School Spirit

It's like modern-day totemism. We rabidly attach ourselves as an academic community to some ferocious animal (or other). Then we have miniature wars. There's even body paint present when you look at the most fervent fans. I always found a passionate love for one's school and school mascot a little strange. Thinking about this is when I learn a little about myself--that I believe not everything has a purpose. I truly believe that, when it comes to my school, i could have been born anywhere, and it would have been just as easy to fall into the fandom of another community. Then it becomes completely meaningless, and I go back to do my homework.

Middle Names

Uses:

1:Incorporating a saint's name into your child's title--useful for children who will one day be Confirmed.

2. Making it fun to be an angry parent (the middle name seems to make scolding more fun).

But why are they still around, really? Many times it's done in order to give a child their mother or father's name (usually the father's). But why does anyone bother to do that? Is that person going to go by the same name as the father? That's not always how it happens.

Case in point: My brother and cousin--both "thirds"--go by the nicknames Trey and Tripp. And after countless calls to university students in my job as an operator, I've learned that "Jr." or II" after a name often means that they go by the middle name or a variation of the first. For example, Edward Jay II would be more likely to be called Jay than Edward. With the sample of students I've been given, that's just so often the case. So this need to give our children names almost identical to our own serves little purpose other than to give them more to write when they're filling out a form. But then, they never even ask for your full middle name on a form, only the initial. I write it out anyway.

There's a possibility that, at least in the case of duplicate naming, a middle name offers some variety--a chance to shake up your image. It's a gamble. And if they choose to go by their middle name, the name that the parents chose first is lost.

Why give a name that will never really be used? Names like Mary Anne (not hyphenated, just used as one name) make sense. But Portia Elizabeth? Who's going to go to the trouble? Sure, the options are nice. She could go by Portia, Elizabeth, Beth, or Liz. Maybe parents aren't as controlling as I think, and middle names really are all about freedom of choice. But is it freedom of choice when having two "first" names imply that those are your options and nothing else? Who would go to the trouble of changing their name legally when they can settle for one of two and simply have to say, "I actually go by ___."

It's a waste. It's like buying someone two beautiful hats and saying they can only wear one for the rest of their lives. Sure, people might see the other hat and admire it, but it can never be enjoyed the way hats are meant to be enjoyed. I can't do anything with the "Anne" I'm saddled with. People don't seem to mind when I write it out on forms, because it's so short. It's not that I feel close to the name; it's the principle. It's there; I might as well use it somehow, some way.

Self

Where's the line that is drawn between bettering yourself and changing who you are/should be? What should you be? Is there something we're meant to be that shouldn't be changed, or is it okay to transform? Is it all right to keep and even treasure the flaws that might very well be neutral characteristics that just happen to offend some? If I stop trying to change what can never be changed--the fact that I'm imperfect--will I think of others more kindly? When my frustration with myself fades, will it fade for those around me, too? To what extent is that giving up, losing my values, and being afraid of having standards?

Whatever I am, I think I'm tired of trying to make it different--at least for now.

Wet behind the mouse

Newcomers to the internet. They send you crap you've seen before and/or have disproved through snopes.com and cross-referencing.

My father has turned into one of these people. There are ways I can punish him for this. I'm seriously considering doing them.

Rag-Eww,

Sometimes, when I'm cooking a big pot of week-long pasta, I feel guilty. Two years in culinary school, and I'm still pouring canned pasta sauce into a pot, putting a little water in the jar, shaking it, and then pouring the watery excess in. Pasta sauce is fairly easy, although it takes a little more time.

Then I think about how I'm going to be singing the national anthem next year and need to practice. Then I think about owning a quality ukulele soon and being able to practice more and get better. Then I think about how I've dreamed about being a published author much longer than I dreamed about having a cooking show.

Then I feel better.

And I eat my pasta with my canned sauce after adding a little more seasoning.

Decisions

"Going green" these days is a lot like eating pomegranates. If it wasn't trendy, a lot of people wouldn't bother, because it's a hassle. That is not to say that I discourage the going of green or the eating of pomegranates.

One of the hardest things to pinpoint is whether or not someone's humor tastes match up with another person's. A friend and I were discussing this. People get lumped into broad categories of humor styles, and assumptions are made. For example, I say something ironic once in a while, but my humor is in general some clever turns of phrase but mostly goofy, off-the-wall stuff. But I used to always be pegged as a person whose humor is basically sarcastic.

It's a hard thing to pin down.