Names... they are important, aren't they? I have a whole set of complicated memories, feelings and more in my head... a very complicated construction, one that changes from day to day... I call it 'Nancy'. Nancy is a friend of mine, and my picture of her changes everytime I have a long talk with her... sometimes in the short ones too. And it's all tied together with the name Nancy. So much so that when I meet someone else named Nancy, it brushes up against that contruction (that is why you get that annoying reaction of 'Hey, I know someone named Nancy' sometimes. Yeah, it happens... but keep it to yourself).

What brings this up is my review of my single post to this blog so far. The name that appears in the box is Max Sharp. Now, the 2 or 3 people (OK, maybe 1, but let me have my dreams, OK? ) are mostly my family. They know me as Mac, not Max. Mom knows me as Malcolm when she is really mad at me, but let's not go there today.

When I first got to know Nancy, it wasn't as Nancy. It was on an online forum, and she had a screen name. So did I... I couldn't think of a good screen name, so I played off my name Mac, and picked Maxxx. I added the extra x's just to make it look a tad more exciting than just Max. Now, a group of us started to meet each other in real life, and eventually the screen names went by the wayside. But my screen name was pretty close to my actual nick name, and nobody ever bothered to stop calling me Max.

That's a long story for a short name, isn't it?