…which you probably don’t know is an elephant. How do I pronounce my first name? It seems simple enough, but it isn’t. Why?
Because it isn’t English, so it’s not pronounced Dee-on.
It also isn’t French, so it’s not pronounced Dee-own.
It also isn’t Greek, so it’s not pronounced Die-on.
It’s actually Gaelic, so it’s pronounced Dee-un.
I’ve had two people say it right the first time in my life, one of whom spoke Gaelic. When I tell people my name, they either repeat it as Dean or make me repeat it because they don’t think they heard it right. No one has heard it before, so it doesn’t click.

I had a boss say it wrong for 10 years, and multiple teachers say it wrong for three years. I correct them, and they say it right for a day or two, then fall back into the wrong pronunciation. At that point, I give up. People have said it wrong throughout my life, so it doesn’t bother me when the next person does it. Almost everyone does.

It is what it is.

Since sixth grade. I wrote a two-page short story, read it to the class and everyone laughed. Since it was supposed to be funny, that was a good thing. I guess I like entertaining people.

No, I went to college to be a musician, an accountant, a computer programmer and an information systems manager, not a writer. However, that doesn’t mean I didn’t study writing. I attended workshops, took creative writing, poetry, composition courses. You get the idea.

After 26 years of retail, 21 in management,  including 2 years working in a mom-and-pop bookstore, I’ve spent the last decade-plus as a financial systems analyst.

I am the second to the youngest of six. My dad is the youngest of 10. His dad was the youngest of 10. My dad was born in 1926. His dad, my grandfather, was born in 1879. His dad was born in 1834. And his dad was born in 1799. In other words, my great-great-grandfather was born the same year George Washington died. A coincidence, I’m sure.