Robin's baby shower is coming up and I've been thinking about names for the baby.  Have I mentioned that she and Patrick found out it's a girl?  I think I did and I'm so excited.  I've considered a few names, not that I really have much of a say, but still, it's fun to think about.  I wonder if they'll name her after someone else.  I don't know how I feel about that, personally.  On the one hand, I think it's quite an honor to name a baby after someone you love and hold in high regard.  On the other hand, there's something to be said about letting a new person enter the world with their own identity.  Either way, as long as it's name isn't Apple or Denim or something equally ridiculous, I think either way is fine.

Anyway, names for Robin's baby.  If she wanted to honor Mac in some way I think Mackenzie would work.  It's a common girl's name and I think it's cute.  I also like Madeline which works for Robin and Patrick in a few ways.  First, it's French and Robin, having spent years living in Paris, is a bit of a Francophile and I think she'd like a French name for her baby.  Also, it's Patrick's mother's name so they could honor her memory.  And for short, they could call her Maddie, which is completely adorable.  What about Madeline Mackenzie Drake?  I kind of like it.  Go me.  Who knows what they'll actually name the kid.  I think Robin's mentioned Matilda, which she likes because it's French.  And Patrick hates because, well, it's Matilda and I can't blame him there.  I think his exact words were something to the effect of, "Kids beat up other kids named Matilda."  Then again, Patrick hasn't really contributed anything useful to the name pool either.  He wants to name her Dale because Dale Earnhart is his favorite stock car driver.  That's right, Patrick Drake, the brilliant (and insanely hot) neurosurgeon, is a NASCAR fan.  Gag me.  I think my opinion of him dropped a bit.  But at least he's still pretty.  So, there's that, I guess.  All kidding aside, I seriously hope this poor kid winds up with something better than Dale or Matilda for a name.  She does have to live with it, after all.  Maybe I'll be dropping some hints about Madeline Mackenzie from now on.  Subtly, of course!

At the very least, the name Matilda presents the opportunity to use Mattie as a nickname.  And that would go right along with the tendency of the Scorpio-Jones' to give their girls masculine names.  I mean, with Robin, Maxie and Georgie, a name like Mattie would fit right in with such a non gender specific family.  And now that I think of it, not only do they just have masculine sounding names, but they were all named after men.  Robin after Robert (her father), Maxie after Maximillian (her great-grandfather), and Georgie after George (Felicia's uncle).  Even I was named after a man.  Alison is a derivative of Alan, my father.  And when people shorten it, they usually call me Al, which it pretty masculine, never Ali (with the exception of Luke of course.  But he only calls me Ali Q because it sounds like Suzie Q.  And sometimes he does refer to me as Al).  

And those don't even include my school friends many of which have masculine names like Brighton, Logan, Easton, Kingsley, and Emory.  Their names are also usually family related.

And while I thinking about it, many of the kids I know back home are named after people their parents want to honor/memorialize.  Let's see there's...

-Harlan Jane Jacks:  Also named after a man!  I know I've already mentioned Harlan so I won't go into the details of her name.

-Alison Bard Quartermaine:  That's me.  I guess my parents were just honoring themselves with my name.  My first, Alison after my father, and middle, Bard, for my mother's maiden name.  To be fair, my parents had decided that my mother would pick my first name and my father would choose my middle name.  So I suppose they were honoring each other, which is sweet.  

-Maria Maximilliana Jones:  I know I've already talked about Robin, Maxie and Georgie being named after other people, but actually, Maxie's first and middle names were someone else's first.  Her full name is Maria (pronounced like the singer, Mariah Carey) Maximilliana Jones.  Maria is her great-grandmother.  

-Lucas Lorenzo Spencer, Jr and Lucas Jones:  Two people are named after Luke.  His son, Lucky aka Lucas Lorenzo Spencer, Jr, and Lucas Jones, his nephew.  

-Lesley Lu Spencer:  Speaking of the Spencers, Lulu's full name is Lesley Lu.  Lesley after Laura's mother and Lu after a friend of Luke and Laura's.  

-Lila Rae Alcazar:  My niece Lila was named after both her grandmothers.  

-Morgan Stone Quartermaine:  My nephew's first name is Grandmother's maiden name and Stone after Stone Cates, a patient of my father's and, more importantly a friend of my father, AJ and myself.

