SHERIL

Yes, I know I haven't blogged here since December of last year, but I've mostly been making coffee at home to save a few bucks, or drinking the awful office swill (by the way, I tested the coffee in my own pot at home and it's fine, so it's either the water in Beverly Hills or the the actual coffee maker that makes it bitter and yucky).  However, with this 24th different spelling of my name, I felt compelled to write a few sentences.

SHERIL

Yes, this is a variation on previous spellings: Sherill, Sheral and Sherol -- but I'll give him +3 style points for originality and inspiring me to write on this blog again.  You may notice I'm drinking ICED COFFEE -- yes, let me rub it in -- it's supposed to be 88 F (31 C) degrees in Los Angeles today.

Also, I believe this is the first time I've been in Starbucks since the rebranding. They're no longer putting their name on the cups and just going with a simplified version of the siren/mermaid logo.

I promise not to be so delinquent in the coming weeks. Many of you have submitted your own wacky misspellings, and I promise to post them soon.  Thanks for reading!

SHARROLLE

If I'm counting correctly, this is the 23rd different variation on my name and there doesn't seem to be any end in sight. I recently read somewhere that parents are putting a premium on unique names, rather than traditional or family names. Maybe this Starbucks cashier was just trying to help me out in that department? I'll give her plus two (+2) style points: one for the very girlie and loopy handwriting and another for the smiley face. I wonder if she drew the smiley because she knew she spelled my name incorrectly and just wanted to soften the blow, or if that's her signature trademark as a Starbucks cashier?

SHARROLLE

With its very faint accent mark on the E, this spelling reminded me of CHAROLE -- the very first post on this blog. Who knew that four months later I'd still have fodder? (Please check out some of the old posts if you haven't already done so.) Some of you have commented that the various clerks have to be doing this on purpose. I would believe that conspiracy theory also, except that my purchases are spread out between at least a half dozen different locations and a few different eating/drinking establishments across the Los Angeles area. It's been the story of my life since Day One. I used to get mad, but now I like it because 1) I have a new blog post; 2) It brings a little humor in my life; and 3) It just proves that in the battle of evolution, my gene pool has won.

S/CHAREL

Today's entry comes from the corporate cafeteria. I don't go there too often because I've been brown-bagging it to save up some money (Starbucks aren't free, you know.) A previous entry at the commissary yielded the only full-on bingo/correct spelling I've had of my name since the inception of this blog back in August. But alas, today's post will not disappoint in the misspelling department.

S/CHAREL

I went to the grill and ordered a black bean burger and some fries. The cook noted my menu choices and asked my name. I told him, but then there was a long...dramatic...pause. He looked to me for some help, but just as I blurted out "C", he quickly scribbled SHAREL. He apologized and went back and corrected the "S" to a "C", but, of course, in the whole scheme of things, it really didn't matter.

I went back and looked over all my old blog posts, and this is a completely new and unique spelling (with either the C or the S), so I'm going to give plus three (+3) style points for originality, and one more style point for a yummy and filling lunch.

SHERILL - Part 2

Otherwise known as "Sherill: When Misspellings Attack" or "The Revenge of the Misspelling." Sherill is a repeat from an August blog post, but seems to be one of the favorite variations, along with Sherell. Yes, phonetically I get it, but logically, I'm just having a difficult time. What started as a funny little experiment to amuse myself is turning into a depressing commentary on the American educational system.

SHERILL

But rather than wonder where the country went wrong, let me dissect this entry even more. First, not sure if you can get the scale from this photo, but this is some of the tiniest writing I've seen in a long time. I'm going to deduct negative one (-1) style points for the "S" that looks like an number eight, and that "R" is dangerously close to being a "V". I've noticed at this Starbucks location, the regular barista doesn't announce names when beverages are ready, he just yells out the drink size/type. He must be as equally baffled as I am.

Maybe I'll pronounce this CHEV-VEAL with a French flair? (Though that would require an E on the end, it's almost as logical as this spelling.)

Until they misspell again -- and you know they will very soon!

