Sunday, September 26, 2004
What's in a name?
Sometimes I just spend too much time emailing and not enough time blogging. More often, I just can't think of anything interesting to blog about. If this was a real diary and not an online journal, I could post my innermost thoughts, but often enough these are too personal or too transient to allow access, not so much to my unknown readers, as to my known readers. What I really miss is blogger idol - that wonderful thought-starter that set us all blogging about diverse subjects every week. So, I'm going to start my own version - just come up with a fairly random topic, blog on it, and hope some of you, my readers, will be inspired to blog on the same topic. If you like this idea, just make your own blog entry, and link to it through a comment on this page. Let's get this thing going again. Feel free to interpret it any way you wish. By the way, if you have any ideas for topics, please suggest them.
The Topic for Week 1 of Hard Starters is: "What's in a name?"
My young friend Angela got married yesterday and this made me wonder: What's in a name?
When she was born, how did her rather ordinary, working class parents come up with the name Angela. Little Angel...of the angels...angelic... Angela is all those things. Why not Jean or Joan or Gladys; Beth or Briony or Catriona? But no, Angela it is and angel-like she is.
First; she's beautiful. I wonder if someone named Angela could be less than beautiful? Her dark hair has tints of deep auburn, is thick as clotted cream and falls with a hint of a wave. Her skin has the warm, pinkish tones of her Celtic and Germanic forbears and her smile is big and white and even and lights up the sky.
She got married, dressed in blush pink silk encrusted with rose and quartz crystals, under a cloudless blue sky, standing on a carpet of emerald grass lined with white pebbles , while a breeze off the Timor Sea wafted music of guitar and flute across the bay. A fitting setting for the marriage of an angel.
My Angela is kind and gentle, practical and pragmatic, organised and efficient. Are these the attributes of angels? If they are not, then they should be.
Angela has been my true friend although I am more than twice her age. She's propped me up when I've faltered and given me directions when I've been lost. She's shared her hopes and her dreams, her worries and fears...and listened to mine... compassionate, caring angel.
I can only think of two other Angelas I've known. Both had pink complexions, sweet natures and contagious smiles.
I once had a white cat which we called 'Ratso'. My mother-in-law wanted him called 'snowflake' and when he turned out to have a mean streak and a nasty habit of leaping on people from trees, she always maintained it was because he was only living up to his name.
Perhaps it is true that there is more in a name than one might think.
The Topic for Week 1 of Hard Starters is: "What's in a name?"
My young friend Angela got married yesterday and this made me wonder: What's in a name?
When she was born, how did her rather ordinary, working class parents come up with the name Angela. Little Angel...of the angels...angelic... Angela is all those things. Why not Jean or Joan or Gladys; Beth or Briony or Catriona? But no, Angela it is and angel-like she is.
First; she's beautiful. I wonder if someone named Angela could be less than beautiful? Her dark hair has tints of deep auburn, is thick as clotted cream and falls with a hint of a wave. Her skin has the warm, pinkish tones of her Celtic and Germanic forbears and her smile is big and white and even and lights up the sky.
She got married, dressed in blush pink silk encrusted with rose and quartz crystals, under a cloudless blue sky, standing on a carpet of emerald grass lined with white pebbles , while a breeze off the Timor Sea wafted music of guitar and flute across the bay. A fitting setting for the marriage of an angel.
My Angela is kind and gentle, practical and pragmatic, organised and efficient. Are these the attributes of angels? If they are not, then they should be.
Angela has been my true friend although I am more than twice her age. She's propped me up when I've faltered and given me directions when I've been lost. She's shared her hopes and her dreams, her worries and fears...and listened to mine... compassionate, caring angel.
I can only think of two other Angelas I've known. Both had pink complexions, sweet natures and contagious smiles.
I once had a white cat which we called 'Ratso'. My mother-in-law wanted him called 'snowflake' and when he turned out to have a mean streak and a nasty habit of leaping on people from trees, she always maintained it was because he was only living up to his name.
Perhaps it is true that there is more in a name than one might think.
Comments:
I think some parents put a lot of thought into their childs name. My parents picked my name out of a baby book, yet everyone wants to feel that they created it out of thin air. (Bryna - BRINN-uh when trying to look up the meaning, I couldn't find it. I think it means strength.)
I have friends who work in the Bronx as teachers. They have given me some real hum-dingers of names.
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I have friends who work in the Bronx as teachers. They have given me some real hum-dingers of names.
