How To Name a Blog

Well, hello there, blogosphere. I've been a fan of yours for a while, and now you and I are as one.

Thanks to Taylor Sandlin and Danielle Day, who encouraged me to come here, as did Craig Nash, simply because he has a great blog.

I would have been here sooner except for this very sage advice from Dani - "Here come's the tricky part. Picking a blog name. Search your soul Patrick and come up with something that really has pizazz. Then you have to hope that it's not taken."

So I did. I searched my soul. I used my wife as a sounding board since she has a good ear for good ideas and a personal stake in how I present myself to the world, and tried to come up with something with pizazz.

My first instinct was "St. Patrick's Confessional." But I thought that made me sound too holy, or least that I was under the impression that I was holy. Jeni vetoed that outright, as well.

My second instinct was "Musings." I liked that it could comfortably cover a wide variety of subjects. I did not like that it made me sound like a 16 year-old girl.

On the opposite end of the spectrum was the idea "The Masked Hippo." The Masked Hippo is a cartoon character who has been in my head and scribbled on the edges of notebooks for a good while now. When I write my long-delayed children's book, the Masked Hippo will feature prominently. But I was vetoed again when my wife informed me that it made me sound like a teenage boy.

Then came "Questions, Comments, Snide Remarks." I use this one a lot at the end of youth Bible study lessons. Jeni's opinion was: too common.

Then, as has happened a lot lately, G.K. Chesterton came to my rescue. I realize I am co-opting someone else's phrase - but, man, I really love that phrase. I said it, and a smile crept over my wife's face, and she said, "Yeah, that's good."

It's lack of origin in my own head is its only disadvantage. It has the distinct advantage of letting me cover any number of topics as long as they fit under the broad category of "good" - I can treat good things reverently and so keep them good, and possibly even treat bad things irreverently in the name of good. We'll see.

Come back soon for "The Chronicles of Shamgar," and the ongoing series "Bible Verses That Freak Me Out." And don't be shy - please comment away.

~ Patrick