Month: April 2007

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What to name your baby girl….

Give me that old tomboy every time!

Is it just me or do I love that little ‘tom boy’ in every woman?

Naturally, when it came to naming my daughters, I chose names that would resonate with titles like “General”, “President”, “CEO” or just plain “good woman.” I could never follow anyone named ‘General Muffy’ or President ‘Tiffany’ or ‘Tyffannie’.

In a recent study, just naming your daughter with a overly ‘feminine’ name seems to … well… just ‘dumb her down.’ So, I guess ‘Barbie’ is out…. so to are the recently popular names of: Isabella , Anna , Elizabeth , Emma , Jessica , Samantha , Sarah , Olivia , Hannah , Emily , Lauren , Ashley , Grace , Abigail , Alex … plus anything too cutesy.

What is it about masculine women? smart? adventurous? sexy?I guess… like most men… we all like women with male ‘handles’… like ‘Sam.’

Roger Freberg

PS… see ladies, Mom and I did right by you.

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USC Crushes UCLA with Style!

new Trojan Banner I've seen around a lot lately

Well… in all my memory, I can’t remember a USC-UCLA dual meet that wasn’t fraught with controversy. Last year, it was the ‘lost’ long jump results that would have given USC the win… this year it was the long jump again… but it went USC’s way. Although it was a USC home meet, there was some talk about a former UCLA hurdler turned judge who disqualified the USC athlete who was the big winner… and it goes on and on. Naturally, UCLA had their own take on the subject. I’d have more sympathy for my former team if I hadn’t watched the circus of deliberate distractions happening while my daughter was trying to throw last year for ‘SC… Karen’s tough and she won anyway. We got a big chuckle later watching and listening to the film of folks trying to razz Karen. Champions don’t beat themselves.

In issue 176 of Karen’s Blog… she writes about the USC-UCLA meet… “It doesn’t get better than this!”.

One of the things people ask you about this duel … and I was asked three times at the meet… “How did you do when you competed in it?” In those days, UCLA won so infrequently against ‘SC that they passed out silver track shoes if you scored any points! They stopped this after 1972. As for me, I only lost once against the now former Trojan record holder in the shot… and only lost once to a Trojan as a freshman in the discus. One kindly older gent asked me why I wasn’t on the all-time Trojan list… some nice folks forget. Yep, I threw for the other guys.

It is always a great meet.

Fight On!

Roger Freberg

PS. UCLA needs someone (Nigel, perhaps) to help them design better uniforms… the old ones were much better….. and the sweats were very cool.

Oh yes... the old uniforms were much better

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Fight On! USC-UCLA Track Meet!

USC and UCLA 2007 Track And Field Press Conference!

Very few track meets pit one great team against another now-a-days and this is unfortunate… most meets feature many schools together. However, the USC-UCLA dual meet has always been a historical event… and competing in it retains city bragging rights…. forever. When alumni meet years later… they will always ask,” how did you do in THE dual meet?” Some folks will say,” I never lost… or it took me four years to win one…”… but everyone KNOWS who did what and when… also WHO didn’t.

Last year, Karen PR’d in 3 events winning the Shot Put at 57-07.5. The key word in the entire sentence is that ‘she won.’ She also left as the Trojan record holder.

I participated in the meet in my time and won… although I was on the other side as the Bruin recordholder for roughly 10 years or so. It was always so much better to meet alumni when you won. However, I picked up my two masters at Southern Cal… and that always ment a lot to me.

The latest press conference brought out a lot of ‘talk’… but the match-ups are set and all that is left is the meet. USC’s take on the meet. It’ll be a fun meet to watch.

Fight On!

Roger Freberg

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Buying Books or Sending books to our troops in Iraq

a group of avid book readers in Iraq

I have always found it interesting in seeing what people enjoy reading when under pressure… recently, one of my favorite on-line stores ABEBOOKS.COM wrote just about that… they even provided a list of the types of books that Westerners in Iraq — be they civilians or military — bought while they were there.
Most of the books aren’t too different from what the rest of us read, although I don’t know how many translation books anyone buys… say English -Ukrainian or English- Turkey… but Harry Potter is one of the big sellers…. as are practical books on military issues. Here’s a list of some of the books… but check the site for a more complete listing!
 
Books of Fiction
 
The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
·  Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling
·  Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry
·  Mostly Harmless, Douglas Adams
·  The Collector, John Fowles
·  The Devil’s Guard, George Robert Elford
·  The Unwanted, John Saul
·  The Alchemist, Ken Goddard
·  Apollyon: The Destroyer is Unleashed, Tim LaHaye
·  Master of Dragons, Margaret Weis
·  The Illuminati, Larry Burkett
I have also send VHS and DVD movies to Iraq and Afghanistan…also a big hit.
Roger Freberg
 
 

 Books of Fiction , JD Salinger·  , JK Rowling·  , Larry McMurtry·  , Douglas Adams·  , John Fowles·  , George Robert Elford·  , John Saul·  , Ken Goddard·  , Tim LaHaye·  , Margaret Weis·  , Larry BurkettRoger Freberg 

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the Male & Female Brain… part deux

Laura is as I have always remembered herI am reminded each and every time Laura shoves a test or a Link towards me of that happy comment on a poster of my daughter’s… “to find happiness: RULE number 1 — marry the right person.”

I feel very fortunate.

Laura provided a link on a post of her’s that started quite a discussion in our home. One of the ‘tests’ is provocatively entitled: SEX I.D. : find out how your mind works.

Here I am near my 55th birthday earlier this yearSo how did we do?

Well, there is a part of the test which requires rotating objects in 3D and determining which of four figures resembles a fifth. I aced this section … while Laura struggled…. after further questioning , I realized that Laura had inadvertantly answered only half of each question. My smuggness evaporated.

The test revealed no real surprises to me, after all, we will have been married 35 years this year. The fact that Laura prefers masculine faces and I prefer feminine was hardly earth moving. However, we did have a number of similar traits in common… which brought knowing smiles to both of us.

Read Laura’s post and take the test… it’s fun.

UPDATE!

Hmmmm… Laura posted proudly that her brain was 53/47% masculine-feminine…  funny, mine came out a bit differently:

My Brain is What? Okay, maybe that explains why I am the one who invites folks over.

Roger Freberg