I think it actually was someone on Ellis Island that shortened my Hungarian grandfather's name from Schmelzer to Smeller. My mother made him change it to Sheller before she would marry him. I'm not exactly sure of the correct spelling of the original name, but my father's entire family are Smellers and I'm pretty sure it wasn't their idea.
Every nightmare I have that doesn't revolve around academic failure or public nudity is about that thing. In fact, once I dreamt that it attacked me while I was late for a test and naked.
Willow ,'The Killer In Me'
Natter 32 Flavors and Then Some
Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.
quester - Feb 04, 2005 6:27:19 pm PST #4173 of 10002
Danger is my middle name, only I spell it R. u. t. h. - Tina Belcher.
Jesse - Feb 04, 2005 6:29:15 pm PST #4174 of 10002
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.
I've never run across anyone with my last name in person, but there are a bunch of them on the internet. I actually found a guy with my first and last names who was born in the late 1800s, and married in the early 1900s. Scary how many old records are online.
quester - Feb 04, 2005 6:30:48 pm PST #4175 of 10002
Danger is my middle name, only I spell it R. u. t. h. - Tina Belcher.
benadryl still hasn't kicked in.
§ ita § - Feb 04, 2005 6:44:06 pm PST #4176 of 10002
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
My eyelids and ear canals still itch.
Pfft.
I discovered today, using the autocomplete function to address a work e-mail, that the 5 people in my immediate department all have unique first names in the 40,000 strong company.
That's pretty damned unlikely, I'm thinking.
Beverly - Feb 04, 2005 6:50:43 pm PST #4177 of 10002
Days shrink and grow cold, sunlight through leaves is my song. Winter is long.
ita, what did you eat, or touch, that your mucous membranes are itching? That's scary shit.
quester - Feb 04, 2005 6:53:25 pm PST #4178 of 10002
Danger is my middle name, only I spell it R. u. t. h. - Tina Belcher.
Yeah, that's a pretty strong reaction to something.
Jesse - Feb 04, 2005 6:53:41 pm PST #4179 of 10002
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.
That's pretty damned unlikely, I'm thinking.
You'd think. Now I want to play with the U phone book thingy.
DavidS - Feb 04, 2005 6:59:11 pm PST #4180 of 10002
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
My eyelids and ear canals still itch.
Oddly, the other night I saw the rare video for Wire's song "Eardrum Buzz" - which features a lot of people having itchy ear canals.
Typo Boy - Feb 04, 2005 7:06:07 pm PST #4181 of 10002
Calli: My people have a saying. A man who trusts can never be betrayed, only mistaken.Avon: Life expectancy among your people must be extremely short.
You folks have inspired me to check the Ellis island database. Our family has always had the "shortened" at Ellis Island story, about my Grandfather William Lipow whatever (lipowvitz? lipowvitizky?) Anyway I could not find Grandpa even using the soundex search. The thought occured to me - maybe William is a transliteration too. What is the yiddeshe for "William"?
§ ita § - Feb 04, 2005 7:10:52 pm PST #4182 of 10002
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
It's either random, or something I ate. I waited before I Aveenoed, to see if the itching would reach my legs (it started face and torso). And it did.
I bet it was Blockbusters. It smelled of pee, and the employees were saying shifty stuff on the phone ("Well, you'll want to use common sense about when you return it.")
Either Blockbusters or the tortelloni. Everything else is same old same old.