This article in USA Today states that researchers have found that parents respond quickly to baby names that are on the rise in popularity, versus names that are waning in popularity.

Now, as someone who is still currently wrestling with a name for her impending baby girl, I find that odd. It is a sort of lemming-like mentality that I find actually somewhat disturbing.  Where is the ability to think for oneself?  Just because everyone is naming their kid Brittany, why would someone feel that they have to as well?

You see, I don’t want my daughter to have a name that everyone else has.   It’s not that I must have some quirky, arty name that sets her far apart from the mundane masses.  I actually quite like some of the really popular names. It’s just that I don’t wish for her to be Samantha J. along with Samantha G. and Samantha W. in her classroom.

I’ve spoken to many people who said that was their biggest peeve about their name, that they had to share it with someone all through school.  I didn’t have that problem, but I could see how it would be annoying to always have your last initial tacked on to your identity.

So to latch on to a name that everyone else is using is counter-intuitive to my way of thinking.

But then again, no one has accused me lately of thinking in a particularly straight manner.

All right, I was trying not to talk about some of the crazy-ass names that celebrities have been coming up with lately, but Ellen Pompeo’s choice was the straw that broke Glinda’s back. And that saying is apt, because at this point, I sort of look like a reverse camel, with the big bump being on the tummy instead of on the back. I hope that makes sense. It makes sense to me, but lately, that isn’t saying a whole lot.

First, Nicole Richie and Joel Madden’s choice of name for their son made me do a mental double-take. Sparrow? Are they for serious? As in tiny, frail, ubiquitous brown bird? I read somewhere that some (most likely) self-proclaimed “naming expert” praised them for their originality and inventiveness, saying that since Captain Jack Sparrow’s name was, well, Sparrow, that suddenly Sparrow stands for manliness. Sorry to break it to everyone, but no, it does not. Hearing the word sparrow brings images of a beady-eyed, greedy little thing that likes to pick up other people’s discarded popcorn and whatnot off the ground.

And as for Ellen, her choice was somewhat literary, but confusing nonetheless. Is she not aware of the extremely famous and popular book Stellaluna? You know, the one about the bat? Granted, she is a lovely and wonderful bat, but still a bat nonetheless. Yes, that is exactly the mental picture I want everyone to have in mind when they say my name. It’s like naming your child “Ramona Quimby Pompeo” or “Harriet the Spy Pompeo.” It just doesn’t work.

At least we have Sarah Michelle Prinze, who chose the almost old-fashioned Charlotte Grace.   Count at least one child of actor parents who will not have to face life with some crazy name their parents decided to saddle them with in the name of “art” or “creativity.”

Legendary designer Vivienne Westwood, normally known as the godmother of London punk and new wave fashion, had a much, er, different show yesterday.

Behold some honestly disturbing garments made for grown women: 
 

Somehow, I doubt the diaperista trend will catch on.

All right, so Julie Chen is due in less than three weeks.

And for some reason, people have the nerve to criticize what she wore on the Big Brother series finale.

I admit, it isn’t exactly the most flattering look ever, but when a woman’s due date is just around the corner, I advocate that she can wear whatever she damn pleases!

Try talking to me about “fashion” when my vagina stops feeling as if it’s going to fall out whenever I stand up! The last month of pregnancy can be very, very uncomfortable for some women. And if being able to function means wearing a glorified silk Snuggie, then so be it!

As far as I’m concerned, her hair and makeup are done, and she is even wearing a nice necklace, so she’s way ahead of the game already!

It’s not like Heidi Klum is doing any better!

Is it wrong to admit I’ve never read any of the Twilight books?

But listen, even if I had, and even if I loved them to absolute bits and had dreams every night about Edward, I would NEVER put something like this in my room, much less that of my tween.

Oh yeah, some creepy lifesize cutout, complete with hair spikes no less, of a dude on my wall would in no way make me feel safe. Yikes, quite the opposite.

Perhaps at one point I would have put some life-sized cutouts of Duran Duran on my walls, but at least they weren’t vampires.

So yes, the wife of Twitter CEO twittered details of her labor and birth of their son.

Why exactly is this making headlines in newspapers and newscasts?

She certainly isn’t the first to do so, and I’m going to take a gander that she won’t be the last.

I’m not against the details of her Tweets, which include snippets such as “Epidural, yes please.”

But does the world really need to know the details? I am all for keeping family members and friends in the loop, but do her 16,000 followers really care?

And I would also think that it would be nice for her to be “in the moment” of such a momentous occasion, rather than texting on her iPhone between contractions.   I mean, if I’m in enough pain to want an epidural, then the last thing on my mind is what I’m going to tweet.

Maybe the birth of a child is indeed a nice break from the constant depressing news cycle, but this seems to be taking things a bit too far, no?

There is a website entitled “We Have Lasers!” and it is a homage to those once-ubiquitous backgrounds in school photos. I think the laser backgrounds were all the rage in the mid-eighties, and their popularity didn’t diminish until the mid-nineties or so.

Sadly, I own no portraits with lasers in the background. I believe they might have been a choice for my senior prom, and I chose a cloud-ish background instead. I know, bo-ring.  Do you have your own laser picture lurking somwhere around your mom’s house?  Submit it and become instantly famous!

Here are some delightful examples of the photos they have over at the site:

How fantastic is this picture?

What’s not to love here?

This one is too awesome for words.

She is seriously rocking those lasers!

I truly heart this one.

Ack! Acid-wash and lasers! My eyes!

via Boing Boing