I spoke to my niece today ( her daughter is pregnant) I had suggested the name Ricki Jean, but she did not like it. My great niece is thinking of calling the baby Oaklynn if it is a girl. Why she would want to name her child after a city is beyond me, but I bet she gets teased in school if she uses that name.
I pointed out to the grandma that oak or even oaklynn is a really bad name for a girl. I totally get the mom can name the child anything she wants, but I think they really should think less about giving the child and unusual name that will make them stand out from the other kids, and think more of a name that would be accepted by the other children and not make the child a subject of ridicule.
I know only too well what it feels like to have a bad name and have kids tease you about it. I never use my first name, because when my brother was little he could not say it. I will not tell you what he said, but I did not like being called that. Even Jane is not a great name to have when you are a kid. You will get see Jane run run Jane run when you are little, and then when you get a bit older you get Hey Jane where's Tarzan. The bad thing about it is there were many famous people named Jane over the years, and no one recognizes them when making comparisons. There were 2 Jane Seymour's and one gave birth to a prince. If you do a search you will find many successful women named Jane, but some never reach their true potential, because of the teasing from their school mates.
Shakespeare said, "What's in a name a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." Would that that actually applied to real lives. I have noticed quite often what someone is named will effect their personality as they grow. I could offer a few examples but no need to drag any specific,just watch the actions of people who have the same name and you will see what I mean by their personality being effected by their names.
I say choose your children's names slowly and wisely, because they will have to use them a longgggggggggggggg time.

It is not easy staying true to yourself when others try to force you into molds of what they think you should be. The thing is EVEN IF you go through the motions and do what they ask to appease them, DOES IT REALLY COUNT. When someone you care about tries to change you into what they think you should be instead of allowing you to be who you are, and accepting the real you, does it count? I think truth and honesty in a relationship is more important then giving in and doing things that are against your true personality just to make someone else think you are cool. Real friends will accept you the way you are even if you do not always do things the way they want you to do them. I once told a friend of mine who was trying to change her b/f into what she wanted him to be, " Real friends do not try to change their friends. They accept them the way they are, and if you can not accept your friends as they are you go find new friends that fit the mold of what you think your friends should be." We get one life in this world and I can tell you from past experience, you will be far more unhappy if you try to force yourself to do or be what someone you care about wants you to if it is not how you truly feel. I do many things that others think are mistakes. Writing this blog will probably be one of those things, but what ever I do I do because I am me, not because I am a piece of clay that someone else has molded into what they think I should be like. There are many people I value in my life both on and off the net. I would hate to lose any of them, but I refuse to try to force myself into doing something I do not feel in my heart is the right thing to do just to make others think they are right.
I am 63 years old. I am not perfect in anyone's eyes by any shape or form, but I try to do my best to help people when I can, and if other people can not understand me or accept me then I think that is more about their personality then mine. I have never one time told a friend be how i tell you to be or we will not be friends any more, but I get that attitude from friends a lot. Maybe it is a quark in my personality, or maybe it is not, either way I always try to be true to myself.
There are people out there who hate my blogs, and that is ok. I think everyone should be allowed to have their own opinion. Just remember this though YOUR OPINION IS NOT LAW. Everyone is free to say and think what they want this is America where we have the right to free speech, even if not everyone agrees with what you say. I once heard a quote: " I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend with my life your right to say it." I think those are great words.
I am not a politicization who changes what ever they say to meat the wishes of what ever group they are talking to at the time. I say what I think. It may not be popular but it is honest. ANYONE WHO DOES NOT LIKE IT CAN EITHER DEAL WITH IT OR NOT READ MY BLOGS take your pick.

I got up this morning to the sun shining brightly in my window. That is a lovely change from the dark clouds and chilly weather from yesterday.
I got a message from a friend who does not get on line much anymore. He and his wife had a lovely baby girl 4 months ago. She is so cute, with a bright happy smile. I think it is great something so beautiful can come out of the middle of this pandemic. It is a testament to the the human spirit, when people say to themselves " I am not going to let all this hardship keep me from living my life.
Started a painting for my nephew last night and ended up painting my hand a little when I was doing the background. The moral here is do not paint when you are sleepy. lol
Hope that sun hangs around the rest of the day, because I am going to try to get out in it in a little while. Hope everyone has a nice sunny day.

A friend said something to me tonight that others have said in the past. I was told I should make my blogs private. So i figured I may need to repeat something I have said in the past. I have no intention of making my blogs private, and anyone who does not like what I write need not read them.
I find it amazing that people think I should keep all my feelings bottled up inside instead of writing about them to relieve some of my stress when I am upset or hurt. Some think, because what I say may upset someone else , I should not say it, but they take no notice of the things that cause me to write blogs.
Now on a slightly unrelated subject do you think you should apologize when someone misunderstands something you say? even if what they thought you said was not what you actually said or meant? How could I possibly sound sincere if I made an apology to sooth someone's hurt feelings, even though I do not think I did anything wrong.
I do not know what annoys me more people getting mad about things I NEVER SAID or others trying to censer what I write and push it into hiding. Last time I looked this was America and I have the right to free speech, and because i never use any names in my blog, if someone gets upset because they see themself in my writings, I suggest it is because I depicted the events accurately.

Here is a bit of irony for you all. I have nephew he and his wife both refused to get the covid shots, and now they BOTH have covid. Here is the ironic part his wife is a huge germaphobic , even before the pandemic she was like that, and it got worse after the pandemic. Her daughter and I once saw her use hand sanitizer before taking her phone out of her purse. She was the only one touching it, and she never put it down anywhere till she put it back inside her purse. After putting it back inside her purse she used the hand sanitizer. Her daughter and I both laughed about this, it was her own phone and she was the only one that had contact with it. She said you can not be too careful, and yet she would not get the vaccine. Now both she and my nephew have covid. Guess all that hand sanitizer did not stop her from getting it , Did It? That is true irony.
I understand if you are out in public, around people you do not know , or ones you know have covid to be extra careful, but so many people have became obsessed, and a little paranoid about germs. The part that is bad about this all is : The hand sanitizers DO NOT KILL ALL THE GERMS. Some of them live on to create the next generation of germs. The sanitizers have little effect on the new generation of germs, and the process repeats. Each generation of the virus gets stronger and more immune to the disinfection. Some day we will have a germ that nothing will kill and then we will all die, but I have found washing my hands with soap and water to be a better idea then the sanitizer , and the fact I am allergic to the sanitizers does not help. For me it boils down to MAYBE getting covid ( btw I got my shots) or definitely getting an allergic reaction to the sanitizers that are meant to help keep us safe from the virus.