I think now, after 8 years of marriage, all of the relatives I'm in regular contact with have finally worked it out that my husband's name isn't Dillon and that our last name only has one L. Did they think we were spelling it wrong on our own wedding invitations and Christmas cards?

ETA and Annabel is already Annabelle, Annabell, Anabelle, etc. Not that this is a surprise to us--we knew we were violating our "only one standard spelling" rule when we chose her name.

I'm just not Jackie, and I don't want to be. Really, that is all I ask. And even that is too much for about half the people I meet.

Also, Hec is not Dave, and Matilda is too young to state any preferences one way or another but I myself have a screaming aversion to Mattie. If that's the nick she settles on I'm going to have to work shamefully hard on being Zen about it.

I had a phone bill addressed to "Giona" for a year. Most other misspellings happen because people start with a "J" and get confused.

My best friend from high school, who also dated my brother throughout high school, still writes my sister's name without the final "e", despite all my correspondance to the contrary. Of course, given how my name gets butchered, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised.

Erika? Amy? Kristen? I get. But, Dru?

Conservatives, who believe women should be shielded from strange men, say women in the driver's seat will be free to leave home alone and go when and where they please.

And then there will be ANARCHY!

One of the arguments against women driving is that they can all afford drivers so they shouldn't need to drive themselves anywhere.

I loved the news bit on the all-female Iranian taxi company. All the drivers are women (although the company is owned by a man). They take classes on basic auto repair and have state of the art GPS systems. Lots of women feel more comfortable with women drivers, especially at night.

Timelies all!

Happy Birthday Lee! Happy Birthday board!

I've gotten my first name misspelled in a variety of ways. Most often it's Cheryl. I've gone from a 4-letter last name that frequently got misspelled and/or mispronounced to a 7-letter last name that also gets mangled. Oh, well.

The most common one is "Dru."

Like Dru Hill!

I got asked if my name was "Ha" last week.

This is why people think you're Korean.

This is why people think you're Korean.

I had not put two and two thusly together...fascinating.

My sister was told, a few years after prep school, that she must have changed her name to what she was then using. Changed her name from "Margery." How the fuck can you been in class with someone for years and not notice they're not called Margery?

Hmm. After all that typing I've suddenly started liking the name. That would be all messy, to get a kid and name them the nearest quasi-traditional Western name to my sister's, but still off enough it'd have its own problems.

Hey! Anyone wanna donate sperm? And a womb?

My neighbor's daughter is named Chen-li. It's Hebrew but I'm wondering how many people mistake it for an Asian name.

And a womb?

Sorry, mine's closed for business. I might sell you Liv, though. She's not overly attached to her name yet.

That would be all messy, to get a kid and name them the nearest quasi-traditional Western name to my sister's, but still off enough it'd have its own problems.

Yeah, I don't think many people misspelled my mom's name (Françoise) because they probably always double-checked it. Mispronounced, sure.