Lord Polonius: Do you know me, my lord?
Hamlet: Excellent well; you are a fishmonger.
Polonius: Not I, my lord.
Hamlet: Then I would you were so honest a man.
Polonius: Honest, my lord!
Hamlet: Ay, sir; to be honest, as this world goes,
is to be one man picked out of ten thousand.

-- Hamlet, Act II, scene ii

Once upon a time, I named my Macintosh "Fishmonger." I did it not for any sensible reason, but because I had ripped off the very cool icon (which you can see above) from what is now a very old anti-viral package called Rival.

I gave my hard drive the icon, and "Fishmonger" was the only related name I could think of which wasn't stupid (or more stupid, anyway). Then a colleague mentioned the reference to Hamlet, so I ripped off the quotation, too.

I smell irony around here somewhere.

Those of you with literary backgrounds might point out that Hamlet is actually being viciously sarcastic with Polonius, and that "fishmonger" is a euphemism for something a lot less complimentary. Since I came up with the name before the quotation, however, I prefer to take Hamlet at his word, and consider Fishmonger to be a good name for a computer, or a website.

Thank you for not snickering.

IMPORTANT NOTE
This is a dead web site. I have moved my web presence to several different sites:

• Personal Information: http://www.michaelandrochellessite.com/
• Professional Information: http://www.alderete.com/
• Consulting Information: http://www.aldosoft.com/

Please visit me there instead. Thanks!
-- Michael, October 2000