The Name Game

When I get home, my partner often asks me what we talked about in carpool. Just as often, as soon as I start describing the most recent (and ridiculous) conversation we've had, she kind of drifts off into another room (understandably)...

Sometimes, though, I come home and tell her that we played the name game. What's the name game, you ask? It's a game that is perfectly suited to pass the time in carpool, and a game we usually start when we're about to rip each other's faces off because the traffic is so bad. As an aside, we've tried playing the alphabet game, but Fidget got really mad because I was winning, so we don't play that anymore. Anyway, back to the name game. It goes like this:

1. I pick a famous person's name. They can be dead or alive, famous in entertainment, politics, sports, whatever. It has to be a person though, it can't be an animal or a character. So, for instance, I pick Michelle Rodriquez.

2. It's the next person's turn to pick a famous person's name that starts with R, the first letter in Michelle's last name. So, for instance, that person picks Rachel Hunter.

3. The next person picks a famous person that starts with H, like Halle Berry. (Yes, I tend towards the entertainment folks, although I also am a big NFL fan, so I use lots of quarterback names and Seattle Seahawk players).

4. And it goes on and on and on until a person can't think of a famous person's name. It used to not take very long, but we've gotten really good and we can go for miles and miles and miles...

5. There's a twist. If someone picks a famous person's name that has the same letters for both first and last name, that reverses the order of the game. For instance, I chose James Spader. Next if Fidget, who picks Steven Speilberg. Double "s". It goes back to me, and I have to pick another famous person. Now, I used the double "s" example because there are loads of famous folk with double s names, to wit: Sally Struthers, Susan Saradon, and...oh hell, I forget. But there are a bunch. So what happens is a back and forth between two people for like, well, hours.

6. Fun, huh? As I said, I tend towards the entertainment and Seahawk famous. Fidget is the most diverse, covering entertainment, sports, and politics. Sparky tends towards obscure authors, which often prompts me to call bullshit on his names (as in, he just made that up). But then he can name some book that person allegedly wrote, and since I don't read much outside of my job, who am I to argue?? As for Mumbles, well, who the hell understands what he's saying??