S/CHEREYL

We've had a case of indecisiveness like this in the past, i.e. covering your bases with a creative use of both C and S, but this cashier's handwriting takes some other creative liberties.  Notice how the Y loops through the second E.  I would almost dare to say that there's a phantom R in there, which would actually make it S/CHERERYL.

S/CHEREYL

I'm not a handwriting expert, but I am super assistant--so from an efficiency standpoint, this cashier is a time waster. They lifted the pen a total of five times to write my name: 1 and 2) between and after the C and the S (and which came first the C or the S?) 3); after the R; 4) after the second E; and 5) after the Y.  Also was the second E an afterthought and squeezed in between the R and the Y?

I'm feeling generous this morning because Los Angeles has finally cooled down after 3 or 4 days of blazing heat.  We broke an all-time record on Monday--113F/45C.  I'll give S/CHEREYL plus one (+1) style points for giving me another new and unique spelling of my name, but don't expect anymore because sitting on the fence with the C/S is just cheating.

UPDATE:  I just found out via #trending topics on Twitter that today is National Coffee Day--and they still couldn't spell my name correctly.

SHEROL

After having a dead battery AND getting locked out of my car last night (long story), I really needed some instant gratification java this morning. When I walked into my local Starbucks, I recognized several of the clerks, so I thought we might get some kind of repeat today, but...

SHEROL

Though this is a variation on the SHERAL/SH@ROL/SHARROL theme, we haven't seen this exact spelling yet. Because the writing is clear and legible and because the venti Americano managed to power me through my entire day without droopy eyelids, I'm giving a very generous plus two (+2) style points.  Stay tuned.  In the next couple of days I'll catch up with a couple of guest posts and a very special interpretative/collaborative post.

SHERLY

I'm surprised I hadn't gotten this variation of my name until now. If casual acquaintances or friends are going to misspell my name, they most often reverse the Y and the L (CHERLY) -- and for some reason this is the misspelling which irks me the most. SHERLY would be pronounced something akin to "Shirley." So even though the cashier spelled it incorrectly, I have to give props to the server who brought me my take-out. She yelled out "Sher-Lee," which is how it would be pronounced with this spelling. LY is a "lee" sound - like in unexpectedly, stupidly, lamely -- or a slew of other adverbs.  Customer service type people used to ask me if my name was "with a C or an S?"  Then they generally got the rest of it correct -- except for the occasional reversal of the last two letters.  

SHERLY

I thought for sure I would be getting a duplicate. Take special note. Notice the host's name. Luis took my order a couple of weeks ago and dubbed me SHARO.  I'm rewarding Luis plus two (+2) style points for a general improvement in spelling.

SHERELL

I thought for sure today was going to be at the very least a HALF-BINGO kind of day.  You see, when I walked into Starbucks this morning for my ritual pre-commute java, this CD was sitting on the display right in front of the cash register:

However, as you can see below, the cashier must not be familiar with the merchandise stock available in the store.  The CD was less than two feet away from him, and he reached directly over it to give me my change.

SHERELL

I'm going to deduct three (-3) style points just for general inattentiveness and for the two non-matching E's.

SH@ROL

I was certain today's entry was a duplicate, but when I looked back over the archives, the closest was SHARROL -- what a difference one little R makes.  If I'm counting correctly, we're up to 11 different misspellings of my name now (plus a couple of Half-Bingos).  Can anyone else make that claim?

SH@ROL

I'm feeling a bit generous today because after margaritas with some pals last night, I needed an extreme caffeine jump start.  So here's plus two (+2) style points for the A that looks like an at sign (or asperand, more formally).  Or if I really wanted to stretch the imagination, it also looks a bit like SHGROL, but I have absolutely no idea how to pronounce that, unless it's Klingon or some other alien language.

CHERYLLE - shoulda stopped while they were ahead

I walked into Starbucks on Saturday late afternoon/early evening, which is not my usual time for a coffee break, but if I was going to make it through a two-hour movie screening, I needed some liquid energy.  It was 90+ degrees in Los Angeles, so I switched over to a venti iced Americano. Since it was pretty slow at the corner Starbucks, I wasn't sure if the cashier was going to ask my name.  He was a quite a bit older than the typical hipster cashier (i.e., my age, give or take a couple of years).  I figured if anyone was going to get it right, it would be him.

