And to make it .... something.... it was an internet proxy marriage overseen by an imam in Bangladesh.

Wow. Arranged marriage?

Oh, and on the name front, my sister answers happily to Rebecca or Becca, but there has been exactly one person in her life who didn't get chewed out for calling her Becky. I don't know a lot of Beckys, come to think of it.

Susie is the one diminutive of my name that I cannot bear.

If I think someone is calling me Susie versus Suzi...it bugs on a level I can't even explain. I can't stand Susie. It actually more closely sounds like Sus-san, but if I'm not Sus-san, I'm Suzi, mind the Z.

In high school, I did go by Fred within my group of friends for a while (there was another Susie in the group - hey maybe that is where my pickiness comes from).

Post high school I went by Lexi when we went out. Susie was still part of our group and Fred wasn't the best name to go by when meeting guys.

Those names sound exactly the same. Shhhh don't tell Suzi.

I pretty much answer to all permutations of my name: Jill, Jilli, Jillian. Of course, it's also been proven that I will answer to "goth girl" or "cupcake".

Ok...Becky...gah, can't do it. Sorry, Rebecca. Though when I see you in person, it will probably be a mix of Rebecca and Ms Belle.

I have had the worst lifelong experience pronouncing/reading/explaining my name. For folks on the board who haven't heard my name spoken, it's "ess-ay," precisely how it's spelled. No dots! But nearly everyone I have ever met stumbles, often hard, on my name. It's understandable, but the worst is when people refuse to acknowledge that SA is, you know, my name. I have walked away from people who give me a hard time about it.

Thanks for the interview ~ma! I had a great interview, for an hour and a half, and I'm very happy with my performance. We'll see if it sticks!

Desperately want to go home.

I have a friend who goes by Becky. My aunt has always been called Becka.

I'll answer to Jess or Jessica, never Jessie.

I have a co-worker who goes by his middle name (so his corporate email displays as Billy Bob Smith, but he always goes by Bob), and there is another person we work with who simply *cannot* figure out that "Billy" is actually "Bob" and that they are not two separate people.

Question: Do I want to go to a Superb Owl party if I don't care anything about football, but I want to force myself to be more social and let people from the neighborhood know that I still exist?