Laughingman

I've been called many names in my life. I was born Jeffrey, which according to various coffee cups & assorted novelty store items means "peaceful". In recent years I changed it to Jeffree to be a little different & honor a value I hold highly which is 'freedom'. Actually, the few years I lived in Hawaii I just dropped the Jeff & was 'Free' & my friends there still know me as Free.
'Otey' is my middle name. (Pronounced 'odie' like the Garfield dog) I was named after my Grandfather Bill Otey, a 33 yr.-old private in WWII in Patton's Army who was killed in the Battle of the Bulge. He left behind 3 young daughters, one of whom was Betty Otey, my Mom. One old friend calls me 'Otey' & I have tolerated it through the years.
'Pike' is my legal last name & the name of the late, great Charlie Pike, my childhood father. Charlie's claim to fame was being a starting point guard for the Florida Gators basketball team & it was ironic his 3 kids became Georgia Bulldog graduates. 'Pike' is also what my high school friends called me. I'm not sure why but we called each other by our last names. Instead of 'John' it was 'McGee' or 'Dryden' or 'Hannon'. It's a southern thing I guess....I did a tour in the Marine Corps & there it was 'Lt. Pike'. As a teacher in U.S. public schools I was 'Mr. Pike' & unfortunately never 'Coach Pike'. (Interestingly in Asia, I am 'Teacher Jeffree')
One of my favorite names, that I have recently reclaimed on my facebook page is 'Laughingman'. How I got that name is an interesting story. I was doing a solo meditation retreat on a friends land in north Georgia & towards the end decided to visit a bio-dynamic organic farming conference-gathering down the road. I had been in silence over a week & it was difficult being around the adults who were passionately sharing their intellectual knowledge of various farming techniques. Instead, I hung out in silence with the kids & had quite some fun. When a barefoot farmer named Jeff Poppen came by & asked me my name a kid told him, "That's the Laughingman!" Jeff proceeded to introduce me to everyone as 'The Laughingman' & the legend was born!
Soon after, I started going to Rainbow Gatherings & using 'Laughingman' as my name. Many beautiful,loving,free-spirited, alternative people know me as Laughingman. Of course, if you ever go to a Rainbow Gathering you may meet Riverman, or Forkman, or Caterpillar, or Hugger, or various other people with unique tribal names. If you meet me just please don't ask me to tell a joke to make you laugh. I'm not a stand-up comedian. Laughter is more of a feeling for me. If I'm in a good state of feeling-vibration I may help you laugh by giving you a hug or something. HA! Cheers for Laughter! :o)