The Shape of a Name

“Blunder down under!”

“Thunder down under!”

“I’m down under and can’t get up!”

Finding the right name for a blog isn’t an easy task.

It’s a bit like naming your child. Too many options, none of them perfect. You pick one, have some regrets sooner or later (okay, having all our kids’ names start with the letter C maybe wasn’t such a great idea – especially when you try to book tickets on expedia and the website crashes…but that’s a whole different story!) and everyone has an opinion (some even needed to go to confession for theirs).

A writer friend once advised me, never to name your work first. The title comes last. Grows with your work.

But it’s so much fun, and patience is not my thing, so off I went in my mind. Asked friends and family and this is what I got:

The Boring (“Gisela’s Thoughts”- who gives a shit? “Teacher of OZ”- better, but still pretty lame.)

The Weird (“Cricket diaries” – really?)

The Depressing (“A pre-death experience” – I sure hope not!)

The Good but already Taken (“Upside Down Under” – who wants to compete with a Beatles album?)

The so Good but yet so Wrong ( “German Bitch” – with kudos to my fellow book club bitches)

And last, but not least, the Double Meanings (I never knew that “The Wizard of Oz” was really all about doing drugs; and I am still trying to forget the many definitions of “The Yellow Brick Road”).

I quickly learned that it was best to stay away from anything “Down Under”, which was a shame, because I really liked “G Down Under”. Would have gotten me a lot of traffic. Pun intended.

In the end we picked a name that entails a little bit all of it all – a little boring, a little weird, already taken (if you’d rather read about the history of aviation) and ambiguous, if you want it to be. You decide.

“ With a name like this, it might be any shape almost”.

Thank you for reading, for going on this journey with me. Feel free to comment in any shape or form – boring, weird, depressing, innuendos or just plain nice.