Introducing Mango Thunder

Before I get into how I got that nickname, I have to apologize for the long blogs. I apologize because I know its hard to read a long one. The internet sides with the instant gratification needy being inside of us. We can get mulimedia when we want it and how we want it. Problem is, we only want it for a few mintues at a time, highly concentrated and concise. My blogs just don't cater to that. I'm long-winded at times, but I guess that's to make up for the fact that my whole family thought I was mute until the age of 5 when I started talking out of fear - I told the needle-wielding nurse, "You can't do that to little kids!"

Anyways, taking a break from working on my Lab Meeting Presentation, I thought about how I came to be Mango Thunder. Really its a basketball nickname from days of old - a subtly ethnocentric reinterpretation of Darryl Dawkin's (former NBA plalyer known for his rim-rattling, name defying, high-flying dunks) nickname of Chocolate Thunder. I've always been wary of that nickname, as it almost comes across as a little racist - but then again, I'm not that PC. Being that I am of Southeast Asian descent, a became known as Mango Thunder. Mind you, I don't defy gravity. I'm not sure where the Thunder came from. Unless you call the bricks I put up against the rim "thunder."

That name, like Mount St. Helens, has laid dormant for the past few years, until it has been resurrected. Fairly quickly, my first name progressed from being "Richard" to "Mango." And just like the Spice Girls, there is many moods to Mango: Whitecoat Mango, Sporty Mango, Working Mango, Hungry Mango, Racing Mango, etc. The moods are limitless, an expression of the rich, yet curiosly unsettling, diversity of my psyche.

Oh yeah, and you don't want to cross my path when I'm overripe. That's just asking for trouble.