I Will Remain Ken

I have talked about the nicknames that I have had over the years, and to some extent just how they came about. Names are a tricky thing, sometimes they are just names, and sometimes they can have quite an impact on your life.

I was named Kenneth, and have answered to all of the variations at one time or another. Sometimes, like at the airport security booth I don’t even realize just who they are talking about when they say “Kenneth”, as I have been called “Ken” for so long. I worked with a fellow that called me “Dave” for three months before someone asked who he was talking about. He couldn’t believe that I never corrected him, but the way that I saw it, was both he and I knew who he was talking about, so it really didn’t matter what he called me.

I worked with a guy that took a week off due to getting spider bites on his ankle. We were pretty sure that he was “milking” his injury to get some summer time off of work. There is no doubt that being bitten by a spider is unpleasant, but there aren’t any really poisonous varieties in this part of Canada. When he finally returned to work, someone called him “Spiderman” and asked if his spidey senses were tingling. He became pretty angry and demanded an apology from this workplace wit. Well, what could we do, except to call him “Spiderman” the “Webslinger” and “Spidey”? The more we called him these names the more pisssed off he became. It was pretty entertaining. This happened more than twenty years ago and to this day he is still known as “Spidey”. I am sure some of the younger people don’t know why they call him “Spidey”. I saw him a couple of months ago and when I asked “Spidey” how things were, I can’t be sure, but there was a hint of a resigned sigh when he told me that he wasn’t doing too bad.

I went to school with a girl named Shirley. She was a wonderful person, both intelligent and funny. She was the best friend of a girl that I was dating, so we saw quite a lot of each other over that period of time. Well, after we left school we drifted apart and I lost track of her for a long time. I tried to get in touch with old friends a few years ago and although I never did talk to Shirley I got some gossip about her. It seems that she changed her name to “Marnie” because she had always hated “Shirley”. I like the name Shirley and I can’t really understand why she wouldn’t. I suppose that it could have been the name of a particularly hated relative, or maybe something as simple as the “Name Game” Song.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeF7jqf0GU4&feature=related I can see where that could get old pretty quick. I did eventually track her down when my mom passed away; she was living in the same city. I called her and had a nice but short chat, leaving her my number and the wish to do coffee at her earliest convenience. I am still waiting. I like to think that it wasn’t me that she was avoiding, but her past. A couple of years ago there was a Marnie on facebook who was living in France and I am pretty sure it was her. I sent a message requesting a friendship and so far, nothing. It appears that it was me. Hmmmm….

Well, I suppose that names can shape the person you are or the person that you wish to become. I imagine that I could be named anything and I would still be me, but just to be on the safe side, I think I will remain Ken.

Tomorrow…or The Next Day

Hi. I just want to thank everyone that has been reading this blog on a regular or semi regular basis. I enjoy writing it (mostly) and I do hope that you get something out of it as well. To date I have had over 7,000 page views by people from all over the world. It is hard to believe that many people could stumble on my blog.

Thanks again and feel free to comment. Well, except for the guy that keeps sending me advertising as a comment.

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Like most of us, I look forward to the New Year with anticipation and hope. I anticipate that I will lose some weight, learn how to play the guitar, teach myself to draw something more complex than a stickman and generate some additional income without doing any actual work. Oh yeah, I want to be a better person and be kind to those less fortunate, blah…blah…blah…

I guess that I will more than likely remain the person that I have been for the past few decades. I have great intentions, but my follow through is often lacking. The only thing that may save my eternal soul is that I tend to surround myself with people of exemplary character. This isn’t intentional, but for some reason it just happens. Now, don’t get me wrong, the people that I hang around with won’t be winning any Nobel prizes like Mother Teresa or Jimmy Carter, but most of them have good intentions. They actually feel good about themselves at the end of the day. I do too, but for me it is because the belief system that I follow doesn’t allow for any guilt or remorse. We simply are the creatures that we are.

So, my plan involves the TV. Well, it involves the absence of TV in my life. I pretty much blame television for eating up all of my free time and destroying any creativity that might just be lurking in one of those wrinkly things in my brain. I actually think that the networks are unwittingly helping me this year. The way that it seems to be going, by the end of February there will only be reality shows on TV and I don’t have the same fascination with Swamp people, auctioneers, hoggers, truckers, great racers, bike builders and any of the myriad other shows that have taken over the airwaves in recent years. Sure some of the shows are compelling, but I think that sitting on your ass watching people actually do something is just a bad way to live your life.

It is sort of like the people that play “Rock Star” on the Nintendo/Xbox or Play station instead of really learning to play an instrument. Yes, I don’t doubt that the game is hard, but so is learning an instrument, and once you get good, you can play that instrument for the rest of your life, but with “Rock Star” someone will sooner or later beat your top score. I just need to toughen up my fingers, tune the guitar and before you know it I will be playing something almost recognizable. I hope! I think I just need to put in an hour or so a day.

I have always wanted to draw and I think this is the year. It would be so nice to play Pictionary and draw a bird or a house that really looks like a bird or a house. I would love to be able to draw an eye that is realistic enough to give the grandkids the willies. It would be nice to be able to draw a “willy” on a bathroom wall that I could be proud of. I think I just need to put in an hour or so a day.

If I can put in a few hours into my carving, I think that I could sell some on Etsy. I do enjoy taking a block of wood and turning it into a pleasing shape. Perhaps I will turn that block of wood into an unpleasant shape and sell it to the Museum of Civilization in Ottawa for a few grand. Oh, the possibilities are endless.

You know, I just might start to write for a living. I would probably have to write something interesting, unlike this blog, but how tough can that be? Just look at all of the books in the library.

So far the year hasn’t gotten off to a stellar beginning; I just cheated on one of those sliding tile puzzles. Maegan can do them in about a minute, but I have yet to ever solve one honestly. The way I see it, is if you weren’t supposed to cheat, they would make it impossible for the tiles to be removed instead of just difficult.

Well, I think I will start all of this tomorrow…or the next day.