Somebody over in the New Yorkers comm asked about changing back to her maiden name

So I looked up the relevant information (people, PLEASE stop using LJ as Google!) and pointed out that the very last paragraph confirmed something I'd more or less known for a while:

4. Nothing in this article shall be construed to abrogate or alter the common law right of every person, whether married or single, to retain his or her name or to assume a new one so long as the new name is used consistently and without intent to defraud.

If I'm reading this right (and I'm sure I am), in New York State (as in many other states, but I don't know which ones) you're allowed to change your name just by changing your name. You don't have to go to court, you just have to introduce yourself to people and sign your name the way you like, and as long as you're not trying to hide from creditors or something, there's no problem.

Back when I was a kid, I read an article in the local paper about a boy named Francis who, at 12, decided to change his name officially to "Frank" so he wouldn't be teased with every new teacher reading his name aloud. He was already called Frank, but that wasn't the name on the school records. The judge (unreasonably) denied the name change, and there was an article in the paper, and I'm sure eventually he got his name changed officially.

But I remember thinking at the time how silly it was to go through all that effort. It would have made much more sense to just ask the school to change the records than to go through the courts. People do that all the time, or they did as recently as when my sister was in school - first she was registered under her nickname (Ginger), then at some point that changed.

I know this is boring, but not every entry can be witty and insightful.

3:45 in the morning. NOT A GOOD TIME FOR SHAKING THE HOUSE.

Don't they have to get up in the morning when the kids wake up? Those kids are up by 7:30, without fail.

I really, really hate my family sometimes. Except for the nieces, of course.

One last post, and then, with any luck, I'll be able to go to sleep.

Last week, last Sunday, the niecelings and I went to the BCM for their program. They made hats, and we had lunch (and gosh are their food options expensive! I felt bad taking kosher sandwiches, but all the *other* sandwiches have cheese, and I reasoned that the kosher sandwiches are a service for those who need them, not just for Jewish people who need them... right?), and we hung out until the museum closed, and we came home, and my sister owed me $38 at the end of the day (not counting the stop by the museum store, which I paid for out of my own pocket).

I like how they look now that they've renovated, they really have a lot more space. But that's not the point of this entry.

On the way out, Evangeline went over the subway map, as is her wont, and excitedly pointed out "Taten Iyin", where we "yiv". (Her ability to read those maps is scary. She points out all sorts of places if I let her...!) At the museum I picked up a brochure, which I *thought* was a calendar, but which really was a list of other places in Brooklyn with a simplified map.

And I forgot about it.

This week, Evangeline found the map and did two interesting things. First, she filled in the spaces where you're supposed to write where you've already been with words. She would give me a word, I'd spell it, she'd pause, and then she'd ask me how to form each of the letters I'd spelled. Cool, right?

The other thing she did was look at the map. After identifying it as a map, and ascertaining it was a map of Brooklyn she looked carefully, found the Brooklyn Bridge, and declared that that was our bridge, the bridge that goes home, to Staten Island, and we live on Staten Island! (Of course, that's the Verrazano she meant, and the two bridges look nothing alike, not even on crude maps, but that's beside the point.)

I love that bridge. I used to look at it from our roof in Brooklyn, and it's plainly visible on our walk to/from the library and boat, as well as from the middle (I say top, we rarely go up further than that) of a certain hill where we are. (We can even see it from their mother's window, though none of us knew that until last year.) I'm glad to see Evangeline likes it too, she points it out when we walk by it :)

(Didn't I used to have a Psych icon?)

So, here's the full theme song, with lyrics.

1. What is that font? I know some of you can help me out here :)

2. When the line goes "If it's all right, then you're all wrong" does it mean:

a. If it's okay, then all of you are wrong
b. If all of it is okay, then all of you are wrong
c. If it's okay, then you're entirely wrong
d. If all of it's okay, then you're entirely wrong