Can we talk?

My WDC handle

Where does pumpkin or heartburn come from? I've been asked.

    I was confused apparently when I registered. This is the truth.

    I did not realize that "pumpkin" would actually be seen by anyone. I thought it was a secondary password or whatever. I sort of freaked when I realized the word showed up on everything I wrote. It has an image of round and orange and homely. But I was only thinking of a term of endearment, like the Southern "pudd'n" ( using a drawl, think wood un, and picture an oil tycoon for your boyfriend, and you're calling him pudd'n). I guess pumpkin is better than that.I decided just to stay with it; maybe it would toughen me up and I wouldn't care about what's in other people's heads so much, at least when it comes to me.

    Heartburn, which is on my /authors page and the little briefcase tag, is the only thing I thought would ever show on anything. I picked heartburn intentionally. Heartburn has many levels of meaning. There was an Archie comic when I was young where Archie tells rich girlfriend Veronica that his heart is on fire for her. Betty, the cute blond and jealous friend, says, "Yeah, she gives me heartburn, too."

    I don't think I'm jealous of anyone at this age, but I do feel passionate about some things. At times I describe it to myself as being on fire for something. On the physical level, I do have a lot of experience with heartburn and have kept the Maalox company and the ones making the generic versions in business. I'll spare you the medical talk here.

      Taking a byline for an ongoing annoyance seemed kind of funny to me. I was nervous about letting people read anything I wrote, as much as I really want to write. So any kind of fictional name actually worked for me.

      However, the word heartburn worked for me on another level. I have heart trouble. It's probably the most important factor in my daily life and overrides everything, not by choice, but of necessity. I had rheumatic fever at the age of 6 and the damage has continued to worsen as the decades have progressed. For the last 12 years, the problem was fairly stable and controlled. This past year I've been told one bad thing after another. Now, a few days ago, I was told I'm going to be facing another surgery, but we'll put it off as long as possible. So heartburn may be another term for heart decline. Anyway, it just sorta seemed to fit.