Spackle Camshaft? You betcha'...

I've always kind of liked the name my mother gave me at birth, Juliette. It's a family name, for one thing, going back several generations.

Plus, it has a nice old-fashioned air about it.

But I've never felt it had much power. It's a soft name. If you're named Juliette, you are going to grow up to be creative, compassionate, and a fabulous listener who also has great taste in clothes. But you are never, ever going to be an astrophysicist; an Olympic triathlete; the head of an oil company; or, for that matter, the "hot" mayor of a small cold town in Alaska.

Once I briefly changed my first name to Sidney. I felt it was a name that would take me places, but the new places turned out to be pretty much like the old places, so I switched back.

But now blogger David Harrington has rekindled my interest in power names, and today I tried out his Sarah Palin Baby Name Generator.

The name given me by The Generator was "Spackle Camshaft" -- a moniker that just reeks with inexplicable authority. Power-wise, compared to my birth name it's no contest.

My mother is not going to be at all happy about my new name, but I think you'll agree that now, at last, I have a shot at greatness.