Your daughter is so lucky to have such a beautiful name! I love our name (my full name is Alexandra Elizabeth Belcarra Paul) and I only call myself “Alexandra”. I even drag it out a little! (David Chokachi teases me because I pronounce it Alexaaandra). Yes, kids in school immediately shortened it to “Alex” which always annoyed me because I felt that they were just too lazy to say the extra two syllables. It is a very American trait (my mom is British, and they don’t do that in Europe) to shorten people’s names – even upon just meeting them – but I think it is impolite! The etiquette is that you should call someone the name by which they introduced themselves, so my advice is to not give in and always introduce your daughter as “Alexandra”. Encourage her to do the same.

The only time I don’t mind a shortening or nickname is if it was given out of affection and not because someone didn’t want to say my whole name: my old roomie, Ann, calls me “Lexie” because of a private joke between us, and my friend Jim calls me “A” which I like because its original. Jaason Simmons calls me “Sam”, which touches me because he and only he calls me that.

Good luck with keeping the integrity of your daughter’s name!!!

Alexaaandra

I am a vegetarian, but my fiancé Ian eats meat. I believe that the best way to change the world is to simply be a good example and to not try to convert anyone. I learned this firsthand when my younger brother Jonathan became a vegan: he berated anyone who ate meat and wouldnt sit at the same table with them. Unfortunately, all he did was put them on the defensive and alienate them! Ultimately, he didn’t accomplish his goal of saving animals’ lives, because people automatically resist when they are lectured to or judged. If you are a vegetarian and you have friends who eat meat, just do your thing and don’t discuss it unless asked. When asked, explain in as non-threatening manner a possible (don’t make them feel guilty – it will just shut them down). Think of Ghandi and come from Love. I promise you will have more of an impact on the world this way. I would not be surprised if eventually some of your friends came over to your way of living! I thank you for eating in a more compassionate way and helping the environment at the same time (one acre of land can graze enough cattle for 165lbs of beef, but that same acre could produce 20,000lbs of potatoes!!!! For more info on vegetarianism, read “Diet for a New America” by John Robbins).

Thank you for
writing.
Alexandra

Thank you for your kind words. Yes, I am very concerned about the overpopulation situation on our planet. The world population has DOUBLED in my lifetime – it has gone from 3 billion in 1960 to over 6 billion today, just 30 years later!!!! To educate people on how serious this is, I am speaking in high schools on overpopulation with a professor, David Abramis. To date, we have taught over 5,000 students in Los Angeles. I also talk about the issue in almost every interview I do, and I am producing a sequel to my last educational film (that one was Jampacked: The Challenge of Human Overpopulation), which will discuss how materialistic we have become here in the US. It is entitled The Cost of Cool: Finding Happiness in a Materialistice World. This issue of how wasteful and “shopping-crazy” we are ties in to overpopulation: in developed countries( like the US and Holland) we use A LOT more natural resources (water, trees, oil) and pollute A LOT more than countries like China, India and Africa who have many more people. So when you discuss overpopulation you need to look at numbers of people , but also HOW those people live – how wasteful are they? In the United States, we buy and throw away more “stuff” than any other country (an American uses at least TWICE as much “stuff” as someone from your country, the Netherlands).

I am getting married in 2000, and Ian and I want to have children. I prefer to adopt, but I will birth one baby (I recommend that people have no more than 2 kids per couple by childbirth – if you want more, please adopt!) and adopt the others.

Good luck to you. My twin sister is gay, and it is not easy to be homosexual in a world that still discriminates against homosexuality. I pray that the new millennium brings Equality and Justice for all people.

Alexandra