Unexpected Sounds

“Hello win column — the Texas Rangers have won the World Series!”

“And the winner for Best Actor or Actress in a Leading Role is… Megan Fox.”

“When asked about the situation, Jerry Jones only reply was, ‘No comment.’”

Unexpected sounds. Words you’re not expecting. Phrases that are out of sync with the present circumstances.

Twenty-three years ago this month, I was working as a consultant at a client site when the phone rang. The voice on the other end said someone named Sharon was on hold for me. This was odd for a couple of reasons — one, she had no idea where I was working, and two, she’d told me several months before she didn’t want to see me, “for a while.” Her voice that afternoon was completely out of the blue, as was her invitation to dinner with some friends.

Everybody must get …

I heard a story tonight I’ve heard before. This isn’t the first time this has happened — my grandmother had favorites she told over and over, and we laughed with gusto every time we heard them, because she told them in a way that made them fresh every time. It won’t be the last time it happens — as I get older, I hear myself telling stories I’ve told before and wonder whether I’ve told it to the current audience, and pray I haven’t, because I do not have Mimi’s gift for storytelling. Unfortunately, the yawns usually tell me I have …

This particular story involved two young girls and an evil man (I don’t throw that word around lightly, as you will see).

Nicholas Monikers

Names are interesting things. We are given them for a lifetime, yet have no say in what they are. That could be a good thing (Brian, Ashley) or a very bad thing (Moon Unit, Apple). We all know people who don’t like their names (any boy named Leslie), people whose parents couldn’t spell (Graclyn), and people whose names we wish we had (Rhianna, Powers Booth).

Names can make for interesting stories. My mother’s name is Blanche, which as you might guess is a relatively unusual name. When she was in high school, a guy trying to “chat her up” (sorry, too many British comedies on PBS) asked her her name.