> But I must say, it *does* kind of suck that *I* >can't quite pronounce my own name right!


You are not the only one. Tess, sounds easy, eh? Even so, it always comes out of my mouth as Tass...or I'll pronounce the e with a small bit of accent, and it becomes some other name. It's not so bad person to person, but over the telephone it's a terrible pain. I used to have a job as a tele-marketer (boo, hiss. I quit because I was afraid knife-wielding bunnies were going to get me), and when I would introduce myself as, "Hello this is Tess with _____, blahblahblabhl." They'd say, "What's your name?" And suggest everything from Tass, to Kass, to Jazz. ::sigh::

Yet another difficulty in my life is my *real* name. Yes, Tess is my nick, although it's what I go by generally. My real name is Theressa. However you pronounced it to yourself, you probably said it wrong. It's really pronounced Tah-reh-sa. Fortunately, I can just say, "Call me Tess." No one, aside from people in my own familiy (it's a family name), has pronounced it right. Ever. Except for once, when the secretary was taking my University identification picture...and she said it right. I nearly fell out of my chair in shock.

Miss Tess