What's in a name

This blog isn't about the European weatherfish, or about Japanese torpedos at Pearl Harbor, or about mythical creatures in How to Train your Dragon, or about a hovering autonomous submarine, or about a shipwreck tour based in Mystic, CT, or about a series of Australian crime novels, or a swim club in Naugatuck. Apparently other people think that thunderfish makes for a pretty cool name.

Through a book club I belong to, I earned the moniker "Dr. Dick" while I was completing my PhD. Some of the guys in the club worried that the degree would go to my head and turn me into a elitist jerk, or even more of one. Fairly quickly "Thunder" was added to that name (because "thunder" is always a hilarious intensifier), and somehow it's stuck. To that group and nobody else, I am Dr. Thunder Dick.

I like the name--or, at least, I like having a nickname. I was a serious kid, not the kind to want a nickname like Dr. Thunder Dick. Too crude, too flippant. But as I get older I'm becoming more irreverent in a lot of good ways, and able to take myself less seriously--and to really, deeply appreciate the kind of friends who call me Dr. Thunder Dick. The name is a joke, but only half-way: it's true that sometimes I am too judgmental, and the name is a reminder not to let myself get too far from the ground. The name is also a reminder that I can be someone other than who-I-am-most-of-the-time. Dr. Thunder Dick isn't quite an alter ego, but he can be louder and more direct and less polite and--maybe most importantly for this space--less polished. This site is a space for thoughts, including lots of thoughts that I want to put into words even if they're incoherent, or contradictory, or dumb.

Still though, for a semi-professional site, Dr. Thunder Dick seemed just too crass. So, Dr. Thunder Fish is a compromise--"Fish" and "Fishman" are other nicknames I've had; my high school basketball coach was the one who first called me "Fishman." Those names just play on my last name (as does my friend Courtney's nickname for me, pescador), but they fit. Dr. Thunder Fish feels like the right compromise. 

Sorry if you came hope for more information about Haruo Hirota and the development of the Type-91 Thunderfish aerial torpedo. Man, this ain't it.


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