COOL LAST NAME
Wizbang's advice for new bloggers, Wizbang: How To Get An Instalanche, has been much linked to because of its sound advice. But I particularly liked this less serious tip: "Get a cool last name like Kaus, Postrel, Drezner, or Chafetz," not just because my last name is on the list but because, unlike those other bloggers, I wasn't born with my cool last name. I got it from Steve. And his Ellis Island ancestors essentially made it up, shortening their original last name. So all Postrels are fairly closely related to each other. And I'm the only Virginia. Pretty cool.
All of which leads to my response to the NYT Vows page's insulting boilerplate "the bride will be keeping her name": I love my father, but I chose my husband. Plus I legitimately get the initials V.I.P.