Why did you choose your user name?

[Nuclear Unicorn]

A poster recently inquired about my user name, which I was happy to post but after that moment I started became increasingly curious about the names of other posters.

So why did you choose your name?

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. My dear Nuclear Unicorn!

Well, I live in California.........and my name IS Peggy. I wanted to have my name in my username.

So I combined them and voila!

[Nuclear Unicorn]

3. How coincidental that you used the expression, "and viola!"

The post that started it all --

The first time I met the man who would become my husband

I was in one of my usual haunts, a coffee house. We sort of spied each other and the opposites attracted. He had a military haircut and way of carrying himself because he was in the Army. I was wearing sandals and a sun dress and had braids in my hair. I chided him about being a soldier, he chided me about being a hippie chick.

He got up and went to the restroom. No sooner did he leave then some guy who had been sitting behind me leaned over and told me I should just stop hanging out with that guy, it would be better if I just hung out with him and his friends (by which he really meant just him). I told him thanks but no thanks. He insisted that "that guy" was bad news. I asked if he knew him and he didn't. Basically it was a "You know how those people are. You should stick with your own kind" sales pitch. Then he put his hand on my hip to try and coax me away --

-- and I proceeded to flip my shit right there in the middle of the coffee house.

Lover Boy came out of the bathroom to see me climbing into other guy's face and cussing him for all he was worth. I think I jabbed the other guy in the face with my finger a couple of times but to be honest I don't remember because I was so furious. Lover Boy stepped up behind me and obviously everyone else was watching so dude left.

Things quieted down, and by "things" I mean "me." When I was regaining my composure Lover Boy said, "For a hippie chick you sure got a lot of fight in you. You're like some sort of nuclear unicorn."

And voila!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

4. Wow, what a great post and a great story!

I was going to ask you where your name came from!

This is great....you should see me grinning!

Thanks!

I majored in French in college...........and it still sneaks in now and then.

[3catwoman3]

35. So you must cringe when you see people use various...

...bastardized and ignorant forms of voila such as "Walla!" of "Wah-lah!" The first few times I saw these, it took me a while to figure what the person posting was trying to say. I have to fight the urge to correct them.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

40. You know, it's strange--I've never seen those forms. I'd probably shake my head too. n/t

[irisblue]

169. I had never seen Wallah spelled correctly until today

I'll clean up my act.

[pinboy3niner]

12. Explains a lot

i love it!

[Enthusiast]

71. What a great story! Was this Vietnam era as I suspect?

[Nuclear Unicorn]

78. Um, no -- we're not even in our 30s yet.

Sorry.

[malthaussen]

125. Better than being an enraged rabbit...

"Directly after tea I shall pop out upon the Hun like an enraged rabbit." (Field Marshal B.L. Montgomery at the Battle of the Bulge)

-- Mal

[jonno99]

151. Excellent! nt

[femmocrat]

2. In honor of the early feminists.

I did grad school work in women's history.

[pinboy3niner]

5. Mine isn't so mysterious

It was my last radio callsign in Vietnam.

The one I had when I was hit by AK-47 fire and medevac'd.

[Enthusiast]

72. Holy shit!

Dude.

[pinboy3niner]

134. DU stalker sites love to jump on DU vets

Mocking us as Purple Heart "bandaid" vets. I spent nearly 19 months in the hospital and was retired from the Army as a Captain for 50% physical combat disability. My jaw, shattered by AK fire, was rebuilt 3 times by both the Army and the Navy. First they used bone marrow from my hip, then one of my ribs, then bone pieces from my other hip.

And believe it or not, some of those wingers trashing me are vets. Supposedly my brothers, but so ideologically blind that they'll even trash a brother.

[Enthusiast]

136. That was one terrible traumatic deal you went through.

I can't imagine how it is affecting you all these years later. It has to be bad, real bad.

The reason I say this is I am suffering from old injuries as the result of a 25 years ago head-on collision. I "got by" for years until the old injuries caught up with me.

I worked with a guy that had his humerus bone shot clear in two in Vietnam. Of course that was a simple clean injury compared to yours. I was fortunate enough to escape the draft by being number 97 in a year they stopped at 95. I had passed my physical and all.

I think extreme opposition to the war confused many people. They directed and continue to direct their anger toward the wrong people.

[pinboy3niner]

137. Don't worry about me

I came through my experience the better for it, I think. Our injuries tend to be both phyical and emotional, psychological. But my PTSD had less to do with my own injury than with everything else in my war experience. Eventually I learned to deal with PTSD and to manage it. Usually pretty good, sometimes less good. But I'm still here. And as many on DU know, my humorous bone is still intact.

I'm sorry your old injuries are coming back to trouble you now. I hope you're getting care for that.

[catbyte]

174. I'm a crazy cat lady with a bad temper on the computer. It's a little corny.

but it suits me.

I've used it since around 1990.

[pinboy3niner]

175. That's a great username

It's meaningful, appropriate, and even uses wordplay. And everyone knows how I hate wordplay!

[riderinthestorm]

6. I was listening to the Doors' Riders On The Storm when I joined DU

so I riffed on that and created riderinthestorm because we were in the midst of the "storm" of the Bush presidency.

Plus I'm a pro in the horse business so the rider part fit as well...

[Enthusiast]

73. It's a great tune and name. nt

[Wounded Bear]

7. Well, it's kind of my totem animal...

I was in one of those new age men's groups where we sat in circles and told stories and pounded on drums and shit. Just to clarify, we always thought that the MRA stuff was crapola personified. In several years with the group, we seemed to not talk about women a lot. Funny how that works out.

For a time, I fancied myself as having learned something (silly me) and took the name Wise Coyote-since I was so 'wise' and shit and coyote is famously the joker of the animal kingdom.

But in the end, I found my self the Wounded Bear once again. It's a leg wound, BTW. Not physical, more metaphorical.

[sarge43]

8. My rank and birth year

Just seemed like a good idea.

[Enthusiast]

74. Nice.

[Downwinder]

9. What I am. By Act of Congress and the MIC.

[Enthusiast]

75. I had to look that up...

[Kingofalldems]

10. Because I am....

[fizzgig]

11. i changed mine during the last amnesty

i've always had my little guy in my sig line and decided it should be my new name. my hair looks like him now, too.

[Enthusiast]

76. I've always wondered about your name.

[hobbit709]

13. It all started at a party in 1974.

[Enthusiast]

77. Were you smoking a pipe?

[hobbit709]

82. Yep

[Generic Brad]

14. Because trolls in my personal life found me on DU

Between co-workers and family members I found I could no longer post on DU without being mercilessly harassed in real life. They found me because I originally selected a nickname that allowed them to figure out who I was. The DU bumper sticker on my old car also tipped them off on where to find me on line. So, I abandoned my DU account and rejoined under my current name.

So - no profound reason. I chose it so I could be free to participate here without being ridiculed for my thoughts by conservatives in my life who I could not avoid.

[Enthusiast]

79. Good reasoning.

[hunter]

15. It's my name.

I thought of capitalizing the "h" but that seemed too loud.

[DFW]

16. Just an airport

Namely, the one I fly into and out of (usually!) when I go back home.

Virgin America flies in and out of Love Field, which is much closer to the house and the office, but it is horribly inadequate compared to the capacity it has added on, and the lines for security (when departing) and taxis (when arriving) are horrendous.

[Jamaal510]

17. I'm born and raised

within the 510 area code, and my first name is Jamaal.

[Initech]

18. Yeah I am going to have to ask you to go ahead and come in on Saturday.

Sunday too. We lost some people over the week and we need to play sort of catch up. So if you could get here around 9:00, that'd be greaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat! K thanks!

[Enthusiast]

83. ...

[smirkymonkey]

158. My favorite personal cult movie!

Great name!

I picked mine as a snarky reference to W.

[Initech]

159. I was told I would get a piece of cake!

I... I could set the building on fire!

[smirkymonkey]

160. LOL!

"It’s not that I’m lazy, it’s that I just don’t care".

Peter Gibbons is my favorite folk hero!

[Boomerproud]

19. I was born in 1956

So that's the "Boomer" part-Proud because I got sick of all the abuse my generation took-especially after Reagan took over. I'm not very clever so that's what I came up with-Yawn.

[DebJ]

66. More clever than I.... my user name was just my first name

and my last initial at the time I signed up many eons ago.

[Enthusiast]

84. Clever enough!

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

20. I sow the seeds...

...of discontent hopefully employing as much sarcasm as possible with a fair and balance degree of irony.
At your service.

[Enthusiast]

85. I get it!

[benld74]

21. My home town+last 2 digits of the year of my HS graduation

[calikid]

24. I wonder how many on DU graduated in 74? There are several in this thread.

On yea, I'm a child of California, pretty simple.

[DebJ]

67. 73 here. n/t

[irisblue]

170. 75 here, there seem to be many 70's people here.

[BarbaRosa]

22. Apparently I bear a resemblance to Willie Nelson.

Many times in my life I have been "Willied" where someone would comment about it. Sometimes directly to me, other times I overhear it.

There was one time when we went to Albuquerque to a Melissa Etheridge concert at Popejoy Hall. While waiting for the show to begin we wandered around mezzanine, stopping at a kiosk to get a cocktail. The bartendress mentioned to me that someone had mentioned that Willie was in the crowd. Sure enough I then noticed he was somewhat dogging me.

It's kinda fun, sometimes when I overhear a "Willie" I'll quietly sing 'On the Road Again'.

And I like the movie Barbarosa. So the night I stopped lurking and joined up, with the help from some beer and smoke I though Why Not.

[Enthusiast]

86. Another great story!

[Paulie]

23. Came to me in a dream

[annabanana]

25. My dear Daddy's nickname for me

from my infancy
(Which some would say I never outgrew!)

[Enthusiast]

87. I visualize cuteness.

[annabanana]

121. me & Daddy

about 1952

[Enthusiast]

122. Awwwww. Just as I suspected.

[LiberalEsto]

26. Because I'm a liberal Estonian-American

There aren't many of us.

[Enthusiast]

93. I don't remember meeting anyone from Estonia.

But I'm from Ohio.

[arcane1]

27. It seemed unique at the time, at least

Now there are arcane1's all over the place.

[Ron Obvious]

28. My name really is Ron...

... I used to start sentences with "Obviously," a lot (to the point where others used to imitate me because of it) and I'm a huge Monty Python fan.

[Enthusiast]

88. Me too—huge Monty Python fan.

[Art_from_Ark]

135. So, Ron,

Have you eaten an Anglican cathedral yet? Or made that jump across the English Channel?

[Ron Obvious]

153. Haha

Well, no, not an Anglican cathedral as such...

Tunnelling to Java as we speak...

[liberaltrucker]

29. Political inclination and former profession

nt

[Enthusiast]

89. Are there many of your kind out there on the road?

I bet most truckers are pretty right wing in their outlook.

[WinkyDink]

30. Because WinkyDink was THE ORIGINAL INTER-ACTIVE character:

And I did exactly as this girl is doing!

http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/31/opinion/greene-winky-dink-bill-gates/http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/31/opinion/greene-winky-dink-bill-gates/

"A strong case can be made -- and several authors, deep thinkers and historians over the years have made it -- that Winky Dink, more than any other single person (or single cartoon character, in Winky Dink's case), ushered in the era of interactivity.

In the early day of television, Americans sat transfixed as the first sets were delivered to homes. The brand-new experience was like having a constantly programmed movie screen in the family living room. The pleasure, the convenience-- all a person had to do was lean back and be entertained.

Or so it seemed.

But two men -- a pair of fledgling television producers whose names were Harry Prichett and Edwin Wyckoff -- had the foresight to realize that the screen did not necessarily have to be one-way."

[Glorfindel]

48. I remember watching that show! I really liked it

Winky Dink was a little star, if I recall correctly. My parents wouldn't order the screen cover for me (they thought it was silly), so I just pretended to draw on the screen.

[WinkyDink]

59. It was always a bridge we were to draw, IIRC!

[murielm99]

190. I had a winky dink screen and crayons.

It was great fun.

There was a TV show, too.

[SheilaT]

31. Sheila is my real first name, T is my middle initial.

I had a different user name in the beginning, and since I occasionally use it to post where I'm otherwise not wanted, I won't reveal it here.

[Aristus]

32. It's a Latinized version of the Greek name Aristocles.

Which was Plato's real name.

I thought I more or less made up the name, but a Google search a number of years ago reveals the existence of several Catholic saints named Aristus.

[DebJ]

70. i always thought your moniker was very classy. n/t

[Aristus]

119. Aw, thanks!...

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

33. I like ocelots (that was my original name).

I also like the children's book, "The Velveteen Rabbit." So it seemed like a good combination.

[a la izquierda]

45. Did you ever see the Christmas display in New York of the Velveteen Rabbit?

I don't think they do it anymore, but I loved it when I was a kid. Now I think it's "Frozen" or something. Meh.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

52. No, never was in NY as a kid.

I have a velveteen rabbit, though. He's pretty rough looking, since he's >60 years old.

[Enthusiast]

90. It's a nice name.

[stevenleser]

34. Hmmm...

[gratuitous]

38. Norman, is that you?

And now you know where my screen name is from.

[mackerel]

36. It chose me

Last edited Sun Aug 2, 2015, 01:27 AM - Edit history (1)

[Enthusiast]

91. Are you a fisherman?

[mackerel]

167. LOL - Nah, I'm forever looking for an oppurtunity to insert a Harry Potter

reference in a post.

[3catwoman3]

37. At the time I first needed a screen name for a message board...

...we only had 3 cats. We later had 4, and now we have 5, but I decided to stick with the original number to honor those we had at the time, none of whom are still with us.

Some of my friends whom I met at a real life gathering from that original message board call me Cat in person, which I rather like. My own name is Martha, which I have never particularly liked. I would have loved to be a Kathleen, so being Cat is as close as I will get and I'll take it.

What an entertaining thread.

[Enthusiast]

92. I like it!

[alittlelark]

39. Because I have an excellent voice...

...and have made money with it over the years in radio etc.

[Enthusiast]

94. Cool!

[Contrary1]

41. Because it was how my dad referred to me when we disagreed.

And a half century later, it still fits. It's my small way of keeping him near.

[DebJ]

69. Perfect name for GD use! n/t

[Enthusiast]

95. Nice!

[nilesobek]

42. Nile Sobek is an Egyptian crocodile God.

Google has a whole image page and explanation. The weird thing is I had the name before I knew what it meant.

[Enthusiast]

96. Those Nile crocodiles are bad ass.

[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]

[chknltl]

43. If I am being honest, it fits.

Prior to coming to DU I learned about the nightmare that comes from using depleted uranium-aka D.U.-munitions. For a month or so after, I was telling everybody I could about this, warning them not to let their sons or daughters join the military. I got to where I was feeling like a real 'Chicken Little' for doing that. Then one day while researching D.U. munitions online I stumbled on a different DU, the Democratic Underground. So I removed the vowels from Chicken Little and condensed it to chknltl and yes, my first OP and a few after were about the horrors stemming from our government's use of Depleted Uranium.

I find it highly ironic that I am posting this as a response to someone called Nuclear Unicorn.

[Enthusiast]

97. Now that is some story!

Seems like fate. Or something.

[MADem]

44. I was very angered by the Bush election theft; I am from Massachusetts,

and I am a Democrat. So I was a bit MAD, from MA, and a Dem. Cram it all together, and here I am!

[Enthusiast]

98. That is perfectly logical.

[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]

[a la izquierda]

46. I am on the very left end of the political...

and I am an expert on Latin America and fluent in Spanish, hence the name, to the left.

[GusBob]

63. I saw this phrase in a cormac McCarthy novel

Either all the pretty horses or the crossing. Not sure which one

It was a line of dialogue, he would have some passages of spanish dialogue, of which I know not very much

But I saw this line in the book and said hey! That's a DU handle! So I looked it up

[Enthusiast]

99. Thanks for that. I had no idea.

[Glorfindel]

47. It's an aspiration - what I'd like other people to think of me

"Glorfindel was tall and straight; his hair was of shining gold, his face fair and young and fearless and full of joy; his eyes were bright and keen, and his voice like music; on his brow sat wisdom, and in his hand was strength." ― The Fellowship of the Ring, Many Meetings

[Enthusiast]

100. That is quite an aspiration!

[malthaussen]

127. So do you think he's the same Glorfindel...

... as the guy who survived the Fall of Gondolin, or someone else? Given that Glorfindel would have probably been a fairly common name for blond elves in the Third Age.

-- Mal

[Glorfindel]

129. I have always thought so

In fact, I seem to remember reading that he was the same in some commentary long ago.

[malthaussen]

130. It's the usual speculation, I don't know if JRR made a definite note about it.

I did stop reading his notes after about the third book of them. I may like Tolkien, but I see no reason to buy mink blankets for Chris.

I like GG Kay, though. He helped out on the Silmarilion compilation and is a good fantasy author in his own right. But he writes for grownups -- nary an elf or dragon to be found in his books.

-- Mal

[Glorfindel]

131. Many thanks...you have inspired me to begin reading the works of Guy Gavriel Kay

I'm always on the lookout for excellent works of fantasy.

[malthaussen]

147. My favorite is A Song For Arbonne

Personally, I don't care as much for the Fionavar Trilogy, which was his first foray into the genre, largely because I don't like the interpretation of the Arthurian legends he introduces in the second volume. The first volume is pretty good, though.

-- Mal

[Callmecrazy]

49. Because everybody else does...

[mnhtnbb]

50. I was born in Manhattan (NY)

and my dad called me his Manhattan baby when I was a kid.

I condensed the letters for my vanity license plate--years ago--because I didn't
want to remember numbers any more--and combined it with my initials
(BB) to become mnhtnbb.

So, no it's not Manhattan (KS) basketball (so thought someone in Missouri when we lived there)
It's not Man hatin' babe, either.

[sellitman]

51. Sellitman

I've been in sales for 30 years plus. When the Internet was young I chose my moniker for the AOL Chat Rooms. I've kept it ever since.

- Kevin

[LiberalElite]

53. Sarcasm -at least about the "elite" part nt

[Enthusiast]

101. I always figured that part was sarcasm.

[panader0]

54. My Hispanic co-workers (bricklayers) called me panadero

because my last name is Baker.

[Enthusiast]

102. Makes perfect sense.

[BlueJazz]

55. It was my past profession. When the pre-teen music became very popular, a lot of people..

..who were professional musicians found other fields. I could still probably find another studio job but that would require moving...and I'm happy where I'm at.

[Enthusiast]

103. I have musician friends.

I think that would be the most wonderful thing in the world. I'm too old and crippled up for that now. What instrument? If you don't mind me asking.

[BlueJazz]

115. Sure, Piano and Sax and Bass (if the song isn't too fast) Main instrument is Piano. Used to...

...work for CBS. (Studio musician)...then some bands after that.

[Enthusiast]

117. Wow! That is awesome!

[BlueJazz]

118. Oh, thank you much. I've always thought of it as "just another job".

[DamnYankeeInHouston]

56. The Yankees came and left. The damn Yankees came and stayed.

I've lived in Houston for 35 years and I'm staying.

[Enthusiast]

104. That was quite a contrast I imagine.

[HeiressofBickworth]

57. My 14th Great-Grandmother

I have not found a record of what her name was; she was only referred to as the Heiress of Bickworth. Specifically, "John Bird married the Heiress of Bickworth." The sad fact is that in the 1450's, when she was married, a woman was identified only insofar as her worth to her husband. She had a daughter in 1458 and there is no further record of other children or of the Heiress. Given the times, she probably died in childbirth and would have been about 18 - 20 years old.

I chose it out of convenience. My genealogy research notebook was open to her page when I decided that, after years and years of lurking, I would sign up to DU. I continue to use it out of respect for all the unnamed women I've discovered in my research who's only identity is that of spouse.

[DebJ]

68. that's awesome. n/t

[Enthusiast]

105. Nice story...

[GoCubsGo]

58. It's the name of one of my favorite songs written by a fellow Cubs fan.

And, because "City of New Orleans" and "A Dying Cubs Fan's Last Request" were too long to be user names.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-j-elisberg/steve-goodman-and-the-sur_b_123206.html

[Enthusiast]

106. I had no idea.

Good story.

[bullsnarfle]

120. I still think the Cubs

should have a 'Bring your pet goat to the game' day. The more goats, the better. That would be sure-fire way to break the curse.

Only half-joking here....

[madinmaryland]

60. I was very upset about what the repukes and swift boat liars were doing to John Kerry in May 2004

[Enthusiast]

107. I shared your anger at the time. I could have chewed nails.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

61. Bullwinkle was taken.

So I went with (a) supporting character(s).

[Enthusiast]

108. I loved those little guys.

[FoxNewsSucks]

62. Because it's what I sincerely believe. nt

[Enthusiast]

109. Highly accurate name.

[Joe Shlabotnik]

64. 'Cause MiddleFingerMom was already taken

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[Enthusiast]

110. Good reason.

[HeiressofBickworth]

65. I move that "MiddleFingerMom"

be retired and his shirt hung from the ceiling in the Lounge for all time.

[Enthusiast]

111. Retire his jersey

[sarge43]

178. A glass of his favorite libation kept at the bar all the time. n/t

[mucifer]

80. I'm half moose and half lucifer

kinda childish but, it's me.

[Enthusiast]

112. Makes perfect sense.

[Smarmie Doofus]

81. A republican troll used it to describe our NYC DEM nominee for mayor of NYC.

Bloomberg ( registered Republican and candidate of the Republican Party) had a sizable contingent of supporters here back in 2005.

(Paid? Unpaid? Who knows.)

They regularly trashed the DEM nominee, Fernando Ferrer.... an honest and reasonably progressive veteran pol who had the misfortune of being 1. Puerto Rican and 2. from the Bronx ( the city's least fashionable and most untouchable borough from the POV of the Manhattan and Bklyn elite.)

One of them called Ferrer a "smarmy doofus". I asked the troll to define the term. Infuriated, he/she gave an example instead.

I was reborn.

[Enthusiast]

113. I've always thought is was a cool name.

[Enthusiast]

114. No special significance aside from the fact that I used this handle in several other places.

I am enthusiastic......sometimes.

[Lil Missy]

116. A lady I used to work with always called me "Lil Missy" when she got exhasperated with me. n/t

[Enthusiast]

139. I have heard that before. When I was growing up there was a neighborhood family

that often corrected their girls with, "Lil Missy!"

[OriginalGeek]

123. It's a handle I've used on and off for years...

...a play on "OG" Original Gangster but there is absolutely nothing gangster about me. But I've been a geek all my life and into sci-fi, and video games since the 70s and computers since the early 80s. And right before I needed an online name a friend had introduced me to Ice T's song Original Gangster and I thought it was funny to be the Original Geek (Although I know I was certainly not the original geek. But I was the first I saw use the name!)

[Enthusiast]

140. We could use more geeks around here.

[OriginalGeek]

150. The geeks shall inherit the earth!

[malthaussen]

124. My first D&D character

...back in 1976. "Malthaussen" was intended to be derived from the name of political economist Thomas Malthus, but I misspelled it. Being a stubborn sort of so-and-so, I never changed it, even after discovering it was perilously close to the name of a KZ in Austria.

-- Mal

[Nevernose]

132. That's the nerdiest thing I've ever read in my life

My complete, lifelong respect. Naming oneself for an esoteric champion of the pessimistic because of a D&D game in the 1970s? The finest thing of which I have ever heard.

[malthaussen]

149. It gets nerdier...

... I first learned about Malthus from a reference to him in Bob Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, which I read in 1968 at the age of 12. I read several books that year that laid some of the foundations of my character: my sig line is a paraphrase of a quote in Treblinka.

-- Mal

[Enthusiast]

141. And all this time I wrongly assumed

it was German for the malt house where they dried the barley for beer making.

[malthaussen]

148. That's the literal translation, of course.

Hence my avatar.

-- Mal

[iscooterliberally]

126. Well, I put 15K miles on my Harley in about 17 months.

I was commuting about 75 to 80 miles a day to work and back. That whole Valerie Plame scandal really pissed me off, so I stuck the the two together, and there you have it.

[Enthusiast]

142. That hurts my butt just thinking about it.

[ProfessorGAC]

128. Not That Interesting Reason

I was teaching organic chemistry at a state school in Chicago. That was in the very early days of the web.

So, AOL was the most common ISP. The school gave everyone an email address (part of the deal) and everyone had the account name "Professor(initials here) @ AOL.com"

When i left there and adjuncted to a different school, and AOL was not all that i switched to a couple other email accounts, but i just carried the moniker over. (I didn't want to pay for AOL.)

When i came here, i was so used to using it, that i just kept it.

See; not that interesting.

[Enthusiast]

143. But, still. Impressive education credentials.

Hear envy. I had one high school equivalent chemistry course. I found it to be really fascinating.

[ProfessorGAC]

155. Thanks, E

I was big into mechanism and electrochemodynamics, but i also really dug surface and micellar chemistry too.

When i was at that school, i didn't teach advanced organic. It was mostly nursing and pharmacy majors. A lot of the nurses were already RN's pursuing BSN's at night. The pharma folks were mostly those who were commuters and it was more convenient to take a night course than to fight the traffic on the Kennedy for the early morning classes.

[IrishEyes]

133. I'm Irish. I have lovely green eyes.

I always liked the song "When Irish eyes are smiling". One of my Irish grandmothers used to play it on the piano.

[pinboy3niner]

138. Green eyes are unusual for the Irish

We're usually known for blue eyes and freckles. When I was a kid, my grandmother from County Cork would tell me, "You've got the map of Ireland written all over your face."

[riderinthestorm]

156. Heh, Irish here as well with blue eyes. No freckles though and I do tan not burn nt

[IrishEyes]

162. I used to have blue eyes.

My eye color changed when I got older. Apparently it happens to 10% to 15% of Caucasian people. I also have blond hair. I can't tan. I just turn really red. I don't have freckles though. My dad's side of the family was from Cork.

[Enthusiast]

144. Irish here too.

But brown eyes, lol.

[pinboy3niner]

145. Infidel!

See my post above about blue eyes and freckles.

[Enthusiast]

146. I know it....

[TexasTowelie]

152. Because I always want to get high

and I live in Texas.

[pinboy3niner]

154. And you're obviouisly a big fan of...

[TexasTowelie]

157. Yes, but my favorite color is

smoke blue.

[Cheese Sandwich]

161. What I was eating when I signed up.

[Enthusiast]

164. I wondered about that.

[struggle4progress]

163. I admire Frederick Douglass:

... Let me give you a word of the philosophy of reform. The whole history of the progress of human liberty shows that all concessions yet made to her august claims, have been born of earnest struggle. The conflict has been exciting, agitating, all-absorbing, and for the time being, putting all other tumults to silence. It must do this or it does nothing. If there is no struggle there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom and yet deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground, they want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. This struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, and it may be both moral and physical, but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them, and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress ...
Canandaigua, New York
August 4, 1856

[Enthusiast]

165. Me too.

[Burma Jones]

166. Because it's the name of one of my favorite literary characters

From John Kennedy Toole's "Confederacy of Dunces"

[Grantuspeace]

168. Because I used to elbow my sister in church when they said, "Grant us peace." And Grant is my name.

[steve2470]

171. old address plus, tada, my real first name

Probably one of the most boring usernames on DU

[Half-Century Man]

172. Part of a line of poetry I wrote in college.

The year I was 51 and feeling very old for being a freshman college student.

