the good stuff.
He came back again tonight and I told him that people were complaining about him asking for money, and he had to leave or I'd call the cops. He claimed he "never asked for money from anyone," which yeah right, but eventually he did leave. My boss claims he has a new bike every time he sees them, but when I asked him (my boss, not the homeless dude) what he did with the old bikes, he didn't respond. Really, does he sell them at pawn shops or something? Is there an underground bicycle chop shop somewhere in this town?
Name news! I can take Tobey Maguire off my Hated Celebrites Who Won't Announce Their Kid's Name list, because he confirmed that his son, born a month or two ago, is called Otis Tobias Maguire. Tobias, obviously, is Tobey's real name: Tobias Vincent Maguire, to be precise. Vincent is his father's name, so the handing down of the father's first name appears to be a family tradition. I'm not sure how I feel about Otis as a name. It's not really my style, but maybe it will grow on me. I do like the flow of Otis Maguire, though Otis Tobias doesn't sound too great (too many heavy, dense sounds together). Tobey and his wife, Jen, have a daughter named Ruby Sweetheart. (Yes, Sweetheart. It's after what Jen's grandmother called her as a child. She apparently died shortly before Ruby's birth.)
I'm glad it's July.
- Telegraph births: first installment
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- makebeliever
- June 29th, 21:09
The Daily Telegraph is a newspaper based out of London. It features daily birth announcements which are also available for viewing on its website. The clientele who places notices in these paper is the upper-class of London, which often includes expatriates in Asia (particularly Hong Kong), America, Australia, and Canada.
It would be a mistake to take the names of these children as indicative of the overall naming trends in England, but they do provide a useful example of naming habits among wealthy Britains and the aristocracy. I'll note that the demographics of these parents is much different from what you would see in most American newspapers, or indeed in most English newspapers. Specifically, vast majority of the parents who place announcements in the Telegraph are married. Single parent announcements are almost unheard of. (Adoption announcements do appear, but not regularly.)
The common name trends in Telegraph birth announcements include:
1. Multiple middle names. Often the mother's surname is passed down as a second middle name, or an older family surname. Occasionally, multiple first names are given, a trend that may been mimicked directly from the elaborate names given to British royalty. (Prince Harry's full name, for example, is Henry Charles Albert David.)
2. Surnames given as first names. On a similar note, family surnames are often used as first names, particularly for male children. The chosen surnames are usually elaborate, but offer a convenient short form for nicknaming purposes. Common examples include Montague, Montgomery, and Willougby.
3. Nicknames used as first names. Neither the surname trend or the nickname trend is the most prevailing practice for Telegraph readers. Most given names are standard, traditional English choices, like Alice, Thomas, Lucy, and Charles. But when a less formal name is desired, certain nicknames are commonly used as given names. Among the more diminutive nicknames, Alfie, Freddie, Albie, Georgie, Kitty, Tilly, and Katie are popular. The sturdier nicknames include Tom, Ben, Sam, Jack, Dora, Daisy, and Pippa.
4. Esoteric names. On the occasions where a standard English name or a nickname aren't given, the parents will often choose an unusual (usually unheard of in the United States) first name, often from literature or mythology. Examples include Circe, Trilby, Hero, Hebe, Marmaduke, Huxley, and Gulliver.
Announcements from 14-June through the 27-June, 2009.
Abigail Katherine
Alaia Marina Cosima. Alaia means "happy, joyful" in Basque, a language spoken on the border of Spain and France. It's said ah-LIE-ah. Cosima is the feminine form of the Italian name Cosimo. It's pronounced CO-see-mah.
Alice Rose
Amelia Ivy
Aurelia Jinty Broad. Jinty is a nickname for a type of steam engine and the name of a train in The Railway Series (which became Thomas the tank Engine), and a now-defunct British comic book for young girls. It's legitimacy as a human name is questionable. Broad is the mother's surname.
Charlotte, sister to Alexander and Isabella
Charlotte Hannah Spencer
Chloe Maya
Clementine Susannah, sister to Amber. A gorgeous combination.
Dolly, sister to Starr. Very unusual. I've never seen either of these names in the Telegraph before, and Starr is not normal Telegraph fare.
Evelyn Molly, sister to Trilby. Trilby is a type of men's hat, which took it's name from the 1894 novel, Trilby, by George Du Maurier, and the subsequent theatrical adaptation. The title character, Trilby O'Ferrall, is the first known instance of the name. The father's name is Tarquin, from the Roman Tarquinius, after two great kings of Rome. They are both pronounced the way they are spelt (TRIL-bee and TAHR-kwin).
Flora Emily Culliford, sister to Oliver and Tilly
Gwendolyn Mary, sister to Isabel and Charles
Hannah Beatrix, sister to Louise Rosalind
Harriet Eve. The use of Harriet as a first name in England has remained much steadier than it has in the U.S. In 2007, it was the 73rd most popular name, comparable to Ariana in the U.S. during that same year.
Henrietta Jane, sister to Toby and Theo. I love the name Henrietta. If I could get away with using it, I totally would.
