A quick explanation...

Okay. So all of this esoteric "character" writing (for lack of a better term) is for me.

When I was in college visiting my aunt and uncle in Olympia, Wa., I heard them call each other by a few different names other than their own. When I inquired as to the reason for these misnamings, I was told that they had named various parts of their personalities to better tag and talk about behavior. And also to keep a sense of humor. A summarized version of the conversation:

me: "Aunt Kari, why do you call Uncle Daniel 'Harold?'"

AK: "Because Harold is who Daniel turns into when he gets cranky."

UD: "I wasn't being Harold!"

AK: "Yes dear, you were."

UD: "Huh. I'm sorry. I think I'm just hungry."

AK: "We've named some of our different personalities other names to clock when we go to those various places. And to keep a sense of humor about them."

UD: "One of my favorites of Kari's is 'Olga' the Norse Woman Warrior."

*quizzical look from me*

UD: "It's who she slips into when she's ultra ambitious. Like when she decided to build our Sauna in two days."

me: "You built that by yourself??"

*Aunt Kari smiles*

UD: "Well you didn't think it was me, did you??"
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I've long wanted to do this. My Aunt and Uncle have been happily married for almost 30 years. They're still in love, they still make each other laugh. And they can call each other on their shit and not get upset about it. And I thought that perhaps if I did this for myself, I could better clock some of my reactions to people, events, words, etc. and maintain a sense of humor about it. If I can name the various places in me that I go to, then I can better gage when I need to pull myself out of them.

We all have fractured personalities that handle the different situations of our lives. It's how we live - how we cope. So what happens if you name that cranky, un-fed monster you turn into? Or that passive-agressive part of you who deals with your family? Or the super-competitive nut who evolves after your favorite sports team loses? Or the inner-child who hasn't had a voice in x number of years, and perhaps never had a real voice to begin with?

That's what I'm doing. That's who these "people" I'm writing about are. Little Orphan A is my inner-child. Alexander is who I am at parties, or when I meet new people. Maybe I should have my own beer commercial. But I'm just trying to express them in the ways that make sense to me.

I know I should have explained all of this first, but I went with inspiration while I still had it.