I’ve been sending this image around, but didn’t think to post it here first. I’m sure there is an audience for this kind of step-by-step instructional document of how to wash your hands, but I can’t think of who that person is. I saw this in a men’s bathroom in a hospital yesterday, and I found it to be very amusing.

Last week on the bus, Will and I started talking about what to name our children. It is a conversation that we have at least once a month, but this time it was different….it was friggin’ hilarious in fact because we were trying to come up with the most horrible names possible for them.

To give you a bit of history, we decided a long time ago (okay, we were still in high school…) that regardless of gender that their initials would be AMD. AMD was derived from my love of Dungeons & Dragons and Sailor Moon. If you are confused, good - that just gives you an idea of how screwed up someone’s name was going to be. There have been several iterations of name combinations and honestly we still don’t have a suitable female name. For the males, our first son WILL be named Aidan regardless of how popular the name has become in the last 2 years. As a mom, I will take pleasure in being able to say that my son has my name. For those of you that are a little “De-De-Dee”, it is the exact reverse of my name. So, currently our first son’s name will be Aidan Michael. Other male names in the running are Avery and Artemis (which can also be a kick ass girl’s name as proved in a SNES Super Scope Six classic called ‘Battleclash’). The female names are a bit more difficult, but I would like to work Aoi as a possibility. It is japanese for blue, was first used by a character in Virtua Fighter and sounds like ‘owwweee’. The other name I would like to use as a middle name is Mariposa (spanish for butterfly).

So where does this start to go horribly wrong? When you consider names like Altima Maxima Diaz!!!! Here are some other monstrosities:

Accord Mitzubishi, Aztek Mazda, Audi Mercedes, Ariel Mini, A4 M3, Aviator Moutaineer, Accent Montana, Aerio Magnum, Acura Mercury, Aura Maybach…you get the idea. Aurora Milan and Aston Martin aren’t too bad, but we won’t be getting any money from these car companies for naming our children after their products.

It can get even worse if we consider themes other than cars. There are food products, video games, computer components, scrapbooking items, D&D races, creatures and spells, cartoon characters and clothing companies that can also be considered.
Overall, we want to give our children names that they can live with. I think we got the male names taken care of, but my need to have female names that are unique just makes choosing their name that much harder.

If you have a suggestion for either a male or female name, send us an email or post a comment.

Via IM:

[12:59] Brandt: DS comes out Sunday
[12:59] Brandt: you gettin one?
[13:51] Will: i will say now that “no i won’t”
[13:51] Will: but at 7AM on Sunday i’ll be on line to buy one

I know how my terrible gaming affliction works. I feign disinterest for months leading up to the release of a new handheld, then I soak up as much info about it as possible during the days before it hits stores. Instead of reserving the console, like a smart consumer, I lie to myself saying, “I’ll wait till a week after launch.” On release day, my passing interest for the new device transforms into a lust for it. I hunt for my precious like a madman, not stopping until I have it in my grubby hands.

The above occurs with handhelds only. With consoles, I’m usually a lot better prepared. Dreamcast, Gamecube, Xbox 360, each reserved months in advance. The Xbox was bought shortly before Christmas break. Previous consoles were gifts from my parents when I was in school.

Target was my store of choice for the GBA, GBA SP, DS, and GBm. I will continue the tradition and head over to Target early Sunday morning to get one before I head down to DC for some baseball action.

Sunday evening update: