Random thoughts, as usual

[cleolinda]

Apparently Britney's second child is now named Sutton Pierce, and I started thinking. I can't remember where I read this, but apparently parents tend to name children according to their own aspirations. Between Sean Preston and Sutton Pierce, I'd say that self-declared "country" girl Britney seems to be reaching for a yuppier plane of existence (and may or may not be obsessed with fighting skin cancer, what with using the initials SPF twice and all now). At the same time, names like "Max" and "Sam" have been popular over the last ten years or so with older celebrities (by which I mean, grown actors and not former teen queens), which would suggest to me that they're trying to keep their kids grounded.

It made me start thinking about my own name--what was my mother trying to reach for when she named me? What did she want for me? My real name, as I've said before, is Lauren, and I was born in '78; she very indignantly denied that she'd named me after Lauren Hutton, which is hilarious to me for some reason. She also says that she wanted to name me something that other parents weren't using, and was very pissed off when her best friend at the time, and then half of America, subsequently bestowed it upon their own children. So I went back to my well-thumbed copy of The Last Word on First Names (from the people who brought you Beyond Jennifer and Jason) which says, "The Lori of the '90s, Lauren is seriously trendy [as of 1995], but manages to hang on to some measure of sophistication and strength. According to a Harvard sociologist's study, it's among the most preferred names of mothers with high educations--or was in the 1980s."

When I was a lot younger, I didn't like my name. I didn't outright hate it, but I wished I'd been named something girlier, something softer--my favorite names when I was eight years old were Samantha and Rebecca. Anything with an A or an E/Y sound on the end, I think I would have been happier about it. It was the -en that bothered me, I think--when I was in grade school, I was surrounded by girls named Anna and Sarah and Katie and Ashley, with a Selena and a Melissa for good measure. And yes, several Lauras (and Laurens). "Lauren" seemed lumpen compared to all those mellifluous names sylphing about. But when I think about my mother now, who was a social worker then, and quit after she was mugged (twice) and went into benefits administration, and was consistently paid a hell of a lot less than the men in the office even though she did her job and half of theirs as well, and survived finding out that my father was leading a double life and the utter collapse of our finances nearly ten years ago, and supported me in every single thing I ever wanted to do--I get a better idea of what she wanted for me, and I think I appreciate it now.

The "White Flour! White Flour!" comment y'all pointed out on the original Martha Stewart/Gawker entry was so awesome that I had to make an icon. Take if you want.

Gunman wounds 20 at Montreal college. Contrary to what was reported before, "Police spokesman Ean Lafreniere said there was just one gunman at the school and the search for any others was over. Although police initially suggested the gunman had killed himself, Police Director Yvan DeLorme later said at a news conference that 'based on current information, the suspect was killed by police.'" An article about the shooter himself.

Former Texas Gov. Ann Richards dies.

Lawyer Says Smith Tried to Revive Son. Also, TrimSpa CEO says Anna Nicole is incoherent with grief. God, she's got new-mother hormones on top of all this, too.

Tenth would-be planet's name changed from Xena to Eris.

Whitney Houston Seeks Separation.

John Mark Karr faces porn charges.

CBS wants to buy the next YouTube, not YouTube.

Gay Israeli-Palestinian love story alienates many.

Neil Gaiman, "drawn as an agent of the Empire spreading pestilence over our world."

The Go Fug Yourself girls review the Heatherette show at Fashion Week.

queenofattolia: "Hey -- I know you love jewelry, and I thought you'd like what this girl designs (she casts the Day of the Dead silver jewelry herself; most of the other stuff is from Oaxaca). She's a very nice person with her own little cottage industry, and I think her stuff deserves wider recognition." Outstanding--I like the Day of the Dead and Xochitl collections in particular.

quizzicalsphinx: "I have no idea if you or anyone on your friends list will realise precisely how freakin' awesome this is, but Peter Jackson has bought the rights to Naomi Novik's Temeraire novels and plans to get to work on them after The Lovely Bones and (potentially) The Hobbit are complete. If you know not of the Temeraire novels, they are Master and Commander with dragons."

