This Just In...

Greetings, blogosphere. Some of the more regular visitors to this blog may have noticed that a new contributor was added last week, and I am now posting to introduce myself. I am the ‘Brett’ that is occasionally referred to in postings; I can also be referred to as ‘partner’ or ‘significant other’, but most of you will come to know me by my Indian name: Wet Blanket.

Readers from North America might understand right away what I mean by ‘Indian name’, but for those who don’t, I will explain. First off, ‘Indian’ is not of India in this context. Instead, it is a reference to Native Americans who, according to Western pop-culture, were named after some quality they possessed – like Dances with Wolves. In my case, I am the type of person who could walk into a room full of like-minded individuals and spark a heated debate, or in other words, cast a shadow of doubt on consensus. If I find people looking at only one side of an issue, I’ll try to get them to look at it another way – even if they’re already looking from my favorite angle. If everyone thinks the world is crashing around them, I’ll try to bring them out of that perception; if everyone thinks they’re having a great time, I’ll try to bring the house down around them. It is this second tendency from which I draw my name.

I wish I could remember where I got the term ‘wet blanket’, but my understanding of it is that it refers to one who frequently ruins the mood; in my case, it would be whether the mood is good or bad. I, of course, chose my own ‘Indian name’ which is not common practice; Jennifer usually handles that because ‘Indian names’ are generally reserved for those whose real name we do not know but are, nonetheless, subjects of enough frequency as to necessitate a term.

For instance:

• Guy with Trench Coat
• Lady with a Bob
• Stand-up Guy (repeatedly stands up and sits down on the bus)
• Nurse Lady (regular bus rider who is a nurse)
• Neighbor Guy
• The Smoking Ladies
• TMI (too much information) Lady
  
  Then there are some with longer names like:

• Kid who works at Starbucks that reminds us of Jordan (Jennifer’s stepbrother)
• Guy who plays guitar on lunch breaks
• Guy who loves the bus a little too much (talks to everyone, including himself, about it)
• Girl who’s always on her phone
• Guy with that cool E-book reader
  
  

You get the picture. I think most of us probably ‘know’ people who go by names like these. Jennifer and I lovingly refer to them as “Indian names” to add an element of humor to our abundant ignorance and social ineptitude, but I hope not to be misconstrued as poking fun at Native Americans. For me, referring to the indigenous peoples of the American continent as “Indians” should be interpreted as poking fun at white folks’ stupidity. I mean, how long were Europeans here committing genocide before they realized they weren’t in India?

Anyways, back to the point of this post. I will likely not be a frequent contributor to this blog, and what I do contribute will almost certainly fall under the category of ‘random musings’. Those of you who may have visited me at Parade of Rain are probably familiar with the infrequency of my postings. As for material, I can’t say what to expect. Some ideas just never reach a level of comprehension that can be articulated. So, my presence here is also likely to be sporadic, but it is also possible that the bulk of my contributions will appear in the commentary. I am not a journalist or a cook – just a thinker. Some days it’s all I do.