February 28, 2021

#01: What’s in a name?

Have you ever wanted to start something, but the setup, the format, the name, and/or a whole host of other things get in the way of actually doing it? If I am guilty of anything, it’s doing exactly this. I can’t even begin to count how many WordPress blogs, Tumblrs, and physical journals I’ve abandoned over the years mainly because I focused too much on the setup and too little on the actual day-to-day ritual of writing. (I have a graveyard of physical journals filled with first pages that end with me writing, “You know, this journal thing ain’t so bad!” only to be the last thing written in it.)

This got me thinking about the importance of naming this particular blog endeavor that you are currently reading. In Romeo & Juliet, William Shakespeare writes: “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would sell as sweet.” Substitute the word “rose” for “blog,” and young Juliet is giving me the best advice I can hear at this moment: it doesn’t matter what I call this thing. The name of this blog doesn’t matter; the words do.

In fact, think about the names of stories, music, items, and even people you love. Is it the name you are drawn too? Most likely not. For some reason, the first name that pops in my head is also the silliest name for a story I can think of: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I have seen these words put together so many times, and while each is fine by itself, they are absolutely absurd together. However, the relationships between the brothers and the adventures they go on is what drew me in a kid and what still gets me even as an adult.

What am I trying to say here? Well, this blog is really here for me to practice my writing craft. After publishing my first children’s book Mr. Ace and the Rainbow Bridge, my desire to write and publish has greatly increased. That’s my purpose here. The name; the setup; whatever: it doesn’t matter. Because of that, I am settling on the name that I created when I was fifteen years old and has stuck: gotoffs. Like TMNT, it’s genesis is completely goofy. It was originally my AOL screen name, and gotoffs is the being formed after both Goku from Dragon Ball Z and myself perform a fusion dance. (There may be some really amazingly wonderful/horrible DBZ fanfiction about me and Goku doing this.) It is a name that’s been with me all this time, and since this blog will be what it is under any other name, it doesn’t really matter. (Did I get that right, Juliet?)

I am tempted to end this with the line “You know, this journaling thing ain’t so bad. See you next week!” But, I’ve made that mistake before. Instead, I’ll just say thanks for reading, and I hope you come back again.