Reader Response: What's in a Name?

An anonymous reader asked the following question via formspring. I love this story so I wanted to share the answer!

How did you choose the name Oscar for your son?

Jerry and I decided to spend our first anniversary in New York City. We wanted to make the most of our trip so we decided to take the train! We hopped on here in Raleigh and rode all the way to Penn Station. That trip was so much fun! I was 18 weeks pregnant with then un-named baby boy, who we referred to as Mr. Tumnus. We were absolutely convinced that we would have a girl and already had a complete girls name. Guess the joke was on us!

We love names from older generations. We always knew we would have what many people would consider an "old fashioned" name. We just hadn't settled on one yet. Before the trip, Jerry downloaded the top 100 names from the SSA for each decade from 1900 to the present. Since we were on the train for 10 hours straight, we took the time to each go through the list and highlight the names we liked. We then went through and crossed out the ones we hated from each other's lists and merged the two. The MOMENT I saw the name Oscar, I knew it was my name. I loved it. Jerry did too but always the practical one of us, wanted to go through all the names to be sure. We had just found out Oscar was a boy a few days before the trip. Deciding on his name made it so much fun to shop for him!

A lot of people choose biblical names, or names based on meaning or some other combination of reasons. For us, we knew that it just needed to be right for our family. We didn't really have many other requirements. Once we chose the name, we looked up the meaning and one definition is "divine spear". That is meaningful to us because the Bible talks about our children being arrows sent into the world by God. As Christians, we hope that Oscar will grow up to be used in a mighty way! Thanks for letting me relive those fun moments!

Have a question? Ask Away!

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Reader Response: Send in those Burning Questions!

Hey Friends! I really had a lot of fun with my first ever Reader Response post and would love to do it again! And to make it even more fun, I got all gadgety and made a formspring page! What that means for you is anonymous questions! Ohhhh the possibilities....

So get on it! Just click the above link and ask away. No one will know it was you!

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Reader Response: Question 1

Submitted by @mattstevensnc:

If you and your husband were Superheroes, what would your powers be?

In order to answer your question, Matt, I must ask a question. What is a Superhero? And to answer that question, I turned to the wisdom of the internet. Or more specifically, Wikipedia.

a superhero: (sometimes rendered super-hero or super hero) is a fictional character of "extraordinary or superhuman powers"^[1] dedicated to protecting the public.

Now, since Jerry and I are not historically fictional and we don't exactly consider ourselves protectors of the public (I mean we do recycle, ok?), I can see how one might think this can go nowhere productive. Then again, this is merely a hypothetical question in which case it is perfectly rational for me to assume a few things for the sake of getting to the revelation of our super-powers.

Let's first talk about Jerry, my partner in crime (fighting). He is tall. He loves cowboy boots and belt buckles. And barbershop. And bass guitars. He is funny, witty, smart, and logical. I also happen to find him ridiculously good looking.

Clearly, he would be a svelte thinker with a trick bass full of weaponry and gadgets to fight off the evildoers. However, this would only work against regular humans. When faced with a Supervillian, Jerry would employ his true superpower of singing all four parts of barbershop harmony simultaneously using just his voice. 

the ringing chord is the defining characteristic of the barbershop style. This is a name for one specific and well-defined acoustical effect, also referred to as expanded sound, the angel's voice, the fifth voice, or the overtone. via wikipedia

This 5th voice would be so piercing and beautiful that any supervillian would be instantly deafened by it's tone, at which point Super-Jerry would crush them with his Super Bass and then play a killer Maiden riff as they slithered back from whence they came.

I on the other hand do not have a penchant for stringed instrument/turned weaponry or harmonizing with myself. Actually, the harmony thing would be pretty awesome but I will leave that to Super Jerry. I see myself as an Octopus.(not Ursula so just leave that thought right there.)

And not just any Octopus, a SUPER Octopus! Did you know that an Octupus can lose an arm and it will grow back?? It's true! Now, I can't say that about my regular human arm, but as a wife, mother and homemaker, I have been known to make something from nothing on occasion (I'm talking about you tuna casserole). I am also fast and a super-multitasker. And let's be honest, have you SEEN my hair? It's got tentacles written all over it. I mean look at what they can do to a shark (at about 1:45)

But you didn't ask what I would be. You want to know about my powers. So we know a bit about what an Octopus looks like. Another great thing is that it can change its colors and sort of blend in, unnoticed. And not only can they get all chameleon-ed out depending on their environment, it's a well-known fact that Octopi utilize ink as their main line of defense. And I think you know where I am going with this.

I blog. I use words. And humor and you know, INK. I think we can just go ahead and double over with pun overload at this point, amiright? Recap: Mama Octopus will crush you and then sign her name and hit publish.


We make a great team, Super Jerry and I. He with his harmonious tunes, and me with my inky confusion. SuperVillians beware! Our enemies will be left deaf and disoriented, whimpering and bewildered. All while we victoriously ride off into the sunset hand and hands.

have a burning question? Let me know! You can email me at andrea at lilkidthings dot com. 

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