Monday, September 7, 2009

A wry thing

What's in a name? This question was posed in one of the first posts I read when I first started blogging back in May and according to the questioner, Loredana, the answer is: not much. If you want to know where her name comes from you can find out at her blog, where she goes by the name Lori.



For the past week I have been hosting Nuala Ní Chonchúir for the first leg of her virtual world tour, to promote her book of short fiction, Nude. Nuala has now travelled over to Tania Hershman's blog, TaniaWrites, where you can read more about Nuala and Nude. As past of my interview with Nuala I had the opportunity to ask three questions but I thought it would be a great idea to offer one of my bloggers the opportunity to ask one question, in exchange for me giving a little blog showcasing, and Lori was that lucky blogger!





Lori Tiron-Pandit has a blog and website combo, Daily Writing, which is characterised by immaculate presentation and thoughtfulness. Lori is, it is my belief, a truly thoughtful person. She thinks about the colours of her site, the presentation of the images, the wording of the, erm, words, in fact, she thinks about everything. I would describe her approach as holistic.


For someone as interested in visual art and design as myself, Lori's site is visually very appealing and beautifully illustrates the calmness and tranquility that I like to imagine Lori exuding.


Everything Lori presents on her blog and website, both images and written content, is done so in a very balanced yet imaginative way. She has a fantastic eye for detail and her site is both thought provoking and interesting: she manages to present spirituality, as well as moderating debates about it, in a thoughtful and intelligent way. I told you she was thoughtful!


And she has a sense of humour! An important thing for a wry thing like myself!


You may have noticed I have mentioned Lori's name a lot! Now don't go forgetting it!


So, what is in a name? Name is an anagram of amen, bet you couldn't have figured that one out, uh? Mine, in case you were interested, literally means Ewe rejoice of the fens, or, as I like to say, happy bog dwelling sheep! Lori's must mean something akin to...well, I suggest you hop over to her site and decide for yourselves!

20 comments:

Lori said...

Oh, wow. Thank you so much, Rachel! You've said such nice things about me, people might really believe them and won't they suffer great disappointment when they actually see my blog!

You've been very kind and thoughtful and ... a million thanks. I feel like a star today and I think I'm just going to allow that feeling. For a day.

Group 8 said...

Lori's site is really very wholistic - wonderful. Well worth a snoop around. THanks for profiling it, Rachel.

Thomas Taylor said...

Talking of names, I have been trying to puzzle out the pronunciation of Nuala Ní Chonchúir. I enjoyed your interview with her very much, by the way, despite having to mentally skip over 'Chonchúir' as I read. It looks good on the page though.

I love the name Loredana. I have added it to my collection, and if I ever have a daughter...

My own name is rather common place (I'm not even the only Thomas Taylor in France) and so it's easy to hide on-line. If I ever get going as a writer for young adults I may well take on a pen-name, partly to become more memorable and partly to keep some distance from my picture books. Thomas, I believe, is the Hebrew for 'twin' whilst Taylor is derived from the Norman-French for 'tailor'. Not very exciting. I'd rather be Wellington Plantagenet.

Jim Murdoch said...

Yes, it is a nice clean site. If I was to suggest one change it would be to increase the space between lines. Your site is find but when you spend as much time if front of a PC as I do you appreciate all the white space you can get.

Anonymous said...

I've just had a lovely stroll/scroll through Lori's blog whilst drinking my morning cuppa. It was like yoga for the eyes: relaxing and peaceful. I'll definitely visit again.

Rachel Fenton said...

Lori - you are most welcome. You must accept credit where credit is due...take the compliments, they're yours, you deserve them!

No probs, WRW, thanks. Please put Thomas and I out of our confusion - how to pronounce your name!?

Thomas - I'm probably going to show myself up and get into bother but I have been pronouncing it Noola O Connor (because I can't read/pronounce Irish/Gaelic!) From when I was looking at baby names (last year) I think it means lovely, or fair and lovely, or something lovely in any case! And it is a fab name.

Jim - I'm not sure if you mean my blog needs more spaces or Lori's? Speaking of reading so much on the pc though, my, I had to have a tea break midway through your latest review! You don't do brief, do you? Very comprehensive review mind! I will be re (skim) reading to comment soon! I know what you mean about white space - I have had to all but abandon blogging on sites where the template is tiny white text against black/dark background....makes my eyes tango! Thanks for your comments!

Jim Murdoch said...

Glad you got my point. You youngsters really need to bear in mind the aging population out there and also your own eyesight. As for my posts, no, I don't see the point in being brief, not here. In my own writing I am, especially the poetry – I can't stand long poems, I just want to fall asleep. I'm sure there are a lot of people out there who just skim my blogs and pick out the highlights and that's fine, they can always go back and read the thing later. I just hate sites that try and talk about a subject in sound bites, especially book reviews. And what I hate more than anything are book reviews where they don't quote from the book. I want to know what the author sounds like, not the reviewer.

Rachel Fenton said...

"Yoga for the eyes', very good description, Donna - I like it! Thank you.

I know what you mean about looking at a poem, flicking over half a dozen pages and sighing - life is short and all! Wish I had a fast forward button for some, or be like number Johnny Five and read mega fast!. But there are some brilliant longer ones about and I'd hate to think I was missing out! I love short poems which knock me for six, however, and the great thing is I can remember what it is about them that got me, whereas longer poems leave me with a feeling rather than an actual memory.

Rachel Fenton said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Annie said...

Thanks for profiling Lori. She has a wonderful site!

Group 8 said...

OK, I can't remember how to do real phonetics, so here is an attempt at a pronunciation guide for my surname (which is the Irish Gaelic form of O'Connor). Warning: it sounds NOTHING like its spelling:

Ní = NEE

Chonchúir = CRUH - HOOR
('CRUH' rhymes with the 'puh' sound in 'puff')

Ha ha - crystal clear, I'm sure. Not!

Rachel Fenton said...

You're welcome, Annie! I agree. Thanks.

Nuala - naturally, your surname tripped off my tongue! Yeah, I knew it was pronounced that way, all along, hmn....but I've practiced it now!

Thank you for putting my ignorance to rest! And I'll thank you on Wellington Plantagenet's behalf, too!

The phonetics worked grand!

Rachel Fenton said...

Jim, the deleted comment was not for you! I had repeated myself (no news there)!

Thomas Taylor said...

Yes, thanks for that, Woman Rule Writer (I'm yours to command, by the way:). Gaelic is very distinctive in its orthography, or so it seems to me. I guess that could be said for any language though, given the right perspective.

Law and Order said...

Hey Rachel,

Isn't Loredana lovely, the name, and her of course! A star. A star website. You describe Loredana perfectly here. Great post!

Rachel Fenton said...

Thomas, any language is distinctive when I'm let loose at it!

You're right, AW, and thanks!

Ana - The Writer Today said...

Lori does have an awesome site and she writes about different things that are interesting. She has a way with words and imagery. I definitely recommend her blog/website to anyone.

Rachel Fenton said...

Hey, Ana, thanks for dropping by and showing your support.

Nicky J Poole said...

For what it's worth, 'Nuala' is shortened from 'Fionnuala,' meaning, 'Fair Shouldered,' from the myth of the same name and The Children of Lir (qv.)

Rachel Fenton said...

Thanks Nicky - I have found out what it means since September but I didn't know about that myth. Cheers.