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Owning your Name (Saye Saye Saye)

There are times in life when you have to deal with your name. Everybody's got a hang up. Some people don't like their middle name, others think they'd rather have a different first name, but I've always liked mine. The only thing about mine, is that it's an easy target. With a name like Saye, it's never been a challenge to make fun of, and I've heard them all. It's gotten to the point over the last several years that I now react with a calm "Oooo, that's a new one," when someone gives me a fresh jibe over my name that I haven't actually heard before. Sometimes I even laugh at them. I decided that I would come to terms with my name (besides the fact, that doesn't Saye sound like a great name for a writer?) when Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney came out with their song "Say Say Say." I can't tell you how many times I've had people come up to me and try to sing it at me.

I don't know whether they think I'll take offense, or if it's supposed to upset me, but mostly, it just annoys, and if you stand there long enough and just listen, the singer will eventually look foolish and just stop. Here's the thing though, after all these years, and having that song sung to me like I'm some kind of immaculate karaoke judge, It's gotten into my brain. In many ways it's sort of become my theme song. I've never owned a copy of the song. Never had the single, never downloaded it on iTunes, or bought it in any other way. I think I may have had a copy of the song on tape at some point copied off the radio, but most of those were short-lived attempts to keep music. I realized recently that I didn't need to have a copy.

When it's been ground into your brain by people all around you, you don't need to have a copy of your own. You have one with you all the time. It frequently plays through my mind, while I'm on the train, or sitting in traffic. No headphones required. It's always there for me. It's like a constant companion. No matter how old Paul is getting, or all the tragedy Michael went through before he died, this song will always be a part of me, which brings me to another point.

Something I've thought about for a while now. I believe that certain books, movies, songs or other media, maybe even favorite recipes that you cherish from your childhood or sort-of fast-track through heavy repetition later in live may actually become a part of your soul. For me, it's mostly movies, and old television shows that stick in there, but get me talking about the difference between the soundtracks from The Little Shop of Horrors's Broadway album and the one from the movie, and you'll know which one of those is a part of my soul. Which brings me back to writing what you know. What do I know? Star Wars, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica (both the old and the new...), Indiana Jones, all the way up to today, and shows like Warehouse 13. Talking books, it's everything from H.G. Wells, Ray Bradbury and Douglas Adams, to Simon Green and Stephen King, with a goodly sprinkle of Terry Pratchet. These stories, movies and songs have become a part of my soul. (Dungeons & Dragons anyone?)

I used to wonder how to write what you know (and still be interesting) when what I knew was all school, and work, and whatnot, keeping it from a totally personal and real world knowledge, then I started to think about what it was I was really thinking about. What do I know?

Space Opera, and swashbuckling. May as well give into it right?