Next ArticleGalen on Galen...
(7/20/92)
(Editor's Note: We have invited Ms. Nina Galen, who moved to Ogallala a few months ago, to write a weekly column for us, appropriately titled "New Gal In Town." In the spirit of fairness, we have decided to let her interview herself by way of introduction.)
Q: Nina, we notice you pronounce your name Neena instead of Nighna. Is this some sort of eastern affectation, calculated to set our teeth on edge?
A: Yes. Also, I feel I'm carrying out the wishes of my dead parents, who named me that way.
Q: Why did you decide to settle in Ogallala?
A: So far, I can come up with only negative reasons.
Q: Like?
A: Like, it isn't Los Angeles.
Q: Is that all?
A: No. It also isn't Santa Fe. It isn't too big or too small; it doesn't seem on the verge of becoming "Aspenized"; it has no mega-malls. And, lastly, I had no idea when I moved here that the town was about to be carved up to provide smoother access to a recreational lake which folks here insist on pronouncing MacConahay. Is that to set other folks' teeth on edge?
Q: Isn't ghy pronounced hay in other places?
A: I don't think so. We might ask Robert Burns, but the wee poet’s been dead these 200 years.
Q: Well, when do you think you'll come up with some positive reasons for settling in Ogallala?
A: Soon, I hope.
Q: I've heard that before coming to Ogallala you lived in New (shudder) York. Can you justify having lived there?
A: Yes. I only lived there eight years, so the crass slime didn't completely deform or overwhelm me. I have no communicable diseases, I laugh, cry, go to the loo, and make whoopee same as folks who never lived in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty.
Q: But what on earth did you find to like about New (shudder) York?
A: I liked the ethnic and racial variety. I guess New York is kind of like the Nebraska Willa Cather sometimes wrote about, with the arrival here of European immigrants and other settlers. Give or take a few skyscrapers, of course.
Q: Did you think you'd find ethnic and racial variety in Ogallala?
A: One can't ask for everything. I like stepping out my door onto grass instead of hall carpet. But don't you worry about me. I get a lot of ethnic and racial diversity watching Public Television and listening to Public Radio.
Q: Aren't those . . . liberal stations?
A: So people here tell me.
Q: Well, Nina, I'm sure our readers now know all they need to about you. I wish you luck with your column.
A: Thanks a bunch. And by the way, it's pronounced Neena.