More About Low Primals

Occasionally in my posts I have used the term "Low Primal" when making a distinction between low and high primal thinking (What is a high primal thinker? Check the link). I recall writing a post explaining the origin of this term. A search of this blog revealed no such post. Of course, considering my frequent changes it may very well have ended up on the scrap heap. The later is a hint about a disease common to Low Primals - Obsessive Compulsive Disorder concerning the status quo. My OCD could very well be the subject of another post unless I change my mind. Just what is a Low Primal? Well it turns out that a characteristic of Low Primals is that they keep good records. In this case I kept a hard copy of the the aforementioned lost post so I have decided to resurrect it.

In this household I’m referred to as the Low Primal. Who would give me such a moniker? The High Primal Thinker, of course. I discovered this quite by accident. OK, I was peeking at some notes the High Primal wrote to herself (short term memory problems require that a High Primal have notes). There staring me in the face was: "need to discuss this with the Low Primal". Low Primal? I know what a High Primal is but what in hell is a Low Primal? It turns out that a Low Primal thinker is - surprise - the opposite of a High Primal Thinker.

A Low Primal Thinker is prone to make decisions, thus the note. A Low Primal is also very practical and pragmatic. The High Primal would also have me emphasize that a Low Primal tends to embrace new technology. Unfortunately, as the term would imply, a Low Primal shies away from historical facts and can watch a movie he saw a month ago and think he is watching it for the first time. Even worse, a Low Primal thinks that a neat desk is a virtue and that after loading a dishwasher the door does not need to be meticulously cleaned. All in all, a Low Primal is a very normal person. (If a Low Primal is normal, what does that make a High Primal? No Low Primal worth his salt would answer that question.) Most importantly a Low Primal is attracted to a High Primal and together they manage to survive in life’s jungle. How’s that for low primal thinking?

Now that I have set the record straight, there is a distinguishing trait between High Primals and Low Primals that should be noted. Its about the grin that takes place after a blunder on the part of a Low Primal or a High Primal. The Low Primal will respond with a smirk but the High Primal will break out with a shit-eating grin. Both demonstrate smugness but the High Primal's grin is much more devastating. Is this important? Not really - just some trivia.

Now that the record has been set straight I can return to some "serious blogging". On the other hand (my favorite cliche), why not forget about the "serious blogging" for awhile and just have some fun writing. Considering the mess that the world is in right now this isn't such a bad idea. Low Primals know their limits. At the moment this Low Primal is overwhelmed with the intricacies of controversies internationally and domestically. Any ranting on his part would be an exercise in futility. Solving the world's problems does not a Low Primal make.

A Pointless Search

Search engines are the marvel of the Internet. Its mind boggling that a few keystrokes can reveal more information than you could get from a day at the library (unless of course you make use of a search engine there). Just for the hell of it, I occasionally Google (my favorite search engine) 'Tony Rugare' just to see what a search reveals. I was shocked the first time I engaged in this egotistical practice to find that Tony Rugare passed away on Thursday, December 23, 2010. No way! Tony Rugare is alive and kicking. Proof? The search was made by Tony Rugare well after 12/23/2010. Being of reasonably good heath but not necessarily of sound mind, I quickly recovered from my shock. Just what made me think I was the only Tony Rugare roaming this earth? As names go 'Rugare' is not exactly a Smith or a Jones (with all due apologies to the Smiths and Jones' of this world, I'll be forever grateful I wasn't stuck with such a mundane moniker) and pre-Internet  telephone book searches never revealed many listings for a Rugare other than members of my immediate and extended family. Its not a big deal that the Internet has yielded more Rugares than those originating in Sinopoli, Italy. I can live with that, even though a 'Tony Rugare' keeps reminding me that we all must eventually join the choir silent. I hate to think about that since I have trouble carrying a tune but if it is truly a choir silent, I guess it would be OK. At this point a reader might ask: "Just what point is this Tony Rugare trying to make with this post?" Like any question, this one certainly deserves an answer. Ready? The post is pointless! Its as pointless as a Google Search of 'Tony Rugare' in the first place.

