The Death of Enthusiasm

I like to write fiction sometimes. It's not good in the traditional sense that "people" would actually want to "read" it, but it makes me feel creative and important.

One thing that drives me crazy is trying to come up with names for characters. I always end up calling them "Jim Richards," or some other equally boring name. Because of this I took a look in the white pages and wrote down a few (real) names I find especially evocative. Here are names and some thoughts on what kind of character the name brings to mind:

Leon Lipsky:
Leon Lipsky is from Hackensack, NJ and runs a small insurance company from his study. He has been divorced three times and now has taken to visiting the corner bar in hopes of meeting a "normal broad" instead of all the "crazy jewish girls" he normally sees. He has two cats, Wilma and Muffin and a receding hairline.

Elaine Peaslee:
Small boned, with bright, darting eyes and a crinkled brow. Her children have three times attempted to place her in a rest home, but she has three times evaded their efforts by threatening to take them out of her will. She holds a considerable amount of Iowa farmland and still drives her 1978 ford pick-up around the edge of the property every morning.

Dixie Golden:
A former beauty queen, no one is sure how old Dixie Golden is. She walks around her designer retirement community wearing enormous sunglasses that hide the top half of her face. The lower half is the color and approximate consistency of a brown paper bag. She pauses now and then while walking, and readjusts the sleeves of her bedazzled sweat top. Curious eyes track her movement down Via La Costa Way until disappears around the corner.

Ron Birdsong:
On the eastern edge of Lake Tahoe there is a recreational vehicle. Inside this vehicle, at the steering wheel, sits a young man holding a bowie knife in his left hand. He checks his watch, which is located on his right wrist, and then looks forward, his eyes glassy and unfocused. There is a knock on the door of the RV. Ron doesn't move immediately, only tightens his grip on the bowie knife.


See, that's fun, right?

I now have an assignment for those of you who are so inclined. Pick one (or more) of the names below and write a brief description of how you imagine that person to be. What do they look like? How old are they? Etc.. Post it as a comment and we can all revel in our combined creativity! It will be like an episode of This American Life! Here are the names:

Howard Blodgett
Bernard Rupnik
Rosalie Daywalt
Dietmar Hell
Renee Hixton