September 27, 2007

First of all, thank you so much for the books/movies/music suggestions! I’ve got Knocked Up added to my Netflix queue; I downloaded Spoon’s Ga Ga Ga Etc (LOVE), A Fine Frenzy (feeling lukewarm about this so far, but I think it’s one that will grow on me), Giant Drag’s “Wicked Game” cover (LOVE), Kanye’s “Stronger” (this song makes me do ridiculous things with my butt); and I’ve got a fantastic to-read list (including “The Nasty Bits“, which I have been meaning to pick up for a while now because man, do I ever love me some Bourdain). You guys rock, as usual.

(Also, here’s something I’ve never known: how are you supposed to reference books or music or movies? With italics, with quotation marks, or what? Is it different for each medium?)

In the spirit of good suggestions for good things, indulge me while I plug the newly-launched business of a family friend: Steve the Art Director has created a very cool website for ordering collage artwork. If you’re like me and you have shitloads of great family photos but no idea what to do with them other than periodically posting them on Flickr, his studio can create some really amazing options—matted, framed, the whole nine yards. Recognize this suspicious little guy? I have that image as a print, beautifully matted and framed, hanging in Riley’s room right now (there are some other cool samples here). Go check it out, and if you have questions, Steve will answer.

Okay, so . . . BOY NAMES. We had a great girl name picked out, but we’re struggling a little with a name for the dong-bearing Smalltopus. If coming up with fabulous-sounding boy names is a passion of yours, your input is welcome. Some possibly-helpful parameters: the middle name will be Emmett, and our last name sounds a lot like Sparks, so first names like Sam or Sheldon are out.

We have considered and mostly discarded the following:

• Ethan (love it, but it’s also the name of my new Workplace boss, who will be starting work—and sharing my office—as of next Monday. “Hi! I’m really hoping you won’t decide to phase out my position, and as a gesture of goodwill I have named my child after you! Hope that’s not awkward, ha ha!”)

• Jake (love, but do not love Jacob)

• Dexter (possibly influenced by my deep adoration for the Showtime TV series, possibly a name most people won’t find very appealing)

• Cody (cute, but maybe too trendy-sounding, especially when combined with Riley)

• Garrett (JB’s choice. Not mine)

• Casey (too gender-ambiguous; also not sure about another name ending in an “ee” sound)

The top contender is a name we both like very much, it just isn’t ringing the same bells that Riley did for us. I’m not sure if we can expect to have another “YES! YES THAT’S IT!” moment, or if we need to let a name percolate and become more familiar. I guess we could wait until the babe makes his appearance and name him then, but I’m concerned we’d end up with something like Vermixy or Red-n-Squashed or Hiccups Von NeverSleep.

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Stacy
Stacy
17 years ago

My son’s name is Ronan. That might go nicely with Riley although maybe it doesn’t go to well with Emmett. I also like Myer. Some of the suggestions above are for boys names that are becoming girls names (Harper, Finley, Rory, Avery, Taylor, etc.). It’s unfair but I wouldn’t want a boy who was the only male in his class with a girls name!

omu
omu
17 years ago

I vote for Grant too… Of course, I may be biased. ; )

donna
donna
17 years ago

What about Curtis? Curtis Emmett Sparks. Curt for short. Curt and Riley. Riley and Curtis.
I also like Morgan. For a girl though.
We have a whole line of George Washington’s.
The worst name for your son? Wiley. Wiley and Riley. Shoot me.

Kathy
Kathy
17 years ago

My son is Tyler Christian. Loved it 16 years ago, still do. We call him Ty most of the time. Also love Grayson, Owen and Jake. Had a friend who after having 2 boys found out she was expecting again. It was another boy. She named him Laston because he was the last one she was having…

Lena
Lena
17 years ago

Oh no I’m too late, but here’re my cents

Nicholas
Harrison
Isaac
Jeremy
Clark

erin
erin
17 years ago

We have three boys and three lovely, easily arrived at, unused girl’s names. Choosing boys names, for us, was something akin to scooping out the amazon river with a thimble — an agonizing seemingly endless task. We went to the hospital for each birth with a short list of contenders and lived with three Baby Boy {lastname}s for several days while we dithered. Ethan was the Almost Name for the first two boys. Baby #1 was Ethan for 12 hours. Baby #2 would have been Ethan had my husband not developed a fever of 103 and been sent home, leaving me all alone with the birth certificate and my post partum self righteousness. Which, in the end, meant that *he* got to name baby #3 without any interference from me. Thus we have:

1. Caleb Tavish
2. Elijah Daniel
3. Paden Barrett

and no Ethans at all.

Good Luck.

breckgirl
17 years ago

I know, I am LATE again and I see you’ve already responded about your name choices but I just can’t help but put in my two cents. I read a majority of the comments – LOVE Ranger and Slade. I’ve never heard the name Slade. Anyway, I have been working on my husband for awhile now about naming our next son (no, I’m not even pregnant) Zander. I love it. We could name him Alexander and just call him Zander or there is also the Xander option. Or just name him Zander with no formal long name. It is a strong name – I suppose it helps that I know someone named Zander and he is a kick-ass attorney. I am also a HUGE fan of Austin – that will likely end up being our next son’s name. Emmett is a cool name – you don’t hear it very often. I like the Emmett for first name idea. We, too, had no trouble picking out a girl name (Elle) but struggled more on the boy end. We ended up naming our first son Wyatt and I think it was an excellent choice – we live in Montana, after all. Who better to be named after than a kick-ass cowboy, right? I don’t care what you name the kid, I am just excited for you to HAVE him. Whee! And thanks for that link to the collage maker – I am going to look into that. And watch out for the new boss – new bosses usually end up being the beginning of the end for me. Maybe it is me, huh?

Michelle
17 years ago

Hoo boy. We are currently percolating boy #3, so I’m working on my own names list! But I will share that I like:

Ian (my husband!)
Ewan (my firstborn)
Seth (my second)

Dexter rocks, BTW. :)
M.

Shawna
17 years ago

Keegan sounds too close to kegel in my mind. Silly I know, but there it is. I can’t read Keegan without making the association.

However, I do love the names Jackson, Harrison, Jared, and Max (why do all the women I know love the name Max and all the men hate it?). Looking at what other people wrote, I have to agree that Grayson, Cooper and Logan are nice too. Yet we’d probably name a son Dean; go figure.

wickedfun
wickedfun
17 years ago

How about Colter?

Ange Paton
Ange Paton
16 years ago

We could only come up with two boys’ names when we were expecting – Oscar and Charlie. We had a girl and named her Charlotte, so Charlie is out. Oscar it is.

Ange Paton
Ange Paton
16 years ago

P.S. Love Dexter as well.

Watch Veronica Mars
15 years ago

I like to watch Veronica Mars episodes as well Lost. I found your blog on google and read a few of your other posts. I just added you to my Google News Reader. Keep up the good work. Look forward to reading more from you in the future.

Tara Hedgecock
9 years ago

It’s an honor to possess the free chemistry world magazine app.

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