[A name is like a piece of jewelry hung around his neck at birth.” – Wittgenstein] Yes, around your neck where others can see that name you wouldn’t have chosen for yourself, a name, perhaps, now shared with a newly disreputable politician or crazed serial killer who’s no relation to you, a name that could be taken as male or female, a name that no one can pronounce - including you - ... [FYI, the German here is "ein Schmuckstück"] … [Read more...]
“The Nameless” / Memorable Fancies #1707
17 December, 2016 by Leave a Comment
[“Everything has already been named.” – George Oppen] No, you say, that’s not true. You start to give examples, but ... [Click ‘Random Post’ above – be astonished] … [Read more...]
“Alma’s Names” / Memorable Fancies #1565
25 June, 2016 by 1 Comment
[in the style of Lydia Davis, the novelist and short-story writer] Alma Johnson was called Alma Johnson because, although she was born Alma Gebhardt, she married Harold Johnson. This was a few years ago, when married women half disappeared and in upper-class circles entirely disappeared into “Mrs. Harold Johnson” and analogous names. But Harold Johnson died one day, and because he hadn’t been an entirely satisfactory husband to his wife Alma Johnson, after a year Alma took her half of her … [Read more...]
“A-noname-ous” / Memorable Fancies #570
16 June, 2016 by Leave a Comment
I’m going to get rid of my name. Why? So the government can’t find me. But then your relatives won’t be able to find you, either. So? What’s your point? [Book ad: The year’s hottest new TV series is a reenactment of a famous murder trial ... but was there more involved than murder? A plot to take over the U.S. government? Read Try Try Again.] … [Read more...]
“‘Who are you'” / Memorable Fancies #1549
25 May, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Who are you? My name is – No, not your name. Who are you? My name is – No, who are you? (louder) MY NAME IS JOHN STEVENSON Who would you be if you didn’t have a name? (blank stare) Right... … [Read more...]
“A-noname-ous” / Memorable Fancy #570
5 January, 2014 by Leave a Comment
I’m going to get rid of my name. Why? So the government can’t find me. But then your relatives couldn’t find you, either. So? What’s your point? <END> If you liked this post, please tell your friends and share a comment here or in StumbleUpon, Reddit, Facebook, or other social websites. Subscriptions to this blog are available at www.amazon.com/author/terencekuch or at www.bit.ly/Fancies. – or you can just Follow this blog. You … [Read more...]
“The Namers” / Memorable Fancies #535
1 December, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The Namers are a special kind of people in our country, both acclaimed and reviled. We go to a Namer when there’s something new, something that didn’t have a name before, or had a name that must be changed, like a product that didn’t sell. Names, after all, are the real real; the Namers figured that out, and got rich. When a dictator falls, the Namers remove his name from the streets that had honored him, the stadiums, the newborns. No more Adolf-Hitler Strassen, for instance, after … [Read more...]
“The Names – II” / A Memorable Fancy #266
28 February, 2013 by Leave a Comment
[“Could one then do without names?” – Wittgenstein] Alfred abandons his name. He asks his friends not to call him “Alfred” anymore, not to call him anything. Names, he thinks, say both too little about him and too much. Why do people think they know him when they know only his name? “‘One,’ I shall be called,” he announces one day, as in “One knows very well that…,” or “One can fly from Zurich to Budapest now.” One has wisdom and power, he thinks, as in “upon reflection, One can readily … [Read more...]
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