If you must know...

Recently I've caught a few episodes of "Minute To Win It" - a game show on some network which gives contestants one minute to complete some ridiculous task using an egg or a slinky. It's rather addicting, and I am really impressed with the ping-pong ball handling skills of the general public. And frankly, it's no wonder that our country is in the state it's in with people getting teary eyed from the pride of watching a family member successfully yank a box of raisins from under a bottle without knocking the bottle over. We're kind of a messed up bunch of folks.

But I digress. The one problem I have with this show is that when contestants decide to quit - take their money and run - the host of the show doesn't show us what task they would have had to complete next had they taken the risk of continuing on. Me? I like to know whether they chose wisely or if they would have had that much more money if they hadn't chickened out.

Apparently, a lot of you suffer from the same type of irritation, because I've gotten a lot of requests from people wondering who made the top ten list of names for Andrew's car. And because I love you all so much, I'm going to tell you which names he had on his final list. (Very much in the spirit of Let's Make A Deal, where they show you what was behind the curtain you didn't pick.)

The top ten names were:

Mace Windu (This one surprised me a little, but I can't think of the word that would help me explain why, so I can't.)

Trudy

Ringo

Devil Woman (I think he didn't pick this one because he calls me by this name so often it would have been confusing.)

Valerie

Velma

Brigitta

Marta

Gracie

Francesca Bussa de' Leoni (He would have shortened it to Francesca, because we were having a hard time spitting the whole thing out.)

So those were his top ten. And even though nobody asked me which name I would have picked, I'll give you MY top ten, most of which did not make the cut.

Ticking Time Bug (TTB for short)

Lazarus (hilarious.)

Achilles

Salvatore

Bruiser

Flamin' Stu (Stewart is Andrew's first name, which still makes me laugh every time I think about it.)

Blue Velvet

Axel

Devil Woman (it was fitting)

and, Brigitta. So it was a win-win.

There. Now you all feel either satisfied or ticked off that neither Andrew or I fully appreciated your creativity. We tend to be jerks like that.

Have a happy week, everyone!

"The Curse" Now Has A Real Name

You know what the best part of this contest was for me? Andrew not knowing who submitted derogatory comments about his car.

You see, I wouldn't let Andrew read the suggestions for bug names, because I didn't want him to be biased. So I read the submissions to him, and he had no idea who submitted what name until he made his choice last night. Now that he knows it was his brother who suggested that his baby should be named PeezOChite, Barney, or A Nice Attempt, guess who's not invited to our house anymore??

There were 11 names that made it to the finals, and last night I handed the list to Andrew and he studiously began to examine and cross out, until he was left with just three names. And he asked Ethan's opinion. He scowled, he debated, he asked me who had submitted the final three, and I refused to tell.

And then I saw him circle one name, and let me tell you - the suspense was epic.

Everyone - Meet Brigitta!

(Forgive the butt-shot of our dear Brigitta. I seem to not have any photos of her from the front. Although, there is a very nice one of her on a tow truck, which is like home for her, and I would have used it if I weren't afraid of Andrew's hurt feelings.)

So congratulations, Kellie! In just a matter of a few shipping days, you will find yourself the proud owner of one adorably retro Herbie The Love Bug t-shirt!

Thank you to everyone who played along in complete seriousness, or in jest - I had fun. And David - you owe Andrew an apology.