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What's in a name?


It seems appropriate (and a bit meta) to share a post I wrote last year about trying to choose a name for this blog.  In the end I decided to start with a Genealogy themed blog.  Hopefully I'll start another blog sometime soon to write about all the random thoughts that float around in my brain. Consider yourself warned.
© Brenda Vouvalidis 2019
April 2, 2018    It was finally time to take the plunge and start an actual blog – I had the time, I had been intentionally writing, so no more excuses. (I know, I’m waaay behind the curve on this).  I started out by doing what I do best-research! I had to find out "how to" and there are loads of good online resources.  Next, I figured out what platform I wanted to use, and any number of other important details. 

With a bit of nervous exhilaration, I felt ready to take the plunge. 

But wait! I needed a name to set up the url.   Full stop! 

What the heck was I going to call it? The standard advice is to use your name, because that is easy. Unless of course your name is Vouvalidis. So I started thinking about other possibilities. The obvious “brendasblog” and variants were already taken. But that’s ok, I wanted something a bit smart, quirky, maybe tongue-in-cheek, without being self-indulgent or artsy-fartsy. Easy right? It would seem I’m not alone as many potential names were already taken by blogs or businesses. I wanted to use my current favourite word - Ideation – as it describes something that I am particularly good at, but a) it's already taken, b) it’s too work-y and c) I don’t intend to write about that alone. I took many turns around the thesaurus, but nope, nada. Hmm... let's see... what else?  Nothing catchy rhymes with Brenda. No fun plays on words, like my good friend Paula the political junky’s brilliant Twitter handle- Paulatix. 

Think, think, think.  OOOH – I’ve got it. Since I often find the most interesting things by veering off path and down a rabbit hole – that would be a great name! Except that when you google it, the first result is the title of a book by Holly Madison about her time as a Playboy bunny, followed by an entry from the Urban Dictionary supposing Lewis Carroll was actually comparing Alice in Wonderland to a hallucinogenic drug trip.  Wellokaythen. That was not what I was going for.

Think, think, think. I’m circling around the idea that these posts will be about whatever thoughts are rattling around in my brain.  Hey! What about Brain Droppings?  I’ve been a big George Carlin fan since I was very young and greatly admire his observational, sarcastic, call-it-like-it-is-style; sharing a warped appreciation of all things ridiculous and ironic. A perfect homage to the master. Checking it out on google….aaaaand his wife’s name was Brenda. Nah – that would be too confusing and a bit creeper-y.

Think, think, think. Can’t really do a theme or topic based name since I intend to write about whatever comes to mind, although the hubster suggested “I dream of Jeannie-alogy”  based on my genealogy work, which was cute. Book plates often say “Ex libris ___” or “From the library of___”.  What about “From the brain of”?  It references books, Latin, encompasses whatever falls out of my brain. This might be a workable parallel.  A quick check of my trusty Google Translate tells me the Latin translation is “Ex mens”. Nope. Way too many ways to misinterpret that, not least of all the comic & movie franchise X-men. Wrong fan group for sure.

NowPlayingInMyBrain, is apparently a common Twitter hashtag to share whatever song is currently playing in your head. ProfoundAndProfane might well describe my posts, but it is already the name of an album by metal band Hammer Fight. (With a name like Hammer Fight, need I have qualified it as a metal band?) 

Think, think, think. How about something with Miscellany in it? By definition it is: a group or collection of different items; a mixture. Its synonyms are: assortment, mixture, mélange, blend, variety, mixed bag, grab bag, mix, medley, diversity, assemblage, potpourri, pastiche, mishmash, ragbag, salmagundi, gallimaufry, hodgepodge, hash; a book containing a collection of pieces of writing by different authors. OK, this is good – quite an accurate description, except that Miscellany is a car magazine, as well as a long running Life magazine feature. AnyMiscellany appears to be a tumblr handle. Missellany is both a Facebook and Twitter handle, as well as an online second hand/vintage shop. sigh.

Maybe I should just give up and with a slight nod to JK Rowling, call it “the blog that cannot be named”. Or just “the blog that has no name”. Except that dredges up the annoying earworm camp song – “The Song That Never Ends”.  Which is now playing in my brain.  And probably yours too. Sorry. The struggle is real.

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