I've had several questions lately about my sign-in name on forums. I generally use 'Greta Garbo' - why?
Short and un-illuminating answer: Greta Garbo is the name of our sailboat.
And why did we name her that, you ask?
First, there's Van Morrison's song Just Like Greta on the Magic Time album, the refrain of which goes like this. . . "Well I guess I'm going A.W.O.L/ Disconnect my telephone/Just like Greta Garbo/I want to be alone." It was a perfect name for a small boat with few amenities; when we go sailing we like to go off alone and stay out of touch.
Second, after naming her, we learned more about GG's personality. You can't approach her in a dinghy without her swaying back and forth, trying to decide which profile to show you - makes boarding her a bitch (can you say that in a blog?) Shes a prima donna, only goes in the direction she feels like traveling. She's beautiful and she knows it. Everyone admires her. All she has to do is show up and someone snaps her photograph. She's on the cover of the regatta advertising, in the newspaper. People come up to us and want to know who designed her.
She's a handful - beautiful, opinionated, contrary. I adopted the name a couple of years ago. It fits me fine.
