My Favorite Name in the World

Did I ever tell you what my favorite name in the world is? I'll go ahead and give you a hint, it's two syllables and starts with a D.

See, I used to watch a lot of television before I found the internet. And ya know, summer vacation... so I'd watch uh, I guess the USA network? In the mornings, it'd be Major Dad, followed by some/a lot of Wings, followed by Family Matters. And I would just sit there and watch em all in a row.

Now, I was just a little kid, not very picky about television, so Family Matters didn't seem that bad. There was a whole slew of family sitcoms pouring through back then. Full House, Step by Step, Family Matters, Boy Meets World... who knows why. But yea, Family Matters was the one with the African American family led by Reginald VelJohnson, the cop from Die Hard. And of course Steve Urkel, one of the banes of the 1990s. But I was a kid, so it seemed funny instead of irritating. *shrug*

So there was this one really dumb character on the show named Waldo, who had a girlfriend named... Denise. And that was really the first time I'd ever heard of the name. Didn't find the actress playing Denise attractive, but the name itself somehow became seared into my mind, my consciousness. Sure, it's just two little syllables, but the way it sounded just seemed so beautiful and elegant... it was the most amazingly attractive name I'd ever heard. Sure, there are names with more raw sex appeal like... Janine or Alexis (both pornstar names) or whatever... but I thought Denise was just the most beautiful name for a woman. And it's been that way ever since.