CHERYLLE

As you can see, he started off on the right footing.  I was worried that I was going to have to try to make another BINGO sound interesting, but then I saw his wrist make two distinct downwards strokes.   Such anticipation!  When the barista handed me my tasty beverage, I was pleasantly surprised to find CHERYLLE written on the side.  This is a totally new spelling in my life-long experience of misspellings, so I'm going to give plus three (+3) style points for that factor alone, as well as for the fact that my correctly spelled name is contained within the misspelled mess.  

Interestingly, I used to always hope cashiers would spell my name correctly and would carefully spell it out for them, only to have them still mangle it.  Now, I'm visualizing unique and creative discombobulations.  (Take note:  other than than half-bingos for SHERYL, we haven't had a repeat on the misspellings yet.)

GUEST POST: The Evolution of Rion

If I learned anything in the short history of this blog, it's that my name isn't the only one that gets mangled, mauled and misspelled on a regular basis.  Here's the second submission from my good friend Rion.

The Evolution: RION--BRION- BRIAN??

I have a Left Field Award, but maybe I should also have a Right Field Award?  Or the "quit listening to your iPod at 11 and pay attention" award?  Although this submission isn't correct, I find the "A" intriguing.  It kinda looks like a backwards 6.  I also appreciate the slash/dotted I, which resembles Chinese calligraphy.  I'm feeling generous today (because I have two fantastic misspellings of my name coming up), so I'll give a half point each for the two fancy letters for a total of plus one (+1) style points.

CHURL -- am I a boor?

I've been waiting to document this spelling for awhile now.  I grew up in southern Indiana and heard people pronounce my name this way for the first two decades of my life.  Even though it's north of the Mason-Dixon line, southern Indiana still identifies as the south.  The imaginary Yankee border is about an hour and a half north from the Ohio River in Bloomington.  Indiana University is there and students and residents seem to identify more with Chicago and the accents prove it.  I can say this because I'm from there, but folks from the southern Indiana/northern Kentucky area are lazy speakers.  I can pick out the drawl from across a crowded bar.  


For example, the city right across the border from Louisville, Kentucky is New Albany.  However, when southie Hoosiers say it, they shorten it to three syllables and slur it all together, so it sounds something akin to "knobby knee" or "knaw bah-nee."  Even our state nickname for natives, Hoosiers, is supposedly a contraction/lazification (my invented word) of "who's ear?" -- from a rougher, less civilized time when people used to fight and bite each others ears off.  Hence, my name becomes one syllable with a hard R drawl on the end.  Listen to George Clooney speak.  He's from northern Kentucky and you can hear that sluggish accent slip out occasionally.

CHURL

From the movement of her wrist, I could tell that the cashier scribbled a C, then she paused (notice the break between the first and second letter.)  However, I didn't hear a tinge of southernness in her voice.  So she heard me say my name and her brain somehow twisted it into this Dixieland version.

I know it was only 8:00am when I walked into the Starbucks and my personality doesn't fully kick in until about 10:00am, but what are they trying to tell me with this spelling?

CHURL –noun

1. a rude, boorish, or surly person.

2. a peasant; rustic.

3. a miser: He was a churl in his affections.

4. English History: a freeman of the lowest rank.

Plus one style point (+1) because this could also be interpreted as C-Hurl, which may have to be my new rapper name.

Something you haven't seen yet --

Nearly three weeks of blogging here and this is the first time my name has been spelled 100% correctly.  Granted, I'm not at Starbucks or any other major chain, but I'm sticking to the rules of the quest.  Below you'll see my order slip for a delicious black bean burger and fries.  Not only is it spelled correctly, there's some nice penmanship going on; so I'm giving plus five (+5) style points for being readable and elegant (a true rarity, as my dear readers know).

BINGO!

Here I am with the lovely Priscilla, who works at the company commissary.  Before this encounter, we didn't know each other, so it wasn't as if I beat her over the head with a stick and made her memorize my name.  Of course, this rare Bingo happened on a day when I wasn't wearing any makeup and basically rolled out of bed, so please excuse my pale ginger-ness.

