For American Folklore, I could do a lot of things for my semester project. Like print off photographs or type amazing stories and put them in a binder or take clippings and put them in plastic sheets. I could probably even find a way to make some sort of abstract art. And while I love love LOVE abstract art, I've already done that for a non-art class. And I've done a lot of clippings. I've done a lot of photograph projects. I've typed a lot in word and gotten frustrated with my printer when things didn't work out. So I am trying something new. My ENTIRE semester will be recorded on this virtual page. Society has evolved so much that not only do I not have to handwrite, I don't even have to use PAPER. I can use the internet. Ka-ZAM.
And I am now saving the planet one American Folklore class at a time.
Green. Green. GREEN.
(If that's not Folklore, I don't know what is.)
The first day of my American Folklore class, as in last week, we had to fill out a yellow sheet of paper like a lot of first-day-of-school papers (I thought those were over my last day of high school but I think that I will get them not just in college, but in graduate school and in each and every job I ever choose to pursue. Superiors don't know how to get to know the inferior class aka students without such a lovely piece of paper) but this piece of paper was different, besides the fact that we didn't turn it in. And as I looked at it, I realized the questions were a lot funky. Instead of asking, "What is your name?", the sheet of paper asked me where my name came from. So I told it. I TOLD that piece of paper. Elisabeth? Bible. Clair? Grandmother.
The teacher told us this was a form of folklore. I was born in the deep south, in a hospital smack in the middle of Mobile, Alabama. The doctor was out and I would not wait. A nurse and my dad delivered me. And I was named after someone in the Bible. But I was not the only one. So was another girl, named for Ruth. But she was from Salt Lake City, in an entirely different culture and setting (was she born in a hospital? at a church historic site? to midwives? to an expensive doctor? I will never know). This is what the teacher calls folklore, which makes sense since English 302 is listed as American Folklore.
The idea that names could be folklore got me thinking. Sure, names are probably less-than-interesting for most people, but I LOVE them. I love names, I love that every name evokes a different feeling, sense, or memory. What I love even more is nicknames. Love them. They are so fun. So, for my first effort in my little almanac, here are my nicknames that are still in use.
Elisa/Lissa: Shortened version of my name my family has used since birth.
The Dixie Chicken: I have little feet, and a band (which just so happens to be one of my dad's all time favorite bands) sing a song called Dixie Chicken. I am 21, I still have little feet and my dad STILL calls me the Dixie Chicken... Also the Kid.
Bessy: Given at the age of 14, I have a whole lotta stuffed cows.
E!: Sometimes my close friends and I just use the first letters of our names. It makes life more exciting.
E-Clair: They aren't just for dessert!
E-Bo-Bo: Sometimes nicknames come from nowhere, they just come outta someone's mouth. And then they stick for-e-ver.
Go-Go ELISA: It's a long story.
Little Running Cloud: I tan really really fast and I LOVE to Indian yell. It never gets old! So much fun!!
