Cal and James Dean
I chose Cal's name because I thought it sounded sunny. It's the first syllable of California (a place I've never been, but like the idea of) and it has a kind of old fashioned American feel to it, like a 1950s film director or baseball star.
When I was pregnant and trying to come up with a name, I was drawn to all the Cal names, Caleb, Callum, Calder etc, but liked the Cal bit better than the second parts. I also like the alliterative sound of it with David's surname. Cal Cohen de Lara has a wavy rhythm to it, like a gentle swell. I can imagine the sound of it through a megaphone on the beach as he competes in a 'little nippers' surf heat, as kids' events are called in Australia.
Since his birth we've discovered some other nice things about his name. David came across this picture on a blog, of James Dean at his grandfather's grave.
And then the other day at the park I met an American woman, who having heard Cal's name said, "Oh, like from East of Eden."
Like most girls with a Bachelor of Arts, I went on a serious Modern American literature binge in my 20s and have read pretty much everything John Steinbeck wrote - except East Of Eden. I hadn't seen Elia Kazan's 1955 film of it either. Kind of embarrassing since English and Film Studies were my majors.
I watched it last night. It's a beautiful film set in Salinas and Monterey, California. James Dean plays the protagonist, Cal Trask. It's kind of a Cain and Abel rewrite, set against the backdrop of America's entry into WWI. I've never really had much of an opinion about James Dean, but he was amazing, like a bomb about to go off in every shot.
It was also lovely to hear Cal's name said throughout the film. It's a bit of a tough name for the Dutch to pronounce. He gets Cul, Kyle and Carl a lot. I hope he likes it when he's old enough to have an opinion.
When I was pregnant and trying to come up with a name, I was drawn to all the Cal names, Caleb, Callum, Calder etc, but liked the Cal bit better than the second parts. I also like the alliterative sound of it with David's surname. Cal Cohen de Lara has a wavy rhythm to it, like a gentle swell. I can imagine the sound of it through a megaphone on the beach as he competes in a 'little nippers' surf heat, as kids' events are called in Australia.
Since his birth we've discovered some other nice things about his name. David came across this picture on a blog, of James Dean at his grandfather's grave.
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| James Dean at his grandfather's grave |
Like most girls with a Bachelor of Arts, I went on a serious Modern American literature binge in my 20s and have read pretty much everything John Steinbeck wrote - except East Of Eden. I hadn't seen Elia Kazan's 1955 film of it either. Kind of embarrassing since English and Film Studies were my majors.
I watched it last night. It's a beautiful film set in Salinas and Monterey, California. James Dean plays the protagonist, Cal Trask. It's kind of a Cain and Abel rewrite, set against the backdrop of America's entry into WWI. I've never really had much of an opinion about James Dean, but he was amazing, like a bomb about to go off in every shot.
It was also lovely to hear Cal's name said throughout the film. It's a bit of a tough name for the Dutch to pronounce. He gets Cul, Kyle and Carl a lot. I hope he likes it when he's old enough to have an opinion.
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| Cal and his brother's girl, Abbra |
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| James Dean in East of Eden |
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