Not Just Me and Baxter-Birney Anymore

We people with unusual names don't get much validation. When everybody else in 8th grade is buying souvenir license plates with Debbie and Susie on them, we're getting another lighthouse keychain. When we're in Spanish class, either we're stuck with some name that's a vague approximation of ours or we have to pick a random one. I've been known to buy horrible Harlequin romances just because they feature a heroine with my name.

So can I just say that characters named Meredith rule? There's actually two that I know of on TV right now. The first, of course, is Meredith Grey of Grey's Anatomy. She's kind of whiny and an apple a day is obviously more food than she's ever consumed, but she's also strong, loyal, and kind. And now there's Meredith Gordon, Claire's biomom, on Heroes. Sure, she's a liar and probably nine kinds of wrong, but dude. She can light things on fire. With her fingers.

Now that's what I'm talkin' about.