Hero Charlotte Moranna. Hero appeared as a female name in both Greek mythology (the legend of Hero and Leander) and Shakespeare (the comedy Much Ado About Nothing). In this context, Moranna appears to be an Irish name of uncertain derivation, possibly an elaboration on the Irish Gaelic female name Mor, meaning great or big.
Honor Francesca, sister to Florence and Angus. Somewhat more common as a virtue name in England than it is in America, where it was most notably used in 2007 by actress Jessica Alba for her daughter. The spelling Honor emerged as a variant of the spelling Honour (though Honoria is the oldest feminine form of the name), but it has since surpassed Honour, even in Britain, as the most common spelling.
Hope Renee
Isabella Rosa
Isabella Rose, sister to Charles and Clementine. A disappointingly common conclusion after the use of lovely Clementine.
Lauren Elizabeth Sara, sister to Toby
Lucy Angela
Lucy Elizabeth
Maia Laura Isobel, sister to Toby
Martha Grace, sister to Finlay and Ellie. Like Harriet, Martha has remained in steady use in England. It was the 87th most popular name in 2007. Finlay is an Anglicized form of the Scottish Gaelic name Fionnlagh (white warrior).
Moiya Annabel Summers. I assume Moiya is a corruption of the Irish names Maire or Moira. While Moira is the more familiar spelling in the U.S., it is an anglicized form of Maire, which is the Irish equivalent of Marie or Mary. Both are pronounced the same: MOI-ra. Summers is the mother's maiden name.
Niamh Isobel Margaret. Niamh is a beautiful Irish name meaning "brightness" or "beauty." She was the daughter of the sea god in Irish legend, and the beloved of the poet Oisin, who was the son of the warrior Fionn Mac Cumhaill. It's pronounced neeve, like Eve with an N.
Poppy Elizabeth, sister to Thomas.
Primrose Constance Handley, sister to Arthur and Matilda. Primrose, from the flower, was first used as a name in the late 19th century.
Sophia Matilda, sister to Isabella.
Talulah Isabel, sister to Maximilian. In this context, Talulah is likely an Anglicized form of the Irish name Tuilelaith, meaning "lady of abundance" or "princess of abundance." Tuilelaith is the name of two early Irish saints. It's pronounced TIL-a-la.
Willow Agatha Rose, sister to Daisy and Iris. The flower/nature name theme for girls is sadly common in Britain. A famous practitioner is Jamie "The Naked Chef" Oliver, whose daughters are Daisy, Petal, and Poppy.
Alexander James Douglas, brother to Sophia Eloise
Alexander William Michael Carlton
Benjamin David Jonathan, brother to Megan, Eleanor, and Isobel
Benjamin Luke, brother to Olivia
Caspar
Casper Jack. Caspar and Casper are the Dutch forms of Jasper. I'm not sure about Caspar's parents, but judging from the names of Casper Jack's parents, they likely had Dutch backgrounds.
Douglas Nicholas, brother to George and Henry
Edward John Blenkarne, brother to Clementine, Theodora, and Henrietta. Absolutely beautiful.
Fergus Freddie. Fergus is the Anglicized form of Fearghas, a Scottish and Irish name meaning "man of vigor."
Finn Lewis, brother to Harry.
Frederick Charles Venables, brother to Billy and Lily. Yes, Billy and Lily as siblings. Oy vey.
Frederick George Herbert.
Frederick James Stanford.
Harry, brother to Max, Claudia, and Antonia. This fascinates me. You have two sons with the shortened nickname forms and two daughters with multisyllabic Latin names. I wonder if Max is short for anything, like Maximilian or Massimo.
Hector George.
Joel Henry Mark, brother to Ethan.
Joseph Thomas, brother to Oliver.
Jude Ernest Lord. Lord is the mother's surname.
Louis Deeks, brother to Jack Calveley. I'm wondering if Louis is meant to be said with the French pronunciation loo-EE or the English LOO-is. I suspect the latter, but you often see Lewis being used when that is the desired pronunciation. Deeks is the mother's surname.
Maximilian
Montague William David. Though it's most often associated in America with the Montague family in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Montague has a long history as a British surname. It originated as the Norman name Montaigu, from the Old French mont "hil" and aigue "pointed." A Drogo of Montague (also given as Montacute or Montagud) accompanied William the Conqueror in his invasion of England in 1066, establishing Montague as an aristocratic family name in Britain.
Nicholas Charles Tilman, brother to Beatrice.
Oliver Valentine Page. Valentine is the English form of the Latin name Valentinus, meaning "healthy, strong." It was most famously borne by a 3rd century Roman martyr, best remembered in America for St. Valentine's Day.
Oscar Mackenzie, brother to Zoe.
Oscar Michael.
