A Model of the Thing Is Not the Thing
Ford sculpts its cars in clay, draws them in CAD, and hired about 300 veterans to retrain its AI. All three are models, and a model of the thing is not the thing.
I am Geordie.
Essays from George Everitt — published under the name his mother used. On names, places, language, and how things end up the way they are. Writing from Spain by way of everywhere else.
The Four Geordies
I.
The Demographic
Tyneside, England
A Geordie is someone from Tyneside — Newcastle upon Tyne and the surrounding parishes, the north bank of the river. The demonym predates all the others. Strong accent, strong opinions about Newcastle Brown Ale, strong attachment to a very specific strip of northeastern England.
II.
The Memorial
Star Trek: TNG, 1987
Gene Roddenberry named the Enterprise's chief engineer after a real fan — George "Geordie" La Forge Jr., who had muscular dystrophy and died in 1975. The character moves through registers without ceremony: Geordi among friends, La Forge on the bridge, Commander La Forge up the chain.
III.
The Discarded
Gordon Sumner, Wallsend
Gordon Sumner grew up in Wallsend, on the north bank of the Tyne — which made him geographically a Geordie. His bandmates called him Sting because of a yellow-and-black striped sweater. He kept the invented name and walked away from the inherited one. The Geordie didn't make the credits.
IV.
The Inherited
George Everitt, various
My legal name is George. My father was George. My grandfather was George. My mother ran out of patience for the disambiguation project and started calling me Geordie. I'm in my sixties, living in Spain, publishing essays under the name she used in the kitchen. Sting moved away from his inherited Geordie. I've leaned into mine.
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