Addendum to the Update:Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes....

thought I would provide some photographic evidence of the process discussed here and here:

getting finger printed

just a tiny portion of the judicial history of Allegheny County

Waiting for the Honorable Judge to arrive

after it is all said and done

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes....

Strange fascination fascinating me

Ah, changes are taking the pace I'm going through

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

Turn and face the strange

ch-ch-changes

Oh, look out, you rock and rollers

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

Turn and face the strange

ch-ch-changes

Pretty soon now, you're gonna get older

Time may change me, but I can't trace time

I said that time may change me, but I can't trace time

David Bowie

Obviously there has been a tremendous amount of change in our lives over the past year; and this past weekend was no exception.

As I was telling the story to a friend of ours how I had decided to name my daughter (in her presence), I mentioned one of the other names I had considered… and without hesitation she said something like, “I really like that name, can I change my name?”; and similarly without hesitation I said, "If you're really serious and want to change your name then sure I suppose you can change your name."

Just as I understood that our choice to uproot our lives and relocate with no job prospects, no housing, and (if I were being honest) no real sense of what it meant to do what it was we were doing would be LOADED with implications, FRAUGHT with challenges, and otherwise not something to be taken lightly, this choice too will carry its own burdens.

I can only hope that just as our true friends loved and encouraged us through this process so will the people in her life. Already there are those who are fighting it, turning heads and whispering doubt, but more importantly there are those who are lifting her up, loving her no less (maybe more) and saying, “What’s in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

For the last 14 years I have been blessed to know you as my daughter and for the next 14 and beyond I will be just as proud to know you as Lincoln Huntyr Griffin.

Go figure...

You regular readers may remember me being somewhat concerned about introducing myself, and folks having trouble with the pronunciation of my name.... well the funny thing is, there is a very large contingent of biblically (as opposed to wiccans, First Peoples, Taoists) religious people in this city and for the most part I've had very little trouble getting people to pronounce my name correctly and even a few (typically older) have mentioned Ben-Hur!

Who knew... that Pittsburghians who use words like yenz and dahn tahn would find it so easy to say Tirzah.

People's fates are simplified by their names. ~Elias Canetti

I must admit I am really not looking forward to introducing myself or my daughter (since I already know how the area's accent slaughters her name) in Pittsburgh. I don't even want to fathom the pronunciations, or misspellings or onslaught of questions that will arise when I open my mouth to say, "Hi, my name is Tirzah".


I have coworkers who email me and still spell my name wrong! I remember in the 7th grade when I lived with my grandparents in SC for a year, my science teacher didn't say my name correctly until the very last day of school.

I'm on a mission for nickname, so that in the second half of my life I can be known as ________. Come on people help me out here!