silly things

Genderist at Haiku of the Id went back to work a week after cancer surgery - and now she's exhausted. My advice: chill out.

She does have a post on those silly formulas for porn star names, rock star names, etc. Which are always good for a laugh. (Name of first pet + mother's maiden name = your porn star name). We played this game at one of my old jobs and my boss wouldn't play, turned bright red and just refused. It must have been a corker.

The porn star name formula doesn't work for me. My first pet was called Emory and when combined with either my mother's maiden name or in another variation, the first street where I lived (Kennilworth), just makes me sound like a Tory politician, most likely sitting in the House of Lords.

I did like the Soap Star name formula which is middle name + city of your birth: Laura Knoxville. Not really a soap star name, though. In recent years it must inspire the image of a show biz career consisting of being pushed down a steep hill in a shopping cart, into a retaining wall.

Speaking of entertainers called Knoxville, he sure has put the city on the map for a certain demographic. I was on the Underground one day when a group of drunken youth struck up conversation with me. They commented on my accent and asked where I was from - I told them Tennessee. They looked a little dumbfounded. What's there? Memphis, Nashville, Knoxville, I said. Elvis, country music, Dolly Parton... Blank looks. Then suddenly a shout of "Knoxville! Are you from Knoxville? " Ahh, a James Agee fan, perhaps?

Me: Yes, I was born there.
Kid: That's where Johnny Knoxville is from, right?
Me: Yep.
Kid: Is everyone from there that crazy?
Me: (I pause. I think about it. I want to deny it.) Yep.