As you read this, I’m in New Orleans, celebrating the wedding of my dear friend Nicole.  Turns out her middle name is Rhunette.  Let’s see if I can work in a subtle inquiry about that one in between “congratulations” and “yes, I’d love some more champagne!”

In any case, this is my first trip away without a laptop since … wow.  Since forever.  I can’t decided if it will be more disorienting to be away without kids or away without connectivity.

Either way, if there are any last minute celeb births or wacky news stories ’bout kids with wild names, I’m missing them.  

Still, I thought you might enjoy a few things:

• Bewildertrix did a great sum-up of Old School Actresses.  Why aren’t Claudette and Theda heard more often;
• Also from the Wayback Machine, Namberry reviewed names from Dallas and Dynasty.  Here’s the answer if you ever wondered who we had to thank for all of those girls called Jordan; 
• Laura Wattenberg asks if the conventional wisdom related to gender neutral names is over.  Me, I say yes.  While many names are still clearly gendered, I can imagine Kelly being reclaimed for boys, while names like Riley and Payton could remain in gender limbo indefinitely.  It’s not a bad thing, necessarily;
• Amy Ryan – she played Holly on The Office – has welcomed a daughter, Georgia Gracie;
• Coronation Street’s Samia Smith welcomed a daughter, Freya.  Other Coronation Street cast babies from 2009 include Alfie, Nyla, Rafal and Daisy.

I’ll be listening for unusual baby names over my vacation – and, of course, thinking about Tiana, the soon-to-be newest member of the Disney Princess Mafia, in the New Orleans-based story The Princess and the Frog.

Have a great week and, as always, thanks for reading!