Not very many people hate their name. I have to be honest with you, I totally disliked my full name since I went to school. I was the fifth son of Ben and Verlantina. My parents were totally disappointed after the fourth son and they were wondering if they will take another risk and have another child. Oh well, they are the kind of parents who take risk. I am glad they did, otherwise, my cells will still be floating somewhere around the world.
And behold, my mom became pregnant! To show their optimism, they prepared girls' names, girls' clothes, etc... for me. To their surprise and disappointment, they were totally shocked when I came out. How was that as a welcome to the world, seeing your parents totally looking sad and frustrated? Oh yes, I was just a day old and I do remember how my parents look like. (LOL).
A few days after I was born, they still had no name for me. So, my Tatang (dad) went to the town hall and told the registrar to just name me from the month November. As the registrar was about to write my name, my dad said, "Wait!!! I think I can play around the word November and come up with something." After some scribbles on the piece of paper the Registrar gave him, he came up with "Bermevon." That became my name.
You don't know what torture means until you have a strange name like mine. From grade one to graduate studies, people were asking me, "what? what kind of name is that?" Worse, when I was in elementary, they kept asking me to spell it. I have been called, Bermayon, Bermoven, Enervon, Bermon, Bervon, Bernvon, Bermeron, etc... I remember so clearly when I was in my first grade. I was sharing a desk with another student. His name is Al. He could write his name much faster than I can! I liked his name better. Two letters. One syllable. No one asked him to spell his name. I was only 6 years old and I already knew what "Life is not fair" meant.
I tell you I was so tempted to change my name when I was interviewed for my USA citizenship application. The immigration officer asked me, "So, do you want a new name?" I couldn't believe it! Answer to my prayers! I can now totally become a new person! Goodbye Bermevon!
I was so close to becoming Tom Cruise but my dearest wife prevailed over me. She did not want to be married to Tom Cruise. I guess Bermevon was better looking. LOL.
And so, when I was trying to find a name for my blog, I found out that the month November was not available anymore. Hmmm. If Flickr is so famous and they removed one letter maybe I can add a letter to it. Novaember. It still sounds the same as November.
Without realizing it, I actually chose two words put together. Nova and Ember. Google asked for definition. Interestingly, I found out that the words are related. They are extreme opposites. Nova is a star that exploded. Imagine the energy and power of that. Ember is that small spark of fire in a coal or wood that is about to be extinguished. Although both words are extremes yet both contain fire and energy. I said to myself, "I like that." This is the story behind my blog title. And yes, my name is still Bermevon.
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