-Spencer Alexi Nicholovich Cassadine:  Yes, that is the kid's name.  Nikolas' family, the Cassadines, didn't get along too well with Luke, so naming his son Spencer was his way of putting the past behind them.  I think Luke was really honored.  Alexi is the masculine version of Alexis, Nikolas' aunt, with whom he is very close.  And Nicholovich is from the Russian tradition of having your child's middle name result fromt the father's name.  So, Nicholovich is for Nikolas and the suffix "-vich" is the male suffix.  If Spencer had been a girl, then it would have been Nicholoevna, with "-evna" being the female equivilent.  Nikolas explained this all to me after Spencer was born because I didn't understand why he would torture the poor kid with such a name.  But now that I know why, I kind of like it.

-Alan Quartermaine, Jr.:  My brother AJ.  I guess my dad has two people named after him too!  Both just happen to be his own kids!  

-Kristina Lansing:  Alexis' daughter is named after her sister who died several years ago.

So, see, Madeline Mackenzie Drake would fit right in!  Robin and Patrick could let me name their kid.  I mean, Maxie named Georgie when we were kids.  Seriously!  Tony took Maxie and I to visit Felicia and Georgie (then she was just known as "the baby") in the hospital after the birth and Tony, Felicia and Maria were trying to think of family names.  They kept rattling off some women in their family and Maria mentioned the wife of an Uncle George.  Maxie perked up and suggested they name the baby George.  Naturally, Felicia told Maxie that George was a boy's name whereupon Maxie pointed out that her name was a boy's too, but they called her Maxie and they could call the new baby Georgie.  And, thus, Georgie had a name!  Cute story, eh?  Gives me hope for little Madeline Mackenzie.  But I won't hold my breath.

I really have nothing to report but I feel like I should update this thing.  I've just been hanging out this summer with Jack and my friends.  Maxie, Georgie, Lulu, Brook Lynn, Serena and I are going to NYC in a few weeks for some girl time so I'm definitely looking forward to that.  Ned's letting us stay in the penthouse which will be awesome even though he's already given Brook Lynn and I a huge lecture about not destroying the place.  I understand his concern, but we're fairly responsible (especially with Georgie around!) and I'm certainly old enough to control myself.  

Oh, and the Quartermaine family beach trip was a success.  Of course two weeks in Martha's Vineyard is hard to screw up!  Being at our beach house is one of my favorite times of the year.  My family seems to relax there.  Less craziness would certainly make the Quartermaine residence less entertaining but sometimes it's nice to feel normal.

I know I've always said I love adventures, but after this summer, I think I can leave them.  Let's just say, I will NEVER GO CAMPING AGAIN!  We got lost.  Yes, in this day and age, full of high tech GPS gadgets, Jack and I got lost in the woods.  More like the mountain since we were in the Catskills.  Yeah.  It was not fun.  Luckily, Mac, Robert and Luke found us.

I'm really glad to be home.  Everyone was so worried and walking into the house it was like they hadn't seen me in years.  Everyone had to hug me and make sure I was OK.  I wasn't gone that long, and in reality we weren't that lost, but apparently they were really worried.  It's nice to know they care so much.

I had an interesting couple of days and in thinking about how I'm going to attempt to write this journal, I realized that if anyone were to actually read this thing, they would probably have no idea who these people are and how I know them.  So here's a little cheat sheet for the people in my life who may or may not even appear in this journal so that I don't have to clog up my entries with long explanations.


My Family (The Quartermaine's!)

-Alan:  My father, he's the Chief of Staff at the hospital.

-Monica:  My mother, also a doctor (cardiologist).

-AJ:  My oldest brother.

-Carly:  My sister-in-law, AJ's wife.

-Michael:  My nephew, AJ and Carly's oldest son

-Morgan:  My nephew, AJ and Carly's youngest son

-Jason:  My next oldest brother. 

-Skye:  My oldest sister.

-Lila Rae:  My neice and Skye's daughter.  She the newest edition to our family.  She was born last year.

-Emily:  My next oldest sister via adoption.  She went to med school (at Harvard) and is an intern.

-Nikolas:  My soon-to-be brother-in-law, Emily's fiancee.  He's descended from Greco-Russian nobilty.  Seriously.

