from A to Z: Jason
wow. i know i kind of dropped off for a while trying to do this A to Z blogging thing, but i didn't think that entry A was over a year ago. I guess it's time to catch up.
when i was really young, i was self-conscious about the fact that i didn't have a middle name, so i pretended that i had one. I started to sign my name with a J middle initial, which for some reason either i or others first instigated as an initial for "judge", but eventually turned into "jason". Mendel Jason Lee.
I really like my name now, both the name itself and the fact that i don't have a middle one, but in all of this time, i still have a fondness for the name Jason. I don't know where that preference comes from, why i like that over other names both normal or unusual, but it still remains one of my favorite names. The fact that one of my most influential drum corps teachers both at the Westshoremen and the Crossmen is named Jason might have something to do with it - whenever i think of a Jason, that's the one that pops in my head first.
These days i don't know a lot of Jasons - the youngest jason i know i believe is a former DDR player who lives in oregon, and he's in his mid to late twenties. none of the students that i've ever had at tulane is named jason, although one of the high school kids i taught down here who i believe just graduated with his undergraduate degree has that name.
i have this impression that the name jason used to be much more popular than it was for it to appear so rarely in people who are younger. i know that names go through generational cycles, but i never thought that jason would be one of those that would be affected by it. maybe i just have selective memory, but regardless of whether it's true or not, that makes it all the more cool to me that the name is still a favorite, because even though i don't go out of my way to have interests or likes that flow against the norm or trends, it's still kind of neat when i do.