ah how I can ramble on... those who know me are not surprised tho'

What I started to write in Reese's blog comments section, but then it just got waaay too long:

Wow did this thing get blown out of proportion! Yes my ego was bruised a bit because someone denied me a title I like having and identify with very much. I like the last anonymous comment in your previous entry though (and I find I also like Jamie quite a lot—he got you there, honey) because the commenter was able to start to put to words to what I'd been trying to formulate.
Talking to you the other day, you used similar examples as in your blog today: ‘martial artist, chef, political scientist’; these titles you tried to compare to one I use for myself. I couldn't put my finger on why they didn't seem quite comparable but I think I figured it out now. Martial artist, chef, political scientist -- they imply one or both or two things: that expertise (or very nearly) has been reached, and/or that the title refers to a job. It really is a matter of semantics (thank you poster for finding the word I couldn't quite pinpoint) because those definitions may not be the case at all.
I now realized that by saying I'm a dancer, implies to many people that I am exceptionally skilled and/or that that is my job. Because neither of these is the case, by Brandon's standards I am automatically disqualified for said 'title.' By my definition however (and that of all the other dance folk I know) a dancer is not only someone who is a professional, but also an amateur who is fairly skilled, enjoys it immensely, does it with a fair amount of regularity, and often doesn't function well for long periods of time without the outlet -- I tried to picture telling all of them they weren’t dancers either and that little scenario didn’t turn out too well. It is a crucial part of life, like breathing!!
I dance -- swing (mostly), blues, tango, and dabble in a few other styles of ballroom -- and therefore can be referred to as a dancer – an ‘er’ of the dance! We all breathe, and are therefore breathers (heee)? One could say if you sing, you’re a singer, though not necessarily professionally employed as such. The list goes on.
The 'er' attachment makes the word, and many others, a very flexible one. Someone could say you (for example) are a good dancer. Now this may or may not mean that they are saying you are a dancer, just that you dance well. Also, as you somewhat scathingly put it the other day, as of two weeks ago I am no longer a dance teacher because I am not currently doing it and may never officially again (sniff). I would say it's fair to be called a dancer when one is a teacher of dance, but is that no longer true after the teaching has ended?

I now realize the joke about the country boy thing may have been very near the belt for Brandon because in spite of the fact that he's not actually from the country, he likes to think of himself as a country boy because he likes the image. I’m not sure ‘elitism’ was the best choice of words though for you.

Thoughts, thoughts, ego, and semantics. That will be my favorite word for this week: semantics. As an anthropology major and student (not necessarily an anthropologist, but one could argue) particularly interested in linguistics, I'm ashamed I couldn't flick that word off of the tip of my tongue when I wanted it.

Yes my ego was a bit bruised which caused me to look at why I was so angered by what Brandon and one of the many anonymous posters said. Looking at reasons when you’re still seething is an annoyingly humbling thing to do. I also know I overreacted, but all my other frustrations of the day funned into this and more specifically at Brandon, since he said something very rude, offensive, and chauvinistic (big huge surprise... seriously, knock it off) before he left.

So, perhaps titles should be dropped as Reese suggests. Goodness knows they can be abused and people can get down right mean about them, as well as supremely high and mighty. They can also get paid obscene amounts of money for some titles! I think it’s safe to say though that I have earned mine, by Maurice’s standards, as others gave it to me before I ever used it for myself. I cling to it perhaps a little bit too much because it’s a skill I’m known for over here above my others, and I like that a little too much.
No one will care when I’m in Japan, and I’m perfectly fine with that. I need a break anyway.

Okay, I think that's all the stuff that's been swirling around in my head the past few days.
The end.