you can be another tool...

Those close to me know that my very favorite episode of Sports Night, Aaron Sorkin's first tv dramedy, is The Cut Man Cometh (the full script of which can be found online, but really you should watch it). In that episode (about a third in if the written script is to be believed) there's a discussion of nicknames, and why you can't give yourself one. Hammerin' Hank Aaron comes up a lot recently, which means that I keep thinking about why Isaac would like to be called the hammer but can't because you can't give yourself a nickname, and that one's taken.

Anyway, beyond THAT whole discussion of nicknames, I discovered this recent one in Newsweek. The author suggests that, as americans, we've gotten pedestrian at handing out nicknames. And we can't blame the whole thing on Dubya and Brownie, either. They can't take the blame for Brangelina or Bennifer (although I do love when Stephen Colbert includes Filliam H Muffman), J-lo or A-Rod. And don't even get me started on evolving names of rappers. In fact, you may be able to blame them for some of this mess. Anyway, you can't give yourself a nickname, but I agree with this writer, that we as a community should start handing out more interesting ones to our public figures.