Sunday
Apr182010
What's In a Name?
April 18, 2010 * * * * * Posted by: Ginnie 
By the time you get to the bottom of this image (HA! I'm just following the V&V guidelines), I'm sure you've guessed it's from Venice---a trip in 2007. (If you want to see it fast and in one swell foop, click here.)
Astrid and I just returned a week ago from our honeymoon to England, where we saw Stoke on Trent, Chester, Chatsworth, Stratford and Liverpool...as well as The Three Stooges, our third Musketeer, and 13 others of our blogging friends. I was supposed to turn right around and fly back to Atlanta this past Saturday (sans wife) to visit my children, grandson and friends for 10 days. Because of the volcanic ash, my flight has been re-scheduled for Wednesday...if the skies clear.
Venice. Astrid. England. Stoke on Trent. Chester. Chatsworth. Stratford. Liverpool. Three Stooges. Musketeers. Atlanta. Wife. Children. Grandson. Friends. Bloggers. Volcanic ash.
What's in a name?! For those of us at our Shutterchance photoblog (SC) this past week, we've had a chance to put a face with a name. A face with a label, like Blackdog, Tiff, Mully, and Picturit. Why are 3 of our SC gents called the Three Stooges...and 3 of us ladies The Three Musketeers? Does it feel different to call me Virginia instead of Ginnie (though I'm both)? And what do you immediately think of when you see the name Marcie or Toni or the rest of us V&Vers?
Think of what would happen if Venice and Tanzania suddenly switched names. We're flying to Tanzania this weekend and can hardly wait to ride a gondola! Wait. What's a gondola? And if you've ever riden in one, what memories does it conjure up for you?
Have you ever experienced meeting someone in real life whom you've known virtually for awhile...but you suddenly have to go back and try to remember what it is you already know about this new person? The one standing in front of you somehow is different from the other one, the blogger. It's like he/she should have a new name.
What's in a name, indeed. A place. A person. A memory. A taste. A color. A smell. A feeling. A sorrow. A joy. Somehow everything comes down to what we name things. And if we have an image to accompany it, the name takes on new meaning. The face connects to a name. The meaning connects to a word. The memory connects to a place. Sometimes the face is the memory. Sometimes the place is the meaning. Or a word is the name.
See what happens with photography! You get to think up all kinds of stories and ask so many questions...especially if your image doesn't quite turn out the way you expected! But it does look like Venice, right? Because the image and name really are connected! (Did someone say Vision and Verb?)
Reader Comments (21)
Lovely post, the shot is very romantic. Hope you can fly on wednesday
Now that is a bit of a mind boggling post Ginnie!! You got me thinking actually, and I remembered that my daughter, at some stage in her life, I think it was around her 8th birthday, started swapping names on objects. A chair became a lamppost, a lamppost was a chair, a banana was a monkey (that even makes sense I guess) and a monkey was a banana. The broom and pencil switched names, and a bed all of a sudden was called classroom and vice versa, which often made me wonder if she slept in school.
Conversations became rather difficult as she was extremely consistent in speaking like this for quite a while, but was source for hilarious situations as well, as for years and years after this poetic freedom my daughter encountered we still use the word 'lamppost' for chair, and every now and then you simply forget that others don't speak my daughters language. So the other day, when in a restaurant with a party of 7 and only 6 chairs at the table, I asked the waitress for an extra lamppost. She looked rather puzzled.
Your picture is awesome, I am so fond of pictures with movement blur in it, you are left with so much to watch and wonder about. Great stuff Ginnie!
I keep my fingers crossed that on Wednesday you will be able to get on a plane!!!
Cheers, Marion
hi there, like everyone else i'm sure..am sending lots of positive thoughts that you'll be able to fly this week. there are stacks of people stuck here waiting to fly out of kilimanjaro, not sure when they're going to get home - we'll have to keep sending them out on safari!
but yes...names, i must admit to a fascination for place names, i've always had that. i love the 'stans' - kazakhstan, turkmenistan, and then samarkand, anything along the 'silk road' - oh don't you love that..the silk road. kilimanjaro...that's another i love. i should know what it means, its maasai for something or rather i'm sure...
but on to people's names - yes, it's so easy to conjure up a face to a name without even seeing them. you somehow imagine they are blonde, dark, old, young, friendly or not.. and then as usually happens, you meet them and they are none of the above...funny how it's like that :)
Such an evocative piece..with no end to where it may take us. Like Marion - one of my kids once asked me why red is called 'red'..and white 'white..and more. And - it does make one wonder what is in a word..a name..a whole sentence..and how language became what it is. And even further - how our 'names' reflect our personalities..and our personalities our names.
Hmmm..it really can be an endless conversation..can't it???
Love the image. The ambiguity. The not-knowing. A perfect pairing with your words.
Whoa. Did you write this while sitting on the floor in the AMS airport? A litany of names, and it's so true how we conjure a reality based on a little information, like a name. I remember imagining Europe before first going there at age 19. I knew there would be the Europe I imagined, and the Europe I found, and somehow I would mesh them.
And what if I call you Boots? Then what is conjured by someone else hearing that?
True confession here...I clicked to look at your image in "one swell foop!" Ha! I didn't others used that expression. I love the mystery of your image.
And names, well I usually forget them! I have such a difficult time remembering names. But not faces. Is that a "visual" thing?
