This afternoon, after a particularly trying class with my students – most of whom were behaving like ninth graders – a student approached me after I set them all free. He was extremely excited. It seems that he had figured out my pseudonym.
Kizz gave me my pseudonym when she started blogging. She wanted something that not only referred to me, but reflected who I am, as well.
Chili is a play on my name, which can be used as a synonym for cold. Since I’m not a particularly “chilly” person, she carried the homonym further to “chili,” which suits me much better. I can’t stand the stuff, really- I hate beans and am not especially fond of spicy foods- but the name describes my personality pretty well.
I use my mrschili email address both for blog users and for my students – I am loath to give out any of my personal contacts to students. This student had done a little thinking, it appears, and had made it from my name to “chili,” and was giddily, irrationally proud of his powers of deduction. It was extremely cute. It almost made up for how much of a pain in the ass the class was today.