Otto Benjamin, brother to Barnaby and Orlando. Otto is a variant of Odo, a nickname for the plethora of Germanic names containing the element Od, meaning "famous, wealthy." It was the name of the 10th century Holy Roman Emperor Otto I, also known as Otto the Great. Barnaby is a medieval nickname for Barnabas, the Greek form of an Aramaic name meaning "son of consolation" (also given as "son of the prophet"). Saint Barnabas was an early Christian missionary and appears in the Book of Acts in the New Testament. Barnaby is pronounced BAR-ne-bee.
Patrick Iwan Fenwick, brother to Rex. Iwan is the Welsh form of John, but the pronunciation appears to be similar to Ewan (which has a completely different etymology, as it's the Anglicized version of Eoghan), which would be YOU-in.
Sebastian Michael James
Stanley John, brother to Holly May. A stodgy choice, even for the Telegraph, which is really saying something.
Thomas Edmund, brother to Penny
Thomas Edward
Thomas James.
Toby Edward Fothergill.
William Edward Samson. Samson is the English form of the Hebrew name Shimson, derived from shemesh, meaning "sun." In addition to the Biblical Samson, it was also the name of a famous 6h century Welsh monk. He served to popularize the name in Wales and Britain.
William James Waterbury, brother to Oscar.
Willoughby Peter Wreford, brother to Natalia. Willoughby, as a surname, originated from any number of places in northern England. It's etymology is from Old English-- welig, meaning "willow"-- and Old Norse-- byr, meaning settlment.
Twins
Ben Macintosh and Tom Osborne, brothers to Georgie. Osborne is the mother's maiden name.
Poppy Grace and Tabitha Rose, sisters to Daisy and Ted. The beginnings of another flower sisterset, but peculiarly Tabitha was left out, unless they plan on calling her by her middle name, Rose.
- black spot on the sun
-
- makebeliever
- June 29th, 3:13
Since January I've been having periodic spells of intense vertigo, usually accompanied by nausea. I have medication for the dizziness and a different medication for the nausea. The nausea one makes me extremely, extremely tired, though, so I can't take it if I have stuff to do (going to work, for example).
So Sunday morning I wake up at around 7am. I have to be at work by 8. I feel dizzy so I take a pill (antivert, I think is the name). I'm eating some of the homegrown tomatoes my grandma sent me for breakfast, and that light-headed throbby pre-vomit feeling comes over me. You know the one I'm talking about? Blech. I hate that. So I go into the bedroom to get some pepto bismol. I have the bottle of my hand and I'm turning to go into the bathroom, and the next thing I know, I'm on the floor. And of course the open bottle of Pepto is spilling all over the floor next to me.
My poor sister, whose bottle of Pepto got spilled, woke up and said, "We're all out of paper towels so I'll have to use Kleenex to clean that up. And I really don't think you should go to work today." She also asked me if I passed out, but apparently I said I just fell. At the time, I remember wondering why I had decided to lie down on the floor. I haven't passed out since I was in high school.
I did go to work and I don't think I fucked anything up outrageously but I suppose I'll find out tomorrow. I was finally able to eat some soup and take the nausea pill when I got home, and then I crashed out on the couch. When I woke up I ate some crackers and then my stomach started hurting again. But I think I'm on the all together now.
Everyone at work was duly impressed with what a motherfucking rock star I am. My fave coworker said, "You never have just normal things wrong with you. You always have some weird problem." True that.
- easy as abc
-
- makebeliever
- June 25th, 23:52
Further thoughts on Michael Jackson
I am rewatching the Martin Bashir documentary on YouTube. Regardless of whether you believe the molestation accusations against Jackson, I don't think anyone could argue that he was not "normal." Even "normal" for a celebrity which has a higher level of weirdness than "normal" normal.
Look at what he accomplished in his early life. He was a music and dancing prodigy as a child. He and his brothers were monumentally successful and made a huge amount of money for his parents. You can't get to that level without pushing and driving your child every hour of every day. You can't get there without forcing your child to work when they don't want to work, without robbing your child the right to quit even when they want to and even when it's in their best interest.
This is why I have very mixed feelings about children working professionally or competing at Olympic levels. I'm not contending that all or most child actors, singers, dancers, gymnasts, ice skaters, etc will grow up to be as strange as Michael Jackson. Many of them, Ron Howard and Jodie Foster the most prominent examples, appear to be normal, healthy adults. But I can't help but wonder if it's worth it. Is the fame, the success, and the money worth seeing your child work so hard? What do you do when your child is practicing axels for hours or sitting on a movie set instead of camping in the woods with their Boy Scout troop or roller-skating with their friends? What goes through a parent's mind when their child comes to them in tears, begging to quit, and you can't let them, because your family is dependent on their earnings? How does an adult come to put the pressure of supporting an entire family on a 10, 11, 13-year old child?
I feel immense sympathy for the little boy singing "easy as ABC, easy as 123" and dancing with his brothers. I can't imagine how his parents must feel, looking at the man that little boy turned into. Was it worth it? I'm sure they have more money than they know what to do with. They saw their son reach the highest levels of success possible in his profession. Was it worth it? Are they proud of their son's life and what he did? Maybe they are. I don't know. But I find it hard to imagine.
