What's In A Name?

Just for fun, I thought I'd share this list of Puritan names I ran across recently. There was an ongoing conversation among Star Wars fans about how terrible some of the names in SW universe are. (Korkie Kryze and Talon Karrde both got mentioned more than once, just to give you an example.) In response, one of the participants offered the above list of actual names from various historical records that Puritans gave their children. While some of them are quite lovely, others were obviously from an era before anyone had to write their name in the tiny little lines/boxes that are now standard on any kind of official form... they also make you wonder what some of these poor little kids' nicknames were! 

The whole list is worth checking out, but here are my top three (cringe-inspiring) favorites:
(1) If-Christ-had- not-died-for- thee-thou-hadst- been-damned
(2) Helpless 
(3) Fly-fornication

And, just in case you thought horrible names were getting more rare in our 'enlightened' (not sci-fi) times, my sister texted me last week that there is a child at the school she works at whose name is 'Panera'...   

What's the worst name you ever saw/heard a person given? 

Tenth Unikitty

At work, one of the other trainers (also a geek girl) and I convinced the managers a while back that we needed a "Shout Out Board" where we could leave thanks and positive feedback to other associates - especially those whom we never saw because we worked different shifts. (Nothing makes closers feel more appreciated after a rough night than a thank-you from an opener the next day recognizing their attention to detail in spite of being tired/frustrated/so.very.done.)

Being uber artistic, the other trainer decided to take pictures of each trainer, print them, and paste them onto magnets that we could stick next to whatever we wrote on the board. Which was fine, I explained, except that I don't show up on film. Given my disinterest in having a photo taken, she decided to make this for me instead based on conversations we'd had:

Do you recognize it?! It's UniKitty from The Lego Movie and the Tenth Doctor from Dr. Who!!

This is my litttle magnet, and it makes me unreasonably happy every time I see it. Hope you have something random and fun to make you happy today!

Pandemic: Play It Now!

The weather this year has been beyond awful. From a late (and heavily damaging) snow storm at the end of March to non-stop rain and unseasonable cold from then straight to now, being outside has been inhospitable at best and sometimes just plain not all that safe.


Together with a variety of other factors, the gross weather led us to discover an awesome new game: Pandemic.

If you can get your hands on one, I cannot recommend giving it a shot highly enough. Unlike most games, it is collaborative - not competitive. (And unlike Cards Against Humanity, it's safe to play in all company!)

Everyone (2-4 players) works together to try to stop the world from being wiped out by four different diseases. Each person has unique abilities, and the different combinations of "roles" each game (in addition to the random pulling of game cards) means you never play the same game twice - it's challenging in new ways every time! There's all kinds of opportunity for strategy, creative thinking... and creative cursing when you lose. Because you will. A lot. But you'll still have a good time.

As Will Wheaton (of Star Trek: TNG fame) puts it in his video review, "I've had more fun losing this game than winning a lot of others."

Looking for something new that is inexpensive, doesn't involve screen time, and will stretch your brain (in all the good ways covered here)? Try this! 

The Compleat Works of Wllm Shakespeare [Abridged] [Revised]

Image belongs to Glimmerglass and/or the Farmer's Museum

I have always been a judgmental reader with high standards. With the notable exception of Tolkien, I was almost never a fan of anything considered a “classic… which I’m sure you can imagine made me a joy in high school and college lit classes. I long harbored a particular dislike for both Shakespeare and Dickens. Frankly, I was quite convinced Dickens wouldn’t have ever written a single word if anti-depressants had been available to him.

Shakespeare largely fell victim to my high expectations for strong characters. Compared to the brave souls I was reading about in historical fiction, science fiction and fantasy novels at the time, the Bard’s cast simply wasn’t impressive. Romeo threw tantrums like a two-year old, MacBeth let his wife treat him like a doormat, and my tenth grade teacher essentially boiled the entire plot of Julius Ceasar down to “Brutus was an honorable man”… the fact that he killed his best friend apparently not withstanding.

This low opinion makes it all the more entertaining that I had such a fabulous time this past weekend at a show entitled “The Compleat Works of William Shakespeare [Abridged] [Revised]”. Presented in partnership between a local theatre company and nearby living history museum, the show was billed as “three men hilariously try and fail to present all Shakespeare’s works in 90 minutes”.

The tickets were a good price, and we actually didn’t have anything scheduled that day, so scheduled an impromptu date to go check it out. It was a gorgeously sunny afternoon as we headed to the museum’s beautiful stone barn, which had been restored and turned into a giant multi-purpose space with enormous sliding doors, folding wooden shutters, wide plank floors, and a small stage.

From the show’s introduction by an ostensible “pre-eminent Shakepearian scholar” – complete with a certificate from PreEminentShakespearianScholar.com – and the somewhat confused bio of the Bard which another actor read to us from Wikipedia via his phone (that somehow accidentally switched to Hitler’s bio halfway through), we knew we were in for a good time.

Highlights of the show included Titus Andronicus presented as a cooking show, all of Shakespeare’s histories condensed and presented as a football game (with two of the actors using a crown in place of a football, tackling and stabbing each other as the sportscaster style narration tracked the passing of the crown through kings John, Richard and Lear) and a neat compilation of nearly all of the comedies into a single, massive bacchanalian party.  Nearly every female character necessitated the donning of a stringy blonde wig and the swigging of poison, followed by subsequent profuse (faux) vomiting and dramatic death (despite insistence from the “Pre-Eminent Shakespearan Scholar” that no such vomiting actually happened in the plays).

The show ended with Hamlet, which was turned into an interactive experience for the audience as we recreated Ophelia’s deep inner turmoil. Yours truly was elected to go on stage to play the role of Ophelia’s id, screaming dramatically. (Because who else would you choose for such a job besides an introvert?) On the bright side, it gave me a perfect position from which to watch different sections of the audience get corralled into playing other parts of Ophelia’s psyche. My personal favorite was the section assigned to say “Cut the crap, Hamlet! My clock is ticking, and I want babies now!”  Seriously, if Shakespeare’s women had actually been that direct in the plays, think how differently things would have turned out!

Everything ended on a high note by the actors recapping Hamlet in 30 seconds, first in order… and then backwards! The entire show was a riot, and we had a wonderful time. If you ever get a chance to go see the show, I highly recommend it.