What’s in a name?

People who happen to stumble upon my blog sometimes ask me where in Idaho I am located, or if I like living there. One person even inquired about hiking trails in Idaho, and every time it happens I can’t help but laugh. I never had been in Idaho let alone in the United States. The name of my blog is derived from a movie of River Phoenix with the same title. It’s about a homeless street kid, a metaphor for a lonely, loveless drifter who has no defense against a world that can take his money, his heart, and his life. My Own Private Idaho is a film almost unbearably sad to watch. It resonates strongly with me.

I always have been a fan of Rio ever since I first saw him in a movie adaptation of Stephen King’s book Stand By Me. The boy had depth and could convey a range of emotions without being in your face. What a pity he is no longer with us.

I love the film, I adore River, Stephen King is my favorite author and I like the sound of My-Own-Private-Idaho in my head, especially the ‘private’ part, it sums up what my blog is all about: personal thoughts, views, and experiences I wish to convey to the readers for whatever reasons.

For a tagline, I decided to go on the road less traveled and use the constant state of my mind instead of going the catchy way or tweaking my name into a sort of anagram. I never thought of search engines when I was creating my blog. In fact, I did not know the existence of them at that time and I could not care less. I still don’t give a damn.

My tagline reads like this:

“My thoughts are colorful fast-moving screen saver’s slides show with badly connected international radio playing in the background…”

I don’t know if it’s catchy, clever, original or funny and frankly I don’t care. Like the overall design of my blog, it has to please me first before I can think of pleasing anybody. It’s my house/home after all. If I cannot be comfortable in my own abode, how can I be hospitable to others? How can I be inspired to write if I dislike my workplace? No, I believe in putting your own domain in order first before you go on exploring outside

So, that’s it. That’s how the name and tagline of my blog came to being. I hope some people could appreciate it. Let me leave you with a little nugget of wisdom from the late actor himself:

“There’s not another road anywhere that looks like this road—I mean, exactly like this road. It’s one kind of place. One of a kind, like someone’s face. Like a fucked-up face.”

~ River Phoenix, My Own Private Idaho