Name Calling

Once upon a time it was possible to function in society using your proper name. A first name, a middle name (optional) and of course a last name identified you. If legal or illegal conditions warranted it, an alias came in handy to conceal one's real name. The elite and famous could afford a pseudonym instead of an alias. Those lucky enough to attain literary notoriety could opt for a pen name or if they wanted to feed their ego, a nom de plume did the trick.  Among friends, a nickname was common.

Enter the internet, and name calling became much more complicated. Servers fora person's  favorite web sites had a problem with name recognition i.e. a  proper name, pen name, alias or even the lofty nom de plume. In order to gain access to a computer system, computer network, or online account,  a  unique sequence of characters used to identify a user was required. The result was a username, which together with a password gained the user megabytes of information and more social interaction than he needed. At last the individual had a choice as to how he wanted to be identified. Neither was he restricted to one name. Multiple usernames challenging the user's memory bank were the vogue. A user's imagination could run wild as long as the rules as to the number and type of characters were observed. Oh, I should mention that the rules also permited an address as a username (assuming the server gave its permission). Not a postal address but an Email address. Again, the Internet gave birth to the phenomenon of Email addresses. As with usernames, an individual can have more than one Email address. Its like having a condo in Florida in order to survive frigid winters in the North. Email, like the postal service snail mail can also be infected with junk mail but unlike the postal service, Email providers can filter out the junk mail.

A name to be avoided

Now that I may have established that a name is not as sacred as it once was, let me unleash the coup d'etat. As far as identity goes, in addition to that established by a  birth certificate or the Internet, there is that established by what right wingers derisively refer to as an entitlement program. From the moment of birth we aquire a social security number. We are all numbers. Being a number isn't so bad as long as it is not the result of being convicted of a crime and incarcerated. 

Lest I forget, some of us are unfortunate enough to earn derogatory names such as SOB, Asshole, Prick or  Jerk. Little importance should be attached to this since a rose by any other name smells as sweet.

To make a short story shorter,  a name can be a word or a number or a combination of words and numbers by which a person is known. It can get very confusing in conducting our day to day affairs but it should not be a cause for concern. Remember the old saying: "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never harm me."

Sophia Maria Vindicated

Once upon a time in Sinopoli, Calabria there was a feisty young peasant named Sophia Maria Versace. Sophia married Antonio Rugari and bore him six children. Antonio and one son, Franciscantonio ,immigrated to America. After a short stay, Antonio returned to Calabria where misfortune struck him in the form of fatal pneumonia. It was now up to Franciscantonio to work his butt off in America and bring two brothers, a sister and Sophia Maria to America (for unknown reasons a brother and sister remained behind). Franciscantonio, Luigi and Giuseppe in time married. As offspring evolved from these marriages the honor of naming them fell to the husband. Over the not so quiet acquiescence of the wife, the first born female child was named after feisty Sophia Maria. Lo and behold there were three cousins within three years of each others age growing up with the same first, middle and last name. How to distinguish each during a family conversation? Simple, the eldest was Big Sophie, the youngest was Little Sophie. And the middle Sophie? Easy, Uncle Louie’s Sophie. Each of these Sophie’s grew up questioning the Italian custom that saddled them with such an unglamorous name. Nona Sophia Maria endured the slurs of her daughter-in laws and the disparaging remarks of three granddaughters named Sophia Maria. But Nona Sophia had a secret! Her name on her birth certificate was Maria Sophia. End of story , not quite. Sophia Loren made the name Sophia glamorous. So glamorous in fact that Sophia is one of the top ten names of choice for newborn females. Guess what? Sophia Maria Versace’s first great - great - great - granddaughter was named Sophia Marie. Somewhere in the “choir silent”, Maria Sophia ( a. k. a. Sophia Maria) is laughing her head off while her daughter - in laws take credit for having named their daughters Sophia. As for me, I couldn’t be more pleased to have a great granddaughter named Sophia Marie and for many other reasons a great grandson named Marcus.

