Knick knack, paddywhack, give the blog a name

"The naming of a [blog] is a numbing blow from which [it] never recovers." ~Marshall McLuhan

It was very difficult for me to come up with a fitting title and web address for this blog. Since the main focus of all entries will be on American folklore, I wanted the title to refer to America and to an aspect of American folklore that would somehow identify me as the author. After rejecting several overly general titles like “Folk Talk" and “Life in A Merry Can,” I began searching for ways to link my birth state of Alabama with the title. In doing so I made some interesting discoveries about Alabaman folklore.

For example...

a. In the Atlas, Alabama’s nickname is “Heart of Dixie,” yet growing up I always heard it referred to as the Yellowhammer state. The name apparently goes back to the yellow clothes of Confederate soldiers in the Civil War. My mother, born in Tennessee, was a Volunteer; my father, born in Indiana, was a Hoosier; I was a Yellowhammer. In case anyone is interested, we also have two Peaches, another Yellowhammer, another Volunteer, and a Tar Heel in the family.

b. A popular saying seen recently on many Alabama license plates is “Stars Fell On [Alabama].” This phrase comes from the title of a book and a song from 1934, both of which refer to the leonid meteor shower in Alabama on November 12/13, 1833. The standard "Heart of Dixie" saying, enclosed in a conventional heart shape, is usually included in a much smaller size.

c. In addition to its state flag and symbol, Alabama has a state tree, flower, mammal, horse, game bird, reptile, amphibian, insect, butterfly, freshwater AND saltwater fish! I won’t list all of them here, but it would certainly be fun to make a collage.

d. The popular Southern song “I wish I was in Dixie," or just "Dixie," was actually composed by a Northerner, Daniel Emmett, and premiered in New York City as part of a blackface minstrel show. It was also apparently one of Abraham Lincoln's favorite songs! Isn’t history ironic?

e. The name “Alabama” comes from the Indian Choctaw language. The Alabama Department of Archives and History website says that “the Rev. Allen Wright, a Choctaw scholar, translated the name as thicket clearers, compounded of "alba" meaning "a thick or mass vegetation," and "amo" meaning "to clear, to collect, to gather up" (http://www.archives.state.al.us/statenam.html).

I eventually decided on “American Folklore from the Common Flicker” for three reasons:

1) As you may have guessed, the common flicker is the state bird of Alabama. It’s also known as the Northern flicker, the yellow-shafted flicker, and the yellowhammer.

2) I feel the title is a good description of what the blog would consist of, as well as short and creative enough to remember in a web address.

3) I like the way that “folklore” and “flicker” sound together.