CHERLY - He doesn't know how to spell his mother's name

This past Sunday, I felt for sure this science experiment was coming to an abrupt end. I walked into my local Starbucks late afternoon to get a little icy pick-me-up before I headed out for my weekend adventure. When I ordered my venti iced Americano, the cashier exclaimed, "oh, that's my mother's name!"  My brain responded, "oh well...." [insert cartoon wah-wah sound here]  However, I saw him pause and look quizzically at the cup.  He then added, "my mother would be really pissed if I spelled her name wrong."

CHERLY

Well folks, looks like Sonny Boy's momma is not going to be so proud of him for this.  She got stretch marks for you and you don't spell her name correctly?  Shame on you!  Your mom's name is not Cher-Lee, which is how this would be pronounced.   Also your R looks very much like a V.  So once again, here's a close, but NO CIGAR for Cherly -- and here comes the cheesy picture of Lieutenant Starbuck:

NO CIGAR

Please note that the Sheryl Crow "100 Miles to Memphis" CDs appear to be SOLD OUT, so I'm guessing this will lessen my chances for HALF-BINGOs for awhile.

CHERYLL -- and a little shameless self-promotion

I know I promised you pie(charts) to go along with the coffee, but when I clicked chart wizard in my Excel spreadsheet, the data was actually a bit boring graphically. In the gender category, males and females were split evenly 50/50 in misspelling my name. There was one Starbucks and one non-Starbucks (McDonald's) HALF BINGO. The only correct spelling of my name was from a non-corporate joint (the company commissary). In the month of August, there were sixteen different incorrect versions of my name, and -- drum roll please -- Starbucks' clerks spelled my name correctly a whopping total of ZERO times (nil for thirteen).

Since you've been denied piecharts, here's a little extra credit reading for you:  my regular "Hollywood Notes" column in the UK literary publication, ONE Magazine.  (Click on the link to read -- and be sure to check out the other great articles and stories. If you live in the UK, you can pick up a free copy in finer establishments in London, Edinburgh, Glasgow and surrounds.)

And now back to our regularly scheduled programming:

I really-really-really thought for sure today was going to be a HALF-BINGO. After all, this was the third day in a row I've ordered my Venti Americano with Sheryl Crow's soulful gaze staring up at me from her CD display in front of the register. When I told the cashier my name, he asked me a question I haven't heard in eons, "is that with a C or a S?" (Did I put this out into the universe when I noted this a couple of days ago with my SHERLY post?) Now technically, BINGOs only count without any kind of prompting, but as you can see, I didn't have to worry about dolling out the big guns today. Like CHERYLLE, this is another case of "should have stopped while they were ahead." 

CHERYLL

We've already had a variation on this spelling with the indefinite C/SHERYLL back in the early days of this month. Although he had a bit of help with the C or S part of my name, I'm going to begrudgingly award him a NO CIGAR award -- mostly because I want to see Dirk Benedict's handsome face again on this blog.

NO CIGAR FOR YOU!

Thanks for reading and I'll be back in a few days.

GUEST POST: The many sides of Deven

Here's a special shout out to my friend Deven for not one, but two -- count 'em two -- submissions.  (Be sure to check out his delicious food blog at hungrytigernyc.com -- and if you live in New York City, sign up for one of his Grub Crawls.)  Plus he also has taken the challenge into a whole new direction by sending me screen shots of text messages from his iPhone (how new millennium of him!)

DEVON

Since HALF-BINGOS are only for SHERYL, both of these entries technically fall into my category of being a NO CIGAR, that is they're only one letter off from being a correct spelling.

DEVIN

And here's a little gentle reminder to join the Cheryl Revolution and send me misspellings of your name or, if you're game, be bold and proudly tell them your name is Cheryl.  [Any guys confident enough to do this will receive plus ten (+10) style points.)

+ = two no cigar awards

And in case you don't get the visual reference for this award, it's Dirk Benedict as Lieutenant Starbuck (how appropriate for this blog, huh?) from the original "Battlestar Galactica."

The Rules of This Quest

Now, dear readers, this seems a good place to explain the rules of this quest -- which, of course, are subject to change at my whim at any given time.  In order to be a BINGO, the subject must get the spelling EXACTLY right: Cheryl.  However, I will reluctantly consider Sheryl a HALF-BINGO, as it is a proper spelling of the name, but it's just not the way I spell it.  When -- or if I ever -- get a direct full-on Bingo without any prompting or support (i.e., they don't ask me how to spell my name), I will take a picture of me with that barista or clerk and post it on this blog.  To tell you the truth, I'm not so worried about that happening because I don't remember the last time someone actually spelled my name correctly.

It's a BINGO!

STYLE POINTS will be awarded purely at my discretion.  These can be doled out for any reason at all:  unique handwriting, interesting combo of syllables, a spelling that I've never seen or considered before, or just because I was in a good mood and my latte tasted extra yummy that day.

SPECIAL AWARDS will evolve as this blog does, but at this moment in time, I have three special awards:

- The CHARO, which will be given to anyone who has the balls to bring the cuchie cuchie.

- The CHERRELLE, as this is the nickname some of my dearest friends use with me, it deserves a special award.  I'll consider Cherrelle or Cherelle a direct hit with this award.

- The NO CIGAR, (as in close, but no cigar...) which will be given for a letter reversal or one wrong letter.

C/SHERYLL -- so close, but yet so far...

Another Starbucks attempt at spelling my name, and the first winner of the "No Cigar" award (as in close, but no cigar) on this blog.

C/Sheryll

She almost had it!  But alas, the double L is a deal breaker.  Maybe she did it this way because Cheryl loosely rhymes with Darnell?  But she got the Y -- and the order of YL correct -- which seems to be one of the most difficult components for the below-average speller.  However, I will give her +1 style points for the cleverly crafted first letter.  Look how she eloquently covered her bases by putting a little curly twist on the end of the C, so it could also be interpreted as an S.  Way to play both sides of the fence -- Impressive!