- swappin' i don't cares
-
- makebeliever
- June 25th, 17:56
Transcript of a conversation between me and my sister
Her (while watching TV Guide Channel): I hate how, whenever someone famous dies, they just talk about them constantly on TV Guide Channel. It seems so disrespectful.
Me: That's how I found out Heath Ledger was dead.
Her: Really?
Me: Yeah. I got home from work and took a nap, and then when I woke up, I turned on TV Guide Channel and saw his face, and I was like, "B-b-b-" and (our brother) said, "Oh, yeah, I meant to tell you that he died." Like, how the hell could you find out any news before me, and why didn't you tell me the minute you did find out?!
Her: I don't remember how I found out. That was really sad.
Me: I know! He was a good baby namer.
Her: Oh god.
Me: He was. And that's a gift that last a lifetime.
Her: Is it really?
Me: Yes, a good baby name is the best gift you can give a child.
Her: It is not.
Me: Well, it's certainly better than the gift of life.
later that day...
Me: Michael Jackson died.
Her: No, he didn't.
Me: Yes, he did. Look on CNN if you don't believe me.
Her: Oh, so he did.
Me: Why would I make that up? And HE was not a good baby namer.
and later still...
Her: Well, I'm not sad. Michael Jackson messed with two things he shouldn't've messed with: The Beatles and Peter Pan.
Me: You're probably glad he's dead.
Her: I'm going to dance on his grave!
And she says I'm crazy.
- we all did what we had to do
-
- makebeliever
- June 20th, 1:40
Livin' on the road, my friend
was gonna keep you free and clean
but now you wear your skin like iron
and your breath is hard as kerosene.
You weren't your mama's only boy
but her favorite one, it seemed.
She began to cry when you said good-bye
and sank into your dreams.
Pancho was a bandit boy.
His horse was fast as polished steel.
He wore his gun outside his pants
for all the honest world to feel.
Pancho met his match you know
in the deserts down in Mexico.
Nobody heard his dying words
oh but that's the way it goes.
Chorus: All the federales say
they could have had him any day.
They only let him slip away
out of kindness I suppose.
Lefty, he can't sing the blues
all night long like he used to.
The dust that Pancho bit down South
ended up in Lefty's mouth.
The day they laid poor Pancho low
Lefty split for Ohio.
Where he got the bread to go,
ain't nobody knows.
All the federales say
they could have had him any day.
We only let him slip away
out of kindness I suppose.
The poets tell how Pancho fell and
Lefty's living in cheap hotels.
The desert's quiet and Cleveland's cold
and so the story ends we're told.
Pancho needs your prayers it's true
but save a few for Lefty too.
He only did what he had to do
and now he's growing old.
All the federales say
they could have had him any da y.
We only let him go so long
out of kindness I suppose.
A few grey federales say
we could have had him any day.
We only let him go so long
out of kindness I suppose.
(T. Van Zandt, c. 1972)
( One More )
- mister, take an inch and i'll give you a mile
-
- makebeliever
- June 12th, 2:37
Well, well, well. The top five things that suck about my life today:
1. It's June ALREADY? Flipping fuck. I was looking at an article and when I saw June 9 at the top, I thought, "Wow, this is from June of last year?" No, it's already June of 2009. Where did May go?
2. I have a cold. I always get colds in the summer.
3. My iPod headphones are broken; they only play in one ear and that gives me a headache.
4. I haven't had a snow cone all summer.
5. My boss is an asshole. A back-stabbing, manipulative, egotistical asshole.
I would like to at least make it through the summer because I get another week of vacation in August but things get worse every day and I am going crazy.
I have been listening to a lot of country music (on my broken iPod). Dierks Bentley and Miranda Lambert today.Speaking of names, which we weren't, but I was looking through the newspaper today and they had an insert with the names of all the local high schoolers graduating this year. The first few pages were okay but then I got to the largely African American schools and I found this gem: Onnathesius Pensacola *last name*. I may have misspelled the first name, but the middle name was definitely Pensacola. I wonder if he was conceived there.
Supporting actors, or those who do mostly character work, seem to be better namers than leading actors. I was looking around on Wikipedia tonight and I made a partial list.
Jason Alexander: Gabriel and Noah
Steve Buscemi: Lucian
Joan Cusack: Dylan and Miles
Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman: Grace, Jacob, and Lucy
Dennis Farina: Dennis Jr, Joseph, and Michael
Hal Holbrook: David, Eve, and Victoria
John Hurt: Alexander and Nicholas
Richard Jenkins: Andrew and Sarah
Oliver Platt: Claire, George, and Lily
Stanley Tucci: Camilla, Isabel, and Nicolo
John Turturro: Amedeo and Diego
JT Walsh: John
Most of those are men. Are there any female character actors nowdays?
