los nicknames

chatting with beth, so to speak, the subject of the various nicknames that we have been given came up. we all have them, but can you remember just what they mean?

it's been fun trying to remember just where or how some of these were spawned.

first off, the baby ones are mostly long gone (all parents saddle the kids with cutesy little monikers that-mercifully-fade with age), but my abuela would always remind me that I was known in her house as 'barcelata' which is some other crying opera clown.

age 4-8 I referred to myself as 'mito ha-ha'...mito is the Spanish word for 'myth' but I have no idea if that was the root.

my mother and father still call me 'mauri'.

at school and in my youth 'mauricio' was the norm.

but then punk rock happened (79-88 for me) and the local musicians and performance artists on the scene all seemed to shorten my name to 'maurice', which I never really liked but grew tired of correcting folks about.

that came from my friend brock (lee) adler who had a brain fart one day trying to add my name to a guest list for some silly function and wrote me down as 'maurice vista'! when I complained, he had cards with that name printed up, so in the best punk rock fashion, I used 'em.

dede, rudy and mia all took to adding an 'o' to both initials, and my DJ nom-de-plume was born: 'mr. mofo'.

david alex called me 'mauritzio', but it never stuck.

jac tried sticking me with 'homey buggin' after a couple of hip hop DJs asked him what I wanted at one of the clubs we promoted (as in "was homey buggin' 'bout?").

jac also tried using 'casanothin' when a few potential dates all fell through one after another when we were roommates. I think of that name when lonely.

I liked the 'mo' so much that when I moved to the bay area in '89 I told one and all that was my name. it's stuck for now. the 'reverend' was added as folks found my side calling as a minister and at the giant music store I worked at back in LA.

nothing like hearing "phone call for rev. mo" over the intercom.

my daughter calls me 'daddio' and 'bum-bum'--an english beat reference.

here and now at the union I work for the bulk of the members are Spanish speakers first, and all have a good chuckle since 'mo' sounds exactly like the word for 'mold'. they're trying to call me 'mauricio' and that's just fine.

I like being able to figure out just how long I've known someone by what they call me. little personal time capsules.

beth worries if it's all right to call me 'maurice' and I say that's fine too, as long as she is calling me.

don't forget that since some people call me 'maurice' that makes me the gangster of love.