Happy Birthday

Emma Thompson. Even though you're younger than I am, when I grow up I'd like to be you, please. (Or at least look like you.)

My Fame Spreads Far and Whee

So I'm trying to come up with a list of names for people in medieval Italy--beyond the standard Italian names. I start by looking at popes and saints (not so much for the papal names as the names they had before they were elected to the papacy). Found a good handful of names, one of which (Tabitha) I wanted to check because it so doesn't sound Italian (yes, I know it's Biblical--I was looking for an Italianization of it). I stumble into a site called YeahBaby.com and start potching around. And as a reality test, I plug in my own name, Madeleine, to see if the data they have matches with things I already know. Under "Celebrities with This Name" I find:

Madeleine Basseporte, pre-20th century artist
Madeleine Bell, 1967 Miss Earth
Madeleine Doty, published author
Madeleine Ferron, writer
Madeleine Gagnon, writer
Madeleine Lemaire, French artist
Madeleine L�Engle, writer
Madeleine Monette, writer
Madeleine Ouellette-Michalska, writer
Madeleine Robins, published author
Madeleine Rouart, contemporary artist in the latter 20th century
Madeleine Stowe, actress/entertainer
Madeleine West, actress/entertainer

If I'd known I was a celebrity I'd have washed my hair. I wonder how a "published author" is different from a writer? And I wonder why no Madeleine Carroll (for whom I was named) or, for that matter, no Madeleine Allbright.