I'm so very sorry, Jilli. I'm glad your mom had your dad there with her at the end, holding her hand and loving her. If there is any least-bad way to pass from this world (though oh how I wish she hadn't had to leave at all), holding a beloved's hand and hearing loving words is it. All my hugs and comforting thoughts to you and your dad and Pete; all the wishes in the world won't come close to healing that hole in your lives, but all the wishes in the world are there nonetheless.

Oh, I almost forgot. In high school English, we were assigned to write a paper on why the detention system was wrong. I had no real opinion on that, but I thought it'd be easier to argue the opposite side, so my teacher let me. He liked my paper and asked if they could publish it in the school paper. I said yes. When asked if they could use my name, I told them to use my initials, TJK.

No one in school figured out I wrote it. It was fun sitting in several classes while students tried to figure out who TJK was....

Now I totally wish I had come up with a better pen name. Like "Mr. Higglesbottom, ESQ" or something.

Jilli, I'm so sorry for your loss. You and your family are in my thoughts.

Condolences Jilli. Take time for yourself now.

There's a great interview with Peter Dinklage in Vanity Fair. He's a kick.

My name is what happens when you let a kindergartener name her baby sister, which is to say, I was named after my sister's best friend in kindergarten, whom she never saw after that.

My middle name, Sumiko, (and why I got so excited to meet sumi!) is more interesting and is my paternal grandmother's name, who I never met, but am told would have loved. It's the classic English first name, Japanese middle name thing that all of my cousins have, and that any putative kids of mine would, too. My sister's daughter's middle name is my mom's Japanese name and her son's middle name is my dad's Japanese name. We always called them by their American names, but their siblings (well, my dad's; he was one of ten, my mom was an only) always called them by their Japanese names.

Of course, then I got married, so my first and last names now sound completely American. Years of distant coworkers never knew I was Asian. So my premise was, if I performed, I was going to perform under my middle and maiden names, which would be completely Japanese!

My actual pseudonym that I was reserving for politics, that Victor published me under, is Ella Sprink, which was a backwards expansion of my email address lsprink, and of course, a nod to Ella Fitzgerald because she brings it.

Jilli, as you already know, I'm deeply sorry. I'll miss her, but mostly, I'll miss you having her. That makes sense in my head. I promise.

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

My Dad is evil, and my sister is his accomplice. Legend says it was negotiated because he wanted a telescope and Mother wanted more kids. Legend is amusing, but probably inaccurate, given that during the almost 14 years between my sister's birth and my own, there were many failed attempts at giving her a sibling.

My middle name is Mora, after a friend of the family.

Things that are tiny [link] or as I like to call it Things You Can Squee Over.

I was named after Jessica Atreides (Dune) and my sister Megan was named after a character in The Thorn Birds, which just happened to be the books my mom was reading in her respective third trimesters. My other two sibs have family names. My middle name is my paternal grandmother's maiden name, which coincidentally turned out to be the branch of the family I most resemble.

My kids are Dylan Zaphod (Dylan by parental consensus, Zaphod after the President of the Galaxy) and Aeryn Sylvia (Farscape, DH's grandmother).

Oh Jilli, I'm so sorry for your loss.