A few years ago I kept a record of the first and middle names in the birth notices in the local paper and made word clouds at the end of the year. I did the same last year. City by the Sea babies in 2012 were most likely to be called Jack James and Ruby Grace. And in 2016?

( James is hanging in there as the preferred middle name for boys. )

Hello, f-list. Where do we stand on people who bring their own tea-bags on social visits? Not for health or religious or other reasonable reasons. I mean taste. You just really like Lipton's Earl Grey (or whatever), so you take them everywhere, just in case the person you're visiting only has Bushell's Blue Label (or whatever ( Read more... )

There was an article in today's newspaper about a group of low-rent hitmen who referred to each other by nicknames. There was Batman and Cookie and one remarkable gentleman who was known as both Satan and Lug Nut. Those are two very... different names, aren't they? I amused myself by imagining those two names were interchangeable in other contexts ( Read more... )

Hello, f-list. I have been away, and now I'm back, having suffered a Disappointment. Oh, it was disappointing. The hotel my work uses for meetings has a seasonal breakfast menu. As I was heading down to breakfast this morning, I realised it was probably time for the winter menu, so the porridge would be back. The porridge! Their porridge last year ( Read more... )

This week, ugh. Full of small things. People wanting me to do things and pulling me every which way. I was going to have a grumble about that, but I think the real problem is that the painters have been here seven days a week for the last couple of weeks. I am not getting my required amount of solitude, basically. I will feel better once it's done ( Read more... )

There was a woman celebrating her 100th birthday in the paper this week, which was nice. Even better was her name: Leura Urch. (Leura is the name of a local mountain.)

I was supposed to go and see The Great Gatsby the other day, but, come the planned evening, we found that it was a closed charity screening. Hmph. But then, maybe not hmph, maybe ( Read more... )

I caught the credits of some TV show last night, and the makeup artist was called Wizzy Molineaux. Imagine how awesome life would be if you were called that ( Read more... )

Yesterday was day 17 of the City by the Sea's great telecommunications failure, and I finally came back on air. Phone and internet both. So that's all jolly good. Normal service will now resume ( Read more... )

A heads-up: I am about to begin a book that Wikipedia describes as '[a] Victorian "sensation" novel, remembered chiefly for its elaborate and implausible plot'. They hooked me with 'elaborate' and reeled me in with 'implausible'. I'm sure you'll be hearing all about it ( Read more... )

There is a news story at the moment about one of Australia's Olympic archery competitors. Or maybe she's not going. I don't know. I only read so far, then zoned out. I am shockingly uninterested in the composition of the Olympic archery team. What level of interest I do have, though, is piqued by the name of this young woman: Odette Snazelle. Say ( Read more... )