Anyone else watching Project Runway this season? One of the designers is named Stella, and it took me back to this storytelling class I took through Communiversity at UMKC. There are multiple stories that I could go into about that class, but this is a blog, not a novel.
But I show up to the second class, and this crazy teacher, Jin-Jin (her storytelling name), is asking some question. When nobody answers, she says, “Stella, what do you think?” It was confusing because I was pretty sure that in the 50% of the class that actually dared to return, there was not a Stella. That’s when I hear my friend, Bill, say, “Her name is Janelle.” She was talking to me! And I kid you not, she says, “Well, I’m going to call her Stella, because it reminds me of every girl in a bar in the 80’s.” So for the remainder of the course, I went by Stella to the whole class…once they were able to move their dropped jaws.
Actually, Bill still calls me Stella. In fact, all of his friends know me by that name. Pretty much every time I hang out in a group with him, the following conversation occurs:
Them channeling Marlon Brando: Stella!!!!
Me: (slight chuckle)
Them: I bet you hear that all the time.
Me: Not as often as you might think.
