Just Thinking Out Loud

Off the wall names I like:

• clementine
• ainsley
• poppy
• piper
• harrison
• henry
• alfie
• ezra

Off the wall places I'd like to live:

• San Francisco
• a brownstone in Brooklyn
• new orleans french quarter
• the south of france
• a village in cambodia

--------------------------------------------------------

There really isn't much point to that stuff. You ever get to just thinking about things? Things being nothing and everything and really quite intriguing and silly at the same time. Things that are otherwise inconsequential but perhaps it's important to know you once thought them. So you pull up your blog, or dust off your journal and put them down for posterity's sake.

I read an article earlier from the UK (as in United Kingdom, not the school that rapes my wallet every fall) about how old names are making a comeback in the chic department. Of course people will still stick with trendy, but over there, where I've decided they are infinitely cooler than America, really old names are on the upturn. Like little 3 year old boys walking around being called Edward, Ted, and George. Or perfectly British young girls named Mabel and Nellie. So I came up with my own list. And so you have it.

The living list will never happen. It just won't. I see myself visiting these places. But living there is like a mythical second life that exists only in my head. A what if kind of thought. Perhaps the oddest is a village in Cambodia, but I have this strange pull towards that country. Kind of like my obsession with Greece, though I've never been able to explain it. The other night my Dad posed one of those silly dinner table kind of questions: if you visited somewhere next week, no limits on distance or money, where would it be? I said Cambodia. He said, "Whatever. Watch out for landmines."

-----------------------------------------------------------

I've been kind of out of it for the past few days. I have struggled with this strange cold/sinus pressure thing all summer long and this week it has managed to rear its ugly head again. No matter what I take, nothing seems to stop the sloshing around of my brain.

Not to mention my longest known friend is pregnant. Due the same month as my birthday. In a less than perfect situation. It's just been much for me to take in and process. Frankly, I've still not made much progress in doing so. I'm sure I'll come around though.

-----------------------------------------------------------

I've declared tonight a eat bad food and watch shitty movies night. I haven't eaten out in so long that I'm thinking what my brain is missing is some processed crap. Trans Fat: It's What's For Dinner.

Forgive Your Enemies, But Never Forget Their Names

My cousin gave birth this morning to her 3rd (and final) boy. Weighing in at 7 pounds, little Braden Patrick joined his big brothers, Nathaniel and Dylan. And early this morning after we got the news that she was in labor and we didn't know his name I remarked that she'd probably call him some form of Aiden. Everyone is naming their kid some version of Aiden: Braden, Caden, Jayden, Hayden. Did I miss any?

The Top Ten Boys Names of 2007 were:

1. Aiden
2. Braden
3. Kaden
4. Ethan
5. Caleb
6. Noah
7. Jaden
8. Connor
9. Landon
10. Jacob
and Hayden made the list at #54

Notice a trend?

I was at the grocery when Braden finally made his way into the world. My mom called me and said, "what was that name you hate?"

Sometimes, without even noticing it, I experience this smug superiority in regards to baby names. If I like a name someone has picked out I don't waste time in complementing them and sharing how much I like it. On the other hand, if I hate the name, I struggle with my reactions. My nose twitches, my mouth frowns. It's darn near uncontrollable.

I can respect baby names for what they are: an intensely personal decision. Which is why I keep my opinions to myself usually. But in the interest of disclosure, I suppose my issue lies with a name's popularity. Especially when it becomes noticable that everyone around me is naming their kid the same thing. A few years ago everyone named their girl Madison. Years before it was Ashley. It's the same reason I went to school with classes full of Jessicas.

And now it's any form of Aiden.

Wake me up when it's over and we all move on to the next big name trend please.

Also in the interest of full disclosure, my favorite baby names, so you can probably cringe the way I do over the Aiden names. haha

Girls:
*Harper
*Talley
*Ellis
*Sloane
*Norah

Boys
*Jude
*Gabriel
*Sullivan
*Julian

Yes, I like nice, crusty, Eastern Seaboard names. The kind you'd hear yelled on a beach at "The Cape". You know I've always wanted to be a Kennedy... ;)