Tuesday, January 06, 2009

One Wild Oat


When I started this blog back in 2006, I gave it some random title I can't remember. After a long absence (during which I entirely forgot about its existence), I came back to begin writing again. But I wanted a different title. And as usual, like trying to name a pet, it became a huge, agonizing issue.

I wanted something unique, of course. Something mysterious. Maybe even glamorous. A title that fit me somehow, even if I couldn't even figure out how it fit.

I asked myself, who is glamorous and mysterious? and the first woman I thought of was Audrey Hepburn. I don't know why I thought of her, because I've never really been a fan of anything but portraits of her.



So I IMDb'd Audrey. And discovered that before she was famous, she was an extra in a 1951 film titled One Wild Oat. For whatever reason, I liked it. I identified with "one." I identified with "wild." And I certainly identified with Oat, being a farmer's wife and a horse lover.

As for the more common definition of "wild oat," well...

Okay, I admit it. I sowed a wild oat before I was married, and that's why my oldest son is here. But there was just the one. I mean it. And it sprouted nicely in the field of marriage and became a soldier and a gentleman, which makes it all okay I suppose.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a perfectly wonderful name for a blog! It is simple and memorable, very good! Kim

Marchelle said...

I wondered how you came up with the name! I like it, and I think it fits you perfectly!

Anonymous said...

The title is perfect! It is interesing to know where people come up with their blog name.

Marty said...

The name of your blog in truly interesting and inspiring – thanks for sharing its origin.

Simon Butler said...

To be brutally honest, I hadn’t stopped to think about the name itself much, though your explanation is an interesting one, and the choice is apposite: I was more intrigued by the way it is placed in brackets, and wondered if you had done so in order that it should appear at the top of any alphabetical listing.

You may be frank with me. Was this the reason for the brackets, or is there a more sinister explanation?

MauritaMason said...

Kim, thank you! I'm nothing, if not simple. ;)

Marchelle, thanks! I wanted to find a photo of Audrey using sunglasses as a hair accessory, but there doesn't seem to be one.

wildstorm, I'd love to know how other people choose their blog titles. Maybe someone else will blog about it, too.

Marty, thank you, and glad you stopped by!

Simon, that made me laugh out loud, even though I am in excruciating pain. I hope I've spelled excruciating correctly. I'm being very frank when I say hold on a minute while I look up the word 'apposite,' I like being on top but that isn't the reason for the brackets, and the more sinister explanation is that the brackets act much like a brassiere to keep the O's from sagging.

Simon Butler said...

Nice answer!

And, of course, I exist only to bring brief moments of pain into your life, and to cause you to frown and consult a dictionary – if only to see if I (a) made a mistake or (b) made a word up.

All you need now is to get that other lazy bloody Brit, Dickbar, to leave comments here. Then your life will be complete.