Happy 39th anniversary to Sesame Street, but why did they decide to have an open bar? Everyone knows what happens at those kinds of office parties.

Handsy little devil, ain’t he?

When you first discover you are pregnant, one of the first things you do, after the initial panic, is think of names for your beautiful yet-to-be-born child. You lovingly ponder family names, names in your favorite works of literature, names that will truly distinguish your child from every other child on the playground. A name that will show the world exactly how special they are to you.

Babynamesworld.com has this to say about naming your child:

If the two of you have come up with a nice name, ponder the possible nicknames that could be derived from it. Is it a negative sounding nickname or a really obvious target for bullies?
Again, don’t put too much weight on a name’s potential for teasing. It’s almost always possible to come up with a nickname that could be used in a negative way. Try to avoid names,
however, that inspire nicknames that are almost asking for teasing.

So what goes through the minds of parents that name their child something like this?

Parents of said child above, I give you the Lazy Parenting Award^TM!

Not only were you too lazy to think about the trauma of her childhood with a name like that, how did you ever expect her to land a job? In fact, you made it easier for other kids to tease her with a name with such ridiculousness built right in, no need for her classmates to waste any precious brain cells thinking of names on their own.

And, you were selfish to boot, perhaps considering only your own amusement instead of what you intended to saddle her with for the rest of her life, although thank goodness she apparently inherited the common sense gene from further down the DNA line.

So relish your trophy my chosen recipients, as we all think of, ahem, creative names for you.

bin dere. dun dat.

As responsible Parentosphere bloggers we’ve previously noted the bizarre celebrity fad for money as literal plaything. See this image of adorable Violet Affleck, toying with the weekend box office take for Daddy’s last movie.

Well, the fad has spread even unto the Scientology Celebrity Center, and amid shocking, completely unforseen reports that Tom Cruise can no longer command $20 million a picture, we can see that the normally highly competitive Suri “Louboutins” Cruise has had to scale back from Benjamins to Jacksons as well.

Ahhh, some of my fondest memories of camp were the new friends forged over endless games of “telephone” and dodgeball.  To cement the relationship, a custom-made friendship bracelet was just the ticket.  My friend would have me pick out the colors, and in a couple of days, I was the proud owner of a cute piece of jewelry that I would wear until it wore off.  Or, until the friend made me mad and I cut it off with a pair of scissors.  Whichever came first.

The Los Angeles Times is claiming that friendship bracelets are no longer the domain of pre-teens mooning over their favorite singer on the cover of Tiger Beat.  In fact, J. Crew will be featuring a $150 version in their upcoming catalogue.

Along with countless games and accoutrements that previously belonged to only young people, adults have now seen fit to horn in on friendship bracelets, too.  They are making them with semi-precious stones woven into the braid, or using expensive,fancy clasps.

Is there nothing that children can have that is their own anymore?

Are we adults so nostalgic, or so desperately seeking an infusion of youth, that we cannot leave anything in the past?

Nex thing you know, metal braces with colored rubber bands will be the next big thing among the forty year old set.  

On the advice of counsel and having read the results of this quiz, I have no further comment at this time except to say it was not ME who squeezed from the middle of the tube. Also, I was buying toys for orphans at the time.

Because there is never a bad day to feature shoes!

And, because who can resist a great pair of Converse Chuck Taylors for back to school? My son’s school suggests that sneakers/tennis shoes are the best choice, as they need to be able to jump around on the playground at recess. So, why not have them be comfortable and stylish at the same time?

Goes with pretty much everything, from jeans to skirts! At a price of $33.00, not too harsh on the wallet, either.

Here is the boy version, not as “cute,” because boys after a certain age just refuse to do cute, but still cool. These come in slightly pricier at $38.00.

My apologies for the late contest results today, plus the “air post” yesterday. It was something of a Lost Weekend at casa raincoaster, due to a Gawker Commenter Meetup/Bacchanal, but all is slowly, foggily returning to normal.

That said, there’s nothing as head-clearing as giving away imaginary prizes, so here we go.

gamma Says:
July 26th, 2008 at 2:46 pm

“This isn’t what I had in mind when I said I wanted to play with the Rams.”

Congratulations and itch-free swag to gamma, returning to the winner’s circle in fine form. What shall we hypothetically present as virtual swag to our eWinner? Nothing less than the softest cashmere from…wherever cash comes from. Mere is Scottish for lake, right? Cash Lake. I wouldn’t mind taking a dip in that myself. So what shall we present to our mutton-busting champ? Nothing less than the never-itchy, always stylish Autumn Cashmere linen cashmere v-neck flared sweater from Bluefly: