are you there god? it's me, rambo

Murray has started a blog. The only Murray I know personally is this guy I sat next to on the bus every day when I was in fifth and sixth grade. I don't think it's the same Murray, especially as that Murray hated his name so much that as soon as he escaped our hometown and got to college he introduced himself to everyone in his dorm as "Scott." I am sure there is great geographical variance in how easy it is to grow up a Murray, and rural Iowa would be on the 'unrelenting persecution' end of the continuum.

Around when I was graduating from high school, there were these teenage parents in one of the towns near where I grew up who named their child Rambo. I assume he's had an easier time than Murray did, or at least will until Rambo tries to leave rural Iowa and go to college, at which point he might be wise to pull the Scott trick himself.

Blogger Murray was apparently inspired by me to begin his blog. It's always a treat to be mentioned in somebody's first post; it's gives one a rush of virtual fatherhood without all the dirty diapers or messy legal responsibility (click here and here for two especially distinguished examples of my being cited in a first post). Murray says that he's been "spending too much time" reading my blog but is impressed that I manage to blog despite being an "assistant prof at Madison." No offense, Murray, but if you spent even more time reading my blog, you might discover that I am no longer an assistant professor, nor am I currently at Madison.

Update: I just used my Googlestalking skills to track down the Murray/Scott from my hometown, whom I have talked to since high school, and sent him a link to my post. He reports:

"I am at peace with Murray at this point. My wife, some months ago, 
took to calling me Murr. I for some reason then started calling her Murr, 
most likely to prevent her from calling me Murr. Therefore, we both call 
each other Murr, though we try to avoid it in public because it sounds 
very odd."

I think if I was out in public and heard a couple calling each other Murr, I would presume they were just getting in the Xmas spirit and had two children they nicknamed Gold and Frankincense.