Tihs Yloh

From our venerable NYTimes.com, the news of the most suddenly and startlingly popular girl-baby name since Aaliyah: Nevaeh. Which is "heaven" spelled backwards.

I work with adolescents, not toddlers, so I haven't encountered this travesty non-traditional name yet. And I can tolerate a little nonconformity in my baby names, though I continue to be frustrated by the fact that girls are generally the ones saddled by odd spellings, cute and fluffy names, and celebrity fads. I hoot at "Babies Named a Bad, Bad Thing". But when I go to work and find a bunch of teenagers wandering around with stupid names, it makes me sad. "LaQuentyn" is named after her father, but did he really spell it with a "Y"? If not, does it count? And when "Zackery" and "Kymberlee" apply for their first job, are their names going to cancel out some of their achievements? I miss the classics.

what the girls are saying

Blog? What blog? My brain is too worn to produce analysis today, although there is fascinating news here in Chicago... immigration, election prep, the advent of road construction season. My boy Widger is RBIing some for the White Sox, and the Cubs may finally be breaking their headlong tumble. But since they're the Cubs, we mustn't underestimate their ability to lose. Without ado:

Julie at A Little Pregnant remarks on the Catholic schoolteacher in WI who let on that she conceived using IVF and was subsequently fired.

Jessica at "Cancer, Baby" passed away last week. Orange Tangerine was kind enough to pass on the news and provide a primer for those of us who never got to read her in real time. I now firmly believe that everyone would benefit from reading her analysis of mood oglers, either as a cautionary tale or as ammunition for the next bozo who comes along.

Sundry: Mela suggests it's time to bring out our very last option for impeaching President Bush. Funny. New York gals are calling out street harassers on a public blog. A White Bear muses on plagarism, both in print and online.

All yesterday and today I've been reading about the WaPo article "Forever Pregnant". As a public-health chick, this seems like an expedient plan, if not the ideal one. Bitch Ph.D partially exonerates the CDC, but methinks they'll watch their phrasing in the future as they prepare for more angry letters.

Finally, what the girls are not saying: Jeff points me to an article about the 14 y.o. Ohio girl who is being held in custody, without counsel, for refusing to be a material witness to a molestation case. Sometimes it's all in what you don't say.