I've always thought of myself as the kind of person who doesn't acquire nicknames. No one calls me Angie -- That's my Grandma. I prefer Angela, although my family does use the occasional Ange or Anch. But when I really think about it I've had many pseudonyms bestowed upon me by family, friends, enemies, co-workers, boyfriends...you name it.

I Started out life bald as an 8-ball and I remained so until the ripe old age of 3, hence I was christened Rocky. How feminine. I was then bombarded with the usual little girl nicknames: Peanut, Princess, Jelly bean, Pickles (mmmmmm----pickles...). On occasion I am still referred to as Angie-Pange by my Aunt Nay. Not all of my childhood nicknames were so cute and inoffensive though. My Uncle Tommy tormented me to no end with hellish repetitions of...My God, I can't even repeat it here--I don't want all of cyberspace to know my shame. Suffice to say, the initials were B.B. -- and to hear even that much out of his mouth caused me to go ballistic.

As I got older I accumulated other monikers. In Junior High I acquired the unflattering Elvis -- which was gradually shortened to Elle, much to my relief. Then there are the handles I've been given by boyfriends. Moo Moo. Tarangela (one of my personal favorites). One of my ex's dubbed me Angel of Death, which then morphed into Angela Death. Oh how gothic.

Random people have given me pet names. I was Angel to this guy who lived on my floor my senior year of college. I was briefly Pin Cushion to some guys I worked with (let's just say I used to have more than my ears pierced). I was also known as Angeleeka at that job. And I was the diminutive Little Angela the winter I coat checked at Triplets. Not to mention the generic Coat Wench.

My new boyfriend calls me the very complementary Beautiful Girl -- usually preceded by "My". I kinda like that one. Although the best nickname I've received in years was given to me by Pete who works at Club Grafique over at Polo Ralph Lauren. It started out as Punky Brewster, changed into Lite-brite girl and ended up as the total epitome of my essence according to Pete: Space Girl. So. I'm renaming my site in honor of Pete and the prize winner of a nickname he chose for me.