What's in a Name?

So, why on earth would I choose to name my little slice of cyberspace after some moldy fruit? Funny you should ask. (And if you didn't, shame on you) It all began in 1961.... when a funny little Jewish guy by the name of Mel Brooks had gout. Brooks complained to his friend Carl Reiner that he felt like a 2000-year old man, Reiner asked him what in the name of Moses that felt like, a tape recorder appeared, and, voilà, one of the most hysterical series of radio humor in existence was created.

My father, with his odd (read: Jewish) sense of humor, exposed me to this stuff at a very young age in the form of a 1975 cartoon. Go watch a clip from it here. Go on, it won't bite you.

So what in the name of Gilbert's Grapes made me think of this as the title for my blog?!? Here's a mildly absurd answer for you: I have a tendency to over think things, and ignore what I really want (the wonderfully symbolic nectarine) for what I think I should want, or for what other people think I should want (that damn ripe plum). If I were really stretching, I also might try and wax eloquent about the fact that sometimes in life all you want is a ripe nectarine, but that surly fruit vendor only has rotten ones. You can either go a day without nectarines (the Eighth Deadly Sin) or suck it up and enjoy what you can get. Too much? Did I mention that I also have a tendency to imbue far more significance than I should to zany Jewish comics? Hell, I needed a title, Mel was there for me. Just be grateful I stayed away from anything too pretentious. And do yourself a favor and buy the CD or DVD. You'll never look at Saran-Wrap or Paul Revere the same way again. "I guarantee it"