autonyms and appellations

today an old friend asked me a question i often hear. sort of. there are two sides to it really. it depends on how you know me. here's a not-as-brief-as-originally-expected rundown.

on a glorious monday morning in august of 1986, i came into this world as daniel joshua lacey. since no one wants to say all of that, my parents just called me dj.

i enjoy dj because i find it mildly unique and quick to write. perhaps it has a boyish charm to it as well? you tell me.

the name, however, has its drawbacks. first of all, if someone gets it right when i introduce myself, it's an out-and-out miracle. "tj? pj? zj?" and I feel like my mother screaming on the phone to some foreign bill-collector when i go the, "d as in dog" route. perhaps i should enunciate better? that seems obnoxious.

similarly, my penmanship leaves something to be desired. picture a four year old with crayon in hand. ok, now give him some whiskey. now put that crayon between his toes. point made. so sometimes my d looks like an o. oj. dynamite.

furthermore, it just so happens that i share this name with a character on perhaps the worst television show this side of shot at love with tila tequila. donna jo is not, nor has it ever been remotely humorous. and i like to think i have a good sense of humor with these things. by the way, your disc jockey jokes are as funny as the clap.

honestly, none of this stuff really matters to me. i could have gone on as dj for the rest of my life without issue. but for some reason, when role was being called during my very first college class, i made a split-second decision that i didn't feel like saying "no, not ej" and just said, "dan's fine". so, immaculatans know me as dan.

but the whole thing is so convoluted. at work they call me dangerous dan, but that's a story for another time. how i introduce myself is fully dependent on who i am meeting. if i'm with dj people, i introduce myself as dj. if i'm with dan people, i introduce myself as dan. if i'm by myself i just get confused.

well what does my voicemail say, you ask? oh, you didn't ask. let me tell you anyway. for work purposes it says dan. at one point, this caused a stage-five crisis on the lacey side of my family when i missed a call from my cousin. she told my aunt that it said dan and my aunt freaked out. are you going by dan now?!? what should we call you?!? don't you like dj?!? jiminy crickets, people.

therefore it's something i often hear. whether it's, "you go by dan now?" or "dj? what the fffffff?" the answer is that i honestly have no preference.

so liz, dj works fine. although i believe your mind was already made up.