Naming a blog is like naming your child...

...you can change it later on, but it's a hassle.

Such was the problem facing my younger brother Joe, as he took the digital leap and decided to follow in the footsteps of his elder idol and enter the blogosphere himself. (Just before creating his blog, he switched to Gmail, too! I'm so proud of him! It's been a big weekend.)

But back to the naming debacle. How does one go about this? Personally, I think a blog title should be like a good autobiography title--a word or phrase with personal meaning to the author that also hints at the content to follow. When I'm bored and my mind is wandering, I sometimes challenge myself (and others, if we're bored together) to decide what I would call my autobiography if I had to write it at this exact moment in my life. It can be a very difficult question to answer, but sometimes the right name will come to me.

I decided to call my blog Write Things Worth Reading because I've always been a huge fan of that particular Ben Franklin quote--I even wrote a short answer question about it on my college application--and I think it's the perfect mission statement for someone who has chosen writing as their profession. Let's face it: the Internet would be a lot better off if more bloggers took Franklin's advice to heart.

In the case of my little bro's blog, we decided to brainstorm for that perfect name. We started out trying to think of a catchy nonsense word. Everyone knows that catchy nonsense words take the Internet by storm! Google? Fark? Joe's blog could be the next big thing. Despite his best efforts, "Bloggerino" was the only gibberish he could come up with, so we decided to keep thinking.

Unfortunately, his next effort left even more to be desired: The Count of Corned Beef. Like the Count of Monte Cristo! Get it? They're both sandwiches! Oy. It was 2 a.m., so I guess I should cut him some slack.

After I left the room in disgust, he did manage to procure a suitable name--the Swing Shift. If you know Joe, you know this is a fitting title for his blog. He is a tremendously talented saxophone player, a big fan of jazz music and an avid listener of a weekly big band radio show called (surprise!) The Swing Shift. As for his blog content, this title will probably make more sense when he starts blogging regularly. Joe is wise beyond his years, but also has a unique personality and sense of humor that shines through in his first post. You can expect a lot of inspirational quotes and a lot of philosophical, self-help advice interspersed with a lot of stuff that is just plain funny in an out-of-left-field sort of way. Basically, Joe's pretty awesome (I'm biased), so at least go to his blog to give him something to see in his Google Analytics report.

That way you can work the word "benevolent" into your autobiography title. It's better than "bloggerino."