The Just Thought I'd Share Thread

[moon]

So, here I am. After 9 days, I returned from a very different journey, that never enjoyed at all.
People were strange. "Long" faces, bad behaviours, and a very bad attention at shoppings! People looked tired or something similar, I don't know well...
Good things? Well, family, of course, scenery, places, and a girl who really looked like Nina Dobrev in the return trip! Well, I like Victoria Justice, but she looks like Nina, so I was so happy with that girl just a pair of seats behind me!

So, here I am, ready for news and for share comments and info with you!
Regards!
Mark.

[SteveMacD]

My name officially changes to Stephen Hopkins on 4/17.

ETA:

PROBATE COURT OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, OHIO ALICE O. McCOLLUM, JUDGE IN RE: CHANGE OF NAME OF STEPHEN EDWARD MACDOUGALL TO: STEPHEN PHILLIPS HOPKINS Case No. 2013MSC00074 NOTICE OF HEARING ON CHANGE OF NAME Applicant hereby gives notice to all interested persons that the applicant has filed an Application for Change of Name in the Probate Court of Montgomery County, Ohio, requesting the change of name of STEPHEN EDWARD MACDOUGALL to STEPHEN PHILLIPS HOPKINS. The hearing on the application will be held on the 17th day of APRIL, 2013 at 3:50 o'clock p.m. in the Probate Court of Montgomery County, located at 41 North Perry Street, 2nd Floor, Dayton, Ohio 45422.

[vivfox]

Originally Posted by SteveMacD

My name officially changes to Stephen Hopkins on 4/17.

What is it you don't like about your birth name?

[Macfanforever]

Originally Posted by MacShadowsBall

Looks like Leno is on thin ice again over on NBC...

http://tv.yahoo.com/news/nbc-plannin...234300566.html..

Is NBC Planning Jay Leno's Retirement?
By Sadie Gennis | TV Guide – 3 hours ago.. .

While NBC denies the reports, sources told The Hollywood Reporter that the network is preparing to oust Tonight Show's Jay Leno from his longtime roost in favor of Jimmy Fallon.

According to the two high-level sources, NBC wants to promote Fallon to the coveted 11:35 timeslot to better compete with Jimmy Kimmel. While Leno regularly beats the competition overall, it's always hit-or-miss with Kimmel when it comes to the 18-49 demo. "Kimmel has done extremely well," a source said. "Jay wins overall, but on any given night, it's neck-and-neck in 18-49. I understand where they might have fear and also feel that they own the solution [in Fallon.]"

NBC allegedly has plans to announce in May that the 2013-14 season will be Leno's last. When questioned about the reports, a representative for the comedian, who's signed on through 2014, said, "We do not speculate on rumor."

Would you miss Leno? What do you think about Fallon in the earlier timeslot?
...................

If Leno is bringing in the bread.Why is there this BS going on to get rid of him.It sounds like a forced retirement to me.

I love Jay Leno .He's funny.

Jay is 62 . Johnny Carson retired at 66 on the show on his own I believe.


I think CBS forced Bob Barker to retire from The Price is Right show.Bob was 83 and still doing a awesome job hosting the show.I think he could host TPIR today at 89 years old.I like Drew and I'm glad that he was picked to carry the show on.

I cant stand age discrimination .It's BS...

Jimmy Fallon will be an excellent replacement for Jay if this happens.I like Jimmy's show and he's funny too.

Jimmy' is 38.

David Letterman is 65 and so far no news on him getting canned at CBS.
If Dave retires they probably have Craig Ferguson to take the show over.

Craig is 50 .He probably do good as a replacement for Dave.

[Macfanforever]

Originally Posted by vivfox

What is it you don't like about your birth name?

Originally Posted by SteveMacD

My name officially changes to Stephen Hopkins on 4/17.

ETA:

I would like to dump my first name use Skip as my first name.

My mother wanted to name me Anthony .Tony But my dad wanted Frank.

I really love the name Pete or Peter which is my uncles name.

[HomerMcvie]

Originally Posted by SteveMacD

My name officially changes to Stephen Hopkins on 4/17.

ETA:

Will you tell us why?
Now WHO am I supposed to think of, when I drive by Frugal MacDougal Liquors???

Because I do, every time I drive down 8th Ave South, I look up on the hill, and see that store, and remember telling you about it!

[SteveMacD]

Originally Posted by vivfox

What is it you don't like about your birth name?

Originally Posted by HomerMcvie

Will you tell us why?

It's not that I don't like the name "MacDougall", it's just really not relevant to my life. I was adopted at birth by David MacDougall and Jeanne Phillips MacDougall. Their divorce was finalized two weeks before my third birthday. He moved to Detroit and has had very little to do with me since. No little league, no Cub Scout meetings, no parent-teacher meetings. Nope, only two marching band competitions and my high school graduation. My last proper visit was in 1996. Since then, I've only been around anybody with the last name "MacDougall" for a total of 12 days if I'm being liberal, 10 days if I just include the current living MacDougalls, and 4 days with MacDougalls of my generation (my two half-siblings and my cousin); the last time I was around any MacDougall was in 2004. (Cue up Everclear.)

