Because of Vodka.

I have a feeling that “because of Vodka” is the answer to a lot of questions in the world.  Including, “Why Rarasaur?”  That’s the short version.  The longer version starts before blogs were even a sparkle in the internet’s all-seeing eye.

1984 – I am born.

1988 – My horoscope is read by a internationally-renowned spiritual guru.  He tells my mom not to worry, that I’ll get better because my insides are made of fire.

1997 – My sister picks up a Chinese horoscope book in a run-down bookstore.  My personality is categorized as a “Person with an abundance of love, creativity, and passion.  A dinosaur amongst men, holding onto traditions and talents that are virtually extinct.  Often attracts lame ducks.”  My brothers start calling me a dinosaur, probably because I made them follow the rules of etiquette.

1998 – My oldest nephew turns 2 and begins calling me, “Rara”, a nickname that sticks.

2004 – I meet Dave.  He hears my brothers calling me a dino and asks if it’s because I can never reach anything, or because I often go on tirades (See my recent Fine then, Let’s start a war post for an example.)  My brothers latch onto that fairly unflattering idea, mix it with the family lore of my insides being made of fire, and poof– a vision is born.

2008 – Belevedere Vodka runs an ad.  It upsets me enough cause a public tirade.  My friends nickname me “Rarasaur”, and Dave draws a cartoon to represent the moment.  The name sticks.

Dave would be the first to tell you, “Feel free to let the spelling and grammar mistakes bother you.”

2009 – The fire-breathing dinosaur that is Rarasaur saves the day.  Someone says, “Thank goodness we won!”, and a friend corrects them– “We only won because we had the Rarasaur on our side.”  It’s just one small day, and one small victory, but it changes the way I see the name.

2011 – Life changes and my actual name starts to make me uncomfortable, for a lot of reasons.  I was a little lost this year, and a little paranoid.  I take all my writing off of every site, and request it’s removal from any contests or publications that were still trackable on the internet.

2012 – I start a blog to store writings that I took off the rest of the internet.  WordPress asks for a name, and I feel like I don’t have one to offer– so I go with Rarasaur.  I figure, at the very least, I get to use a picture of a dinosaur.

2013 – The Daily Post provides a prompt asking, “Explain why you chose your blog’s title and what it means to you.“  It would probably have never been invented if Belvedere hadn’t run such an awful ad.  So, short answer– because of vodka.  Long answer — see timeline.

What does it mean to me?

Well, it’s a name– one too bold to be born with, and too silly to choose for yourself.
But today, it’s my name… and it makes me feel capable of frightfully wondrous things.

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