Different Names for the Same Thing

I went through a period at university where I named all of my stories after song titles - "The Last Time I Saw Richard", "Blue Valentines", etc. It was simpler to piggy-back some of Joni Mitchell or Tom Waits' ideas, as opposed to coming up with titles that inevitably wound up dramatic (The Death of Man) verbose (The Collected Journals of Guy Larson: Philosopher, Age Nineteen) or dull (Essays, etc.). Now, I devote a section in a journal to composing all the award-winning titles that still lack a story.

I thought of these trivialities as I was trying to produce a handle for this, my first blog. There is something empowering - and probably a little prideful - about choosing names for your creations. I can't imagine it stands on par with going through baby books (or the demented pleasure my girlfriend and I get upon naming our houseplants) but there is intense gratification upon finding a good name for a piece of work. It's like starting a trip with a full tank of gas.

Then again, if "Poster of a Boy" is a flop, I'll just start over and borrow something from Joni Mitchell.