Nom de Plum, Tearing Strips

Fiorella freely admits she has an alter ego or two--or three--or six--under other names--but what's the history of her own name?
     Actually, it popped into Your Girl's ever-creative brain several years ago when she wrote a few pieces for a short-lived women's magazine, among which was a comic account of Mother-in-Law staying in Older Son's bedroom over Christmas Eve, not knowing (because Fio didn't tell her), that Son's pet snake resided in a glass cage on the bench at the foot of the bed.
     Anyway, because of the possibility that Mother-in-Law might read the story and learn how close she'd been to a slimy reptile, Your Girl decided to call herself Fiorella Plum, Fiorella being the feminine form of the first name of Firorello La Gauardia, NY's famed mayor, whose story was popular at the time. Of course, once Your Girl had a nom, she needed a surname to go with it, so what better than plum?
     Got it all? Never mind--it was funny at the time.
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Sonia Dog reporting in:
     Mommy goes through strange ritual every morning: as soon as she finishes reading a section of the newspaper, she rips it into strips, ties the strips into knots, and throw the knots into the fireplace, which is now full to overflowing. She tells me that she feeds fires this way and is also preparing packing material, but I think she just plain likes to tear strips.