From: "Xiaoqian Helene Shen"

To:

Sent: Wednesday, March 23, 2005 4:01 PM

Subject: Fish names and perhaps an insight into the inner recesses of your coworkers's personalities

Hi everyone,

Take a moment out of your frazzled hump day and vote for what you think are the most appropriate names for our new CSL goldfish. If you need to get a sense of the subjects’ personalities, please pay a visit to the waiting room.

Because personally I have great difficulty in making life’s significant choices like ordering dinner and choosing gas stations, I’m going to make room for indecision by giving everyone leave to choose 6 names. This is also because 1. Each aquatic creature will have a first and last name, 2. The loach is getting renamed specifically for the occasion, and 3. Some people have undoubtedly spent a lot of time on this and having 6 name slots to fill means their hard work will have a greater chance of paying off. Ties will be resolved by lottery.

Here are the candidates and the people who suggested them:

Debi:

Tinker

Tailor

(Debi admits that these are more along the lines of “Bubbles” and “Sushi”.)

Iain:

Medx

Afni

(Iain would have preferred “Sushi”, but considering the sign above his computer “Die, Medx, Die”, this works too.)

Helene:

Slartibartfast

Vroomfondel

(Slartibartfast is a fjord designer who created the coastline of Norway. Vroomfondel is a pan-dimensional philosopher who was told the meaning of life, 42, by a giant computer. If you haven’t read the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams yet, you should soon before the movie comes out.)

Joe:

Cousteau

Blackbeard, Captain Kidd, Long John Silver (pirates)

Captain Nemo

Captain Bligh

Admiral Nimitz and Lord Nelson (commanders at sea)

Atlantis, Mu, Lemuria (legendary lost civilizations that disappeared beneath the sea)

Patrick Duffy (played the Man From Atlantis on TV in the late 70's, before your time)

Hippocampus (mythical sea creature AND a brain structure)

Kraken (giant mythical sea creature)

Leviathan and Behemoth (giant Biblical creatures)

Aquaman and Prince Namor (DC/Marvel underwater super-heroes; ok, Prince Namor sometimes was a villain)

Dr. Fate and Dr. Strange (DC/Marvel magical super-heroes)

Godzilla and Gamera (giant Japanese monsters)

Puppy and Kitten

Frog and Toad

Lobster and Crab

Aquarius and Pisces (Zodiac)

Triton and Mermaid

Neptune and Poseidon (Roman and Greek gods of the sea)

Enterprise and Voyager (Star Trek space ships)

Klingon, Vulcan, Romulan, Ferenghi (Star Trek alien races)

Spock and Data (Star Trek smart guys)

Nautilus and Atragon (fantasy submarines)

Yamato and Bismarck (two giant WW2 battleships)

Monitor and Merrimack (Civil War ironclad ships that fought each other)

Hesperus and Flying Dutchman (doomed sailing ships)

(Ladies and Gentleman: Joe, on fire.)

Eileen:

Broca

Wierneke

(It is Eileen’s opinion that the “little fleck finned fish” would make a proper “Broca”.)

Alison:

Meena (Indian and Sanskrit for “fish”)

Nina (Babylonian for “enclosure of fish” and also the name of a Babylonian fertility goddess)

Zeki (“Intelligence” in Turkish)

Fahim (“Intelligent or Scholar” in Arabic)

(Is anyone else thinking “Fahim Ferenghi” for the loach besides me?)

Okay. Everyone, select 6 of your favorites and make them specific to the particular fish if you like. Commence.

Thank you,

Helene