Welcome!

Hi Folks!

Rowsdower here. Welcome to my journal of little, trifling inconveniences and other things that annoy me. Right now, I've got a game of poker going on the other monitor and a lite beer in my free hand - so there hasn't been a lot of forethought in this enterprise. I just kind of browsed my way in here. But let's jump right in.

My friend from my old job is taking his wife to the hospital tonight to induce labor. It's going to be a girl. This is a really nice guy, his wife is nice. Nice family. But they've been fighting over the name. He wants "Skylar". She wants to invent a new name, and has chosen Arhia (pronounced just like Aria). They've compromised and now the girl will be Skylar Arhia.

This is just so sad for the kid. I'm more sad here than annoyed, though I am annoyed. These people who want to invent names are just insane. You're dooming the kid to a lifetime of having to correct people's spelling and pronunciation.
And Skylar... This is just one of those trendy names like Tyler or Cody. Do you know how popular the name Madison has gotten in the last 5-10 years? It's one of the top ten names for girls. How is Madison any different than Tiffany? It's a terrible, terrible name.

I think baby names come in a few general categories:

Plain
Biblical
Trendy
Way the Hell out there
Uncommon

I think uncommon is the best way to go. Although you can't really go wrong with plain.

Plus this couple is hyphenating their last names for the children, so the girl will have four names.

There's obviously lots more to talk about when considering baby names, and of course, I've never had to name a baby. But I think it needs to be said: don't invent any names, and don't choose a trendy one. How to know if it's trendy? Hmm. Well, if you associate the name more with a TV character than a real person, I'd say that's a sign. Like Dylan. If you have ever named a child Dylan, you are an idiot.