Last year, I reunited with my birth family. My birth parents got married three weeks before my adopted parents got divorced, had three more children, and are still very happily married. They've come down for visits, I've gone up for visits. Hell, my parents, sisters, and brothers-in-law went to a GbV show in Chicago! My brother has since become a father, and made me my nephew's godfather. I've spent a total of 55 days in one year with them so far. I am one of them. I thought my name should reflect that.

Now WHO am I supposed to think of, when I drive by Frugal MacDougal Liquors???

Because I do, every time I drive down 8th Ave South, I look up on the hill, and see that store, and remember telling you about it!

Well, if it's any consolation prize, there are ton of beer jokes that can be made now. My new cheesy pick-up line for the girls at geek bars is "Hey, wanna Hopslam?" (See, now every time you see Hopslam at a bar, you're gonna think of that stupid joke.)

[HomerMcvie]

Originally Posted by SteveMacD

It's not that I don't like the name "MacDougall", it's just really not relevant to my life. I was adopted at birth by David MacDougall and Jeanne Phillips MacDougall. Their divorce was finalized two weeks before my third birthday. He moved to Detroit and has had very little to do with me since. No little league, no Cub Scout meetings, no parent-teacher meetings. Nope, only two marching band competitions and my high school graduation. My last proper visit was in 1996. Since then, I've only been around anybody with the last name "MacDougall" for a total of 12 days if I'm being liberal, 10 days if I just include the current living MacDougalls, and 4 days with MacDougalls of my generation (my two half-siblings and my cousin); the last time I was around any MacDougall was in 2004. (Cue up Everclear.)

Last year, I reunited with my birth family. My birth parents got married three weeks before my adopted parents got divorced, had three more children, and are still very happily married. They've come down for visits, I've gone up for visits. Hell, my parents, sisters, and brothers-in-law went to a GbV show in Chicago! My brother has since become a father, and made me my nephew's godfather. I've spent a total of 55 days in one year with them so far. I am one of them. I thought my name should reflect that.



Well, if it's any consolation prize, there are ton of beer jokes that can be made now. My new cheesy pick-up line for the girls at geek bars is "Hey, wanna Hopslam?" (See, now every time you see Hopslam at a bar, you're gonna think of that stupid joke.)

Well that's a very good reason, and they look really nice! How hard was it to get it done? I would think it would be very hard!

Even though I was adopted, too, and met all of my birth family(and we're reasonably close), I'm still far closer to my adopted family. But I know the issues with identifying with them, and feeling a part of them, etc...

Frugal Hopkins....hmm, I'll have to work on some new material! Thanks for sharing your story, though!!!

[SteveMacD]

Originally Posted by HomerMcvie

Well that's a very good reason, and they look really nice! How hard was it to get it done? I would think it would be very hard!

We men usually do. However, I asked a few married women, and it's not anywhere near as hard as I thought. There's a lot of paperwork and whatnot with people outside of the court, but it was as simple as filing a few forms.

Originally Posted by HomerMcvie

Even though I was adopted, too, and met all of my birth family(and we're reasonably close), I'm still far closer to my adopted family. But I know the issues with identifying with them, and feeling a part of them, etc...

Every adoptee's story is different. I'm very close to my amom and her family, which is why her maiden last name will be my middle name. I tell people to never use my story as the gold standard for adoption. My story is the Walt Disney fairy tale of adoption, and believe me, I know it!

[Macfanforever]

I have a friend that he changed his last name to his mom maiden name because he did not want his fathers last name because his dad was a blank.

Me .I don't want to go through the ton of paper work right now.I know cities and states very with the name change deal.

[SteveMacD]

Originally Posted by Macfanforever

I have a friend that he changed his last name to his mom maiden name because he did not want his fathers last name because his dad was a blank.

Me .I don't want to go through the ton of paper work right now.I know cities and states very with the name change deal.

It wasn't exactly an easy decision, per se. All of my degrees, professional license, accomplishments, and even album credits have been as "MacDougall". However, not including my amom (whose maiden name will now be part of my name, because she and her family never made me feel "adopted"), I'm tired of being odd man out. With my adad and his kids, I was the "adopted" child. I was odd man out with most of my step sisters, too (there's one who I also consider to be my sister, and she's happy about the change, too).

This year was the first time I almost didn't feel that way at a family Christmas, and the only reason I did was because of my last name. That's something I have control over. I now have something that is real and is mine. So any inconvenience I might have will be relatively minor.

[HomerMcvie]

Originally Posted by SteveMacD

It wasn't exactly an easy decision, per se. All of my degrees, professional license, accomplishments, and even album credits have been as "MacDougall". However, not including my amom (whose maiden name will now be part of my name, because she and her family never made me feel "adopted"), I'm tired of being odd man out. With my adad and his kids, I was the "adopted" child. I was odd man out with most of my step sisters, too (there's one who I also consider to be my sister, and she's happy about the change, too).

This year was the first time I almost didn't feel that way at a family Christmas, and the only reason I did was because of my last name. That's something I have control over. I now have something that is real and is mine. So any inconvenience I might have will be relatively minor.