Speaking of dragons, new Eragon trailer out. It looks like the cheesiest movie good money can buy--does that make sense? Maybe it will after you've watched it. The production values are good, but the production design, I guess... it ain't Chronicles of Narnia, I'll put it that way. Caveat: I am severely biased against this movie.

Same link as above: a second Apocalypto trailer.

skyblade: "On your digest blog [my note: which woefully has not been updated in forever, and may be combined back into this one], you made a prediction about Kristen Bell in the movie Fanboys and whaddya know..." I don't remember what my prediction was exactly, but if I had to guess, it was probably, "Five bucks says they manage to get her into the gold Leia bikini." And as always I was right.

Comments

HP linkspam

[katels.livejournal.com]

Boy wizard's latest escape (http://www.smh.com.au/news/books/boy-wizards-latest-escape/2006/09/14/1157827089291.html).

*goes back to read other linkspam posted*

[whisperwords.livejournal.com]

Apparently Britney Spears only wants to pay for one set of monograms.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Heh, I thought of that too.

[dopaminergic.livejournal.com]

*giggles at your icon*

[lilitou.livejournal.com]

Eris and her satellite Dysnomia? Oh my god. Best pseudo-planet-thing names ever! I want a pet to name Eris.

[particle-person.livejournal.com]

Via Gaiman's site: You too can live in The Shire (http://www.bendshire.com/) if you really want to. Sadly, the cottages do not appear to have circular doors. (Does the neighborhood watch keep a lookout for Saruman?)

[gravities.livejournal.com]

ssssssssshiiiiiirre......baggggginnnnssssss.....

[edda.livejournal.com]

Aww, damn, Ann Richards is gone. You just know Molly Ivins is eulogizing her right now and doing a hell of a great job.

[eronn-actually.livejournal.com]

You've been mentioning the lonelygirl15 stuff in your last few linkspams, so I thought you might like to see the new video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IcYUifgEfw). It's been confirmed by the creators that it's an official "spin-off."

And I am such a dork b/c I'm ejoying it way too much. :P

[spidey-88.livejournal.com]

When we were searching to name our daughter, it was really hard to pick a name that wasn't cutesy (Brittany, etc) or overused and trendy (Madison, etc.) and that would grow with her as she aged. Naming is complicated, yo! No one respects "Judge Tiffani."

[morganwolf.livejournal.com]

I chose names for my (as yet unborn) children that are different from what most people are naming their kids now, but who knows what'll happen in a few years, when I'm actually ready to birth some babies. I chose them because I feel they're names that will suit both a young child and a mature adult-- I did not want to give my kids names that either do not sound appropriate for a fully-grown person (Corey, Dovie) or do not sound like the person could ever possibly have been young (Barbara-Ann, Humphrey). I also didn't want to give my kids really weird names that would mean they could never get taken seriously.

I have a friend, Jen, who was born... oh, '84? Her mother also felt that by bestowing her daughter with the name "Jennifer" she was doing something really unique.

I got my name from a dream my mother had a few weeks before I was born. In it I already existed and my name was Morgan, so Morgan I became.

[http://users.livejournal.com/__marcelo/]

Um. I was ready to be unsurprised but mildly enraged at Xena's change of name (because I want to belong to an species cool enough to name it Xena), but at some level Eris works, too. Discordians are finally getting their own planet! (we were offered this one, but it was kind of wrinkled).

[sucrelefey.livejournal.com]

Darn those scientists and their tradition of using mythology rather than trademarked characters. ;D

Re: the Eragon trailer...

[nasus221.livejournal.com]

Blonde boy watching the sunset=so Luke Skywalker.

Re: the Eragon trailer...

[quenbolyn.livejournal.com]

If you've ever read the book, then you'll know just how Star Wars the whole thing feels.