Survey:
1. What are your five most important books and why?
I have to think about this one and the why's some more. Off the top of my head, I can only think of three:
We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Shirley Jackson
The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera
The Book Thief, Markus Zusak
2. What is an important book you admit you haven’t read?
Oh, there are so many. I don't know how I got an English degree with such a deficit of classical literature. To sum up: I've never read anything by Dickens, Tolstoy, or Dostoyevsky. I've never finished anything by Joyce. The only Twain book I've ever read is Huckleberry Finn.
3. What classic (or childhood favorite) was a little disappointing upon rereading?
Hmm. I am a little concerned about how the Harry Potter series will play in ten or twenty years. Granted I was a lackadaisical HP fan who only skimmed the last two books. I don't think JK was edited enough. There, I said it. (Your son's a girl! There, I said THAT!)
4. What book do you (or did you) care most about sharing with your kids…and if you don't have kids, what book would you want to share with the child of a friend or a sibling?
Oh, there are a lot. Young childhood: Heckedy Peg, Shel Silverstein, The Store-Bought Doll, Judy Blume's Fudge books, RL Stevenson's A Child's Garden of Verses (we had a lovely illustrated copy of that when I was a kid. I wonder now what happened to it. My grandparents were big RLS fans, and my aunt was named after his nanny, whom that book was dedicated to.) Older childhood: The Baby-Sitters Club (oh hellz yes, you know I will!), Lois Lowry's Anastasia series, Phyllis Reynold Naylor's Alice series, The Story Girl, Wait Til Helen Comes, most EL Konigsburg books but especially From the Mixed Up Files....
5. Name an acclaimed book, either classic or contemporary, that you just don’t like.
I got The Lovely Bones as a birthday present from a friend when I was 19 or 20. I tried to read it no less than four times but I could never get into it. I eventually gave it away, I think. I read the beginning of Atonement, by Ian McEwan, and the end, but I skipped the middle. Bad me!
- my welcome-home parade
-
- makebeliever
- June 7th, 4:05
Time for an actual proper update, I suppose. I went to Baton Rouge on Friday with my sister. (It was also my cousin's birthday, so unfortunately I didn't get to see her. HAPPY BIRTHDAY! If she ever reads this.) I spent a couple of hours in the store looking around, then we went to the LSU campus to visit our old haunts. It's hardly changed at all. Strange. I got fried pickles and nachos from Plucker's, which really really needs to open a branch in Lake Charles, and my sister got a calzone from Mellow Mushroom (ditto) and we ate down by the LSU lakes. The sun was setting and it was breezy and really nice.
As for the store... I decided not to take it. For boring reasons that I won't expound on right now.
I've been hella stressed out for the past few weeks (months?) and I'm trying to work out in my mind whether or not it's worth it. It's hard to explain this to my boss because he gets a lot out of his job, which I will admit it much more stressful than mine, though I think mine is stressful in a different way maybe. I don't know what I get out of mine, other than money, which admittedly should not be discounted. But is it worth staying in a place for the money? I don't know. Sometimes I can work myself into a paranoid, ultra-anxious state about things and I'm trying not to do that here. I wish I knew what I wanted to do with my life. I still think about going back to school for my MFA or MA... I just don't know. I miss my aunt so much. She was good to talk to about things like this.
I used to have dreams about her and my dad where they were alive again, and even in the dreams I was confused because I knew they were supposed to be dead. I wish I could have a dream where we were all alive together and happy.
Total topic shift. A list of celebrities who never publically confirmed their children's names. (My personal Shit List)
Christian Bale (daughter, rumored to be named Emmaline/Emmeline)
Holly Hunter (twin boys)
Jason Lee (daughter, rumored to be named Casper Alice or Neral Kaclee)
Tobey Maguire (son*)
Carrie-Anne Moss (two sons, rumored to be named Owen** and Jaden/Brooke/Dayton.)
John C. Reilly (two sons)
David Spade (daughter)
Nia Vardalos (daughter)
*I'm hopeful that we'll find this one out eventually. He was only born last month and it took a while for their daughter Ruby's to become public too.
**Owen may have been confirmed at some point, but I can't find a link to that interview if it was.
- arthur fonzarelli's got an army of clones!
-
- makebeliever
- June 7th, 1:57
This is the best thing that ever was or will be. It has officially surpassed the Picard-Techno-Speech as my Favorite YouTube Video Ever. What is your favorite line? I'm torn between Arthur Fonzarelli and the zombie choir. And "MULLET WITH HEADLIGHTS?"
- i've forgiven myself for the mistakes i've made
-
- makebeliever
- June 4th, 22:39
Sad news: David Carradine died. He was truly an original.
Good news: I slept for 12 hours last night. Wowza, I needed that.
AWESOME news: A woman sued the makers of Captain Crunch cereal for deceiving consumers that Crunchberries were a fruit. She lost; the judge ruled that they were never presented as such.
- saying hallelujah til the sun comes up
-
- makebeliever
- June 3rd, 3:41
I got offered a promotion at work, but it would require I move to Baton Rouge. My sister and I are going there on Friday so I can look at the store where I'd be working. I really have no idea if I'm going to take it or not. I go back and forth. I think I would be happier living in Baton Rouge, but not necessarily happier doing this job. If that makes sense.
