What's in a Nickname?

In the U.S. Air Force, airmen (male and female) are sometimes given call signs, or what we civilians would call, nicknames. These call signs are not chosen by the airmen but given to them by others. It is the same in the civilian world.

My first nickname was given to me by my maternal grandfather. I was born around the time of the Kennedy/Johnson administration. LBJ's wife was called "Lady Bird" so my grandfather started calling me Jillybird. My uncles would sometimes shorten it to Bird.

Before we had children, my husband and I could be a little "couch-potato-ish". My sister-in-law started calling us Taters. She still does. When my daughter was born, my sister-in-law called her Yam. She being sweet and the offspring of Taters. So when my son came along, to continue this potato theme, she called him Spud. We found a little T-shirt with "Crib Potato" on it for him. The kids get birthday cards addressed to Yam and Spud.

I go on a bug hunt when I see insects in my house. I have been given the nickname of Rico because of this. Johnny Rico was the main character in the movie, Starship Troopers. The movie is a Sci-Fi thriller about military spacemen fighting alien bugs.

I now have new nickname...Rain Man. My husband started calling me this when I began blogging. I take my camera with me wherever I go and take seemingly random pictures with it. I take many pictures because you never know which ones will become blog fodder. I love digital cameras. Instant image. I'm pretty sure the real Rain Man would have loved a digital camera too but not from K-Mart, definitely not K-Mart.