-Spencer:  My nephew, Nikolas and Emily's son

-Dawn:  My sister.  She died when I was 4.

-Edward:  My grandfather, Dad and Tracy's father.  He's ornery and very hard to please.  He built the family company with my grandmother.

-Lila:  My beloved grandmother, Dad and Tracy's mother.  She was the glue, the heart and soul of our family.  She died in July of 2004.

-Tracy:  My aunt and Dad's sister.  She is a force to be reckoned with!

-Ned:  My cousin and Tracy's oldest son.  Ned's ususally pretty busy since, in addition to his duties at our family's company, he often helps Lois and Brenda run their record company.

-Lois:  Ned's wife.  She's from Brooklyn and is absolutely hilarious.  She and Brenda run a record company.

-Brook Lynn:  My cousin and Ned and Lois' daughter.  She has a beautiful voice and studies opera at Juilliard.

-Dillon:  My cousin and Tracy's youngest son.  He's not just my cousin, but one of my best friends.  He's studying film at NYU so he and Brook live together in the penthouse Ned owns in NYC.

-Justus:  My cousin, a lawyer.  One of the most normal people in my family.  And he gives the best advice.  I adore him.  He runs the family foundation.  When I was growing up (and sometimes, today), people didn't believe that we were really blood related because Justus is black.

-Jimmy Lee:  My uncle

-Bradley:  My uncle, Justus' father, Grandfather's son, Tracy, Alan, and Jimmy Lee's brother.  This is a little complicated.  Before he met my grandmother, Grandfather had an affair with Mary Mae, a respected African-American in the community in the WWII era, which resulted in Bradley.  Grandfather really loved Mary Mae but they knew it would be too hard to make a life together, so they ended the relationship.  Bradley died before my grandfather even knew he existed, but since he found out in 1994, Justus became an official part of the family and he and Grandfather have become close.

-Mary Mae:  Bradley's mother and Justus' grandmother.  One of the town's most respected women, I used to sit on her lap and listen to her stories.  She died when I was 9 in 1996.

-Scott:  Technically, my uncle.  He's my mom's adopted brother (my mom was adopted too, but not until she was older) and a lawyer.  In fact, he's the DA.

-Gail:  My grandmother, Monica and Scott's adoptive mother, respected member of the community

-Lee:  My grandfather, Monica and Scott's adoptive father, respected member of the community

-Karen:  Scott's oldest daughter, my cousin, a doctor

-Serena:  Scott's middle daughter, my cousin.  She's three years younger than me.

-Christina:  Scott's youngest daughter, my cousin



My Friends (from home) and Friends of the Family

-Maxie:  My best friend.  I've known Maxie my entire life.  When we were kids we did everything together and still do generally.  She studying fashion at the New York School of Design.

-Jack:  Maxie's uncle (he's only a few years older than us) and my boyfriend

-Georgie:  Maxie's younger sister and Dillon's girlfriend.  She's two years younger than Maxie, Dillon, and I.  She's planning to major in sociology at Columbia.

-Mac:  Maxie and Georgie's stepdad.  He's the police commissioner.  Mac's been pretty much the only dad Maxie and Georgie have known.  He raised them, his neice Robin and, to some extent, me.  Mac was like a second father to me growing up.

-Robin:  Mac's neice, Maxie and Georgie's cousin.  She's like a sister to me.  She went to Yale (BOO!  LOL) and the Sarbonne in Paris.  She was Jason's first (and probably only real) love.  He's been in other relationships, but I don't think he's cared about another woman as deeply as Robin.  When they broke up she left for Paris (she was there for years but came home about three years ago), went to med school, and became a doctor.  She's also HIV+.

-Felicia:  Maxie and Georgie's mom and Mac's wife.  She helped Mac raise Robin and he helped her with Maxie and Georgie.  I love Felicia.  Like Mac, she was like another parent to me.

-Brenda:  Robin and Lois' best friend, Sonny's ex-girlfriend, and a beloved friend of my family's.  Brenda's like yet another sister to me.  My family adores her.  She fun and outgoing.  She lived with us for a while and let's just say life was never dull with Brenda around!  I miss her being around the house even though she only lives across town now!  She runs the record company with Lois.

-Jax:  Brenda's Australian husband, business tycoon.

-Cooper:  A good friend of Jack's and Brenda's nephew. He's in the Police Academy.

