David the Gray
Nominative determinism is the hypothesis that people tend to gravitate toward areas of work or interest that fit their names.
Nomen est omen: “the name is a sign”.
Let’s suspend our disbelief for a moment, shall we? Let’s say that “nominative determinism” is a real.
Given your name, who are you?
Most last names have a pretty literal meaning that comes from the time that last names came from. I don’t fully understand, but I expect that if Sam lived on a hill they might call him “Hill Sam” or maybe even “Sam Hill”. Doing a basic amount of family genealoigical research can be quite revealing. I like to use FamilySearch.org↗ and just start exploring your history. I’m pretty lucky, a lot of mine is already done.
For example, I know that in 1635 Arent Leendertsen DeGraw was born in Amsterdam and sometime between 1635 and 1660 he emmigrated to New York, British Colonial America because in 1660 at the age of 25 he married Leuntje Gijsbertie Harmense in New York City. Together, they had “at least” 4 sons and 1 daughter. Arent died in 1690 in New York County at the young old age of 55. May he rest in peace.
DeGraw Name Meaning
Dutch: from Middle Dutch gra(u)we ‘gray’, with the addition of the definite article de ‘the’, hence a nickname for someone with gray hair or a gray beard, or possibly for someone who habitually wore gray clothes.
First thought - well that’s kinda lame. Second thought - wait, Gandalf!
In Europe and North America, surveys show that gray is the color most commonly associated with neutrality, conformity, boredom, uncertainty, old age, indifference, and modesty.
Just to demonstrate how indifferent gray really is, you can spell it however you want. Grey. Gray. It’s like a special little hidden flair you get to choose.
Call it a simple horoscope but we’re in disbelief-suspension-mode, right? Let’s explore this a little more!
“Neutrality” is actually a really great way to restate one of my greatest character flaws. I’m a contrarian. I can’t help it. I point out that offering a critique of something doesn’t imply you think said thing is bad. In fact most movie critics say a lot more positive things about movies than negative! That doesn’t go very far for someone who’s just trying to tell me about something they read and are excited about. I come across as doubtful, suspicious. Well, now I have a new word for it. I remain neutral.
I’m not your enemy but I also don’t necessarily support what you’re doing. It’s not that I don’t support you, it’s that I remain neutral. I hope for the best, and help out when I can! I will be there to help you but I offer no endorsement of technique or strategy.
Ultimately I seek to be guided by the principles of virtue, and work out my own salvation with fear and trembling. I am a friend to all, and a support to any who are themselves seeking to be guided by the principles of virtue. I withhold my own personal judgement and seek to understand a conflicting point of view.
Check this out - there is a very specific shade of grey called “Davy’s Grey↗”:
I think that’s pretty slick. A shade of grey just for me! And the hex code, could I ask for a better hex code? Actually, yes I could because it can be shortened to simply #555. Boom, baby!
I think it also contrasts decently well on both light and dark backgrounds as well. Here’s my site logo, which previously was extremely coincidentally close to Davy’s Grey but not exactly. It is now!
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I’m really happy that my site is now in a very strict monochrome color scheme. If you happen to see any other colors besides highlights and links, please let me know!