What's In A Name ?

Italian surnames can be glamorous such as deLaurentiis which evokes visions of a good movie followed by a delicious dinner garnished with Petrosino - parsley. They can be colorful such as Verdi - green, Bianchi - white, and Russo - red or Nero - black. An ancestors trade can be found in the surname of Ferraro for blacksmith, the equivalent of Smith but much more romantic, Barbieri - barber or Martelli - carpenter. That person strutting around like a rooster could very well be named Gallo and the left handed pitcher the Indians covet is probably named Mancino.

Days of the week give birth to names such as Martini, Tuesday, and Sabatino, Saturday. LaVecchia - the old one, can only claim respect. A lesson in Italy’s geography is provided by Calabrese, Salerno, Romano, Napilitano, Lombardi, Siciliano and Genovese. Italian surnames can evoke emotions: Pace,- peace, Sforza - fierce, Amato - loved. Howard Hawk visting Italy could very well have gone by Howard Falcone.

One of my favorite surnames is Passalaqua, pass water. I’m sure this was reserved for persons having an overactive bladder. Would any self respecting urologist bear the name Passalaqua? Another favorite of mine for somewhat obvious reasons is Mastrantonio - Mister Tony.

But what about Rugare? It turns out that as far as Italian surnames are concerned it must rank among the blandest. Rugare is the verb meaning to wrinkle. Not colorful, informative or picturesque. The closest it comes to generating any emotion is in an expression used when someone gives annoyance - “non rugare”. I guess that’s what was happening when someone would refer to me as Rugare.

Rugare was a concoction of Ellis Island - the original spelling of the family name was Rugari which it turns out was just as bland. Rugari is a medicinal plant , probably very effective in curing a pain in the ass which I know some of my relatives suffered from.

A Google search of rugare yields countless results having an African connection. Rugare is a suburb of Harare the capital of Zimbabwe and Rugari is a location in Rwanda. Now that raises some interesting questions.

If I were looking for something glamorous in my genealogy I would seize upon the surname Versace. (Gianni Versace was a fashion designer and occasional photographer from Calabria, in southern Italy. He is most well known for starting the famous Versace clothing line. He was born to a family who owned a tailoring store in Reggio, Calabria.)

Maria Sophia Versace was my grandmother. She immigrated from Sinopoli, Reggio Calabria. Sinopoli was a small peasant village - hardly the scene for a tailoring store. Did some of her family migrate to the more urban city of Reggio? More questions and no answers.

What’s in a name? In the end its what you make of your life and how people remember Rugare - hopefully not with annoyance.

Living With A High Primal Thinker

What is a high primal thinker? Since I live with a high primal thinker I should be able to come up with a definition. I find however, that it is indefinable. That’s part of being a high primal thinker. You proclaim that you are and no one can dispute it since its not definable. The last sentence is an example of high primal thinking (living with a high primal thinker is contagious). One thing I do know is that a high primal thinker is not stupid. In fact high primal thinking is a front for a fountain of knowledge. My high primal thinker puts the likes of Leonard Maltin to shame when it comes to recalling movies and actors ( especially supporting actors). Wolf Blitzer should consider her for a position of senior political analyst in the Situation Room. Rachel Ray has nothing on her when it comes to innovative recipes. Her knowledge of grammar acquired from overzealous nuns makes me self-conscious every time I speak or write. I have also learned that high primal thinkers are not humble, have an opinion on everything, will volunteer their opinions even when they are not solicited and of course are never wrong. It goes with the territory and makes life lively. Something else I have discovered about high primal thinkers - they are caring persons, great mothers, and loving spouses.