So does that mean you will apply for new copies of diplomas and stuff, or just have to explain that you changed your name?

Wanna know something ugly(to me) that happened, the day of my Mom's funeral, 10 years ago(Jan 14)? I mean, I was adopted AT BIRTH!, and my aunt says to me, AT the funeral, "just so you know, you'll still be welcome at our cookouts and stuff?"
ARE YOU F*CKING KIDDING ME????(I didn't say that, of course, I'm not wired for angry confrontations...). I had spent every holiday and cookout of my entire life with ALL the family, and that BITCH had the nerve to say that to me. I kept it to myself for 10 years, and a couple of months ago, while playing cards with the part of the family I'm closest to, told them what she said to me(because we were talking about Mom being gone for 10 years). They were horrified that she said it, and at first tried to make excuses for what she said. But I remember it word for word, like it was yesterday. Which told me that even though I'd been part of the family since birth, for 30+ years, she never officially considered me part of the family. After we talked for awhile(edit-to the close family-not the bitch), they understood how I felt...and I told my aunt and cousin (that I'm INSEPARABLE from-we call each other at least a couple of times a week, if not more), that I would never forget, or forgive those words, as long as I live.
Because again, it showed me that she never considered me to be "legitimate" family...adopted from day one of life still makes you a black sheep, in her eyes...but I digress...
~edit~- I do want to add, that NO ONE else in my afamily EVER made me feel like I didn't belong, never ever. Only that one C U Next Tuesday. That's why it came as such a shock!

So Steve, you're right, everyone's story is different, definitely. And I'm very happy for you, that you've found the best parts of it all, and put it together! I love both my families, but again, my afamily is MY family, warts and all! lol

[SteveMacD]

Originally Posted by HomerMcvie

So does that mean you will apply for new copies of diplomas and stuff, or just have to explain that you changed your name?

Yep. The only one I can't change is my high school diploma. I'll also have to get a new driver's license and a new social work license. There's definitely a process, but it's easier to do it now before I settle down.

Wanna know something ugly(to me) that happened, the day of my Mom's funeral, 10 years ago(Jan 14)? I mean, I was adopted AT BIRTH!, and my aunt says to me, AT the funeral, "just so you know, you'll still be welcome at our cookouts and stuff?"
ARE YOU F*CKING KIDDING ME????(I didn't say that, of course, I'm not wired for angry confrontations...). I had spent every holiday and cookout of my entire life with ALL the family, and that BITCH had the nerve to say that to me. I kept it to myself for 10 years, and a couple of months ago, while playing cards with the part of the family I'm closest to, told them what she said to me(because we were talking about Mom being gone for 10 years). They were horrified that she said it, and at first tried to make excuses for what she said. But I remember it word for word, like it was yesterday. Which told me that even though I'd been part of the family since birth, for 30+ years, she never officially considered me part of the family. After we talked for awhile(edit-to the close family-not the bitch), they understood how I felt...and I told my aunt and cousin (that I'm INSEPARABLE from-we call each other at least a couple of times a week, if not more), that I would never forget, or forgive those words, as long as I live.
Because again, it showed me that she never considered me to be "legitimate" family...adopted from day one of life still makes you a black sheep, in her eyes...but I digress...
~edit~- I do want to add, that NO ONE else in my afamily EVER made me feel like I didn't belong, never ever. Only that one C U Next Tuesday. That's why it came as such a shock!

Wow. The only ones who ever made ugly comments to me were my step-parents; and my adad once said something around the time my half-brother was born that made me feel like he didn't really consider me to be his son. Reading your story makes me realize I wish I had been closer to my extended family. I don't really have any issues with them, except that I really don't know them all that well because everybody lived hundreds or thousands of miles away, which I think has played into my decision.

[Macfanforever]

Hi All.I like to remind all of you about the time .This upcoming
weekend we will change to daylight savings time. Time change in
Europe. is March 31, 2013: I believe .

I love it .Freaking winter is almost over,

[HomerMcvie]

Originally Posted by SteveMacD

Yep. The only one I can't change is my high school diploma. I'll also have to get a new driver's license and a new social work license. There's definitely a process, but it's easier to do it now before I settle down.


Wow. The only ones who ever made ugly comments to me were my step-parents; and my adad once said something around the time my half-brother was born that made me feel like he didn't really consider me to be his son. Reading your story makes me realize I wish I had been closer to my extended family. I don't really have any issues with them, except that I really don't know them all that well because everybody lived hundreds or thousands of miles away, which I think has played into my decision.

Do you intend on going back to social work? How long has is been since you started with GBV?

And again, that was the ONLY negative thing ever said to me about being adopted, by my afamily. But I always suspected she was a bitch(stayed with an assh*le husband her whole life, all for the love of $$$$), and she finally showed her true colors to me...meh, whatever! lol
Since Mom's been gone, I actually have felt like I'm drifting away from some of them, now. The main exceptions would be one aunt, and her daughter, that I'm extremely close to. We get together and play euchre, at least once a week. (as everyone not from Indiana/Ohio says, "wtf is euchre!?!?)