"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing. " -Helen Keller

Friday, July 22, 2011

A Rose By Any Other Name

Day 21
What names would you NEVER name a child or pet? Shakespeare said "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet." I know the Bard had a finger on human emotions and motivation but I beg to differ with him on this idea. Marty, Joey, and Gabriel are all perfectly wonderful names for my boys in my book. And, I love the names (even the goofy ones) that all our pets have. While there are many other names I considered when choosing names for my children, there was one name I told Vic we could never, ever use if we had a boy. I could NEVER name a boy Ralph. Why is the name Ralph taboo in my house? I bet you'll be surprised by the reason. It actually has nothing to do with the fact that ralph is slang for puking (although that would have moved the name way down the list). No, the name Ralph was stricken from my list because of a book. I was in 6th grade when I read Judy Blume's book Forever. Forever is the coming of age story of Katherine and includes her relationship with Michael, the boy she lost her virginity to. Michael has a name for his penis and that name just happens to be Ralph. Since then, I have never been able to hear that name without thinking of the book and the connotations therein.

What name do you wish you had been named? Honestly, I have never wished to have a different name.I love my first name and my middle name is the same as my aunt Kathy's middle name.

Do you like the name of your blog? Way back in the beginning of 2009, I gave my blog a makeover. It gained a new look and a new name but kept the same url. The more geeky of you might have noticed that my blog url is very different from the name. The url stems from the original name of my blog, The Fertile Infertile. When I first started my blog, we were in the hell of secondary infertility and repeat pregnancy loss. Even after we finally had Gabe, I left the blog name alone. Part of that was because I wasn't blogging that often and part of it was I just didn't have a better idea. By early 2009, I had been back to actively blogging for about 6 months and I knew it was time for a change. You can read a little bit about what the name change meant here and here (question 2).

Weigh in with your thoughts on these questions and join the fun of Calliope's Bloggity Summer Camp.