It would help if I had some idea what I wanted to do with my life.
Speaking of work, we have these customer surveys that people can take on our website, and I have been looking at the results from our district. Pure awesomeness. From memory,t hese are the comments (not from my store, but others in Louisiana):
"I'm a simple man and I take my coffee black. Coffee shouldn't have a lot of fancy stuff in it to make it taste good. The coffee here has a nice flavour." I find the opening sentence hysterical. If I drank coffee, that's how I would order it henceforth. "I'm a simple man. I take my coffee black. DONE." It reminds me of a quote from King of the Hill: "Black. Scrambled. Sports page. You got five minutes."
"The patriots of this store will very greetful and helpful." What does this mean? The patriots? Does he mean patrons? It sounds like he's talking about the employees though.
"This store has a great selection. I was looking for books and there were books there. Best of all, I didn't have to go through the groceries, electronics, and kids stuff to get to the books." I don't think this person had ever been inside a bookstore before. Really.
The other day a forty-something woman asked me for HOW TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. Stupidity for the win.
To quote Hayley Mills & Maurice Chevalier, via my sister:
You've got imagination, employ it
Though you see roses in the snow, joie de vivre will make them grow.
Voila! That's life! Enjoy it!
- sweetheart is bleeding in the snow cone
-
- makebeliever
- May 26th, 3:22
I'm up late because my stomach hurts. Quote from my sister to me: "Don't make fun of America's veterans!" I love it.
I'm reading The Household Guide to Dying, an Australian novel. Exactly 75 pages in. I prefer to stop reading on a 5 or 0. It's pretty good so far. I got it for free at work. I'm planning to buy some books on the first of the month, since we get an extra 10 percent off that day. We have a book by James Lipton on Inside the Actor's Studio for like three bucks in the bargain section, and I sorta want to read it to get the celebrity gossip from the show. I think there may be an appendix with all the answers to the Privot questions from the end of the show too.
My aunt was awesome enough to lend me a DVD of Rob Roy since I mentioned I want to see it. I find Liam Neeson's face strange. Sometimes in pictures he doesn't look like himself. Does anyone know what I'm talking about?
I rented Smart People from the movie kiosk in the supermarket. It's a dark comedy with Dennis Quaid, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Ellen Page. It actually made me feel pretty shitty about myself. Dennis Quaid and Ellen Page's characters (a college professor father and his genius, socially inept daughter) are so hung up on themselves and their own intelligence that they treat everybody they consider to be stupid like shit. And I know I do that too sometimes, especially at work. I have resolved to try and do better. I don't think it's solely a matter of superiority for me; I have no patience for being asked the same questions day after day and unfortunately that is a large part of retail. Seeing Quaid play a professor made me realize how frustrating that career must be, teaching the same material year after year, reading the same theses over and over in students' papers and trying to be excited about them making observations that you've heard a thousand times before. I am very glad I did not go into that career path. The only way I think I could do it is to teach entirely new material every semester. It also makes me so thankful for all the awesome professors I did have. Yay for them.
They uglied Dennis Quaid up in the movie, by the way, but he was still too hot for Sarah Jessica Parker. Dennis has a son named Thomas Boone Quaid, who they call Boone, and it occured to be as I watched the movie that T. Boone Quaid is reminiscent of T. Boone Pickens (one of the richest men in America). I wonder if that was intentional?
There were naturally conceived sextuplets born in Ireland this week. Austin Jr. and Eoghan (said O-in, sorta like Owen) were the boys. Karla, Kerrie, Shannon, and Ursula were the girls. Ursula is my favorite of those names (I really do love the name Ursula) but it sticks out here like a sore thumb. Karla, Kerrie, and Shannon fit together, though it's a very 1970s-80s sibling group. I haven't seen Karla in the birth announcements in ages-- though it does pop up sometimes in Hispanic families. Can you imagine having naturally conceived sextuplets? What a shock at the ultrasound. Good grief. The parents were newlyweds in their early 20s. I hope they have a lot of family and friends behind them.
I had terrible vertigo again Friday and Saturday. I don't know if it's my inner ear or blood sugar (seems unlikely, would blood sugar even do that?) or what, but it sucks. Luckily I still have some medication left from when it happened in January and that helps. I was supposed to be off today but ended up going to a three-hour meeting, so my shift on Friday will only be a half-day. Sweet!
Meetings aren't that bad. My boss doesn't really like to yell at people, which is a good quality for a boss to have. He does like to discuss "issues" ad nauseam though. And the same key words over and over. Remedial (as in "this is remedial") and urgency ("you have to understand the urgency") made appearances again. He continues to make all these grand plans for our current staffing situation (as in lack of staffing) that may or may not come to fruition. I try not to care that much. It's hard to get attached to new people when they are more than likely going to end up screwing you in the end.
What is awesome is that a girl who quit with no notice, leaving us severely short-staffed, came crawling back begging for her job and we slammed the metaphorical door in her face. HAHAHA! It made me way too happy.