Cheryl (L) with Priscilla, the spelling bee champion!

Priscilla, you're the first BINGO AWARD winner on "The Name Is Cheryl" blog.  I'm sure your family and friends will be so proud...and happy Friday to everyone!

Two Halves Does Not Make a Whole --

-- at least when we're talking about the rules of this blog experiment.  As just a little reminder, although Sheryl is technically a correct spelling, it's only considered a HALF-BINGO, because it's not how I spell my name (Sorry, Sheryl Crow).

First, here's my own entry from my local Starbucks.  Though this isn't the best penmanship in Southern California, I do like the way the R and the Y are hooked together as one hybrid letter.  So I'm going to award this cashier plus one style point (+1) for creativity -- and I really needed my venti Americano this morning, so I'm feeling a little generous with the style points.

And here's the second part of this special two-parter, which is from my friend Tina who was visiting SoCal and her Aunt, who just happens to be named Cheryl.

They were in the weeds at McDonald's, so they took names and brought food out to the tables.  Although this is a HALF-BINGO, I'm going to have to deduct negative one (-1) style points on this one because of the decisive, heavy block letters -- they were just so sure of themselves.

In case I haven't schooled you enough today, here's some blog math for you:  two halves does not equal a whole; and (+1) style point + (-1) styles point = (0) {zero/nil/nada/zippo} style points overall.

+   = not a bingo

CHEREL (with the 2nd E as an afterthought)

I stopped by a Starbucks which isn't on my usual route.  You might even call this an elite, fancy schmancy Starbucks -- smack dab in the middle of Beverly Hills 90210.  But no matter the zipcode, there's still an issue with spelling my name.  I gave the cashier my handle and she scribbled away.  She placed the cup in line with all the other ducks awaiting tasty beverage preparation, then she picked it back up and scribbled something else.  Quel intrigue!

CHEREL

My guess is that her initial spelling was Cherl, which is something I see quite often (and hope to document on this blog soon), but I suppose that second syllable sound just nagged at her and she went back and added another E between the R and L to make it CHEREL.

I'm going to give one style point (+1) for the R that sorta looks like a V -- just because that would make my name Chevel and that's pretty darn close to Chevelle, one of my favorite 60's muscle cars.

Your guess is as good as mine

I'm tempted to give this entry a half-bingo for a "Sheryl", but I'm going to refrain (my rules, remember?)  Plus I'm going to deduct negative three (-3) for handwriting style.  While feminine and loopy, it lacks a certain readability necessary for the course of this experiment.  While the S, H, Y and L are clear, the series of humps and bumps between the H and Y are questionable.  It could read SHUYL or SHUNYL or SHIRYL???  What do you think?

SHUYL?

I really don't have any right to criticize anyone's handwriting, as my has deteriorated so badly over the years with all the FLH (that's Fast Long Hand for the novices out there) I've taken   Other than the C, it might be difficult for anyone who didn't know me to decipher what I've written -- but then again, I don't work at Starbucks.

SHAIRIL?

Definite negative two (-2) on style points for the overlapping I and L at the end.  It almost makes it look a K -- SHAIRK -- which would be a really unique mangling of my name

SHAIRIL?

It wasn't very crowded when I went into my local 'Bucks, so the barista didn't even bother with trying to interpret this chicken scratch.  The only acknowledge I got that my Americano was ready was a hipster "yo, what's up?" upwards nod of the head.

SHARROL

This Starbucks cashier was tall, pale, red-haired and freckled (i.e., he could be a distant cousin), so with all that waspy/Anglo-Saxon-ness coursing through his veins, he really doesn't have any excuses.

SHARROL.

This is one of the more common bastardizations of my name, along with Charrol.  While I do really appreciate the period after the name -- full stop, decisive and confident, I'm going to have to deduct one style point (-1) because of the double-R that also looks like an N.  It also seemed to confuse the barista.  She glanced at the cup and instead of announcing my name, just yelled, "Venti Americano with room!"  Perhaps she too was debating the Sharrol/Shanol paradox?

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!