As promised in the last posting, I giving everyone the scoop on the funky name of my blog.The Bullseye is a very common symbol used to describe marketing professionals, but the term Bull has a very special meaning for myself and my family. During World War II their was a then famous US Navy admiral known for being a very gruff and bullish charactered man. His name was Admiral William F. Halsey also known as "Bull" Halsey. Not to long ago I did discover that I share a common ancestor with the Admiral. The genealogy split dates back to the mid 1700 when two brothers started their own families. One brother's line led to Bull Halsey and the other led to my father.
My father was born just a few years after the end of World War II, and was name after the good admiral -- Admiral Leroy Halsey. To make this story more interesting, my dad joined the Navy in 1970, completing boot camp in Orlando, Fla., and attending the airman apprenticeship school. When he was shipped off to his first active duty station, the public affairs officer (PAO) for the command say his name on a incoming personnel roster. Meaning he saw than AN Admiral Halsey was coming to the command. ("AN" is rank and rate title in the Navy meaning Airman with an E-3 pay grade.)
This particular PAO took it upon himself to pick up the Admiral at the airport. When the passengers disembarked from the aircraft. The only Sailor the PAO say was a low grade airman -- my dad. The officer approached my dad and asked, "Excuse me shipmate, did you happen to see an Admiral come off that plan."
My dad replied, "Sir?"
The PAO explained, "Yeah, I'm looking for an Admiral Halsey."
My dad answered, "Airman Admiral Halsey, sir. Please to meet you."
The Navy of course make him change his name to Leroy Admiral Halsey to avoid any more confusion. And its a good thing too because my dad retired as a Chief Petty Officer. I could imagine someone calling him Chief Admiral Halsey. In the Navy's "Air Dale Community" nicknames and call signs are common. My dad's nickname was of course Bull.
I too joined the Navy back in 1994, serving a 5 and a half year tour on active duty before going into the Navy Reserve. I have been in the service for 14 years now and will occasionally be referred to as "Bull." Sometimes I get asked if I am related to Admiral Halsey, primarily from Navy Officers who didn't retain anything else from the academy except the exploits of the five-star. I usually respond, "Yes sir, he's my dad." Now a days though not a lot of people remember Admiral Halsey or both to make the connect and that leads to me telling this story -- alot.
I spent a lot of time in this post taking about the significance of the Bull, but i haven't touched on the term Crop Marks. Crop marks are commonly associated with page layouts, which I am not stranger to. I have spent the majority of my professional career working on printed materials of some kind. In the navy as a journalist and photographer and now in the civilian world as a graphic designer and creative professional. That's how this blog became known as "Bullseyes & Crop Marks."
In the next posting
I'll talk about how I discovered the exciting world of graphic design.
