Purple Water Lilies in Linnean House Pool--Thursday, 11/16/17
Damn, I completely loved everything about this outfit. How do you make a pink floral skirt fall/winter compatible? Dark colors. How do you make it awesome? Moto jacket and kick-ass boots. How do you make it not feel lonely in all its pink-ness? Pink peacock pendant. It's that simple.
*Pink/burgundy/green floral skirt (JCP), $13.99
OCPW: $24.72
More pink/green/flowery goodness from a botanical garden pool. I see a lot of nice water lily covered pools, but the gardeners really outdid themselves here with the plants around the edges of the pool. The lilies are still the centerpiece (you know, being literally in the center) but the overall picture is just wonderful with the variety of sizes, colors, and textures they added all around.
 |
| Missouri Botanical Garden |
Sable Antelope at African Grasslands--Friday, 11/17/17
I managed not to photograph this outfit which very successfully combined black, brown, and denim. Wearing cognac boots with black tights/skirt is not natural for me, but wearing a scarf with both shades in it helped a lot in giving it that "yes, I'm wearing brown and black together on purpose" look and not the "I only own brown boots" look.
--Black long-sleeved T, blue denim jacket, black and white polka dot skirt, brown leopard scarf, black leggings, tall cognac boots.
OCPW: $17.07
I'm going to have to ramp up my black-with-brown outfit numbers if I'm going to #naturetwin all the lovely zoo animals that wear these colors like a champ. Or in the case of this sable antelope, like a chomp? I know, I know, antelopes don't spend all their time eating grass. Sometimes they lie in the grass like this, waiting to be photographed.
 |
| Henry Doorly Zoo |
In other news...As a person with a first name that is both uncommon and yet extremely familiar, I was interested in this article in which a woman named Sarah considers the effects of growing up with an extremely popular name. (She could always start going by Sally instead, you know.) Does this ring true?
8 comments:
I very rarely meet anyone with my first name, so I can’t relate to the article. You’ll have to ask your sister about that.
My name was only super common in college, so I had already done a lot of growing up by then. Nevertheless, I did stop answering to my name--not only where there a lot of Debbies, I assumed most of them were more popular than me as well. People did have to shout my full name to get my attention.
My last name is even more common; I don't find any identity from it at all.
I actually like that I am basically unfindable in these modern times. And it has definitely been nice not to have had to worry about dealing with ethnic stereotypes and having an imminently pronounceable name. I don't mind that you can tell my gender (though if I did, I could have gone by DJ).
I do not appreciate sharing my name with other people. Because other Debbies suck. There are exceptions, of course. I like Debbie Reynolds fine. There's a Debbie who came to music recitals whose singing and guitar playing I really like (though I later learned that she is really terrible at her job). And just this Thanksgiving I met a Debbie that I actually liked.
Let's not talk about all those Debbie Millers who think they have my gmail address. I hate every one of them. Also myself for making such a stupid choice.
The part near the end about original names reminded me of the Johnny Cash song about a Boy Named Sue. His dad gave him that name on purpose, knowing he'd get beat up. He was hoping this would make his kid tough.
In vaguely related news, people called me Miller Beer growing up, and shrimp, but somehow not Little Debbie.
My brother did not feel like a Greg. Mom picked it for elegant Gregory Peck connotations, but he felt stuck with Greg Brady connotations. He tried Tom from his middle name until he became "Tom Thumb" and quickly switched back. Now he's legally David Knight.
My Dad's name is Cary, and people have real trouble believing they heard that correctly because they hear Carrie. Then they assume he must be Gary. (It amuses me that I can say my parents are Cary and Jessie, but people might hear Carrie and Jesse and confuse which is which. It amuses my mom that her two grandkids, Alexandra and Charlotte, could have the nicknames Alex and Charlie.)
Very interesting! I mostly have had feelings of solidarity with the few Sallys I've known, though I had a boss named Sally I didn't like much, nor did anyone in our group, and she didn't like it that everyone called me "Sally" and her "Sally Lastname." I get it--it's probably the first time that had happened to her as we Sallys don't regularly have differentiate ourselves from the crowd. And I don't doubt she could feel that the team settled on the non-friendly "Sally Lastname" instead of something warmer like "Sally Last-initial" or whatever as a reflection of her disfavor.
My experience of Debbies has been pretty hit or miss...though perhaps the worst ones actually went by Deb.
Kids can make mean-ish or outright mean nicknames from almost anything, but Debbie isn't the most fertile ground. The Little Debbie one does seem like a natural one for you, though. How did they miss it? ;)
For me the name Cary is 100% Cary Elwes, so you can't even go wrong there!
Having a common name has its upsides, like people usually knowing how to spell and pronounce it. But yeah, I don't even always look up when I hear it, and it seems there are usually several women who are waiting for a last name to follow at the doctors office. At work, I've been lucky I guess that it skews make because I've never worked closely with another Jennifer. Having a unique last name has helped immensely though. There are very few online with my full name. Having others with the exact same name in college etc made it confusing. All that said, we are trying for unique first names for our kids but still going for something easy to pronounce and spell.
Jen, it's true your overall name became a lot less common when you changed your last name! I think it's funny how many Jens you've danced with over the years. :)
That's true, a lot of dancing Jens. And two of my closest friends are named Jennifer.
I had to look up Cary Elwes! I think I have seen zero of his movies or TV episodes. The Cary I already knew about was Cary Grant.
On my mom's side of the family there were a lot of Jane Anns. So they went by names like Jane, Ann, Janey, and Jane Ann. My mom's name was Janeann, and people called her Little Janeann, which became not cute at all when she became overweight. She also had no middle name. Her parents said should could pick her own. Meanwhile, she had to fit NMI (for no middle initial) into the middle-initial box of forms. And she said no middle name goes with Janeann. She eventually changed her name to Jessica Janeann Lastname. I love how her co-workers of the time immediately started calling her Jessie Jane.
And using her maiden name as a middle name would not have been the best plan because it's a verb, and not the sort of verb you should be aiming at your loving spouse! I suppose it's safe to say here: Wilharm.
I have three friends named Jennifer. One does dance (ballroom and belly).
Oh, wait, I have seen "The Princess Bride." But that movie hasn't stuck with me like it has for normal people.
Post a Comment