December 2024 M T W T F S S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Subscribe to Blog via Email
Join 296 other subscribers
Category: Personal
What nicknames have you been called in your life? Where did they originate?
A2A; I’ve already listed all I could recall under Nick Nicholas’ answer to What are the funniest nicknames you’ve been given over the years? For origins, see there. Of these: Nicko. Love (so Ocker!) Never used since 14. Acka Nicka. Hate. Never used since 15. Nick Squared. Like. Frequent use up to 17, very rare […]
What are some surprising things about you?
Habib le toubib, you already know about me having three cousins also called Nick Nicholas, and that I translated Hamlet into Klingon, so those things I won’t count as surprising. So what should I count? I can dance. Not just dad dancing as I walk into a cafe, although I certainly do that. I do […]
The Decalogue of Nick #6: Loud as a poor coverup for shyness, and with one’s usual share of psychological baggage
For Lyonel Perabo. I am, I protest, a shy person. I’ve got the Meyer-Briggs to prove it: Nick Nicholas’ answer to What’s your MBTI personality type? A person who is uncomfortable and a wall-hugger in a new crowd. A person who finds it hard to mingle in the proverbial cocktail party. A person who gave […]
How important was your hometown in shaping who you are?
My home town until I was 8: not very. Possibly in ways I’m not conscious of, but obviously I can’t speak to those. My hometown from 8 to 12: probably not so much as my home country did. At that age, I suspect one schoolyard was interchangeable with any other, and one promenade with another. […]
What work jargon do you often use in daily life?
Often? I dunno, but I’ve certainly caught myself using use case rather more often than I should outside of work. It’s such a slippery term in IT, it’s very easy to overgeneralise. I get some mileage out of business plan too, mainly as something that institutions all around me don’t seem to have articulated. I […]
What are the most memorable backhanded comments you have received?
From someone I used to hang out with on IRC. (Yes, I am that old.) “Nick Nicholas! You wouldn’t be half as obnoxious as you are if you weren’t called that!” Um… I thank you, and my three cousins called Nick Nicholas also thank you? High school frenemy (well, friend in high school, because I […]
The Decalogue of Nick #5: I’m a middle-aged cishet man, recently married, no kids
For Tracey Bryan and Sam Murray. This breaks up in three. This… goes places. Middle-aged Before I even noticed, I’m 45. I don’t want to feel the weight of snow on my temples. I just posted about how I refuse to pay Death any mind: Nick Nicholas’ answer to Do you consciously live your life […]
Do you consciously live your life as “Being-towards-death” (or any comparable idea)? How does it affect your daily life, if at all?
Ah, Desmond. I am a philosophy dolt, and I take no pride in that. But I have dreaded death since I associated Alice Cooper with the Boogeyman when I was 6, and I’ve had different responses to it. Fear, denial, self-aggrandisement. (That was my twenties: “I’ll write the definitive grammar of mediaeval Greek”, “I’ll get […]
Would you want to see a list of everyone who has ever secretly had a crush on you?
I mean, what would I do with such a list? Just more regrets about what could have been? Two secret crush stories. Story the first. I had a tutor working for me, that had a crush on me. Male tutor, as it transpires. At the end of semester, he worked up all his courage, and […]
How do people deal with “unfortunate” last names?
You’re not hinting that my last name is unfortunate there, Michael, are you? 🙂 I haven’t suffered all that much for it. Certainly not as much as some respondents. If someone carries on about it, I inwardly (or maybe even not that inwardly) roll my eyes, and move on. I used to be nicknamed Nick […]