[rufus.livejournal.com]

OMG thank you for the Spears Name update, I have been waiting for that for DAYS. heh.

My mother wanted for us to have our "own name" i.e. one we didn't share with any of my 8 bajillion cousins -- and so she gave *me* the most popular name for girls between 1965 and 1985, because she didn't know anyone else with a child with that name. To which I have always been, like, wtf, mom?

My sister made out a little better, but was frustrated in other ways as her name was a little *too* unqiue -- my name was on every mug, sticker and keychain, hers was on *nothing*. But that was a little bit of regional bias, as I found out later -- what is uncommon in VA is thick on the ground in NY/NJ, apparently.

And her other rules were she had to be able to holler it out the back door without laughing and also it had to be dignified, somethng I could answer to as a professional woman in an office/boardroom situation without sounding ridiculous.

[kateshort.livejournal.com]

Okay, that icon is getting posted to userpicks.

One question-- gankable or not?

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Of course! Want/take/have is my general policy.

I don't know if this is a compliment.....

[rorqual.livejournal.com]

We have a tv in our office, which we use for the news (ie Fox, because it's like news, only full of trash and ridiculousness). They were covering Anna Nicole's son's death (of course), but it was very busy at work today and I didn't have time to do more than peek at the headlines scrolling across the screen....but I thought "That's okay, if there's anything worth reading, I'll see it on Cleo's LJ when I get home."

You're like my Fark. You can take that for what it's worth....:)

[morgan-c-hoax.livejournal.com]

The Go Fug Yourself girls link appears to be broken.

[laurelin-kit.livejournal.com]

That's an interesting note about mother's and the naming. My mother's name is Laura Gail and almost right away she refused to be known as Laura. She's Gail on all legal documents and sometimes doesn't even recognize her own name when she gets mail sent to it. She named me Laura, and said that she saved it for me. When I was younger I hated my name because everyone pronounced it "Lora," when, you fuckers, there's no 'o' sound in it. Now I like it. In fact, I like it so much that I'm letting my nickname "Kit" fall by the wayside.

Interesting. I don't know what all that says about my mother.

[riney.livejournal.com]

I find it interesting that your mom gave you the name she discarded (in a way) herself. When she chose to go by Gail was it because she disliked the name Laura or because she liked Gail better or some other reason?

[thegeneralerin.livejournal.com]

pah. I don't like the design of the dragon in the trailer. I probably won't see the movie, because during the entire time I will just keep thinking to myself, "I DONT LIKE THE DRAGON!!"

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

From what I remember, though, it looks exactly like the dragon on the book cover, which is something of a feat.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

My parents named me after their guru's sister (Manija, my first name) and their guru's chief female disciple (Mehera.) I think it's pretty obvious what their aspirations were.

When I turned seventeen, I changed my name to Rachel, thus proving that I aspire to... not be a guru, anyway.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

I feel compelled to note here that I love the name Rachel--so much that I realized I had named not one but two semi-major characters in two different stories Rachel, and I can't decide if the second one gets to keep it or not.

(I think Manija makes for a great middle name, the way you're using it, though. Oddly enough, for some reason I thought it was Spanish.)

[anne-jumps.livejournal.com]

When I was five (also born in 1978) I decided I didn't want to be named Anne anymore, so when I met my new friend (who would be my best friend for the next few years), Adam, I introduced myself as Emily. Soooo then my parents met his parents and they of course said my real name, having no clue what was going on, and Adam's parents never trusted me again.

[georgie21.livejournal.com]

The name thing you were talking about is really interesting. When my dad (his name is Sean) was about... 10, I think, his dad decided to change his name. Not officially, or anything, but he decided that he wanted his son to have a business, money, blah blah blah, and no one would take him seriously if his name was Sean. So one morning he just started calling my dad John, and it stuck for about 10 years before my dad got sick of it.

