Category Archives: Bloggin Noggin

A Primer: How To Say The Name Phoebe

16 Friday Dec 2011

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Interrupting my lazy inspired peaceful Friday tradition of posting a single image to instead bring you much-requested instruction.

To my surprise and supreme amusement, one of the terms I see often in the “Top Searches” section of the stats at the back end of this blog (which you can’t see) is “how to say the name phoebe.”  So, in English (sort of,) this means that people who type the above phrase into their favorite search engine could very well end up perusing the humble posts of Whole Heart Local because, yes, my name is Phoebe.

Or is it?  Therein lies the question.

Okay, some history: back in the summer of 1978 a kid, this kid, was born to two pleased parents, a perhaps less pleased older brother, and a host of grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, family friends, etc.  A name, a very singable name, was bestowed upon her small, chubby form that would, forever going forward, confound/ delight all with whom it came in contact.

That name, Phoebe, also purportedly graced a Greek, Christian woman of the Bible; a bird; and a late, famous singer, among others.  However, unlike the moniker for the historical figure, the bird, or the singer, my Phoebe had a strange special unusual pronunciation.  As told to me by my parents, this pronunciation is specific to Africa, more specifically, Kenya.  Oft told by me, I have yet to meet a Kenyan, or even another human, with my particular pronunciation.  (And may it remain throughout my life that I continue to avoid sharing my name!)

So, without further ado (because you’ve suffered enough), please read below for variations on how a person might pronounce my name.  Although the first is most common, all of these fall within what I consider to be an acceptable realm.

  1. Phoebe = pho way bay
  2. Phoebe = phoe ay bay
  3. Phoebe = phwev ay
  4. Phoebe = phwebay

Below are pronunciations that are NOT my name:

  1. Phoebe = fee bee
  2. Phoebe = pho ee bee
  3. Phoebe = pho boy (a special favorite of mine, hi Cameron!)
  4. Phoebe = far away baby (I kid you not)
Phoebe as a child in Washington, DC

A kid whose name means "free" or "light" visits the Nation's capital

What This Blog Is Not

26 Wednesday Oct 2011

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IMG_5385Often, I find a good way to get a handle on something is to describe what that something is not. I’ve contemplated this in relation to Whole Heart Local, whose creation I perseverated over a great deal during summer 2011.

This blog is not (as far as I’m aware):

  • An attempt to land a book deal
  • Intended to make me a load of cash, or even enough to “quit my job”
  • Intending to attract an audience of thousands
  • A high horse (I hope!)

And for the converse (generally harder to figure.)

This blog is:

  • A place to land my thinking and writing, seeing as how my other projects (read: novels in progress) couldn’t beat a three-toed sloth in a road race, with rocket boosters
  • A home on the web to which to invite my family, friends, current and potential partners in the world of writing and arts
  • Repository for the hundreds of photos crowding my Flickr account

Whole Heart Local

15 Thursday Sep 2011

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What is Whole Heart Local?

  • A joyful record of my life in Boston, my adopted city, and it’s quiet treasures
  • My life a-lovin’ libraries, books, reading, and writing
  • My celebration of hyper-local pleasures (strawberries from the front yard, anyone?)
  • My journey into “whole-hearted”ness, a condition I’ve only recently learned a name for but have aspire to
  • A wicker bike basket stuffed with letters
  • A complicated ode to simplicity
  • Manifestation of my craving for connection
  • Brave striving against my twin desires for perfection and neatness
  • A love song to the writings, poems, blogs, and people who inspire me

Welcome.  I’m glad you’ve come.

Whole Heart Local is meant to serve as my new(est) home on the web.  A home I’ve been planning -however cerebral the process- all summer and one I’m excited to build, digital brick by brick.  Here you will find musings, blunders, blubbering, sentences begun with prepositions (naughty!), silliness, lists, posts that are far too long, snapshots, wondering, wry asides, misspellings and other imperfections, severe lack of schedule, words strung together just for the heck of it, and more than perhaps you wanted to know about the various under-cultures of Boston and it’s snuggly environs.

Whole Heart Local, in it’s more practical application, is intended to continue the efforts of my other blog attempt, Librarytour.  (Note the term “attempt.)  So, see, there will be a sort of split: part Librarytour, part Boston Moments.  And then everything else.  A three-way split (I hear those are rare.)

Thanks for dropping by.  It’s lovely to be here.