What's in a name???

I've had this thing with dating for as long as I can remember where my friends never actually knew the name of the guy I was seeing until they were about to meet him. I never realized that I did this... I knew it was funny to have code names for them: ass (based on behavior not anatomy), the coach, the one from high school, the bartender, the Greek god, the foot guy, the marine, the Canadian, the teacher, the funny one, etc.

I do the same thing with people I run into in the world at large. My study abroad friends would know in a heart beat who peanut butter is and I regale my social media buddies with stories of mouth breathers and awkward socializers galore.

But what is in a name?

Words have power. They color the world for us, as Theodore Dreiser pointed out. What does how we talk about the people things that are important to us say about who we are and how we see ourselves relating to these people and things?

I worry that my name calling could lead others to believe that I'm not compassionate or nice, that I'm a bit of a snot and that I don't give people a chance. They're probably right :) I think I'm just reaching for something funny in the strange and uncomfortable.

Hmmm. Writing this from Barnes and Noble. Avoiding awkward glances from the guy who I pretended not to hear when he asked me how vacation was because 1, I don't know him and 2, do I look like I'm here to socialize? I mean seriously.

Received revisions on my methodology yesterday afternoon and I added on an extra six pages this morning (only 2 1/2) are bibliography. Feeling decent. Realizing half of the game right now is keeping my head in it and psyching myself up, not out. Have a couple of Albany contacts to make this week and need to pop into work tomorrow. Emailing draft 2 before dinner. Woo!

PS Mumford & Sons= soundtrack of victory.