nicknames

so i have always had a nickname. my mom knew all along that she was going to call me d.j. i'm not really sure why, but i've always thought it was fun. nicknames in general can be a lot of fun. i love it when people are known by their nickname, it really creates a unique bond and identity for a person to have a nickname. i remember at church camp growing up my friends and i (the legendary cabin 24) would try and come up with nicknames for as many people as we could, and put them together in a song for the talent show. talking to nurse girl (who got her nickname by her relation to the camp nurse) recently made me realize even more the power of having a nickname. she is a few years younger than me and my friends, and back in my camp days she was a very quiet and shy underclassmen that never did anything to really grab any attention. she told me that her highlight of camp that year was that we knew who she was and took the time to give her a nickname. that got me thinking the other day at some of the other nicknames of friends of mine that really make me laugh. i started cracking up looking through my phonebook at how many nicknames there are. here's some of my favorite nicknames of my friends, and how they got them.

al-dogg - the whitest guy around, loves rap, seriously thinks he was born black
jill-dogg - his little (somewhat unfortunate) sister
HEYDave- he used to yell a lot in our apt for no apparent reason (sidenote: never come up with a nickname yourself. he wanted us to call him jewish wolf monkey. not a chance)
andibro- when i first met him he said, 'my name is andi bro'. i told him andibro was an unusual name and asked him where he was from
shorty - is 7'6"
juaner - nobody named jon should be w/o a nickname
slainte- for his fondness of procuring glasses from bennigan's
sparky- not sure about the history, but love the fact no one knows his real name
moose or chewie - this guy has the hairiest chest around
pud - my old youth minister
lane 6 - my dad asked the guy what aisle he should park in, the toll collecter said 'lane six sir' dad asked which one that was, and the guy replied 'the one with the giant six painted in front of it sir'.
camrock- never has anyone rocked an acoustic guitar so hard
dainty- my friend is very skinny and hates this name. that's why it sticks
t-murder or t-bone - picture george mcfly
big booty ho - this is the only time i've ever let anyone pick her own nickname. haven't a clue why
trucker - some girls started calling me this my freshmen year after i told them my dad and i like to eat at greasy spoons for quality time together
flo - my friends gave this name to my ladyfriend of the time
full house- my old nickname at camp
deej- i used to hate this, until i realized i could call people 'gibbler' as a response
dan the man- not very creative, but my best friend is good at everything he does, so it fits

more to come later i'm sure. one love, one heart.