Tuesday, June 13, 2006
100 Facts in 100 Days: Fact 6
I have a problem assigning names. We have 2 cats named Orange Kitty and Gray Kitty. These are not pseudonyms carefully chosen to preserve my anonymity. We just couldn’t agree on names, so we chose the obvious. The Kid was nameless for 7 days after his birth. After we finally picked a name and called the appropriate government worker, we called back later that day to change the spelling. Then about 6 months later, we decided the name just didn’t work for him. (You’ve met those people, right? The ones who just don’t fit their name. I once had a boyfriend Keith (or Kevin?) who honestly should have been named Kevin (or Keith?). I never called him the right name, it just didn’t fit.) It took a few more months before we decided to officially change it, rather than just assign a nickname. I hate hate hate giving my manuscripts a title. I usually make minor (sometimes major) changes each time I read the paper. I once changed the entire title of a paper during the page proof stage. I didn’t start this blog for months after I initially decided I wanted one because I couldn’t come up with the right name. I actually claimed one with another name but never posted because it just wasn’t quite right. When I thought of this name, I frantically made my blogger account and my gmail account with shaking hands, hoping not to get scooped.
There is something very presumptuous in assigning a title. The title will define you (ok, maybe not the cats). It is your first impression, maybe your only impression. A man named Barron cannot be a hair stylist, it just doesn’t work. No one will read my paper if the title doesn’t sound relevant or interesting. I never click on certain blogs, despite the fact that everyone links to them, because I don’t like the title. I know, I know - you shouldn’t just a book by it’s cover. I’m not. I’m too busy judging it by it’s title.
There is something very presumptuous in assigning a title. The title will define you (ok, maybe not the cats). It is your first impression, maybe your only impression. A man named Barron cannot be a hair stylist, it just doesn’t work. No one will read my paper if the title doesn’t sound relevant or interesting. I never click on certain blogs, despite the fact that everyone links to them, because I don’t like the title. I know, I know - you shouldn’t just a book by it’s cover. I’m not. I’m too busy judging it by it’s title.
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