Why Garfunkel?

Our choice of name for our new puppy has stirred up a lot of opinions. Some like it and some think it's too weird but most seem to agree that its a mouthful and too long for a dog (much less a puppy). The latter folk want to give Garfunkel a nick name - Funk, Garf, Funky, Gar, Funky Cold Medina - but Robert and I call him Garfunkel. (Though, so far our parents have thrown out Garfield, Gunther and Garfinkle so, you know, we're going to start keeping a running list of names for the dog.) Hey - Robert is always Robert, right? He prefers the full 'Robert' to Bob, Bobby, Rob, etc. Same goes for our puppy. :o) Now, we do sometimes just call him Poops or Stinky or something like that but for the most part, when addressing him with either praise or reprimand, we call him Garfunkel. It's unique, it's fun, it's different - in short, a perfect name for a dog. (I have, as many of you know, never been a fan of "people names" for pets. I'm weird. Move on.)

But why "Garfunkel" specifically? Where did it come from? Well, it's a long story that can be summed up like this: Many moons ago, my sister Michelle had a boxer puppy named Rocky. This prompted Robert and I to toss around different boxer-referenced names for such a puppy and we wound up thinking of Simon and Garfunkel's song "The Boxer." Simon is clearly a regular "people name" so that didn't work; Garfunkel, however, was both an uncommon name and the name of an underdog. Perfect!! We liked the name so much we decided to use it on our first puppy together, no matter the breed. And so, that is the story behind our little guy's unique moniker. (At least we have an underlying reason, though, right? Make it any better? :o) )

Here are a few photos of Garfunkel lounging around in my parents' backyard yesterday afternoon, looking adorable:

(He's wrapped himself around a little deck lantern pole. Dork.)

(The sun in his eyes was too much to bear so he flipped himself around.)