Nicknames are for friends, just chose the right one.

Yesterday I was perusing though my book marked blogs and noticed a post by AB, otherwise known as American Blogger. He was talking about nicknames. Which made me think if there are any names that can't be made into a nickname. I mean my name is only four letters long yet I have several nicknames. Also can the type of nickname reveal more about you, or the person that calls you that? More deep thoughts on that aspect later.

For as long as I can remember people that are really close to me call me Neen. Both of my parents call me that even though they got divorced when I was three. Not that I mind, but it seems peculiar to me. I mean to fish my name all you have to say is a short a. My mother also called me Clyde when I was younger. I don't even know how that is remotely related to me.

Maybe geography is the key. My mom and several others called me Miss Nina when we lived in the south. That's not at all out of the norm there. What's weird is that we aren't from the south. We only lived there for about three years. Maybe geography has nothing to do with it. When I lived in Albuquerque with my dad everyone still called me Neen.

Most of my nicknames derive from my last name. In sports people call you by your last name a lot. This statement is not so true if you have a really tough last name to pronounce. My maiden name was Makarenko. The American way to pronounce that is mac a rain ko. So I was called Nina most of the duration of my sporting life. The other choice was Mac.

When the Macarena came out I wanted to shoot myself. It was so damn annoying to begin with, but to be paralleled with it was unbearable. Other names I don't care for are: neener, neener beaner, Nina Pinta and Santa Maria, El Nino, Neneh Cherry, and neenster.

Once I got married I changed my name, no way was I going to hyphenate. Crap, people can hardly say Makarenko as it is. Shortly after getting married Michael joined the Air Force. Then I would have killed to be called anything other than Mike's wife. No offense honey. After that everyone I played sports with or anything usually called me by my last name. Here's a little list from over the years:

Nina Simone- given by my stoner friend Kim
Nanewshka- given by my pastry chef friend Anna
Tootie (the o's sound like the o's in the word book)- given to me by Michael
Toot- shortened version
Special K-given to me by Vlad
Sugar- given to me by Lynn (my artsy neighbor) who almost never calls me by name
Red-given by people I come in contact with after my hair is done
Nina (nine uh)- older people and older people with bad memories
Spudfeet-given by Michael, I have Fred Flintstone feet
Nub Hands-given by Michael, nice way of saying I have man hands I think

I'm sure there's more, but I'm at a loss. I have to agree with AB on this one. It is nice to know that people feel comfortable enough around you to give you a nickname.