So, www.IsabellePalmer.com is officially not available. I heard back from the company that (I thought) was camping on the domain rights. Turns out they actually have a client named Isabelle Palmer, and she's not willing to sell.
That's okay, because the name I've picked out might actually be better.
I went through some 20 - 30 more name options since I last wrote, fell in love with a few only to discover the .com was already taken, or they were already in use on the IMDb. Which I suppose would be okay, if I didn't mind being listed as "Samantha Allen (IV)" in the IMDb search. Except I don't want to be Samantha Allen #4 or "Charlene Robertson" when there's already a "Charlene Roberson", the names are too similar, too easy to get confused, ya know?
So I finally narrowed it down to three names that had both the .com available and that weren't already on the IMDb. My choices were: Melinda Palmer, Charlene Palmer, and Isabelle Robertson.
Melinda Palmer I liked because "Melinda" sounds like my character type, a little bit (or a lot) goofy, but still with sweetness and strength, and I get to keep my own last name.
Charlene Palmer I like because "Charlene" is beautiful and has a certain calm strength to it, plus I like the alliteration with the two L's. Again get to keep my own last name.
Isabelle Robertson I like because I get to keep my first name, Robert is my dad's name, and it the name as a whole has more strength to it than the other two. And Robertson has the same sort of feel to it that Palmer has, it's the same type of name. Plus there's the alliteration again: ISaBelle RoBertSon. And the more I think about it, I like the idea of keeping my first name more than my last name. That way I'm still me.
So I started asking my friends which of the three they liked, and "Isabelle Robertson" came out ahead 2 to 1.
And perhaps it doesn't necessarily match my character type, but it occured to me today that maybe that's ok. Sandra Bullock has a similar character type to mine, and her name doesn't really match the character type she plays. And maybe my name as an actor should convey more of my professionalism as an actor than my character type, you know? Just some thoughts that ran through my head today.
So, next step is to grab the domain name before anyone else does.
Moving into a new name is like moving into a new house. You like the house, that's why you bought it. But it doesn't necessarily feel like home right away.
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
UPDATE: So, having made the choice I went with it. I've purchased my domain name and signed up with a web hosting service -- DreamHost -- but their servers are currently down, so I haven't been able to sign in to anything, or even contact tech support, my e-mail got bounced back. After a while, I found a blog they have devoted to tech issues, so I went there and they've been down most of the day apparently. I left a couple of comments asking if this happens a lot, and someone replied these issues would happen with any web hosting service, they just wouldn't tell you what's going on like DreamHost does with their blog and (apparently) twitter. So that makes me feel a little bit better, but still it's nerve-racking.
I also went to the IMDb, requested my name change as well as signing up for IMDb Resume. Also went to NowCasting and LA Casting to change my name there.
It feels weird, moving this quickly after making a decision, like I'm leaping without having looked closely enough first. And especially after issues with the servers for my new website (which I haven't built yet), not only am I second guessing my choice of web hosting, but I'm beginning to second guess my choice of name too. ACK! (Part of what's bugging me on that count is I discovered an "Isabella Robinson" on IMDb. Too similar to my new name?)
Just breathe, and go to bed... It's late and I'm far too sleepy...
No comments:
Post a Comment