It has always been slightly distressing to me that despite
my vibrant,
sparkling personality, I have never acquired a nickname. I
have
always been rigidly, unyieldingly "Susan". There has been
the occasional "Sooze," "Suze," and "Suzie-Q"
but never with any consistency to be considered official.
Not even
my nieces and nephews have come up with an informal
nickname, unless
you consider their first attempts at saying my name, which
tended
to lean towards "Shzughjen" - apparently my name falls
into the category of Difficult Consonants for Children
Learning
to Speak. My friend Rachel has been nicknamed "Kitten,"
which is so wonderfully inappropriate that it is FABULOUS. It's
perfect for her persona in it's ironic,
Ann-Margret-in-an-Elvis-movie
cuteness.
So
this has been a topic of conversation several times in recent weeks,
by some coincidence. I was just sitting here, and glanced as I often
do, at my Bunny calendar, with it's oh-so-cute pictures, and went "Bingo!"
I am a sucker for little, cute, fluffy bunnies, puppies and kittens.
I am apt to squeal when seeing them. Really. All adult sensibilities
drain out of my body upon sighting such Cuteness. This, despite
my fondness for macabre, black comedy. I turn into a 5 year old
chasing a baby chick on Easter. Perhaps this tendency has continued
into adulthood because my fondness for Cute Things was never accommodated
as a child. I have some Hello Kitty items of recent purchase, carefully
selected to appear kitschy and ironic when noticed by others… but really, I like them because they're adorable.
I don't particularly admire cuteness in human beings, but this weakness
for baby animals… what can I say, it's chronic. So, I henceforth
wish to be known as "Bunny". It will take a while to get
this ingrained in my circle of friends, I admit - but I will strive
to make it happen, even though I am an aged 36 (29) and such habits
are hard to pick up as an adult. But if I am expected to make a
habit of going to the gym, then I think this is certainly MUCH easier
to instill.
