Thursday, June 21, 2007

what's in a name?

Grandma and Grandpa (on dad's side) bought a computer a while ago, as Grandma was talking about putting down stories and some family history into a mini-manuscript, and she spent some time doing that, and put together a book of sorts, "Stories for my Grandchildren," in which she gave a copy to me (which I immediately devoured and loved), my brother, and my four other cousins.

Grandma's mother, Charlotte Levin was a part of that family history, and she was where the inspiration came from for my name, both for my real name, Charlotte, and for my blogspot address, Zlotte.

When Charlotte was born, in Albany in 1894, she was given the name of Zlotte. When she started school, her teacher felt that the name was too "un-American," and made the "Americanized" version of her name into Charlotte and she was known as Charlotte from that point on (well, she also had several other nicknames that her family and close friends used, but for all intent and purposes, she was called Charlotte).

When Grandma told me that story, I was just finishing college, and was looking for a new email name, one that does not require the usage of digits, nothing that was complicated, something that had something to do with me, and just something easy and fun to remember. I started using it, and it was an easy email address for people to remember, and it served well as a conversation starter.

That's my muse - let's see where it goes.

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This blog consists of my personal thoughts and opinions. It does not in any way reflect the position of the United States Government or the Peace Corps.