-Patrick:  Robin's boyfriend.  He's incredibly hot and a neurosurgeon to boot.  Lucky Robin!  LOL.

-Matt:  Patrick's brother, Maxie's boyfriend, and Jack's friend.  He's in med school.

-Noah:  Matt and Patrick's father.  Also a doctor.  Must run in the family!

-Stone:  I can't really mention Robin without mentioning Stone.  He was Robin's first boyfriend.  They were so in love.  He died from AIDS in 1995.  He was only 19.  He played with Maxie and I alot as kids and the entire town was devastated when he died.

-Robert:  Robin's dad, Mac and Jack's oldest brother, and Luke's best friend.  And he is as awesome as Luke.  We thought he was dead for years (he and Anna were presumed dead), but he turned up a couple of years ago.  Robin was happy that he was alive, but felt abandoned since they "died" in 1992 when she was 15, leaving her in the care of her Uncle Mac.

-Anna:  Robin's mom, Robert's ex-wife.  Robin found out her mom was alive and living in Pennsylvannia in 2001, but she didn't have any memory of her life before the accident.  She eventually recovered her memory and they happily reunited.

-Frisco:  Maxie and Georgie's real dad and Felicia's ex-husband.  I don't really know Frisco that well.  I remember when he came home when Maxie was really sick (also when Georgie was conceived).  He left afterward and came back once after Georgie was born and we haven't seen him since.  He's also one of Robin's godfathers.

-Sean:  A friend of my parents.  He used to be the police commissioner but retired.  He's another of Robin's godfathers.

-Tiffany:  Sean's wife.

-Luke:  Tracy's ex-husband.  I still think of him as family.  I love Luke.  He's fun and he made living in the Quatermaine house even more interesting.  He's the one who calls me Ali Q.

-Laura:  Luke's wife, the love of his life.  Even when he was with Tracy, I figured he'd eventually find his way back to Laura.  They've been in love since she was a teenager.  Mother of Nikolas (not Luke's) and Lucky and Lulu (Luke's)

-Lucky:  Luke and Laura's son, Nikolas' half-brother.  My former step-cousin. A detective.

-Elizabeth:  Lucky's wife, Emily's best friend.  They have two children Cameron and Jake.  Emily, Nikolas, Lucky, and Elizabeth used to call themselves the Four Muskateers when they were in high school.  They did everything together.

-Lulu:  Luke and Laura's daughter, Lucky's sister, Nikolas' half-sister, my former step-cousin.  I've known Lulu most of my life (she's a little younger than I am, but my family adores her mother), but I didn't really get to know her until her dad married my aunt and they lived with us while Luke and Tracy were married.  Lucky was already living on his own then.

-Spinelli:  One of my friends.  He's kind of a geek, but I love him anyway.  He knows everything about computers.  And he lives with Jason.  Don't ask why.  They have a strangely close relationship.  But Spinelli makes everything strangely interesting.

-Kevin:  Mac's best friend and a colleague of my parents, a psychiatrist.

-Lucy:  Felicia's best friend and Kevin's wife.  Lucy's kind of weird, but she grows on you.  She runs a club that Luke owns.

-BJ:  A childhood friend of mine and Maxie's as well as Maxie's cousin.  BJ was a year older than us.  She died in a school bus accident when she was 9.

-Tony:  BJ's father, Frisco's brother, and a friend of my parents.  Tony's a doctor and works with my parents. 

-Bobbie:  Tony's wife, BJ's mother, Luke's sister, and Carly's mother.  She's a nurse which is how she met Tony.

-Lucas:  A friend, Tony and Bobbie's son and BJ's younger brother.  He's Lulu and Brook Lynn's age.

-Sonny:  A very unlikely friend of mine.  The business that he owns is a direct competitor of my family's company.  Needless to say, for that reason he's not exactly popular in my household, but Sonny and I have been close since I was about 8 years old.  He's also a good friend of Luke and Robin's and a business competitor of my family's company.  He took in Stone (his parents abandoned him and he lived on the street) and paid all his medical bills when we all found out he had AIDS.  Stone was like Sonny's little brother.

