A Sad Thing and Ponderings on Favorites
Here's the sad thing: Jacob was so sick this past Sunday that he (and I) had to miss the Christmas Pageant at our new church, Redeemer Lutheran. I was so bummed that Jacob even said told me that I could go if I wanted and he'd be fine on his own. He had a fever, felt dizzy whenever he stood up, had a terrible cough, etc. The good news is that he's feeling better now, and that his asthma medicines really did the trick so he missed only one day of school. The bad news is that we had to miss the Christmas pageant, which really stunk.

Now, onto ponderings on favorites. Yesterday, I realized (yes, I know this is going to sound strange) that my new favorite color is pink. I don't know why. I always used to like blue. But now I like pink.

I also realized recently that I am totally in love with grapefruits. Again, I don't know why, but I could eat grapefruits all day long. Why is it that we like certain things and not others--particularly when it really seems to make no difference in the grand scheme of things? I mean, who cares that I prefer pink. Does it impact the world in any way? Does it make my life better? Does it end world hunger?

I thought about this in a related topic when I was trying to decide on a one-syllable girl's name for a story I have been working on this fall. As I came up with all sorts of different names: Ann, Lynn, Kay, Kate, etc., each one had a different "flavor." I realized a lot of that was wrapped up in who I knew in my life with those names. I'll always love the name Fiona, not only because it's a beautiful word, but also because I had a great friend in high school named Fiona. But I am not in love with other names because I have some bad memory associated with them.

I read this review of a children's book yesterday on Amazon, and the reader actually criticized the author of the book very strongly for using the name Madison instead of Madeline. It was the dumbest thing I'd ever seen. Why not use a classic name that will last instead of a trendy name like Madison, the reader said. It befuddled me. Can't the author choose whatever stinkin' name she wants to? Apparently not.

So, why do you think we like certain things and not others? Why do I like grapefruit but can barely tolerate bananas? Why has pink become my favorite color? Why did I settle on the name Grace for my character?