Why the turtle?
by Turtle Jones

I've been asked a few times in gmail about how I got my nickname. The lastest email came today so I figured we would get this out here. Ya really want to know? Actually the story isn't that incredible, but you have given us an idea for a post.

I have had many real names and nicknames through my life. When I retired from music, I went back to my original name. Like the legal one. I became one of the big posters on fark.com. I ran the stupid games while Michele owned the music threads. Specially the metal and punk ones. Michele was always all over the Clutch and the car threads and we had a mutual respect for each other. We never really thought about each other untill one night I went to see Clutch. I knew she liked them so I threw it in her face. Kinda flirting like. The next morning there was a thread and everyone knew that I was out of it. I explained to people how I could barely think because of the show the night before. The her name popped up and we both talked.

Then we both picked up the phone. We talked. She sounded funny. There was something wrong with her voice. She said the same thing about mine. She said I reminded her of the turtle.FindingNemo1.jpg What turtle?

We met through our mutal love of music and cars on that site. It took a while but we eventualy started talking daily. When we decided to do this site, FTTW, we were talking almost all the time. She made a few posts in TF about how funny I talk. Cause I do say "dude" alot and I guess I am very laid back compared to her. Hey, California. Gimmie a break, ok? I made fun of her accent and she made fun of mine. Which I still don't agree that I have an accent. But everyone started calling me the turtle because of "Finding Nemo." That turtle. The surfer dude.I guess I talk like him. I might, I don't know. I've had other legal names, but this one kinda stuck. So I am the turtle. If you want to know about Michele's nickname you have to ask her cause everyone knows her just as Michele.

But trust me. Long Island accents are rough. And me saying "dude" too much isn't as funny as when you hear a real New Yorker going to get "some water for her daughter while she is making coffee." That's comedy. -T

Ok I'm gonna add my two cents before he even realizes I was in here.

I don't talk funny. Not at all. I just talk like....a New Yorker. A Long Islander. And I don't have a cool nickname to tell you about. Oh, I've been called things, but we won't get into that here. Maybe one night I will tell you the story that goes with that one nickname I had for a while. Maybe. It involves debauchery, I'll just say that.

But the turtle? What started out as a little joke took on other meanings. See, he sounds like that one turtle from Finding Nemo. That's why I started calling him this. He really does. "Dude. Check it out, dude." Talks slow, takes his time, kind of like you want to pull the words out of his mouth before he's done. He's very much like a turtle in that respect. Is that what they call laid back? Truth be told, his accent (yes he does have one) is a calming influence on me. His whole turtle-like demeanor is a calming influence on my "gotta get where i'm going faster than you" New York way. I live my life in a hurry, he lives his life at an even pace. It's like that Bugs Bunny cartoon with the tortoise and the hare. Slow and steady wins the race. I'm all trying to take shortcuts and fix things so everything is done quicker and faster and speedier, and he's just taking his time and ends up getting to the finish line ahead of me anyhow. Total turtle. Plus, you know, turtles have a lot of symbolism behind them. For instance:

A great deal of mythology exists in regard to the turtle. In the Far East, the shell was a symbol of heaven, and the square underside was a symbol of earth. The turtle was an animal whose magic united heaven and earth. The turtle is a creation of nature that carries its round shell over the ground, like heaven, and has a flat bottom, like earth. With a profile resembling a mountain and the turning motion of its toes, it seemed to be a depiction of heaven and earth changing constantly through the seasons.

So that kind of fits him nice. Because he's really down to earth.

Plus, he talks funny. Dude.

Me, I have no nickname. He calls me "bird" but that's just something between us and I'd like to keep it as ours.


But the turtle. It's a good name for him, in a lot of ways. And turtles are cute.

squirtle.jpg

Squirtle! -M

TrackBack

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Why the turtle?:

» Seeing Life Through The Bottom of a Boones Farm Wine Bottle from Faster Than the World
So while I'm waiting for Turtle to come around (I think he finally got himself back on California time) and while I'm looking for an excuse to ignore this pile of work on my desk (hey, I'm a gov't employee,... [Read More]

» Seeing Life Through The Bottom of a Boones Farm Wine Bottle from Faster Than the World
So while I'm waiting for Turtle to come around (I think he finally got himself back on California time) and while I'm looking for an excuse to ignore this pile of work on my desk (hey, I'm a gov't employee,... [Read More]

Comments

Californians and New Yorkers both sound funny. We Southerners, however, sound just fine.

--------------


heh. Someone from Cher's hometown that talks like a surfer. *lol*

--------------


well the surfer accent came later. Thats why I talk all fucked up.

Spanglish surfer dialect. All fucked up.

but i still dont think i have an accent

so there

--------------


It's fucked up, but it's an accent. It's there. Stop denying it, babe.

It's cute, anyhow.

--------------


i cant really say anything. I brought something of a southern thing back from nashville and haven't been able to get rid of it. Its piled on top of socal beachspeak. I'm completely incomprehensible when i'm drinking, so i've been told. At least to these Oregon people, who all sound like they're from Bakersfield.

--------------






eXTReMe Tracker