I was named after my father's favorite cousin. He used to spend summers with her on the farm in Reading, PA. He hated it. Getting up at 5am, cleaning up after the animals, watching them get cooked for Sunday dinner after he'd grown an attachment for them. To this day he refuses to eat goat on account of a lost friend that got eaten.
He was a city boy at heart and missed the streets of uptown, even with the cool breeze that they never got in the city. The hardened worldview of the rest of his cousins didn't help and he found solace in my namesake's kindness.
It wasn't what he wanted, of course. He wanted to name me Zoe. Not Zoey- with the harsh "zo" leading into a light-hearted "e" sound at the end. That was too whimsical for his tastes. No, he wanted just plain Zoe. One syllable, one sound, no compromises.
Some days, when I'm feeling detached from my life and my mind wanders into the periphery I can imagine myself as a Zoe. I think about the clothing this alternate version of me would wear, the exotic friends she'd have to go with her exotic name. I imagine they'd frequent poetry readings and go to adventurous restaurants that plain old Beverly is entirely too intimidated to try.
But my mother wouldn't have it. She needed something touchable, something lyrical, something she could wrap up and snuggle. That's what she wanted from me more than anything, a healthy child she could love and envelop. Zoe wasn't it.
As the story goes, Beverly was the first alternative my father suggested. It wasn't a common name at the time, it's still pretty uncommon now. In all my life I've met one other Beverly in my age group, and she was from India. From what I understand Beverly had its hey-day in the early 1900's as a result of a book by George Barr McCutcheon and then, like most popular names, died-out.
I've run into quite a lot of Beverlys my parents' age or older, though, so it never quite left the pantheon. But I see a whole lot more "Morgan"s running around nowadays than I do girls with old-English derivatives. That's fine with me, I never quite lost that once rebellious desire to be different.
I met my namesake, a few times. Once when I was entirely too young to remember. Say 2 or 3, before memory takes hold. Once during a trip to Philadelphia, where she still lives, when I was 10 and we visited the museum she runs. And Once when I moved down here for grad school.
My roommate at the time was a very tall, very gregarious black man studying civil engineering at Drexel University. As I had no other friends in the area he was nice enough to become my go-to companion so I took him to see my cousin (Beverly's son, whose name I cannot remember) playing a show at a restaurant out on the main line. My namesake came out to our table briefly to say very nice things about her amazingly talented son and give my roommate a variety of vaguely guarded dirty looks.
When I spoke to my dad about this, it was in an air of confusion. "She seemed kind-of racist, maybe" I said cautiously, not wanting to insult his favorite cousin.
"Oh, yeah- definitely. All the Koziers are. Plus, I'm sure since you're living with him she thought the worst."
He said it as if it were common knowledge, like the fact that crime is high in certain neighborhoods, and everyone knows this, so you don't go there for a nice night out. I was appalled. How could my namesake be this snooty, judgmental woman I met? Why would he name me after such a person?
"Because," he answered simply, "your mother wouldn't let me name you Zoe."
I'm proud to say I'm doing more with the name than my namesake did. At the very least, I'm being a hell of a lot nicer with it. I've grown very fond of the way it sounds when tested out by strangers trying to make sure they heard me right. And I like how most people, once I'm no longer a stranger, automatically fall into calling me the diminutive Bev.
I've never wanted to change my name, either. I never thought I'd be more comfortable with a different set of letters in my signature. And after all these years the name has become as inextricably linked to me as my own skin or the sound of my voice.
It's my name, and regardless of its origins, or the many other people who've worn it, this one is mine. And I will carry it with me till the day I die.
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Saturday, May 25, 2013
The Towel Day Blogfest!
And now, Douglas Adams. I could not possibly sum up how
something as magnificent as The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy effected
me. Well, maybe if I had Deep Thought
here. But it’d undoubtedly tell me
something incredibly unhelpful like “42” or something. So I’m just going to hide under my towel
until this is all over.
Or I could take the easy way out and simply share some of my favorite quotes and moments with you.
First up: The Infinite Improbability Drive is one of the greatest creations the universe has ever known. Far better than, say, smug automatic doors and the super-genius robots that hate them. In addition to being a terribly useful device it also provides us with some of the best quotes like
"Ford... you're turning into a
penguin. Stop it.” spoken by Aurthur upon seeing Ford's particular reaction to the dive. And I was delighted to get an inside glimpse of the thought process of sperm whale on the occasion of being suddenly called into existence and then plummeting to its untimely death
"Hey!
What’s this thing suddenly coming towards me very fast? Very very fast. So big
and flat and round, it needs a big wide sounding name like … ow … ound … round
… ground! That’s it! That’s a good name – ground! I wonder if it will be friends with me?"
Next, where would would we be without the Restaurant at the Edge of the Universe? Missing out on some of the finest dining, most elaborate decor and best show in existence, that's where! It has become a common problem-fixing location to set up characters when you'd like to be able to see them interact without destroying the canon because while it may be completely impossible for those two characters to know each other it is impossible for them to get to know each other in this restaurant as it is, itself, impossible. Try it the next time you get stuck in your writing, you'd be surprised what gets knocked loose.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, in addition to being the most successful book ever to come out of Ursa Minor, is also a great source for hilarity. From the psychological benefit of carrying around a towel:
"any
man who can hitch the length and breadth of the Galaxy, rough it, slum it,
struggle against terrible odds, win through and still know where his towel is,
is clearly a man to be reckoned with.” to filling you in on the greatest drink in existence, the effect of which is "is like having your brains smashed out by a slice of lemon wrapped round a large gold brick." But of course the best thing about is is the cover- it's not the fact that the words "Don't Panic" appear on the front, it's the fact that they are printed in large, friendly letters that really reassures.
