Bunny

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.