""What's in a a name..."

People call me many names. When I was a child they called me Jimmy, in my teenage years they called me Jim, in high-school and college they called me JR, in Alaska they called me sourdough Jim and in Hawaii I am either James or kimo.

The funny thing is in Hawaii that the locals have a hard time calling me Kimo, they will address me as KKKKKKK James with a stutter on the K.

People think because i have white skin I cannot be called 'Kimo,' that's as silly as saying someone with brown skin cannot be called Bernard.

I have gone by many names, my current name of 'Kimo' was actually born while working for Kauai Magazine. We had a staff meeting one day, during that time Senator Gary Hooser was the owner. I brought up that here we publish a quarterly Hawaiian publication and do not have one Hawaiian name on the masthead, Hooser said OK, Kimo, and thus 'Kimo' was born.

I still do not understand why it is so hard to call me 'Kimo' if i can call you Duke, Bernard, Derek, William, Peter and the list goes on.

Next time you have a hard time calling me 'Kimo' remember I do not have a hard time calling you by your English name, or maybe I should.

Call me anything you want, just don't call me late for dakine.

(EDITOR'S NOTE, 'DAKINE' IS A TERM USED IN HAWAII TO MEAN ANYTHING...)