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Do IT this week: Layering
Magistrate allows Daniel Michael Miller II to abandon old identity for something fun
By Phil Trexler
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Monday, Jan 07, 2008
You can call him ''The'' Dan.
You can call him Mr. Experience.
You can even call him DMX.
But you can no longer call him Daniel Michael Miller II.
He's dumped the ho-hum moniker he received at birth 24 years ago and is now legally and officially named ''The'' Dan Miller Experience.
Seriously.
Experience (that's his last name) was one of 300 people to petition the Summit County Probate Court last year to change his or her name. His request was, court officials say, the most unusual.
The majority of those seeking to change their name do so in cases of adoptions or divorces and most are granted without a fuss.
Experience, an Akron musician, rapper and entertainer, was one of the few called in to a hearing to explain himself. He did so and last month the change became official.
''My first reaction was that this guy was going to have some problems with Homeland Security,'' said Magistrate Larry Poulos, who approved the name change.
Poulos said name changes are generally approved once it is determined that the switch is not being made for unscrupulous purposes. He recalled one such case in Columbus in which a man was denied his request to change his name to Santa Robert Claus.
''But (Experience) is in the entertainment business and he seems like a nice kid,'' Poulos said.
Just for the record, his first name is ''The'' Dan with the quote marks in place, well, just because.
His middle name is Miller and his last name is Experience.
For years, Experience said, he's been turned off by the commonality of his name. Indeed, there are dozens of licensed drivers in the Akron area alone named Daniel Miller. There is no one else named Experience.
He insisted the name change is not a tactic to pick up women. It's part of his shtick, part of being an entertainer, part of his identity.
He's a rapper, a musician and a member of Death Boyardee, a band whose repertoire consists of putting a heavy metal twist on classic TV theme songs from shows like The Golden Girls and Saved by the Bell.
''I like to do little things in my life that amuse me. This amuses me,'' Experience said.
So far, Experience said, he has not experienced any problems with the switch. He garnered a few laughs when he recently renewed his driver's license, but most others have taken it in stride.
He has not, however, experienced his first traffic stop.
The name-change process began in September when his friend Heath Faith Carpenter did her own name change, adopting her birth name as her middle name. She then suggested others do a name change.
A friend nicknamed Fire Monkey declined. But Daniel Michael Miller eagerly agreed. Carpenter paid the $130 court costs.
''With Dan being a creative soul, I thought everybody would have a lot of fun with it,'' Carpenter said.
Not everyone laughed. Experience's mother was not overjoyed at first and his father and namesake still doesn't know.
''What? That was my first reaction. I was not happy about it. I named him. It was a mom thing I guess,'' said Experience's mother, Sherry Weisner. ''But after he explained it, I understood. Dan Miller was a very boring name.''
Experience said he's having fun with his new moniker as friends decide on whether to call him ''The'' Dan, Mr. Experience or DMX. He said he looks forward to someday naming a son, ''The'' Jimi Hendrix.
Farther down the road, he realizes he might regret the youthful name change. But he also knows how to change one's name and the process can always be undone.
''I try to avoid stopping myself based solely on worry or regret, because then I wouldn't do anything,'' he said.
Phil Trexler can be reached at 330-996-3717 or ptrexler@thebeaconjournal.com.
You can call him ''The'' Dan.
Get the full article here.
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