Names are interesting. They are (in general) the one permanent thing about us that someone else has chosen. Our parents, knowing nothing about us, saddle us with these monikers, and we grow up with them. How do they change us? How might we have been different, had we been given a different name? And for those who change their names, why do they change them, what do they change to, and why did they pick the new name?
Perhaps because of this fascination (along with the fact that I have trouble remembering the names of people I meet), names sometimes get stuck in my head. Names like Heiliger Dankgesang and Sandra Day O’Connor will drop into my head from nowhere and stick around for days, like that annoying song stuck in your head.
The other day, it was Yngwie Malmsteen. I mentioned this and was immediately told that the guitarists name was actually Yngwie J. Malmsteen (to distinguish him from all the other Yngwie Malmsteens out there), which led to a discussion of middle initials, which led to the question:
What does the R.A. in Kurt R.A. Giambastiani stand for?
Well, it isn’t rheumatoid arthritis.
Kurt R.A. Giambastiani 