Having worn the handle Hoeye for 54 years I've accepted that no one ever pronounces it correctly; and I mean never; was an irritation I overcame long ago and has caused some inconvenience on rare occasions. Conversely those negative effects are a small price to pay when the following multiple benefits are recognized:
I have remained more or less invisible; anonymous if you will; and
When my family name is pronounced correctly the speaker is invariably either;
a. A close personal acquaintance of some years; or
b. A member of my family.
And that's no Hooey (which everyone knows rhymes with malarkey... Go ahead, look it up.)
Most folks I deal with only know me by my initials JD pronounced "Jay Dee." Many long standing associates know me as "John " but only a handful of close friends and my family know I spell it. Jon.
The more significant former hobbies were Baseball then Softball, Primitive Wilderness Trail Camping (hiking) and Autocross racing. I still hunt on rare occasions (upland fowl) shoot trap to keep my hand/eye in. With age, my activities have become more sedintary, enjoy writing (now the drudgery of manually checking spelling is automated), dabble a bit with photography and am building a collection of operational 'antique' computers.
A combination of physical and emotional injuries and my failure in business led me to writing. At first it was strictly emotional therapy and has developed from there. In 1991 I began searching for a more effective typewriter (one that could spell) which led to computers. My first was an Apple II (in a basket) which I still have (Not the basket!). Next was a Compaq 8086 machine (with basket no case). Then came a XT, 286, 386, 486, pentium... You get the picture. All came in baskets, boxes or bags; from which I built my Phoenix home networks.
All from wanting to acquire a high tech typewriter that knows how to spell - on which all of my writing is now done and has become a hobbie of sorts.
SIGNS OF THE TIMES is the title of my column which is published bi-weekly in a weekly newspaper as guest editorials. The topics vary but most usually include definite political statements. A number are about the history and/or specific locations in and around Mill City. Some were created from personal knowledge others are transcriptions of stories I heard my parents and their friends tell and re-tell.
I have also written a number of various short to medium length stories. Mostly adult fiction. I plan to provide links to these stories for those who are interested and of age so keep checking back from time to time.
This SIGNS OF THE TIMES website. For more information see SIGNS OF THE TIMES web page.