Tag: brianltucker

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What’s in a name?

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What’s in a name?

Are you happy with yours?

We’ve all got one. Like that quote from the French Taunter in Monty Python and the Holy Grail when he says “We’ve already got one.”

Mine is fairly common. Universal really. Brian. When called aloud in a group of people, 9-12 heads typically turn around.

What about yours? What does your name mean? I try to find significance in it. I’m thankful for mine’s simplicity, but I find the commonality unsettling.

As my wife and I near the possibility of expanding our homestead, I love to think up names that are just plain obscure. She is patient with me; she humors me. Names like Santiago, Ishmael, and Demetri. They are worthy of remembering. Right? I love Magnus, Ludwig, and Apache.

Would you name a kid Helga or Bartholomew? Even with the risk of forthcoming playground fights (and ridicule), I think there’s something exciting about offering a name that is unusual.

But…

then I think about what even the common names stand for. What does yours mean?

I looked ‘Brian’ up. It has its meaning based in Celtic origins with descriptors such as “high” and “noble.” That makes me feel a little better.

I recommend doing some research. Unless you change it, it will be something that follows you around for a lifetime. Sure, I think unusual words are more fun, but I now also think the meaning behind common words can be impactful as well.

Use this site for your own investigating: http://www.behindthename.com/. Let me know if you are happy with the meaning behind your name.

Best,

Brian

 

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Valentine’s Day!

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3 saints are all argued to have played a part in the formation of this national day of pink. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, one was a priest in Rome, the second one was a bishop of Interamna (now Terni, Italy) and the third was a martyr in the Roman province of Africa.

Whether St. Valentine (Valentinus) was in love with his jailer’s daughter or not (and left a note that really said, “From your Valentine” before being beheaded) really isn’t the main draw for this holiday. Is it?

We can try to reduce it to sugar, flowers, etc., but there seems to be more here. Although, Hallmark does love the confusion…and pressure that men face in delivering on it.

But at the end of the day there’s this very real need for connection.

I mean, today, I saw hundreds of people walking the streets in downtown Chattanooga holding hands, trying to hold hands, and Dudley Do-Rights taking kids to aquariums and things. It was beautiful and unsettling all at once.

We as humans genuinely crave to be loved. This one day just seems to showcase how great that need is. We don’t want to be left alone. Especially on 2/14. Like musical chairs, we hear the music playing and if it does stop, we don’t want to be without a seat.

So. I took note of the couples that seemed genuinely happy. The ones not trying to hold hands out of obligation or FORCING it. There was one couple that genuinely enjoyed the aquarium it seemed. They didn’t corral one another to take pictures at every exhibit and even seemed to relish in the butterfly garden.

It made me appreciate Saturday (and time with my friends) even more. Valentine’s Day or not–it was pleasant. Seeing that couple just absorb the sights and sounds of a weekend and take delight in being together was refreshing. It helped me to look at my own family’s joy and realize we need 2/14 more than just today.

Additional note: Keebler elves now apparently make Red Velvet fudge-striped cookies as well.

–Brian

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Did you hear?

Hi, awesome reader friend. Fennek

Did you hear?

I guess a better question would be “Did you see?” Like, “Did you see my new webpage?” Yeah. That’s more appropriate. Well, I hope so. You’re staring right at it, if you’re reading this.

Check out this new page.

Compliments of my friend, Mark Love. He’s clever and helpful and resourceful. I told him a week ago about a need for a website, and Voila! 7 days later and here’s a new site. Mark has revamped the old look from yesteryear on WordPress, and I appreciate him for it.

So…

“Did you see this new page?” Pretty killer huh?!

I will try to keep it up-to-date. Like a new car, I want to keep all of the dirt, dust, and bird poo away from the exterior, and it requires a lot of maintenance. May the WordPress one RIP. Here’s to a better 2015 with this one. (I must embrace my inner Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs.)

I’ll try to use it for book updates. Btw, there’s a new project (First-Novel) in the revisionary process right now! I’m nervous about that because…I’ve never written a full-length book before. The story collection from Summer 2014, Baptisms & Dogs, is it thus far. (By the way, there’s a cool giveaway going on over at Goodreads for a signed copy of the book: https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/126435-baptisms-dogs-stories.)

Feel free to enter. It’s FREE!

Thank you for checking out this new page. May it be a place you return to, and I’ll try to keep this blog fresh and entertaining for you.

If you have funny tidbits of information, random thoughts, inspirational dialogue, and/or a zany personality feel free to share it on here and message me. I look forward to your participation and enjoyment of this literary, virtual space. As the Foo Fighters once sang, “Keep it Clean,” and we shouldn’t have any hiccups.

The World Wide Web is accessible, even to those of us that aren’t so techy. There. I said it.

–Brian