1. I've had a few nicknames over the years. I was one year too old to be diagnosed with ADHD as a kid. The class right behind mine got ritalin handed out like candy, but nobody noticed anything off with me. Except for the teacher in elementary who might have used "space cadet" once or twice.
When I worked in a restaurant, my nickname was "huggy bear" hence the little label on my profile. It was intended as a hazing type maneuver, where they would tease the hell out of me to see if I'd break. I didn't - so I was accepted as one of the boys (who were all well into their 20s and I was a youngin).
With my friends they took my IRL name and just dropped the first syllable of the two. It sounded like a rapper type name, which they found amusing and I went with it. I'm whiter than sour cream, lol. Kind of like calling a guy "too short" when he's 6 foot-8 inches. However, when someone uses it today without knowing that was my nickname in the music scene, it's disorienting. I noticed that when I hear that name, I drop right back into the same persona I use with my close friends, including slang, when in mixed company I am far more reserved and choose my words carefully. In other words, I go from professional to roughneck without knowing why until later. I'm sure it's amusing for the other person, since they see my mask slip for a second until I recover.
2. I have no interest in breaking a world record. The Guinness book seems so contrived, e.g., "Largest Hot Pot ever constructed." I thought I might break it for hiccups once but there's someone who, sadly, has had hiccups nonstop for a much longer time. I had one bout that was a matter of days and I started to wonder if it would ever stop. BTW I tried every goddam folk remedy; a friend even took it upon himself to startle me out of it. But, I think mediocrity gets a bad rap. What's wrong with being in the middle of the herd? I don't like attention (except when I'm performing, ofc), and I'd rather be pushing myself to grow than to be "the best" at anything. So if I become a large fish in a small pond, I point myself toward a bigger pond.
3. My mom and a few other relatives all have birthdays in July and we're doing a combined celebration at my mom's place tomorrow (Sat). After that, I need to get a desktop PC with more horsepower than the laptop (with all my abundant money), so I'll be shopping and reading buying guides. I'm not above getting a refurbished one, but I still think I'd need a graphics card and RAM upgrade after that.
