Turning a Joke into a Piece of Art

I have a long name that many even in my own country - which is large and diverse - find difficult to pronounce. Both my first name and last name are lengthy and people trip over them. To me, this is a source of great humour and has given me some cherished nicknames as well. It even gave me an opportunity to write one of the most humorous pieces I've ever written - and probably the greatest number of spontaneous compliments from friends, colleagues and acquaintances. Sometimes, even from strangers who were coming to meet me for work.

Many friends, especially Sharmila, urge me to make a list lest I forget the many versions. I usually put out posts on Facebook saying 'Today, I was (latest version of my name)' and down the years, these posts have never failed to raise lots of chuckles and guffaws. I keep telling Sharmila that I never forget any of them but yesterday in an idle moment, I decided to take it seriously and make a list. It's not easy to search for past statuses on Facebook and there will be no easy way to remember these names if I do forget.

One of the Zentangle groups I am part of had a live session yesterday morning on Facebook. I missed it, but Fife was one of the patterns used there. Looking at all the tiles popping up on that group, I found myself wanting to draw it. As the day progressed, however, the idea of using Zentangle to record all these variations of my name grew and possessed me. So I did a practice tile, and improved on it today.

I would have liked to use many more pyrotechnics to embellish this tile, but after two days of thinking about it and improving it and attending to the fine detail, my mind and hand were tired. Maybe another day, when I collect more mispronunciations of my name, I will do another.