I should tell you, dear reader, that before I started this whole blogging business, I had no particular affinity for the sock monkey. Naturally I recognized that they were their own special kind of awesome, but I never really gave them a second thought. Until that fateful day when I announced the results of my first blog contest. I had to admit that I hadn’t the foggiest idea what the prize would be, so I searched the internets for ideas of what might be an appropriate prize and stumbled upon the sock monkey. Then I showed you all this and this and this and this and since then my life has never been the same.
My sock monkey post visits account for nearly 10% of my total page views, and “sock monkey” and all manner of variations thereof is by far my most popular search hit. Obviously, with larger forces of the universe at work here, I’ve felt I’ve had no other choice than to embrace the sock monkey. And embrace it I have.
Last week Julie sent me this link and I knew I had met my sock monkey destiny. I made this little guy all mine:
Isn’t he the most precious thing you have ever seen? (And very reasonably priced, too—bonus!) And I have to tell you that Lisa from Mostly Monkeys is her own special kind of awesome. She almost immediately contacted me after placing my order, thanked me and kept me updated on when my monkey should arrive, etc. I received my monkey within 2 or 3 days, and he arrived with this enclosure:
Now if that’s not quality customer service, I don’t know what is.
So now, of course, I’m all in raptures over my new found sock monkey soul mate. There’s just one thing preventing my complete joy—my sock monkey has no name. And a sock monkey with no name is like a (something something) without a (something else that’s really important). Can you help me? Will you help me? Will you help us? There may or may not be something in it for you, if that helps.
21 comments
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June 23, 2008 at 10:24 am
Julie
In the immortal words of Steve Martin, “A day without sunshine is like, night.”
And I think that monkey should be named Julie. Or not. Does that help?
No, I think he looks like a Marvin. Or she looks like a Mavis.
June 23, 2008 at 10:38 am
Jumbo Shrimp
I like to name things George but for some reason Bacon is coming to my head. Or how about Argie, Archie. Good luck! I think I told you that Boogers named my sock monkey Pinky so that’s one’s already taken, sorry.
June 23, 2008 at 11:13 am
madhousewife
First: Best. Blog Post Title. EVER.
Second: Yes, he is the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen. Adorable! I almost can’t bear to look directly into his cuteness.
Third: I seem to have lost my knack for naming things. I couldn’t even give my fourth-born a proper blog alias. Lately I’ve been calling everyone “Chester.” My children are befuddled by this. I suggest you carry gray argyle sock monkey around with you for a few days–you know, bond with him, maybe stick him in one of those pouch slings, then see how he feels to you. Is he a “Chester”? Is he an “Arthur”? Is he “Chester A. Arthur the Sock Monkey President”? Is he “Bacon”? Is he “Marvin”? Is he “Marvin Bacon”? Marvin Bacon. I’m liking that.
I haven’t had anything to eat today. I bet you couldn’t tell.
June 23, 2008 at 11:26 am
bythelbs
Gray argyle sock monkey is definitely a boy. Don’t ask me how I know, I just do. I was a little skeptical about “Bacon”, but perhaps as a surname—like Sir Marvin Bacon. Hmmm…
But I suspect you’re right, Mad, that I’ll need to spend some time bonding and then the name might reveal itself. I still welcome suggestions, though.
June 23, 2008 at 11:53 am
Susan M
Oh my goodness that is the coolest sock monkey I’ve ever seen. The eyes are a little disturbing, though.
You could always name him Shock.
The monkey.
Boots?
Tube? Crew? Knee-High?
Argus Gile? The Third.
Stanley.
Wrench?
June 23, 2008 at 2:32 pm
cheryl
I’m thinking Percival.
Yeah.
Sir Percival S. Argyle (the S. stands for “Sock”).
Or maybe just Sir Percival.
June 23, 2008 at 4:28 pm
Boquinha
Cecil. Cecil Farthngwell. It’s my friend’s nom de plume. And how cool is that?
June 23, 2008 at 7:50 pm
foofie
It depends entirely upon whether you prefer unusual names(like Earl Grey — although, that is British, and Argyle is Scottish, isn’t it?), cute names(like winkles — I think that’s a small mollusk), human names that sound cute(like George), or pretentious human names that sound cute because they’re so pretentious(Percival–I had a car named Percy-short-for-Percival). I do agree that your new friend is definitely a he — obviously — just look at him. I did think of Giles before I read the other comments. It makes me think of BtVS, though. I’m leaning toward Reginald. I like pretentious human names. Actually, I had a car named Reginald, too. He was the one before Percival.
