I found the timing of this post to be pretty serendipitous given our exchange. lil, you had no knowledge of this ahead of time, right? Just want to confirm that we weren't in cahoots. As for the name tag idea, nice work! Did it last till noon? Being a substitute teacher for an 8th grade class sounds like my definition of hell :) That is precisely the age when I was the worst to any authority figures. I saw substitutes as a means by which I could "entertain" my classmates through their humiliation. I wonder if substitute lil could have handled 8th grade new green? Regarding names, I was out to dinner with a friend last night that is about to have their first child. They don't know the sex yet and have several names for each gender picked out. We both agreed that names seem less important to men. My name is Steven and I don't think about that very often. I honestly don't care. My wife loves her name and I know women that hate their names. I don't really know any men that have an opinion either way on their own names. Does anyone have a similar experience or am I way off here?
I know men who have had name changes or mused about it anyway -- and many men who Sting-like" use a different name on stage. My friend, dub poet, Klyde Broox changed his name from Clyde Brooks, adding "k" from Kunta Kinte (*Roots*) and the x from Malcolm X. As for the name Steven - I know another Steven, a poet -- he's in the book I sent you. In one of the drafts of the book, we accidentally wrote "Stephen" and he was enraged. He sent a long email detailing the differences between Steven and Step Hen (the name of the somewhat hated current Canadian prime minister).
But you have a point. I know many more women who have had name changes... also there's that whole name-change marriage thing, so perhaps women feel more fluid about their names anyway. A woman's name mostly follows the patriarchal line. I have a female friend who changed her name to her mother's original name, while at the same time realizing that it was her mother's father's name. 1. Did it last till noon - yes, it lasted all day. Once I gave them recognition and candy, I had them in the palm of my hand.
2. Could I have handled 8th grade TNG? I'd like to think that your 12-year-old self would have seen that I appreciated your spiritedness and we would have entertained your classmates together. But more likely, you would have driven me crying from the class. It would have taken you many many years to feel remorse, but it would occur to you sometime between the ages of 40 and 50 that you had been a little prick. We'd accidentally meet in an airport and you'd say, "Hey, weren't you that substitute teacher that I drove crying from the class 30 years ago. I'm really sorry about that." And we would have both been redeemed.