In 2014 I featured a series of blog posts introducing you to 2,014 names. For the most part they were names that were brand new to me as well. Some names may be more familiar but I found the meaning or origin or some other aspect of the name made it worthy of inclusion here. You may love some of the names, you may hate some, but hopefully you enjoy learning about all of them.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Lost

I had this fabulous post that explored the seven possible layers of meaning of the Lighthouse that Jack and Hurley go to in this new season of Lost. But then blogger went and ate it and I hadn't saved it, I guess.

So instead, I will just post what I found out about the name Sayyid. It is arabic and means "lord". It was an honorary title given to the descendants of Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet. Jarrah means "vessel".

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Survivor



I am now catching up on the new season of Survivor and I've now watched the first three episodes. It's a very intense season because all of the people have such strong personalities. There aren't any people who fade into the background. The closest to that would be Courtney and Amanda. I've been pretty disappointed in the choices the Heroes have made (they got rid of Sugar and Stephenie, the two people I was rooting for the most. Now the one on their tribe I'm rooting for is Candice and I'm worried they'll get rid of her next). The way they've been treating the women on their tribe is nothing to crow about and does not really make them look like Heroes. The player I most want out of the game at this point is James. I see nothing to admire about the guy. And for all the griping about Parvati's flirting on the Villains tribe, at least she has a nice personality. And she makes no secret that flirting is her gameplan, at least. I remember it aggravating the hell out of me in her first season. But she's an awesome player, I think. Though, suprisingly, Boston Rob is the guy I'm rooting for on the Villains tribe. Even though he may have behaved like a Villain in past seasons, he's one of the few players to be playing like a hero right now. So, I'm rooting for Candice, then probably Amanda (I really like her personality). I'm just about 100% a personality person, but the ones who get rid of people for crying or just being a woman or older or whatever, not happy with. And the ones who bully and are mean or rude or cruel or play too dirty (a little bit is ok - hide Rob's hat, but not the machete, push someone hard off the platform, but don't rip her bra off). It's an awesome season and I encourage you to tune into the 2 hr premiere. It's pretty damn good.

Oh, if you had picked the two tribes, who would be your choices for each tribe (Heroes and Villains, ten on each)? For the villains, I didn't put people who might have done villainous stuff or be seen as villains if I actually rather like them (like Parvati). These are the people I would NEVER want to win a million dollars. The heroes are the people I would most root for to win the million.

Mine would be like this (those in the current season are bolded, the season they debuted in after their name):

Heroes

Sugar (Gabon)
Stephenie (Palau)
Ian (Palau)
Bob (Gabon)
Ozzy (Cook Islands)
Amanda (China)
Matty (Gabon)
Sierra (Tocantins)
Yul (Cook Islands)
Marisa (Samoa)

Villains
Corinne (Gabon)
Randy (Gabon)
Tyson (Tocantins)
Coach (Tocantins)
Dave (Samoa)
Russell (Samoa)
Brett (Samoa)
Shane (Exile Island)
Joel (Micronesia)
Ben (Samoa)
I had a much easier time coming up with too many heroes and not enough villains. I guess that speaks well for the world and Survivor, despite its rep.

Pink Martini

This is a great music group I discovered a few months ago. They play vintage music, so if you like music that sounds like it is from the 1940s or around that time, they would be a good group to check out. I've put a youtube video here so you can hear one of their songs. It would be fun to go to one of their concerts.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Nursery Rhyme Book


This is a classic version of all the old favorite Mother Goose rhymes in English. It's the book we had growing up and Mom used to tell us all the different rhymes in this book. I love it because it has so many nursery rhymes, I have not found another book with as many as this one has. Plenty of newer books have fancier illustrations and this one has limited ones in color, but plenty of black and white small illustrations next to the different rhymes. But, it is out of print. So sad.

Anyhow, I think I'm going to compile my own version of a nursery rhyme book, just to have for myself. You know, using scrapbook stuff and printing off classic paintings or prints for the different rhymes. I want to have a nursery rhyme book that has all the rhymes and with the wording I am used to with all my favorite depictions of the rhymes. I'm also going to have a Spanish section, I think, with all the rhymes and songs I've collected at my job to take to the families I visit, and maybe even a few from other languages (Brahm's lullaby - the German words, Frere Jacques, etc). Oh, the other thing that I like is when there are instructions on how to play the games that go with the rhymes or songs or the actions you are supposed to do. And maybe even a place for FYI type stuff (like that Hey Diddle Diddle refers to the constellations in the sky when farmers were supposed to plant and it's really quite old, or that eeny, meeny, miny, and moe are possibly ancient Celtic counting words). It will be THE single most fantastic nursery rhyme book EVER!

What three rhymes or songs would you want to save if humanity only got to keep three (think apocalyptic destruction and only 3 remain in any form, oral or written)?

I would like "Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme" (one of my all-time favorites), Sing a Song of Sixpence, and then probably The House that Jack Built (but I keep changing my 3rd choice!). or for shorter more well known rhymes, Jack and Jill, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, and Humpty Dumpty.