-Alexis:  Nikolas' aunt.  She's a great lawyer.  Has three daughters, Sam, Kristina (not to be confused with Scott's Christina), about 6, and Molly, almost a year

-Ric:  Alexis' husband, Kristina and Molly's father, also a lawyer

-Sam:  Alexis' adult daughter, Nikolas' cousin


My School Friends
(I've suddenly realized just how many people I've met and become friends with while at school so I'll just list my closest friends, the people I most hang out with)

-Brighton:  My roommate, Delta Gamma sorority sister and best friend from school.  She's from White Plains, New York in Westchester County.  Our families have neighboring houses on Martha's Vineyard so we grew up spending our summers together dreaming of going to Cornell together.  And now we're living the dream!

-Kingsley:  Brighton and I met Kingsley and Logan (see below) our freshman year and the four of us have been pratically inseparable since.  We're all political science or history majors and minors so we try and take classes together.  And we all live in the sorority house together.  Kings is from Greenwich, Connecticut.

-Logan:  Kingsley's roommate and our sorority sister.  She's from Boston.

-Greenlee:  A friend and sorority sister from Sewickley, Pennsylvania.  Journalism and political science double major.

-Royce:  A Sigma Pi brother (most of my guy friends tend to be since it's the frat my sorority does the most with) from Boston where he knew Logan (she introduced Brighton and Royce).  Brighton's boyfriend.  Pre-law.

-Holden:  Sig Pi brother from Brighton's stomping grounds:  White Plains.  Engineering major.  Royce and Holden are roommates and the best of friends.  I love them because they always include Jack when he comes and visits.  And luckily it's not just to appease me, the three of them have become really good friends.  So much so that they yap on and on about sports that they forget us girls are even around (except Holden, he ALWAYS knows where Logan is.  LOL)  He and Brighton grew up together and their families are very close.  They're like brother and sister.  He has the most adorable crush on Logan, but she's completely oblivious.

-Phillip:  Also a Sigma Pi brother.  Pre-med from Charleston, South Carolina.

-Waverley:  DG sister from Newport, Richmond, Virginia.  Phillip's girlfriend.  Pre-law and Spanish major.

-Easton:  DG sister from Rhode Island.  Biological sciences major.

-Skip:  Sig Pi brother.  History and political science double major (so he studies with us a lot!) from Chicago.

-Erik:  Sig Pi brother.  Kingsley's boyfriend.  Has become pretty good friends with my cousin Dillon.  Pre-law.  From Manhattan.

-Caldwell:  Sig Pi brother.  Econ and business double major from Maine.

-Hatcher:  Sig Pi brother from Charlotte, North Carolina.  Business major.

-Emory:  DG sister from New Hampshire.  English major.

-Julia:  A friend of mine from another sorority (gasp!  LOL).  Psychology major from Florida.

-Ethan:  Sig Pi brother.  History major.

I live in a small-ish town between Buffalo and Rochester in upstate New York on Lake Ontario.  And I've lived here my entire life.  So I know everyone and they know me.  And I know everything about everyone and they know everything about me.  Yes, it gets annoying.  But I love it anyway.

I'm Alison Quartermaine.  If people shorten my name, it's usually just Al, never Ali.  Except for Luke who calls me Ali Q, hence the title of the journal.  I don't know why but I've always hated Ali as a nickname so everyone knows not to call me that.  And Luke knows he's the only one who can get away with it as he does with most things.  Seriously, it's a skill that never fails to astonish.  The man can get away with anything.  Anyway, as I mentioned, I live in a town on Lake Ontario, in upstate New York.   And we do actually live on the lake.  I love my life.  Some people might call it "privileged" but it's my family and friends that make it that way.  They are the best.

I decided a lot time ago that I'm not going to be just a trust fund baby.  I want to support myself and know that I can make it on my own.  I'm pretty independent and can be a bit stubborn so that helps!  I'm a political science and history major at Cornell University and plan to get my MBA.  I'd like to work for my family's company, but I want to earn it.  I love history and politics, hence my majors.  I wanted to study what interested me for undergrad before delving into a "real world" degree in graduate school.  I do still live at home on breaks and in the summers, which isn't that unusual for an undergrad I guess.  But living at home at nearly any age isn't that strange at my house.  My sister is a medical intern and she still lives at home.  Most of my family lives there.  And I'm not talking just my immediate family.  I mean grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, whoever lives in town and is a Quartermaine, lives in our house.  We're basically a real life episode of full house without all the hugging!