What's In a Name?

Well, really, what’s in a name? A name is a special thing given at birth to a specific person. Why do they receive that name? People receive these names so that they are identifiable. Why am I writing a post about names, you say? Confusion. That’s why.

I am about to reveal something to all of you that I normally don’t speak of willingly. Many will be shocked and baffled at the information I am about to divulge. I am not the person some of you think I am. My name isn’t really Katie. I’ve been lying to many of you my whole life. I hope you’re not too upset with me. I’m not going to disclose the name printed on my birth certificate because I find that incredibly irrelevant.

Earlier this week I was asked by a friend to revise their short story. When I opened the document on my computer, a named jumped at me from off the page. Not literally, but this name was the first thing that caught my eye. It was the name held by an ex-boyfriend of mine. I was instantly forced on the express train that travels down memory lane without any local stops. Who knew that a four-letter word (I’m not talking about love) could be so mighty? Words don’t have muscles, so how do they bear so much weight? It’s not that I’m heartbroken and still yearning for a chance to be with this person, but the mere fact that, at one point, this person was rather significant in my life. Those memories were woken from a deep, restful sleep.

A name is not just something that a person is called or referred to by, but encompasses much more. Names can hold feelings, memories, and most importantly, life. I’d like to know, are there names that provoke you to reminisce, or cause your stomach to churn?

New York State of Mind.

Travel has been one of the many thoughts rolling around my brain this past month. I’ve been itching to take a brief break from Texas and venture anywhere but here. Don’t get me wrong, Texas is a great place to be, but stepping out of the Lone Star state for a bit never hurt anyone. Currently I’m reading On the Road by Jack Kerouac, and that has not helped curb my need for travel, it has only accentuated it.

This week I have two days off of work in a row, so my brother John and I are taking an impromptu trip to NYC. We leave early Thursday morning and return late Friday night. Maybe this extravaganza will satisfy my travel urges for a bit, or maybe it will lead to yearning for more exciting voyages. Regardless, I know that it I will be delighted to get away from the one hundred degree temperatures we’ve been experiencing.

Here is an excerpt from my travel journal the last time I was in NYC, August 2010:

“We took the air train to Jamaica station. There we caught the E train, which took us to 42nd street. Once there, we transferred to the 1 train and headed uptown. We made it to 103rd street, walked two blocks, and then arrived at our destination: Hostelling International-New York! We checked in, dropped our stuff in our room, and by this time we were starving. Before we ate, we had to stop at Starbucks for some iced coffee, of course. Then we decided to eat at Mama’s pizzeria (I always go there when I come here). Shortly after dinner we went back to the hostel. A Michael Jackson impersonator met us at the elevator and invited us to watch him perform in five minutes. We quickly dropped our purses in our room, and made it back just in time. His performance was decent, but quite repetitive. After he was finished, Leah and I went down to the movie room and witnessed some of the worst stand up comedy EVER. Beyond awful. I would not like to give a recap, thank you.”

Next week I may post something from my journal from this New York trip. Thanks for tuning in! I’d like to know, where have you traveled recently?