Hope your travel plans come together soon. And, here's to safe travels.
Your thoughts get me to wondering...if I had a glamorous name like Giselle or Bridget, would I be somewhere glamorous, or would I still be doing dishes and laundry like I am right now?
I love where this conversation is taking us today--I too remember my children asking why we us the words we do.
And speaking of conversation -- you're all invited over to the Blog Cafe--it's at my place today! http://www.ayearofhappy.com/2010/04/its-the-grand-opening-of-the-blog-cafe-.html
I like the double exposure here; it really gives a sense of motion and makes you wonder what is going on. What is in a name, indeed. For some a sense of identity. For me, a lifetime of wishing my parents had given me a more original name (try doing an internet search on my name hahaha).
I laughed at Mark's comments - I have the opposite problem. No place to hide on the internet with an unusual name
But besides that, I think it's very cool how the photograph sparked the essay. Names are really so arbitrary, but once we've used them, they usually get stuck there. I often wonder how place names get changed into different languages....why did London end up as Londres in French or Londynu in Polish? Pronunciation difficulties are behind some of the differences, but certainly not all.
Very enjoyable post, Ginnie, and I wish you wings very soon!
The image is incredible, Since you said it didn't come out the way you expected, I would say it was a perfect happy accident! And you are so right, what is in a name? Word association, memories, language, definitions...but in the end, a picture does indeed paint a thousand words, one that no word, or combination of words, could convey.
Such fun Ginnie! You bring a touch of humor and a smile with each and every post. Such a positive soul you are. Thank you once again for sharing "you" with "us"!
Oh, and Mark I understand your pain - my parents named us Linda, Mark and Lori. Expect for the spelling of Lori's name (at that time) we have all been "cursed" with reality of sharing our given monikers with countless other! For me it seems to signify being a woman "of a certain age".
peace to you all ...
I don't know if intentionalloy but your title reminded me of Shakespeare':
"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet."
Names are important to be able to identify and differentiate, to be able to call and talkt about but Ginnie would be as sweet by any other name.
I just heard that 'they will fly again' when.....I hope very soon, not that I want you to leave, however, to be with your children and Nicholas means the world for you.
I am a hoot when it comes to names, I remember faces.
I got my name from Queen Astrid, queen of Belgium who died in 1935 only 29 years old.
Names gives us an identity.
A wonderful post and picture, I love your writing.
Like Albert says Ginnie. You would be sweet by any other name ;-) My in-laws have been stuck in Prague for a couple of days. I just looked at the airport website that they are boarding just now so hopefully they will be home later tonight.
I hope for your safe travel when the airport opens.
oh! it looks like it was beautiful! (sitting in montana green with envy...)
i often wonder if the people that blog are really like that in real life. i know i am, God help me. and those that know me ;)
but i do wonder. i mean really... is martha stewart as perfect as she looks on tv? things that make me go hmmmmmm....
it sounds like you had a wonderful time meeting all your bloggy friends! i hope to get a chance to do that someday as well.
i wish you luck and clear skies so you can fly on wednesday!
What a great post! What I saw in the picture I questioned to be a man mowing a lawn? or a man moving from outside somewhere in Europe. Then I said wait, that could be part of a boat, but really I did not clue in until you said something... Definitely there is so much in a name, especially when only a few people know the meaning of it!
I met several of my online glass friends a couple of years ago at a GAS conference, which was really quite fun. Some were much as I expected, others were not. Growing up, I wanted a different name - I HATED my name, constantly being teased about having a "boys" name. A fun post, Ginnie! Fingers crossed for Wednesday!!
Whats in a name?
henry Oluwasefunmi Ayodeji Akanni Olaseni SAVAGE
Now all that belongs to me (and my mother probably knows more) but honestly who I am is definitely more than a name but it helps to have an identity that is unique and has personal meaning.
''What you see is what you get'' they say, but I have definitely learned over the years that what you don't see isn't necessarily a bad thing if you have the right attitude and thus I prefer not too judge a book by its cover or lack of!
I do hope you catch that flight! That volcano is reaping havoc on air travel. I would love to visit Tanzania. Now THAT name sounds so exotic!
Virginia,
congrats with an excellent post.
Naming is Gaming, it is said. And there are some true into it.
A persons name can be easy one place and the opposite another, t can be well accepted or even disliked. We know kids can tease other kids with "strange" names or they create ugly slogans.
When comes to names of places, at least old places, they are often related to the nature. The challenge is: Our languages has changed so most of us do not know their origin. It's worse with places named after persons and gods.
That is a great post – names. I did not like my name (French) which was chosen by my grandfather. He said it was a famous name in Provence, a love story and also an opera. Here no one can pronounce it. I have another name but then I don’t remember who is calling me what. When I was little I made up words too. One was if I was walking fast I did “des pas de Michigan” that meant very long step – why? I don’t know. We also played cowboys and Indians – I always was the Indian, and I was a mic’mac. My friends said I made it up (5 years old then) and I thought and knew I did make it up. Then in 2008 we went to Newfoundland and there, surprise, they have a First Nation called the Mi’kmaqs.
As for your name, Ginnie, I thought it could be a nickname, so I tried hard to think what your name was and the only name I came up with was Geneviève – I guess it’s the French in me, she is the patron saint of Paris (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genevieve) – Virginia was a long way from my radar.