What's In a Name?

People have never asked me why my nickname is 'Blue Jay'. Most probably assume that since my nickname is Jay, I adopted the nickname Blue Jay because I thought it funny or clever. Little do they know that the name comes not from a bird, but from a New Year's party.

It was New Year's, 2002. We still lived in our (first) crappy apartment and would often crash at our friends' houses to avoid dealing with said apartment. We had been invited to a New Year's party at our friend Marie's house. Nicky had to work late and was going to come by after work with a friend of ours, Jenn. I had the day off and had a friend visiting from Maryland, so we went to the party early.

Needless to say, there was a lot of drinking. We got there and everybody was practically blitzed already. My friend and I walked into the main living room and when Marie spotted me, loudly announced:

"Blue Jay is here!"

This was followed by some giggling by Marie and by drunken laughter from 5 or so people milling about.

The logic was simple. My name is Jason, but I go by Jay. I had inadvertently dressed in blue jeans, a blue sweater, and a blue fleece. The only thing not blue were my black shoes.

The name stuck and I have been henceforth known as Blue Jay. Ah the wonders of alcohol!