What's in a Name? How Cerulean Jade came to be.

What's in a name?  A whole lot actually.

When my brother Steven and I decided to form a musical duo we realized that we needed to find a name that symbolized us.  It seemed simple at first, but it quickly became quite difficult.

We love the Carpenters, who we grew up listening to, but calling ourselves The Stufflebeam's sounded too Osmond-ish.  The Osmonds are amazing, but with us being Mormon as well, it was just a little too close for comfort.  Though Stufflebeam really is a cool name.

Then there was a period where we were seriously considering Kit and Caboodle.  We just thought the name fit us and was really fun.  It was kinda quirky.  Some family members were against it, but Steven and I stayed with the idea, doing research.  An amazon search later found us a group called Kit and Kaboodle, so that name, now to my hindsight relief, went out the window.  So we were back to the drawing board.  I whipped out a Thesaurus (how I love that book) to find unique and interesting words, but everything we plugged into iTunes and Amazon had already been used.  Then Steven and I began finding words that represent us.  I don't know who came up with it, but someone mentioned "Cerulean Jade," and in that moment we knew we found it, and another search later proved it was original!

Cerulean represents Steven.  He's an artist (and as you can see in the picture above I still have a bit of improving to do) and with him being an artist, his favorite color couldn't simply be blue.  No, that would be too easy, he has to have a favorite hue.  Cerulean.  We played a game once several years ago to see how well we knew each other, picking really hard questions, and he asked me what his favorite color was, thinking I'd say blue.  Nope, didn't fall for it, I totally knew it was Cerulean, though I didn't tell him how I remembered that.

Now this is where I get to embarrass him.  I remembered his favorite hue thanks to Pokemon.  My brothers were the biggest fans!  Of course, I should admit that I watched the show too, and still have some collectables.  It was fun, but he was really into it, and the character Misty came from Cerulean Gym.  And I think that's where his love for the shade began, though he might have a different opinion.

Jade represents me, and though it's a green hue, my connection to jade has nothing to do with the color . . . though my favorite color is green.  I blame my Irish heritage for that.  This is where I get to admit my personal geekness.

The first book series I read on my own, outside of classroom assignments, was back in the sixth grade when the Star Wars Heir to the Empire trilogy was growing in popularity.  The last book of the series, The Last Command, had just been published, and the series was bringing Star Wars back into Pop culture.  I was first introduced to Star Wars in the fifth grade.  And Timothy Zahn, the brilliant author behind the books, created this character called Mara Jade.  She's amazing, and I kind of became obsessed with her.  I've got the action figure.  But she's this super intense, deep, complicated character with spunk.

But as I began to research Jade and what it meant to the those in the Orient and ancient Egyptians, and even the Mayans and Aztecs, the more I began to fall in love with Jade itself.  I just read on Wikipedia that "In Chinese culture, if one wishes to express one's love for someone, one gives them something made of the gemstone jade or an object that is colored jade."  Apparently that needs to have a citation, but it's neat.  A Chinese book of verse states "When I think of a wise man, his merits appear to be like jade" and "Gold has a value; jade is invaluable." (I got that from about.com)  "Jade symbolizes beauty, nobility, perfection, constancy, power, and immortality in Chinese culture."  For the Egyptian's Jade symbolized inner peace, balance, and love.  Jade is beautiful and comes in many colors.  I'd love to one day own a peace of violet jade.

So that's how Steven and I became Cerulean Jade.

Always,
Sarah