- living on the road, my friend
-
- makebeliever
- May 19th, 22:45
I love:
punctuation, mint & chocolate, watching wind blowing through the trees, Daniel Day-Lewis, wood floors, chocolate milk, soft socks, gum, book covers, Silvia, playing with my hair, the smell of cats, tulips, the white cup with the orange flower, looking over fences, doorknobs, cologne, Bones & Booth, aluminum foil, cranberries, the ocean, Patty Loveless, green purses, momentary perfection, the original Baby Sitters Club, Henry, Barack Obama shirtless, wrists, striped shirts, Robert Downey Jr., watching movies on Lifetime Movie Network at 3am, Brain Age, swimming, nighttime, pictures of food, a perfect turn of phrase, giving nicknames to people, kites, 50s style dresses, the Oscars, dragonflies, peacocks, gnomes, coloring, Meryl Streep, discoveries, good cinematography, Roger Ebert, House & Wilson, freedom, writing, Kate Winslet's hair in my icon, dlisted.com, lunchpail trees, caddywampus, English accents, grandfather clocks, skeleton keys, the word fuck, Cate Blanchett, Victorian houses, cemeteries, statues, being found, the last thoughts before sleep, black and white photos, musicals, children's books, St. Paul snow globes, scars, maps, journals.
I hate:
books that have different fonts for different characters, not getting the joke, fake compliments, pretentiousness, wearing eyeglasses, vampires, crying, creamed corn, Kate Hudson, bad fanfiction, bands with two word names when one of the words is "the" (exception: The Beatles), Adam Sandler, trying too hard to be funny, Law & Order without Jerry Orbach, baby talk, Woody Allen, slow drivers, wet towels, Jennifer Aniston, wasting time sleeping, being tired, people who are too fat to walk, Gwyneth Paltrow, screaming kids, screaming period, Oprah omnipresence, eye doctors and their puff-of-air machines, how the Harry Potter books ended, when people have sleep grossness in the corners of their eyes, my feet, noses, misspelled names, made-up names, inconsiderateness, wearing a watch, throw rugs, collagen-ed lips, public bathrooms, Cameron Diaz, beer, Kate Gosselin's hair, Jodi Picoult, old music on Sunday, most tattoos, sleeping without pillows, caterpillars falling from the trees, moles, explaining everything, being lost, overloud movie theaters, climbing, Richard Roeper, when what you remembered isn't as good.
- digging coal from the bottom of your grave
-
- makebeliever
- May 19th, 2:42
I've been listening to a lot of super-depressing country music lately. I don't think any genre of music can beat country when it comes to suicidally sad songs. Why is that?My playlist:
You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive, Patty Loveless (coal mining, hopelessness, death)
Here I Am, Patty Loveless (alcoholism, codependency, loss)
Whiskey Lullaby, Brad Paisley & Alison Krauss (alcoholism, betrayal, two deaths)
Pancho & Lefty, Willie Nelson & Merle Haggard (old age, loneliness, murder, betrayal again, two more deaths)
The Walk, Sawyer Brown (actually the least depressing, since it's more about the passage of time)
Play me that old time music, yessiree bob.
A quote from my boss about something at work:
"This is my destiny. To run a store that surpasses all expectation of what is possible."
OH MY GOD. I lol'ed all night.
"This is my destiny." I love it.
I watched Taken with Liam Neeson and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button this week. Taken was average action fluff, but good fun if you like that kind of thing. Maggie Grace (Shannon on Lost) played his daughter. That was unexpected. Benjamin Button had lovely cinematography and art direction. And I thought Cate Blanchett was very good, and gorgeous too. She and Brad Pitt made a very pretty couple. Though normally I'm not a huge Pitt fan, I did find him attractive in this movie, probably because you don't see YoungHotPitt until about an hour into it, and you're so weirded out by OldFreakyPitt that he looks just that much better. I liked it.Speaking of hot, I saw part of Reservoir Dogs on TV this week (edited to hell, of course) and I think I'm developing a Tim Roth crush. Is this weird? I think it's his eyes. And his voice. Mmm.
I need to do laundry.
- for i was born the prodigal child
-
- makebeliever
- May 8th, 22:12
Excerpt
Me: So she's worse than mediocre but not as bad as Hitler?
My sister: (after a moment of deep thought) Yes! But she's definitely a lot worse than mediocre.
Me: But not as bad as Hitler.
My sister: No.
In other news, NAMES! The 2008 Popularity Rankings were released today by the Social Security Administration. The big news is that Emily, the top-ranking girl's name for the past 12 years, was overtaken by both Emma and Isabella. The top 5 for girls is now Emma, Isabella, Emily, Madison, and Ava. But the really interesting thing is that Emma isn't being used that much more often. The Social Security website lets you see how many times each individual name in the top 1000 was used (or registered by parents, I suppose, since there could be backwoods babies being born without SS numbers. Who knows?).