Which is probably why myself, my sister, and my brother all have what he considers to be very strong names. (Rachel, Cassidy, and Alexander, although I think my mum had more to do with Cassidy)

Sorry if that was tmi, lol, just thought you might find it interesting. :P

[kissingosiris.livejournal.com]

My mom was a huge Fleetwood Mac fan so when I was born she decided to name me after Stevie Nicks (who's real name is Stephanie Lynn Nicks) in the hopes that as I grew up people would call me Stevie. But alas, I was a boring child and demanded that everybody just call me Stef. Actually most of my childhood was spent telling off others for thinking that I was named after Stephanie off of Full House. Other than that, I'm quite happy with my name. It's so...me...if that makes any sense.

Anyway, back to lurking for me. ^_^

[maggieblue.livejournal.com]

My mom named me after Stevie Nicks, too. My middle name is different, but still starts with an "L". She ALWAYS insisted I be called Stevie, even when I hatehatehated it in grade school because everyone told me I had a boys name.

Now, I'm 23, and I love it. I've only ever met one other Stevie in person, and she was a 44 year old truck driver with a sailor's mouth and a whiskey problem. Heh.

[artemis-archer.livejournal.com]

Lauren was definitely popular in the late 80's since a lot of the girls I went to high school with were either Lauren or Kaitlin. My sisters' name is Laura and I always wanted to switch with her. My name is Carly. Sometimes I like it because it's not the most usual name but generally I hate it because it means "The feminine version of Carl". When people call me Carl for short I cringe because it makes me feel like Carl Winslow from Family Matters. Plus my name doesn't really have any nickname options which is why I want to name my kids things that can be shortened, like Mallory to Mally or Liliana to Lily.

[aliaspiral.livejournal.com]

this is exactly how my mother, who has a short, one syllable name, came to name her three daughters lovely, 3 syllable names, so they could be shortened...and absolutely none of those daughters allow people to call them anything but their full names..

[vampirepig13.livejournal.com]

I'm a Lauren too, and I also wanted a girlier name. I leaned a lot towards Tiffany, for some reason, and slightly more exotic-sounding (well, for Pittsburgh) names like Ariana. So, I feel your pain. With the same vowel sounds, even.

[maliekai.livejournal.com]

MY name's Ariana! I love it, but I hate how people mispronounce and misspell it. I very commonly get called Adrianna, Andrea, Arena, and Ariel. I know. No, I KNOW. There is no effing D!!!!! And it is FOUR syllables, not three! Really, it isn't that complicated a name and it's becoming much more common, so I don't know why people insist on being so ignorant. Also, people constantly call me "Ari-ANN-a," which is most definitely is not. It's "Ari-AHN-a," and my parents very specifically only included one n so that it would be pronounced that way. Siiiiigh.

[princessstarr.livejournal.com]

I have a long-standing pet peeve with the name Lauren. Every time someone called me that, I'm always, "It's Laur-UH! UH! There's an A at the end!"

Didn't help that there were eight Laurens in my graduating class either.

[lilitou.livejournal.com]

I have a similar problem in that my name is Suzanne and everyone always calls me "Susan". Even when I very clearly enunciate, it immediately becomes "Susan" when I meet someone new. Except when they immediately feel they have the right to call me "Sue", which is when I gouge out their eyeballs.

[lyricalnights.livejournal.com]

1)Interestingly, I've never disliked my moderately uncommon name- Natalie- but I always envied the girls in elementary school who had common names and got to write their last initals on their papers: Lauren S., Jennifer D., etc. *g*

2)Dog the Bounty Hunter has been arrested (http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,20017,00.html?fdnews) for capturing Andrew Luster (rapist Max Factor heir) in Mexico and bringing him back to the US in 2003. That's some kind of bitter irony right there.

I thought you'd be interested, since it's vaugley LOTR-related

[herigstad.livejournal.com]

Did you see this yet? (http://www.bendshire.com/)

The Shire looks like a misguided plan to build a fantasy-style Kinkade Kommunity.