Of course, I haven’t even covered the possibility of you wanting the name to carry any particular significance. I’m sure this is no help whatsoever, but it does tell you that I know who you are and I know where you blog -mwahahaha! Just kidding.
By the way, congrats on purchasing a sock monkey that doesn’t completely freak me out. The ones with the giant red lips are too clownish. I don’t run from clowns, and they don’t usually freak me out; however, they CAN look very creepy, and pictures and figurines of them do disturb me.
What does it say about me that I don’t ever offer a comment on your blog until something seemingly insignificant as the naming of a sock monkey pops up? I do like naming things, though. It’s like “Shave and a Haircut” — I can’t help adding my “Two Bits!” (Roger Rabbit reference there)
June 23, 2008 at 7:52 pm
foofie
Okay, where did the weird, yellow pentagon face come from? Is that the default “Who the heck are you?” icon? ‘Cause it looks like that’s the face he’s making. Let’s see if it pops up again…
June 23, 2008 at 7:53 pm
foofie
AHA! Okay, I’m done.
June 23, 2008 at 8:09 pm
Bratz Basher
(Note to bythelbs: This is my daughter, not me, but I don’t think you’re on her email filter yet, so she’s using my address. Plus I’m reserving the right to comment on her comment — in parentheses, of course.)
You definitely need to name your sock monkey! (She IS an expert at naming stuffed animals) He’s the very first sock monkey that I haven’t freaked out about. (Guess where she gets that?) The other sock monkeys are totally freaky. Maybe you should name him George. (That’s three George votes, I think.) Or Fred. Or even Popkins. Just kidding about the Popkins. lol (chortling, actually) Or Diddybuns. (Okay, now she’s just getting silly.) Or maybe you should name him Zombie Smasher. (Okay, that is all her.) Maybe Super Sock. But not naming him would deprive him of one of the main privileges of being a stuffed animal. But I highly advise Fred, or George, or even Zombie Smasher.
Goodbye.
June 23, 2008 at 10:02 pm
bythelbs
I actually have been seriously considering Giles all day, and the BTVS angle defintely factors into that as a pro. But I’ll take Zombie Smasher into consideration.
I have never named any of my cars, but I think Reginald and Percival are pretty cool car names.
June 24, 2008 at 1:39 pm
kamillivanilli
My vote is for Alastair….stems from a deep love for “You Can’t Do That on Television…” Plus…I also am a fan of pretentiousness. Hello? I am Jan from Dunder Mifflin after all…
June 24, 2008 at 9:58 pm
Jumbo Shrimp
How about Gordon?
June 27, 2008 at 7:42 am
Julie
Percival is now my favorite. Percival G. Farthingwell. Yes, that suits him just fine. But so does Marvin. I still really like Marvin.
June 27, 2008 at 7:42 am
Julie
Oh, and the G is for Giles.
June 27, 2008 at 7:43 am
Julie
I just got a message to slow down. It said I was posting comments too quickly. Should I be offended? Did you send that message?
June 27, 2008 at 7:49 am
bythelbs
Yeah, that was totally me, Julie. Just take it easy. Pace yourself.
No, not really.
Oh, and Giles will definitely be in there somewhere. Thanks for caring enough to post your suggestions.
June 27, 2008 at 11:35 pm
Julie
Whew. Glad I came back and looked at this tonight. SO worth staying up until 12:34 am to be sure you weren’t telling me to quit commenting so obsessively. Now I’ll go with wreckless abandon once again.
I guess I’ve already done that. This is my last comment for the night. But ONLY for the night.
July 2, 2008 at 11:59 am
thewoobdog
So, I’m coming in on this a bit late (ahem… just getting back into my internet obsession after a long - but thankfully not entirely net-less! - vacation), but I definitely got the feeling he was European. He just has that vibe. I’m thinking based on some of the above comments that others kind of got that feeling, too…
At first I thought, “British”, but he wears the scarf with such panache that he could theoretically be Dutch or maybe Swiss. They can pull off the metrosexual look and still be masculine, which is something… I don’t know - he could also almost be German. But a very urbane German.
I just realized that I’ve written this whole little mini-blog comment on his theoretical nationality and have not suggested a single name. Oops. I’ll go now…
July 23, 2008 at 1:07 pm
Flaky Friends giveaway! « By the lbs
[...] see), and I gratefully accepted. It arrived last week. Never (at least not since the arrival of Sir Guster R. Giles—I’m calling him Giles for short) have I been in such raptures over a stuffed animal. Is [...]