By the time I was born there were no names left to give out. Grandparents, great-grandparents, and even a great uncle had all been recognized. Charles, Leroy, Christopher, Lehman, John, and Glenn had all been used, and – given the rather unimaginative naming process of my forbears – there was simply no other family name to pass on. Only my sister had a totally unique name, since my parents realized that any child named Gertrude or Marillda in the late 70s and early 80s would be teased relentlessly.

Family legend says that my father wanted to name me Hey You, but my mother put an end to that idea rather quickly. What is certain is that they wanted a name no-one could shorten. People tried to call my brothers Chuck, Roy, and Chris. For a time, even m y sister was “Abe” because of her initials. Therefore, I was given the name of a letter of the alphabet: Jay. Nevertheless, I have to wonder: if my parents wanted a name that no-one could shorten, why did they name me Jay Peter? That’s just asking for people to call me J.P. You’d think that their experiences with my sister would have proven that.

Since I’m not named for anyone, I guess that means I get to choose. Over the last several years I’ve narrowed the options down to three possibilities:

Because I love history and politics, at times I’ve claimed to be named for John Jay.

Like myself, John Jay was a December baby, although he was born in 1745 and I was born in 1985. Unlike myself, Jay was born into wealth and status. Jay’s accomplishments include:

Founding Father of the United States

            Member of the New York Committee of Correspondence

            American Ambassador to Spain and France

            Secretary of Foreign Affairs

            Signer of the Treaty of Paris (ending the Revolutionary War)

Author – along with Alexander Hamilton and James Madison – of the Federalist Papers

First Chief Justice of the United States

Author of the Jay Treaty, which kept America out of the Napoleonic Wars

Governor of New York (He ended slavery in the state through gradual emancipation.)

For years I was “J.P.” (a name I despise), so I could claim John Pierpont Morgan.

Morgan dominated American banking and finance in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Highlights of his life include:

Arranging the creation of General Electric (commonly called GE today)

Financing the creation of the United States Steel Corporation (receiving a shout out in Godfather Part II)

Directing the banking scheme that stopped the Panic of 1907

Leading financier of the Progressive Era

Finally, I can claim perhaps the most famous Jay of all time: Jay Gatsby

Jay Gatsby is the title character in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. Gatsby’s life can be summed up thusly:

Gatsby is a college dropout who falls in with a copper tycoon. Cheated out of money, Gatsby enlists in World War I, where he is decorated for valor. He then finishes his college degree; while studying, he learns that his love interest, Daisy Fay, has married the aristocratic Tom Buchanan. Gatsby determines to win her back by becoming a man of wealth and status.

Gatsby returns to an America in the midst of Prohibition, where he is able to make a fortune from bootlegging. Gatsby uses his wealth to buy a mansion and attempts to attract Daisy by hosting extravagant, weekend-long parties; eventually he succeeds in convincing Daisy to leave Tom, who is cheating on her.

Through a series of unfortunate events, Daisy kills Tom’s lover, Myrtle, with Gatsby’s car. In a rage, Tom tells Myrtle’s husband, George, where he can find the car that killed his wife. George tracks down the car, shoots Gatsby, and then kills himself. Despite his wealth and relative popularity, only two people attend Gatsby’s funeral.

If all of that is too confusing, check out this excellent infographic.

But what do you think? Who should I be named after?

This post was written in response to the Daily Prompt: Say Your Name.

In this installment, I cover the top three misconceptions as we enter exam week.

1. Orville Redenbacher vs.Eddie Rickenbacker

Orville Redenbacher was an American businessman best known for shilling popcorn. He was born in 1905 and died in 1995 when he suffered a heart attack and drowned in his jacuzzi.

Eddie Rickenbacker was a WWI flying ace with 26 confirmed kills. He was born in 1890 and died in 1973 due to complications from a stroke.

2. The Berlin Wall vs. The Great Wall of China

The Berlin Wall was constructed in August 1961 by the DDR to prevent mass defection from the Eastern Germany during the Cold War. It stood until November 1989, when it was destroyed by both the people and governments of East and West Berlin.

The Great Wall of China is actually  a series of smaller walls that have been built, rebuilt, and joined together over the centuries. Originally designed to keep foreign invaders out of China, specifically the Mongols. Purportedly, the Great Wall is the only man-made object that can be seen from space.

3. The Stock Market vs Stock Yards

The Stock Market is a system of exchanges for publicly trading stock, a unit of ownership in a business.

Stock Yards are factory farms that raise cattle for their meat, normally beef.

Until next time, remember: knowledge is power.

With the end of another school year upon us and graduation just passed, it is fitting that I post about change. Normally I’m resistant to change. Those of you that have had the privilege to know me understand this. However, I’ve come to realize that some change is a good thing; usually, stagnation brings death. So, what’s changing?

1. I’ve changed the layout of this blog.

If you haven’t noticed, things look different. I’ve taken advantage of the last few Community Pool posts to sound out some unbiased advice. The most profitable piece of advice was to make the blog more readable in terms of its color scheme. Most  visitors found it dark and  and “Halloween-ey”, so the theme is now a bit lighter.

Other visitors commented on the lack of sharing options and social network links. In response, I’ve created a new Facebook page and added more sharing options to the bottom of each post – now you can print, email or share my words of wisdom with the rest of the world! I’m also working on formatting a twitter feed, so you won’t have to miss a single post!

Another crucial bit of critique was to clean up the homepage. I’ve chosen a template that displays excerpts on the blog page and limited the number of posts displayed. What does this mean to you? You only see newer posts! If you want to read an old post, simply use the Category Menu on the left, the Recent Posts links on the right, or the “older posts” navigation on the bottom of the page.

2. The schedule will change.

In the past, I posted whatever I felt like whenever I felt like it. I now realize that my writing improves when I have a chance to think before I post. What sounds good at 1 AM might not be so good later on. Therefore, I’m going to try to stick to a schedule: new posts on Wednesday and Saturdays (or thereabouts). My goal is to provide two good-quality posts a week. I might break this rule if something important comes up, or if a Daily Post catches my attention, but I’m going to slow it down a bit to focus on quality rather than quantity.

Hopefully I’ve managed to correct some of the issues other bloggers saw, but I know there’s still work to be done. If you have a suggestion about anything, drop me a line! Letting me know if you like the new layout or not would be great, too.

See you later this week!