What's in a name?

From the pages of Paul Auster's graphic novel City of Glass, to the Holy Bible, to roll call and many other places comes the notion that names are important. They are the gold nuggets of language. Without them what would we have? "And if we can't name a common object, how can we speak of things that truly concern us?" - Paul's book. And so I was charged with the important task of first choosing a name for my avatar in second life.

I tried names I had had in my real life like Sky and even variations like Skye but to no avail. With so many people already named, I soon found that this was not going to be as easy a task as I had initially imagined. I then started from a list in my head of names I had always liked but again no luck. Then I thought of funny names to go with the last names choice list but someone already had those names too. I'll have to make a mental note to try and meet people like Mile High. Maybe not?

And so the television played on in the background. By now it was getting late and I was becoming desperate. Something came on about a magician show Mindfreak. Jenn sensed my frustration and suggested it. I kind of liked the sound of it. I didn't know much about the show and hoped people wouldn't assume I was his biggest fan or something. I more liked the idea that I question the limits of our minds in my research. It seemed like it might work. I paired it with Kidd. My father likes to call me 'kiddo' so it has a nice nostalgic feel to go with the conceptual bit. Would it work?

It did! So you can find me there under that name if I ever get off of "Orientation Island". But that's another post! If you find me we can even discuss the importance of names here or there. Now I'm left to try this name on for size and see how it fits. A chosen name to go with a chosen appearance for a virtual world. I wonder what it means to live in a time when we get to choose so many names for ourselves? Seeing the names acceptance on my laptop screen was a relief but hardly held the same feeling as something like the naming ceremony depicted in Roots. Oh well. Mindfreak Kidd doesn't fit with the look of my avatar yet but that is yet another post!