A large, white haired, older gentleman bought drinks for Linette and a table full of people at a bar on Thursday night where we were celebrating our friend Monicas birthday. He’s apparently a wealthy man, a regular of the bar. His name is Blue. According to one woman who spoke with him, he got the name years ago, when he was a professional wrestler. Apparently, he once got his neck tangled up in the ropes and temporarily cut off his air supply. In that brief, magical moment, he turned a bright shade of blue and earned a nickname that stuck Linette, Monica, and the five or so other women at the table all chose to do shots of Tequila… I stepped away from the table so as not to be indebted to the beefy old man.
As for nicknames, I’m never had one that stuck. A few ideas have been floated over the years. Sparky (proposed by my father), Wrists (proposed by high school friend Anthony Pavone), and Maynabird (proposed by grade school acquaintance Leanna Black) are just a few that come to mind. None of them got critical mass though. Some hung on for a year or two, some were used by up to a half-a-dozen people at the height of their popularity, but they all eventually fell by the wayside. I’ve always been envious of people with good nicknames. Perhaps one day we’ll have a contest here to give me a nickname, perhaps something that draws attention to by beautiful blue eyes, or my long, flowing nose hairs.
Speaking of contests, I heard yesterday from Shannon, the woman who claims to own Paco, the lower jaw-less dog that several of us took a stab at drawing a few weeks ago. She says that she still hasn’t yet had a chance to photograph Paco. She also says that he’s now near death. I can’t say for certain, but it’s quite possible that we’re all having our legs pulled. (My fear is that we’ll never know which of us really won the “Let’s Draw Paco” contest. Actually, my bigger fear is that Paco is real and that Shannon will send me his remains as evidence of his sad existence.)
We need to have more contests here at MM.com. Does anyone have an idea? How about a “Who Can Touch an Olsen Twin First” contest? I’m sure it would become a national craze. Or, how about a “Let’s Start a Destructive Rumor about President Bush” contest.
I could go on all day, but I need to do some other stuff now. Please excuse me.
