I Am Not a Hurricane

So, it's been, like, over eight years since I got tired of the routine, but I'll repeat it for you here:
"What's your name?"
"Katrina."
"Oh, like the hurricane!" *include corny laughter if you're a male who tends to make these comments

Oh, yeah, because you know, I was only born fifteen years, one month, and twenty-two days before that thing hit New Orleans--that's CLEARLY the only thing my name refers to.

You know, once upon a time I wanted to visit New Orleans...now, I really, really couldn't care less all because of a naming system.

I LOVE the times when someone actually says, "Oh, I know someone by that name," because it reminds me that there are other people named Katrina out there.  Other girls named Katrina with the same spelling as me.  I mean, it's not the most common name out there, and it's only been declining over the past eight years because people can't get over a storm with the same name.  I mean, some names like Andrew don't even ever take a hit, and then you get one hurricane that destroys a town, and next thing you know your name is falling out of the popularity.  I mean, even the name Miley hasn't fallen as fast as I wish it would.  (Although, I'm expecting it to take a brutal hit in the popularity ranks after recent events.)

I mean, just once, just once, though, could I go three months without meeting someone who refers to the hurricane.  It has been eight years, people.  I mean...

"Okay...that was weird..."

What?  What weirdness do you speak of?

Oh, yeah, the name ranking rant.  By the way, I'm a name nerd.  It was the second nerd type I ever admitted to being out loud, although I technically originally referred to myself as a "Pirates of the Caribbean dork," but I think that's just because I didn't want to call myself a nerd at the time.  I definitely was a name nerd before a PotC nerd anyway.

Speaking of which, yes, Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day to those who are reading this on September 19.

Back to the subject of my name, however.  I mean, I like it, I'm very attached to it, I'm not going to change it, but...I could do without hurricane references.

I'm completely fine with me telling you your cousin/niece/granddaughter is named Katrina, though.

But just once could I get a more nerdy reference?  I mean, not even my friends who love the Inheritance Cycle even bothered to tell me my name was in the series.  I had to find this out for myself!  I probably would have read them six months earlier if I'd known my name was in them!  I mean, thanks for the surprise, but I would have loved if you'd told me you'd seen my name in the book.  Authors don't normally choose it for characters.

*random critcism; "lalala, I can't HEAR you!"

I mean, the irony of the fact authors don't really use it is the fact that I am indeed named after a literary character.  When I tell people who it is, I get various reactions from, "What story?" to "That's creepy" to "Johnny Depp is weird."  I agree with only the middle statement.

WARNING:  Impending Talk Like a Pirate Day festivities may cause Katrina to reference her favorite show continuously.

Also, I have no understanding of this "weird" of which you speak.  Absolutely none at all.

Okay, so, yes, I was named after Katrina Van Tassel from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.  No, not the Johnny Depp one.  That was made nine years after I was born.  If I was named after the Johnny Depp film that came out the year I was born, I wouldn't have been named until five months after I was born when Edward Scissorhands came out.  So, no, my name has nothing to do with Johnny Depp--it's just a happy coincidence I would up with.

Because, you know, every adaptation of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow you see is based on a short story written by Washington Irving in 1820, and there are characters named Katrina Van Tassel and Ichabod Crane and Bram Bones in it, and there is a Headless Horseman, but the closest thing you're going to find to the original without actually reading it is to watch the Disney adaptation.

Warning:  Not suitable for small children.  Unless you have a couch to hide behind.  Because that couch is the only protection you have against an image on the screen.  The couch is just as effective as the covered bridge.

So, yeah, basically I grew up, repeatedly scaring the pants off myself watching Disney's adaptation all because my name is Katrina, and I was named after the character.  I'd say that's a fair exchange, though.  I mean, in the whole scheme of things, I get a name with literary merit.  And I guess it's a bit of a blessing that not everyone immediately knows where it comes from.  I guess that's why I can still enjoy a name from a book even twenty-three years after the fact.

So, thanks, Dad, you did a great job naming me.  And Mom too on picking the middle name Paige out of the baby name book in the middle of the night.

But, really, people.  I am not named after a hurricane!

Now I'm off to go braid my hair so it's all wavy tomorrow and so I get to spend a few precious moments of Talk Like a Pirate Day with Captain Jack Sparrow hair.