Hi Max. Check out the baby name wizard blog if you're interested in names and naming. It's consistently interesting - Laura's most recent post is about how and why we're all getting more obsessed about names: http://thebabynamewizard.ivillage.com/parenting/?dst=rss%7Cpp_babynamehttp://thebabynamewizard.ivillage.com/parenting/?dst=rss%7Cpp_babyname Mind you, my own interest in the subject is not helping much - I will give birth within the next two weeks and haven't the foggiest what to call the mite if it turns out to be a boy!

I'm curious about the altered mental state flying provokes - emotional and clumsy. Why do I want to watch trashy romcoms, of the sort I'd never put up with on the ground? Why do I always spill drinks? Why do I nearly always find something to cry about? It's strange - I'm convinced there's a pysiological reason.

Gavin. I'm so sorry to hear about your father-in-law's accident. I'm thinking of you and all your family.

What a great coincidence, thanks for sharing. I'm really interested in the fuzzy boundaries between reality and unreality at the moment. Did you see beeker's post on the uncanny valley? http://beeker.typepad.com/beeker_ideas/2006/12/uncanny_valley.html#comments

It's a funny thing. Some of my posts that have attracted the least online comments, are the ones eople talk to me about offline. Not sure whether this is because my online & offline friends (who read my blog only because they know me) are interested in different things. Or whether the kind of response people want to make to these posts don't feel appropriate for the comments page.

Hi Jon I often experience a sense of 'opportunity-paralysis' at weekends. There's so much I want to spend my time doing, I can't decide which is most important, and fritter away precious time dithering. I could solve the problem by planning my weekends better, but am loathe to do so because lack of agenda is one of the best things that make weekends different. I also try not to beat myself up over downtime. I'm increasingly realising that doing nothing-of-great-importance, is actually very important. Helen

Hi Gavin, thanks for wandering over to my blog and commenting. I am happiest amidst chaos too, hence comfortable disorientation. When you submit to chaos it is at once absorbing, liberating and exciting.

I love this Faris, it makes me feel very optimistic. Reading through the discussion I was struck by the thought that win-win always makes me think of the outcome of a negotiation. So is the idea about moving from a persuasion to negotiation model of communication?