Red Headed Cheddar Cheese With a Little Bit of Mold on Top

I have been thinking about nicknames lately. Nicknames, pet names–any term of endearment. I usually give nicknames to people I know and talk to alot. My nicknames are never malicious. Never. Nicknames usually just appear for people. They are very personal and specific and arrive out of a series of circumstances or events. I use that nickname for a while, before another one appears and I start using that one. I got to thinking, though, that I have a few nicknames myself.

My mum has two names for me. She calls me Miss Jibbs or Jibby Jones. I like that: Miss Jibbs. I just like it. AND If I ever become that famous saxophone player jazz musician (right!), I will probably use the Jibby Jones identity. Somehow it fits.

One of my current nicknames is Yukon Jen: the domain name for this website. Derived from the fact I am from the Yukon (Mile 906.8 to be exact) and my name is Jennifer. Also, part of it is a bit from this song from the Shuffle Demons: Yukon Girl. I love the Demons!

I think my very first nickname was Freckle Face. Ugh. How un-original. But, can you really expect anything more from a 5-year-old in kindergarden? And, looking back at pictures, I barely had any freckles then.

I think my most original nickname was from a fellow in grade two. His name was Jean-Marc Lechman. He was exotic because he was French Canadian. (And we were currently living in the Yukon–the other end of the universe from Quebec.) I guess I may have been exotic too as one of the only three redheads in school. (My sisters were the other two. The kids on the school bus used to call us Big Red, Little Red, and Medium Red. I was the youngest, so I was Little Red. I guess that qualifies as a nickname too.)

Anyway, on picture day, I wore a dark green velvet jumper dress. I also wore green velvet ribbon in my hair to tie it away from my face. Everytime I passed Jean-Marc, I would shyly smile and look away. (I had a crush on him if you haven’t guessed.) I know he knew I liked him because being a typical guy, he decided to tease me. He started calling me: Red Headed Cheddar Cheese With a Little Bit of Mold on Top (because of the green ribbon!!).