flea, were your ears burning last night? Emmett and I were talking about you as we were studying for his Catcher in the Rye final. (Holden's little sister sharing a name with you.)

what are people doing this weekend

Dealing with my folks (sigh), ushering at the theater on Saturday night (I think it's a one-man comedy show, not sure), doing an interview for a fannish podcast on Sunday. That ought to be interesting, or something. New, anyway.

Tonight I'll sit home and read, I think.

Ugh, tommyrot, that link is so depressing.

"Hur, I wonder what would happen if I stuck my hand in the wood chipper? That might be cool! Let's see what would happen!"

OK, this is pretty cool.

Obama's daughter, Sasha, practices Chinese with Hu

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Talk about a high level language exchange.

President Barack Obama's nine-year-old daughter, Sasha, wanted to test her developing Chinese skills this week while Hu Jintao was in town.

Just whom did she want to practice them with?

The Chinese president himself, according to a White House official who recounted the story on Thursday after a formal state dinner the previous night.

"The president pointed out last night at the state dinner that his daughter, Sasha, is a very young girl but her class is studying Chinese," Ben Rhodes, a White House deputy national security adviser, told a video conference with Chinese bloggers.

"She's under 10 years old and they're studying Chinese, and she wanted to have the chance to practice her Chinese with President Hu."

Sasha attended Hu's welcoming ceremony on the White House lawn on Wednesday morning with friends and could be seen waving a Chinese flag excitedly as her father and Hu walked around the grounds.

The two presidents paused to visit when they reached the nine-year-old and her friends behind the rope line.

"Not every (child) has the opportunity to try out their first phrases of Chinese with the president of China, but she had that chance," Rhodes said.

He said the anecdote illustrated Americans' desire to get to know China better with more people studying the country and doing business there.

That is a cute story!! I want to practice my Chinese with Hu Jintao! I'm sure he was thrilled; from what I can tell Chinese people were universally astounded every time I opened my mouth, and for Chinese to be coming out of a nine-year-old is even more impressive!

Russian Orthodox Church calls for dress code, says miniskirts cause 'madness'

Yeah, but it's a good kind of madness.

A top official of the increasingly powerful Russian Orthodox Church has triggered a storm of outrage by calling for a "national dress code" that would force women to dress modestly in public and require businesses to throw out "indecently" clad customers.

Women, said Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, can't be trusted to clothe themselves properly.

"It is wrong to think that women should decide themselves what they can wear in public places or at work," he said Tuesday. "If a woman dresses like a prostitute, her colleagues must have the right to tell her that."

"Moreover," Archpriest Chaplin added, "if a woman dresses and acts indecently, this is a direct route to unhappiness, one-night stands, brief marriages followed by rat-like divorces, ruined lives of children, and madness."

WTF is a "rat-like" divorce?

eta: Also, Russian Orthodox bishops are the ones who wear big furry hats, right?

All Russians wear big furry hats. Or so it seems on my teevee.

Hec, I was partly named for Holden's little sister. As literary characters after whom to be named, she's a pretty good one.

Hec, I was partly named for Holden's little sister.

Awww, that's cool. I didn't know that.

As literary characters after whom to be named, she's a pretty good one.

Most definitely.

Now, I kind of want to know how everybody got their name.

How did your parents pick your name? Were you named after anybody?

My Dad was playing golf with his best friend, Dave, late in my mom's pregnancy and as he leaned over to putt it just hit him and he said, "I'm going to name my son, David." (They didn't know whether I as a girl or boy yet.)

Emmett's name came from a confluence of Emmett Kelly and Robert Emmett. Matilda via Dahl and Tom Waits. And, of course, just liking the sound of the names and having positive associations.

Emmett's two middle names are his maternal grandfather's - Jack Devine.

Matilda's middle name comes from my maternal grandmother.

I was named after my grandfather's sister, who was one of six or eight sisters--he was the only boy. One of the sisters was named Anastasia, which has always confused me: it's not the sort of name you expect in an Irish Catholic family of the late 1800s.

It was the early 70's and my dad really liked the sound of Erin. My middle name is Elizabeth, and that is my great-aunt Alice's middle name too.

If I would have been a boy, I would have been Clark Clarence, after my grandfathers.