Today, my 109th post, marks the one-year anniversary of this website. Those of you who’ve been with me from the beginning recognize this picture, which illustrated my first post about my Easter black eye.
This anniversary brings to mind the story of how I selected the site’s name. The back story: for almost three years, I published a weekly column in the local Arlington newspaper.
After the editor decided my crazy pieces were publishing-worthy AND worth paying for, the next order of business was coming up with a name for my column. As you know by now, I like to come up with clever, catchy titles for my creations, so I was sure that a suitable name would be no problem, right? WRONG.
I agonized for days, even lost sleep over it. How about “Carol’s Corner?” Waaay too kitschy. Maybe “Random Tidbits”? That belongs at a cocktail party. Then I thought of “Meanderings,” but that made me sound like nursing home material. And I’m no farmer, so “Random Harvest” wouldn’t work. I finally settled on “Notes from Another Generation,” since so many of my pieces gave a nod to the past. But the editor nixed that one—too long, he said, for my narrow column width.
In desperation, I sent out an SOS to my friends, who, because they like me, sincerely tried to help. They came up with “Musings” and “Carol’s Comments.” One especially clever friend came up with my favorite from that group: “What’s Doin’, McEwen?” Oh, I laughed out loud when I saw that one. But after more thought, I decided it didn’t convey the proper gravitas. I mean, after all, weighty thoughts can be conveyed in 450 words or less, right?
So by default, I settled on “Old School.” At least the title passed the double entendre test. Yes, my kids and grandkids label me “old school,” but it can also mean a school for learning about old people. And believe me, I felt these young whippersnappers could use a few lessons about life “back then.” Humility may not have been my long suit then or now, but at least I could finally get some sleep!
After my newspaper column became a victim of online journalism, I licked my wounds a while and started this website, thanks to help from my long-suffering husband. Then I thought “Oh, no! Not another spate of sleepless nights while I figure out a title for this thing.” No problem! “Old School” to the rescue, with not a single sleepless night.
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