Okay, so I hate feeling down, so I'm going to try to force myself out of this funk by bitching about other people.

I was just browsing over the Yahoo news like usual, when one of the headlines caught my eye.  It was about a judge who had taken custody of a 9 year old girl in New Zealand in order to be able to change her name to something less embarrassing for the poor girl.  Her parents had actually named this poor child Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii.

Now, I'm all for unique names, so long as they're not embarrassing, they're able to be pronounced relatively easily in the culture you live in and the child won't have trouble learning to spell it.  But some people go too far. 

The same article talked about some names the New Zealand government had already banned from being used, including, but not limited to Fish And Chips, Yeah Detroit, Keenan Got Lucy and Sex Fruit.  Yet there are still a few allowed that boggle the mind, like Number 16 Bus Shelter and Violence. 

How could a parent do that to their child?  I don't think anyone in their RIGHT mind could.  And I'm sure those poor kids will end up hating their parents for doing that to them.  And I hope they all can afford to change their names when they're legally allowed to do so.

I admit, my husband and I named our daughter something strange and unique, but not something she'll get made fun of for like Talula Does The Hula.  We named her Andromeda.  It's from Greek mythology.  She was the daughter of Cassiopeia, and to make a long story short, Cassiopeia liked to brag about her own beauty, so Poseidon sent a sea monster to ravage that area, then Andromeda was chained to a rock as a sacrifice for the monster.  She was saved by Perseus, who then became her husband.  After her death, she was placed by Athena in the stars near Cassiopeia and Perseus. 

Of course, we call her Andy most of the time.  Unless she's in trouble.  Then her middle name (Thalia- Greek muse of comedy and pastoral poetry) is also used in the yelling.

So, yes, we named her something a bit strange, and quite unique (we'll never see her name on any of those damnable personalized coffee mugs or key chains or pencils or anything of the sort- yay!), but it's not going to get her laughed at like Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii.  Andromeda is simple to sound out and spell, and really isn't that long (it's two letters longer than my first name and I didn't have trouble with mine, despite the variations there are of the name).  That, and she can always just be Andy to all her friends and teachers if she wants to be. 

I just can't understand how someone could name their child Fish And Chips...