Oh Hi, Mark *

#reverb10 – day 23 – New name. Let’s meet again, for the first time. If you could introduce yourself to strangers by another name for just one day, what would it be and why? (Author: Becca Wilcott)

I love the name Katherine – yes, with a K – more about the letter C below – but I would want to be a “Kathryn.” Kathryns are elegant and gracious and always know the right thing to say to people. They function well at the small talk level and then they focus on you and make you bare your soul to them, but not in a mean way. You totally want to bare your soul to them because you think it is a great idea. You know what I think of when I think of Kathryn? Beautiful hands.

Kathryn can be shortened – to Kat, preferably. If my name was Kathryn I would allow people to call me Kat. Even though I don’t really like cats.

When I was 9 or 10 years old I decided my name would be better spelled with a K. My first name, Clara, had been given to me with great forethought. My parents, who both have long names, wanted me to have a short name that couldn’t be made shorter. A simple name that couldn’t be mis-spelled. A name that was easy to pronounce by either of my Anglo/Italian sides of the family. But I just knew I would be cooler with a K at the front of my name.

The thing about Clara is; it can be shortened, mis-spelled and mispronounced. People call me Claire. They also spell it “Claira” and “Clarea” and “Clairia.” There was a woman once, in some workplace of mine, who called me Crystal because my first name and last name together were too confusing for her so she just made one word out of them. Kind of.

Crystal!

My parents greatly underestimated the need people have to make simple things very difficult. I don’t fault them for that. How could they know.

Anyway I got my revenge because the year I decided to spell my name with a K was also the year I entered Owl Magazine’s Superkid of the Year contest and, along with several other Canadian kids, won. So I got a winning letter addressed to “Klara” and a certificate of honour made out to “Klara” and my picture in a magazine with a caption below stating my name was “Klara.”

I was in a spot of trouble, yes.

And why do I prefer the letter K?

There’s something about the letter C that is too soft, too mushy. “Oh, I embrace you,” says C. Just look at it. All curvy and “seeeeee.”

But K. K. K has a backbone behind her open arms. K is tough but fair. K has points.

I also don’t like the letter “U” very much. I don’t know why.

Do you have letter preferences? Or am I Very Different. Or both!

* this refers to a movie called “The Room” which I have not seen but have seen clips from. It is fun to make fun of. Here is one such fun-making scene. I also enjoy this compilation of all the times anyone says “Oh, hi.”

Also, if I had been a boy, my name would have been Mark. Now you know.