The 2007 Top 5 and the numbers of times they appeared:
Emily: 19,820
Isabella: 19,057
Emma: 18,295
Ava: 18,006
Madison: 17,877
The 2008 Top 5:
Emma: 18,587
Isabella: 18,377
Emily: 17,217
Madison: 16,853
Ava: 16,850
So really Emma was only used about 290 more times in 2009, but Emily and Isabella dropped a lot. I would argue that this is due to the variants of Emily (Emilie, Emilee, Emely, Emilia) and Isabella (Isabela, Izabella, and of course Isabelle/Isabel/Izabelle/Isabell) that appear on the list. But there aren't that many ways you can spell Emma, so parents who want to use it by and large have to stick to the original.
This all plays into the trend that's been gaining momentum since the 1990s: the My Baby Is Special! movement. Parents are more eager than ever before to have a child whose name is different than his/her peers. Often times they accomplish this by creating a different (and often incomprehensible) spelling, choosing a highly unique name or surname, or plain old inventing a name. So parents have given themselves a wider pool to pick from than ever before. Another interesting by-product of this trend is that the top names are used much less in recent years than they were in the past. Look at a selection of top girl's names through history.
Mary: 70,589 (1925)
Linda: 80,403 (1950)
Lisa: 56,025 (1963)
Jennifer: 58,942 (1977)
Jessica: 51,494 (1988)
Emily: 25,139 (1996)
The drop is much less severe from boy's names, because they're less trendy. Looking at the top 5 in 1930 (Robert, James, John, William, and Richard), three of those names are still among the top 20 most-popular for boy's in 2008 (James, John, and William). The top 5 for girl's in 1930? Mary, Betty, Dorothy, Helen, and Margaret. When was the last time you saw a baby named Betty or Helen?
Another fascinating feature the SSA provides on its website is a ranking of the names that jumped the most spots in popularity from the previous years. This year's winners are, for boys, Jacoby (up 200 spots) and Khloe (up 469 spots). You can often use this list to spot celebrity-influenced trends. Khloe, for example, is the spelling used by Kim Kardashian's sister. Why anyone would want to name a baby after one of those whores is a question for another day. Other super-hot celeb trends from 2008:
Kingston (up 116 spots)-- Still showing big trendy potential after used by Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale for their young son.
Audrina (up 354 spots)-- Reality TV actress on The Hills.
Miley (up 152 spots) and Mylee (up 126 spots)-- Duh.
Rihanna (up 104 spots)-- Prior to the Chris Brown incident, naturally.
Hayden (up 69 spots)-- Use on a girl popularized by the Heroes actress Hayden Panettiere.
Malia (up 55 spots)-- A lesser-known name popularized by the Obama's daughter during their ubiquitous media onslaught.
Juliet (up 67 spots) and Penelope (up 51 spots)-- Characters with these names appeared on the hit TV program Lost.
Again, the celebrity-influenced trends are a much bigger deal for girls than boys.
I could go on, but I'll refrain. The link to the stats page is here: http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/
- stupid
-
- makebeliever
- May 7th, 1:16
We rage against the dawn now
more than the dying
more than the night.
We rage against the emptiness of our days.
The conveniences meant to save us
leave behind hollow hours that sink in the waters
of our mouths.
I watch them go out, get in their cars and drive away.
Every day they wear a different outfit.
It seems so much easier.
What does?
Everything.
For everyone else but me.
Dissatisfaction rots me;
from under my rib cage a brown odor
seeps out like a backed-up toilet.
I wait for a disaster to erase
the life I have hoarded like cans around me.
I hope for a plague or a nuclear bomb or zombies
to get me out of work.
or to put everyone in the death boat with me.
The nothing-nobody-nowhere-going boat.
It must be strange not to think about dying all the time,
not to plan how it will be.
But I have never done otherwise.
They all do otherwise.
I watch them at it so carefully,
but like a baby with a radio
I can't understand.
How do they all do otherwise?
-- This is fairly crappy, isn't it? Another one I wrote a few months ago and am still revising:
( Shh! Under here... )
- give me a moment's grace
-
- makebeliever
- May 5th, 20:14
If I never had this job, I would be poor but at least I would have my sanity.
Oh god, my boss is such a fucking jackass. He makes me so mad sometimes I just want to cry and throw shit at his head. It's so stupid to get that invested in a stupid work relationship, but GAH! He's such a fucking hypocrite! And he is always right and he expects the impossible and he doesn't fucking LISTEN.
Ah. I feel better now.
Okay, I don't really because I'm just waiting for him to call/text me and tell me what a failure at my job I am. God. I hate him sometimes. I think the feeling is mutual.
One of the other managers told him (and he told me) that she knows that I hate her and that nothing she does is ever good enough for me. Um, hi, crazy psycho bitch. Funny how people confuse "I'm not letting you get away with your same old shit" with hatred.I started today in a good mood too. Bastards.
My sister saw a tombstone for a guy named Lester that said "No Les, No More." I've been thinking all day trying to come up with a pun for my tombstone, but I got nothing. I did think of some for a few of my co-workers, none of which are printable here.
