I live in a development in an unincorporated area of my county, just east of the city of Redmond, WA, but not close enough to be annexed by said city. The county in which my neighbors and I reside takes our tax money (interestingly, they charge us more in taxes than I ever paid when I lived in the city of Redmond -- not just in absolute dollars, but as a percentage, as well) and spends it in downtown Seattle (the county seat) rather than spending it here.

Then, when something needs to be done out here, they'll mandate that we (as residents of a development) fund it out-of-pocket through our homeowners associations.

That's obviously an oversimplification of a much more complicated process, but you get the gist. Some of us are not happy with this arrangement, and are starting to explore the idea of incorporating this area into a city, which would bring some of those tax dollars back to us.

But, if we can and do incorporate, what would we name this new city? "East Redmond?" "Redmond Heights?" "Redmond Hills?"

The name is a marketing choice: after all, the residents here would have to vote on incorporation, and they probably wouldn't vote to incorporate "Irving, Washington," no matter how funny that would be.

Here are some other names I'd love to try, but might be problematic. I've checked to make sure they haven't been taken, for the sake of the exercise. (George is already taken, for example):

* President
* General
* Carver
* District of Columbia
* Notgnihsaw
* Wa Wa

More seriously, why not pick a name to commemorate the traditions of our large Indian population?

* Diwali (literally, "festival of lights")

Or, for that matter, the aboriginal Native Americans?

* Tlahwahdees (the original name of a local Sammamish settlement)
* Simump (another name for the Sammamish tribe)
* Willows (the Sammamish were known as "willow dwellers"; there is already a local street by this name)

What do you think? Any suggestions? Have fun with it!

Random news that's fit to print:

* Andrew James continues to be the (current) cutest baby in the world, just as Alexander Benjamin continues to be the (current) cutest almost-six-year-old in the world, and Nolan Theodore continues to be the (current) cutest three-year-old in the world. I'll post more pix soon to prove it.

* I have recently signed a contract for my third pro fiction sale, "Last Man Standing", for the upcoming Swordplay anthology coming from DAW Books. Three short story sales to a pro market makes me eligible to join the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America -- a union that (I've been told) would put me on the invite lists for other upcoming "invite only" anthos and also allow me to vote for the Nebula Awards.

Also of note, this was my first attempt at writing historical fiction (not that I don't have some background in history, mind you). I'm very happy to have sold it right out of the gate, since there are few markets for historical fiction.

* I have even more recently signed a contract (and received a check!) for my fourth pro fiction sale, "If I Did It", for the upcoming The Trouble With Heroes anthology, also coming from DAW Books. I'm very excited about this sale, as this was a tricky piece of writing. It's a very short story (only 2,400 words or so), but I try to pack in as much humor, wry social commentary, and *story* as I can in a tiny little package. Satire is typically hard to sell, but it's something I *want* to get good at, so it's nice to see my practice may be paying off.

* Last night, I finally, finally, FINALLY began work on my new novel project. Wow, did it feel good to get that started. This beast is going to be much, much better than my first novel-length project (The Do Over), if only because I learned so much from the many things I did wrong on that one.

* More advice to Kevin (see my previous post on "Valedictory Advice") will be posted here shortly.

* M. Night Shyamalan is one of the most talented film directors working today, but his latest offering, The Happening, is so anti-science that I could scream. He tries to make a catch phrase out of "...just a theory!" That he does this in a flick ostensibly about ecological calamity is bizarre. When Paulette gave me a Father's Day pass to go see a movie without the kids around, I shoulda seen Iron Man instead. Grrr.

More later, potaters.