LAUGHIN OUT LOUD AND FEELIN' GROOVY

Laughin’ Out Loud

• I just took a picture of my dog in his house with his food bowl 12 inches from his snoozing head.  Why does that make me laugh out loud?  There was a squirrel in the middle of the food bowl and one on the roof, both chowing-down on a Kibble.  He had no idea.
• The fact that my dog doesn’t understand rain.
• Bill Cosby’s face.  He doesn’t really have to say anything.
• The leg lamp from The Christmas Story
• Receiving random comic strips in the mail from Charlie Walton.
• The look on my friend Lynn’s face when he found out the word “Edelweiss” did not mean “thank you” – although he’d said it to almost everyone in Germany.
• Anything Colin Mochrie says.  2 points if you know who he is.
• THIS   Really.  Doooooo it.  Click, you know you want to ...
• Rizzo the Rat to Gonzo:  “Light the lamp, not the rat!  Light the lamp, not the rat!”  (I don’t know why – it just cracks me up every time)
• A Fish Called Wanda  (this scene especially)

Generally Feelin’ Groovy:

• My cat, purring on my head on a rainy morning.
• Putting a finished novel on my bookshelf.
• My new mattress.
• A loaded baked potato….hang on, I’ll be right back....

• Reading through Rick Steve’s travel guides.  Yes, I do this.
• David and Julia making trying new recipes at our house.
• Gabe Wicks’ fried catfish on a Sunday night.
• Sitting up late with my husband watching Alias episodes.
• Remembering an Easter Morning hike up a Honduran mountain with six GACS kids.
• Having a friend who feels so at home at your house that they just leave with your books and ask, “Hey, can I watch CSI?”  (I’m not being sarcastic – I really like that – oh, and hi, Julie)

What's in a name?

Apologies to The Bard for that title.... 

All right, I’m not uptight about my name, but, if any of you have strange names, it does get hilarious after a while trying to explain it. I blame my parents.

For the record, my name is Anne-Geri’ Fann. My FIRST name is Anne-Geri’. It is pronounced “Anngeree” and the apostrophe/accent mark/whatever that is – is after the “i”. Again, I don’t know why. My parents, although both very educated people, have never given me a valid linguistic answer. I can only assume they didn’t learn how to spell until they were both 35. “Anne” is for my mom, who is “Anne”. “Geri’ “is for my dad, who is “Gerald” (which is pronounced “Jurl” if you are his Texas family). He now goes by his second name, “Glen”. Most people call me “Angie”. It’s a whole lot easier, but it’s not on my birth certificate….

My LAST name is Fann. Sometime I sign my initials AGF, but that stands for Anne-Geri’ Gray Fann b/c Gray is my maiden name. I don’t have a middle name. I don’t know why. I guess my parents thought the one they chose was long enough. I agree.   I was so glad I married someone with an easy last name – but then I try to say it over the phone. F sounds a whole lot like S. We were listed by the phone company as The Sands for a while until we fixed it. David’s brother was too, but he didn’t bother to tell them since he’s a youth minister (less calls from parents. Ha). ONE TIME I told a lady, “That’s Fann – with an ‘F’ as in ‘Frank’,” and she said, “Your name is Anne Frank! I read that book in high school!” I should have said Foxtrot. At this point, I gave up.

Why am I telling you this? I’ve had several people ask offline and several hilarious interpretations from Potters School parents, students who read my school website, people who read my online Blog, etc. I can’t imagine what it must sound like in your/their heads. Seriously, if I didn’t know my own name who knows how I would be pronouncing it if I saw it for the first time? But here are some of the ways I have recently seen myself addressed on email and snail mail (some of which were interpretations after hearing it spelled out on the phone), none of which are my name, but perfectly understandable how someone would come to that conclusion given the fact that my name, although I personally appreciate it, is freaking weird in the first place (btw “Sra.” means “Señora”):

Anne
Geri-Anne
Angela
Mrs. Geri (pronounced “Jerry” on the phone)
Sra. Geri
Sra. Geri-Fann

Annegeri Sand
Mrs. Annegeri
AnnGerí'

Mrs. Sand

Angeri Fand

Maryann Geri (where did this one come from?)

and my personal favourite...

Fann-Geri'

I’m sure you ALL had time to read this pontification on my own name today…….not that it’s all about me, you know. Haha.

I do go by “Anj”, “Angie”, “Anne-Geri’”, “Mrs. Fann” or “Sra. Fann”.  In Honduras, I gladly go by "Inchi" or "Enyi".  Occasionally I also go by “Captain Random”. I do not answer to my lifetime friend Rob’s version, “Annegeriatric” (although to his thrill I have accidentally turned around to it). And I also don’t answer to “Spot." But you can pretty much screw up my name to your heart’s content and I will probably answer to it because I gave up years ago.