Conventionally, people tend to greet one another with a short greeting and an introduction to who they are, at least that's what I presume. So my name? Well, that depends on who you talk to. To most (I imagine), I am One One Seven, to fewer, that extends to "Halo Fan of the Decade." I have also been, and continue to be, called Chuck, Chip, Jaqubime, by far fewer people. But generally, I go by my given name, Jake.
Now, if you don't know me on a personal level, which I imagine most don't, you're possibly reading this wondering more about me: my values, interests, tastes in genre. Essentially, this part is the 'first date' of this blog adventure. But when you go and read a story or watch a movie, does one generally look at the table of contents prior to diving into the actual plot? My guess is that most people know just a tiny bit about what's actually in store for them. Unlike me, most people tend to despise such spoilers, so why would I ruin it for you? There's already plenty of information for readers to ingest then analyze for themselves.
In short, make of me what you will, because chances are that you're going to do it anyway.
Now, onto more 'initial-blog inquiries... Recently the Blogging bug has struck my closer circles of friends and family. I've always known it was popular amongst society, but it was never a prevalent entity in my life. My brother, Travis has had one for a while, but I never cared enough to read his, let alone anyone's. My sister, Lizz, and friend, Mike Tassi, have both started one and it seems I too have found the prospect of it interesting enough to reason out actually starting one. I think this may be a healthy change for me, at least in some ways. Earlier tonight, or last night (depending on how you view it), I contemplated what subjects I would talk about, how personal I may or may not get, and most importantly, the name in which any and all readers of this particular blog will see before any other writing.
Naming is a very long and arduous process for me. Like a person with OCD (which is another subject for later reference), the name in which I represent myself is something that needs to be just right. A great example of the naming process is when I used to play World of Warcraft. I had a small stable of characters, most of them level 1s simply because I usually stuck to my main character. But anyway, every character I created had some sort of story in my head, even before their feet touched Azeroth for the first time. Their name was so important, so integral to who and what they were. The more I did it, the more I found the criterion for naming stuff. It needed to be all encompassing of that particular character. It had to be a name that was part of the character's race and culture. I researched lists of names from different websites and would alter it as I would to make it fit better as I saw it.
(This next part is World of Warcraft heavy, so feel free to skip if that's not your cup of tea)
A fair example would be of my Blood Elf mage, Saelion (Say-lee-yon). The 'ae' and 'ion' were fairly common name parts that were found within the Blood Elf (BE) culture. The BEs were similar to the elves we see in things like Lord of the Rings. They are swift, agile, and graceful as fuck. The name needed to reflect that. It needed to roll off the tongue with said grace. Other such examples were Grunlok (Orc DK), Volkner (Human warrior), Durrim (Dwarf warrior, and my personal favorite because it took so long to figure out his name), Gurujin (Troll Hunter) and Neurion (Blood Elf Paladin). By now, I would hope you got the point so that I didn't have to continue talking further about WoW...
ANYWAY, the principles remain the same. The name of my blog needed to encompass all that I will eventually talk about, all that I feel I represent and what represents me. A reflection of myself, if you will. Certain aspects I wanted to include were: One One Seven, Philosophy, Observations, Redefining Existence, and so on... The subtitle, which I found later would help yield what is now the title of the blog. I was able to get in what I wanted and now have it in a manner which I feel I will like for a while.
From the sorts of reactions I have gotten in the past about hearing my process of naming, people generally respond with a resounding, "Holy fuck," or "You think way too much." The ladder of which is relatively true. But perhaps most people don't think enough? Like with most things, there is no correct answer. It's simply a point of view. I suppose I'll end on that, as it is now 3:55 AM and seeing as it's the last couple days of classes before Finals Week, and I have class at 11, I should probably be getting to sleep.
For those of you actually still reading this now, thank you. Give yourself a pat on the back every time you finish one of my blogs. I tend of over articulate, as you may or may not have noticed. But I always appreciate comments and likes, if that's even how this site operates... Follow me here and on twitter @Jakewhlr117!
Oh, also, the title of this post is in quotes because it is the name of a song by Andrew Bird, whose music and odd artistic style I find interesting and somewhat perplexing. You can listen to "The Naming of Things" Here:
Until next time...
No comments:
Post a Comment