And of course, the most useful thing in the entire galaxy and the source of this hop's name: the Towel.
"you can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold
moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble‐sanded
beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapours; you can sleep
under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of
Kakrafoon; use it to sail a mini raft down the slow heavy river Moth;
wet it for use in hand‐to‐hand‐combat; wrap it round your head to ward
off noxious fumes or to avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast
of Traal (a mindbogglingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can't
see it, it can't see you — daft as a bush, but very ravenous); you can
wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry
yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough."
Makes me want to take a shower whilst studying star charts. And, of course, read more Douglas Adams.
Thanks for stopping by, all. And Happy Towel Day!
Friday, May 24, 2013
Celebrating the 3Ups!
Quick note: If you're here for Friday Flash, go here and here. If you're here to celebrate, read on:
Today I present to you a double blog hop for your viewing pleasure. First is Celebrate the Small Things
hosted, as always, by Viklit in which we celebrate the little things in life that keep you going. We post every Friday and express our gratitude for the small victories, the simple pleasures, the good stuff. Click on Vik to sign up!
Not to break with the theme, but today I'm celebrating something big- I'm celebrating the camaraderie of bloggers. The support, encouragement, free advice, knowledge sharing and general cheers we get from our fellow bloggers can keep us going when that terrible inner critic kicks up again, trying to convince us that we can't write.
Yes, it's our job to keep that inner critic at bay and believe in ourselves by drowning out its criticism with new stories, new ideas and new experiments in our writing. But it helps SO MUCH when other writers join in by letting us know that we really are pretty good at this. Especially when it comes in the form of the gamer-friendly
3Up is the creation of Randi Lee at The Emotional Process of Writing a Novel. She came up with this fantastic idea wherein you sign up, get tagged to visit a random blogger, go read their posts and then say 3 things you love about them. It's a way to spread encouragement and it's awesome! Yesterday, Michelle over at Writer In Transit 3up-ed me and I am still giddy (will be for some time) from the wonderful Ups she gave me. They will keep me going when I start encountering rejection letters and other bumps in the road.
And now it's my turn to return the favor. I was so excited to learn that I'd been tagged to 3Up the amazing Sherry Ellis because I already know and love her from her writing at Mama Diaries. "I got Sherry?" I thought. "Sweet! This'll be easy!" Here we go:
1 UP Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's Supermom!
Sherry is a supermom. How do I know? Cause I read all about her daily exploits on her blog. From performing emergency surgery to having the absolute perfect response to an aquatic attack Sherry can handle it all. And she it does with grace and fantastic sense of humor. She doesn't need a cape to be recognized for what she is, it's plain for all to see.
2 Up She's a super pet mom, too!
I'm a hard-core animal lover so when I see other people putting as much energy into taking care of the furrier members of their family as I do I know I've found a kindred spirit. Sherry is such a kindred spirit. From puppy woes with her dog Shultz to worrying about the best method to transport her kitty Bootsy across state lines she's got as much heart invested in these animals as she does in everything she does and that's awesome.
3 Up She's a super blogger.
Part of what makes someone a great blogger, arguably the biggest part, is their commitment to their community and Sherry is definitely committed to her blogging community. She consistently comments on other's blogs, participates in Blog Blitzing and blog hops like this one, shares her insight on the world of publishing with anyone who wants to know and is generally full of love and encouragement for anyone in need of it.
So that's it. 3 Ups for Super Sherry. Please go check out her blog, if you haven't already. And when you're done, hop along cause this is still a blog hop.
Today I present to you a double blog hop for your viewing pleasure. First is Celebrate the Small Things
Not to break with the theme, but today I'm celebrating something big- I'm celebrating the camaraderie of bloggers. The support, encouragement, free advice, knowledge sharing and general cheers we get from our fellow bloggers can keep us going when that terrible inner critic kicks up again, trying to convince us that we can't write.
Yes, it's our job to keep that inner critic at bay and believe in ourselves by drowning out its criticism with new stories, new ideas and new experiments in our writing. But it helps SO MUCH when other writers join in by letting us know that we really are pretty good at this. Especially when it comes in the form of the gamer-friendly
And now it's my turn to return the favor. I was so excited to learn that I'd been tagged to 3Up the amazing Sherry Ellis because I already know and love her from her writing at Mama Diaries. "I got Sherry?" I thought. "Sweet! This'll be easy!" Here we go:
1 UP Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's Supermom!
Sherry is a supermom. How do I know? Cause I read all about her daily exploits on her blog. From performing emergency surgery to having the absolute perfect response to an aquatic attack Sherry can handle it all. And she it does with grace and fantastic sense of humor. She doesn't need a cape to be recognized for what she is, it's plain for all to see.
2 Up She's a super pet mom, too!
I'm a hard-core animal lover so when I see other people putting as much energy into taking care of the furrier members of their family as I do I know I've found a kindred spirit. Sherry is such a kindred spirit. From puppy woes with her dog Shultz to worrying about the best method to transport her kitty Bootsy across state lines she's got as much heart invested in these animals as she does in everything she does and that's awesome.
3 Up She's a super blogger.
Part of what makes someone a great blogger, arguably the biggest part, is their commitment to their community and Sherry is definitely committed to her blogging community. She consistently comments on other's blogs, participates in Blog Blitzing and blog hops like this one, shares her insight on the world of publishing with anyone who wants to know and is generally full of love and encouragement for anyone in need of it.
So that's it. 3 Ups for Super Sherry. Please go check out her blog, if you haven't already. And when you're done, hop along cause this is still a blog hop.
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