what's this mkp business, anyway?

People often ask me "So, why do everybody call you ehm kay pea? Your real name is Martin, right?". And yes, it's true. I do have a real name. And my friends definitely call me Martin when they talk to me in person. But people always refer to me as mkp when they are talking about me or hollering down the hall. And it's been like that most of my life (Trust me on this—I was there).

Because I work with computers people think this mkp thing is some sort of l33t nick or handle. But the fact is that mkp predates my involvement with computers by almost a decade.

Martin was an exceedingly popular name when I was a kid, so the teachers needed more than a first name to uniquely identify us toddlers. Consequently I was known as "Martin P." in kindergarten.

Then I went on to preschool and one of our very first tasks was sewing canvas covers for our songbooks. Now, when you are a 6 year old boy there are many things you'd rather do than messing with sissy canvases. And to make things worse my parents had found themselves unable to agree on a first name. So I got two. Which left me with 20 letters to print in total. Way too much work. I contemplated putting "Martin P." on there but after filling the canvas with some pattern fluff I thought "sod it", printed my initials in large, friendly letters and declared my masterpiece complete. I then went on to do more important stuff involving mainly books and backhoes.

mkp

← back