What's in a name?

Names are a very personal subject. Ask any expectant couple and you can expect to hear all about their name list, to a family history of a given name choice, to a mums the word we will not tell. H and I gladly shared our names with people. Sometimes you get a crazy look or the ever polite, "Oh, that is a nice name."

Some people have very firm opinions about certain names. In fact this is a funny story.

H's cousin passed away and I took my MIL and the children to the calling hours. I had not met his Aunt and Uncle before so it was interesting all ways around. My MIL and Tante L were seated on the couch and E and I sat in front of them playing on the floor. L was running around with some other youngsters. Now it is important to note that I speak German really well. Well enough to follow their conversation.

So Tante L starts out asking my MIL "Was Fuer ein Name ist E?" (What kind of name is E...)

My MIL hedges and says that well they liked that name.

Tante L pushes on.

My MIL hedges some more.

Finally I turn around and said, "Mein Kind, Mein Wahl." (My child, my choice.)

Well that stopped her. She had assumed I could not follow the conversation. I would also like to note that none of her 4 kids have German names really. So what her deal was is beyond me.

L has a small zoo of stuffed animals. Each one has a name and she knows them all. She never changes their names. She has her own way of naming things. She has "Big Bear" and "Big Big Bear." A bunny named EG. A little bear named Kohlrabi. (after the veggie)

E has his best friend, a little bear, who I had started out calling Bear, Bear, but at a certain point it shifted to Stinky. The bear has a aroma all its own - so L and I referred to it as stinky. E calls him "Tinky" and it has stuck.

When I am writing, I find it easy to pick a character's name and they stick. I am loathe to change them. I am not sure why, but I cannot build up the character traits, if I do not have a solid name.

Which brings me to my name. I like my name. It suits me I think, but for writing, I wanted to pick something else - not only because I thought it sounded better, but it also to keep my real life a bit separate from my professional life. Not that I am convinced I will be famous - but one never knows and I think one should start off as one wants to go..... so I have renamed myself - - and I might tell you it if you post a comment. Some of you know it already.

My first rejection

Ok, so my friend JS gave me this kick in the pants awhile back. So I write the story that popped into my head and submitted it. I did not win - nor did I make the list of honorable mentions. MMMM, I am remaining optimistic. It was a good story. Many of you have already read it.

So, I think I am going to revise it a bit and submit it somewhere else..... I am not going to lose heart. I can do this. My stories are good.... I would post it on the blog - but I am not sure of the copywrite issues. Someone could steal it..... I need to do some research there first.

So you win some and you lose some, right. And as L says - "you will never know if you do not try!"

Happy 4th of July

Well today is Independence Day - the birth of our nation. It is really something spectacular. I thought I would talk about something really important to me. Freedom of Speech. I happen to like all kinds of freedom, but I especially like this one. I have always valued that I live in a country where I am free to express my ideas, thoughts and feeling - without fear that my government can throw me in jail because they do not agree with what I have said or written. In many many places around the world that is not the case. Now, our system is not perfect. We are not without flaws, but for the most part we are free to express ourselves, in a variety of media, without fear. In places like, China, Iran, Cuba, and North Korea - freedom of speech is just not an option.

So as a for instance, I was thinking today, that in the afore mentioned places, I could not get away with this but in the USA I can. So I am going to......

I think you can tell alot about a guy based on his underwear preference. Boxers, for one, offer a wide range of expression - be it plaid (a Scotsman perhaps), cute little bears and log cabins (a nature lover perhaps) and so on you get the point. I think it takes a certain kind of man to pull off a Spedo. (Oh no my eyes my eyes - ahhhhhh.) So I was thinking this morning, just what kind of underwear does our gutless (oops did I actually type that - I meant fearless - bad fingers very bad fingers.....) leader wear? MMMM. Well GW is seriously lacking in imagination, so I am thinking themed boxers would be out of the question. Well, then I am fairly certain that a Spedo is not really his thing either. (Thank God!) While he does jog, I am going to have to say that the sporty boxer brief is not a likely choice either. (Forget about a low rise boxer brief. Yikes not going there.) So after much more thought on the matter than truly necessary I am going to have to say that our largely unimaginative and totally inept leader, more than likely goes with your run of the mill, tighty whitey - plain old briefs.

So you see, in this country I am totally entitled to my opinion. The thought police cannot come to my house, with their shorts in a knot. I am allowed to express my opinions. There are groups in the US who have dedicated their life's work to making sure that we are allowed to express ourselves. (the ACLU as an example) Dissension is patriotic. We must never rest on our laurels. Discussion and debate is a good thing. It keeps the Constitution alive. It honors those, who have given their lives in the pursuit of securing those ideals for all Americans and people around the global.

Freedom of Speech ensures that we are free to exchange ideas, even ideas unpopular with many. It means that we can read what want, write what we want, say what we feels needs to be said. It means that we can watch what we choose in the privacy of our own homes.

But it does have its limits. We cannot outright lie about people. (So if I knew for a fact that GW does in fact wear a Spedo - I really need to own up to that fact.... WHICH I SO HAVE NO WAY OF KNOWING.....) It also means that I should offer a fair and balanced explanation for my thoughts. (Yeah ok it is my blog, so I get to say what I want. In a news article, I should be fair and balanced.) I think it is helpful in the pursuit of an honest debate - to avoid personal attacks and the like. But on a whole freedom of speech ensures that we can question and we comment without fear that we could lose of lives, homes, jobs. It ensures that we are free to think and explore.

So I raise my glass to every Dissident who is currently away from their families because they made the choice to speak up and out. I raise my glass to every active duty service man and woman - who is away from friends and family - serving our nation. I raise my glass to every veteran - who has served with honor and pride. I raise my glass to every American who feels passionate about something and who uses their voice to speak out, act up and stand proud.

It really is a reason to celebrate.

Single Digits!

Ok, so I have shared the downside to my scary food issues.....

But today I have to share the upside.... pants sizes in the single digits.

Yeah buddy, chicken, brown rice and veggie rock!

Hives really ought to just be for BEES...

But alas they are not. I broke out yesterday with a case of the hives after lunch. I am normally very good about what I am eating and today and the balance of yesterday I racked my brain, as to what I could have eaten that would have given me the hives and the acute headache.

I have no answer. I had eaten seared tuna, some homemade pickles (made by me....), some fruit and a wheat free cookie. Yeah..... so what oh what caused the scary food reaction????

Before we had isolated what was causing my mystery maladies, I had had an outbreak similar to yesterdays a few times before..... and this one was mild, it only lasted a few hours and by dinner time and our dinner party, I was right as rain. It is scary however..... for it to come out of nowhere like that. (I turned beat red all over, as if I had had too much sun. Get a hot feeling on my skin, followed by feeling really cold. Then as fast as it happened - it went away.)

At least H was home. It is most scary to have a reaction like that and be all alone. Not a good feeling. At all.

So now I am back to being super extra vigilant and calling my doctor....... because seriously, I check and double check and when in doubt - I do not eat!

Here's to fruits, veggies, brown rice and chicken. I guess I cannot go wrong with that menu alone!