Nicknames

I have an amazing gift for nicknames. Just kidding. But I still don't have a camera and need to write about something. There are those people that are always trying to come up with nicknames for people with no regard to people's given names. Why is this necessary? Is it so difficult to remember a name?

In my history, yes, it is too difficult to remember a name. Two of my years spent in Logan, Utah I went by the name Al Baker. Ryan Cheever likes to think that he started this nickname for me, but it started much much earlier when I used the same piano books as my older sister Amanda. To differentiate my star from her "A" star, my piano teacher labeled my star "Al." I secretly loved this and would sing the Paul Simon classic to myself. Ryan began calling me Al because he could never remember if my name was Alisa, Alyssa, Alica, etc. This name died when I went on a mission with the exception of Mr. Paul Larkin who still calls me that.

I've tended to use nicknames to avoid confusion when talking about people. This is how Gnu and Bigandtall both received their nicknames...they just seemed to stick after awhile. And I'm pretty sure that Bigandtall is not willing to part with his name at all. My bff Laurie has also used this reasoning to give me the nickname Maurice. Yes, that is a nickname that a handful of people can call me and they must have the last name Armstrong, Grover, Ruggle and Weidner.

Now, Courtney and her friends all have nicknames. They all go by their nickname in that they use these to introduce themselves to others. In fact, I did not know that several of these guys had real life different names. No offense, but really? Are you ashamed? I don't understand. Please enlighten me.

And finally, if nicknames are meant to be a term of endearment passed on to a friend or loved one, why must some of them remain a mystery? I ask this question to my mother. The background: when I was a young, beautiful, adorable child my father had a nickname for me. Apparently, this nickname was so horrible that it scarred me for life. So much so that I've repressed all memory of it and my childhood. I'm pretty sure I'm going to need to remember the nickname in order to remember any memories from my childhood. Not knowing it, I'm no better than an orphan without parents and a family. Again, just kidding. The true story: My dad had a nickname for me that my mom found inappropriate. She won't let him tell me what it was and none of my sisters can remember it. I'm an adult now and am still not privy to the nickname. Can you believe it? So, what do you think it could be? What possible nickname could my dad had given me that would be this offensive? I'm h-in' adorable, c'mon. Please feel free to offer any suggestions. Mom, Dad, you too.