My initials have a ... I dunno, a form. It's all cursive. In fact, sometimes the pen doesn't break with the paper at all, including the dot over the i. I never use my middle name there.

Now that I think about it, the pen doesn't have to leave the paper for me signing my first name alone either.

I'm not big on legibility. Form, form, form. Fuck function.

I initial with three letters. When I feel like using my middle initial in a signature, I go back and add it after I've signed my first and last names. My signature is pretty much T(scribble) S(scribble)ff, sometimes with an M in the middle. Which is nice, since my husband's last name is also S(scribble)ff, so it's easy for me to fudge my signature if someone expects us to have the same last name.

we had to initial things a lot

I don't initial things; I just write my first name in all caps. This is a benefit to having a first name with only 4 letters, which can be written in caps without lifting the pen.

(Technically, my signature doesn't have any letters in it at all. It's very scribbly.)

I used to tease my dad about him slowly shortening his signature over the years. It started Lastna___ Then Last___ etc. These days it is a barely recognizable-as-such (pretty much half formed) first letter and a line.

You know what? I've started to do the same. I usually get the first 4 or 5 letters and it turns into a sometimes wavy line.

Don't give into the peer pressure, bon!

To tie the conversations together, it was years before I realized that my decision not to use my middle name had unintentionally made it harder for people to guess my sex. Oh well. You assume at your peril, junk mailers.

Form, form, form. Fuck function.

Man, no wonder this board sucks!

ION, I am doing school work after all. I was thinking I'd need to use a program I don't have to work with this data I have, but no! I can fake it just fine in Excel. Word. Charts = fun.

because I think SMM is unbalanced.

Sado-Married-Masochism?

Sado-Monster-Masochism?

Sado-Muppet-Masochism?

Yay Burrells and baby Isaac!!!

Weird names, classmates division--Elementary school classmates' family had four girls: Marcel, Marceline, Michelle, and Michelline. I call that being lazy.

I use the full first name, middle initial for signing stuff, including credit slips and checks, and all three initials when initialing, due to my entire family all having the same first letter for our first names, so we got in the habit of using all three letters very early in life.

Another great moment of the president relating with regular folks.

From a Social Security event in Galveston, Texas:

MR. BENTLEY: And we're operating in central Iraq. I'll be back there next week.

[Snip]

THE PRESIDENT: How many children you got?

MR. BENTLEY: We have two children. We have a four-year-old son named Patrick, and a three-month-old daughter named Elaine that I just got to meet for the first time.

THE PRESIDENT: Really?

MR. BENTLEY: Yes, sir.

THE PRESIDENT: No wonder you're emotional. (Laughter.) That's awesome.

MRS. BENTLEY: She was born two days after he deployed.

THE PRESIDENT: Yes, great.

I almost always sign with my middle initial included. When I was growing up I had a step-sister with the same first & last name (because my dad adopted her). Both of us were always addressed with our first & middle names, too.