[Babel_17]

173. Cool coincidence

I just now noticed this thread, after posting one of my own that relates to this.*

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1018799409

Babel-17 relates to communication, language, understanding, and the future. So I figured it would be a good user name for the internet.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babel-17

My current avatar is from a later edition of the book.

Babel-17 is a 1966 science fiction novel by American writer Samuel R. Delany in which the Sapir–Whorf Hypothesis (that language influences thought and perception) plays an important part. It was joint winner of the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1966 (with Flowers for Algernon)[1] and was also nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1967.

*Prophetic: Videodrome, "Soon all of us will have special names"

O'Blivion was not the name I was born with. That's my television name. Soon all of us will have special names, names designed to cause the cathode ray tube to resonate.

And here we all are, visible to others on the LCD successor to the CRT, and mostly posting behind "special names", Babel-17 for example.

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Videodrome

[cantbeserious]

176. Serious To The Core - Bank On It

eom

[virtualobserver]

177. I just used my first and last name, just like stevenleser

my parents named me that because I seemed more at home observing the virtual world.

[ailsagirl]

179. Because "Ailsa" is a Scottish girl's name...

and I love (most anything) Scottish!

[Facility Inspector]

180. I was a Facility Inspector

[YabaDabaNoDinoNo]

181. Banged on the keyboard like a monkey on meth and this is what came out!

[CBGLuthier]

182. An impulsive change when my original name (notmypresident) became obsolete.

It referred to my at the time occupation of making cigar box guitars.

[OxQQme]

183. Luv's me some Steve Martin

[OriginalGeek]

194. Ha! that's neat.

I never put that together but I like it.

[roody]

184. It was the name of a beloved

miniature poodle. He has been in my little cemetery for some years now. He was given to me by a family that did not want him, at age 3. I had adopted a small female corgi-sheltie mix the day before at the pound. The next day at work, a colleague said, "I found a small dog for you." That was Roody. I was his third and forever home. We three moved from Arkansas to California 18 years ago and lived happily ever after.

[frogmarch]

185. Wishful thinking

is what mine is based on.

[we can do it]

186. I thought we could prove Boosh stole the election.

[writer not writing]

187. I've been published (and been paid money for) three pieces of short fiction

But what have I written this year? ZILCH! Hey, maybe I've a fear of success.

[LWolf]

188. Because I am a Lone Wolf. nt

[alphafemale]

189. It's for wolves and family. nt

[Blue_In_AK]

191. After 2004 election

I was "blue," as in sad and a Democrat, in AK, which is Alaska where I live. Not very imaginative, but it works.

[kentauros]

192. I love centaurs :)

"Kentauros" is the Greek root of the word "centaur."

I started using it early enough in the life of the Internet that none of the other lovers of centaurs could claim it. Elsewhere online, I've moved on to a different name, one that borrows still from classical centaurs, with one of their actual names (as found on this list.) And still, I don't have to put numbers after or before my name to use it

[Xyzse]

193. I've made up this name since 1999, so I can't really get rid of it.

[GOLGO 13]

195. Because - DANGEROUS DICK LONGFELLOW was rejected for some reason.

So it was either RAGNAR FARTSSON or GOLGO 13. It could have gone either way.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

196. I chortled

[closeupready]

197. Gloria Swanson's closing quip from iconographic film "Sunset Boulevard"

"I'm ready for my closeup, Mr. DeMille."

That film is one of my very favorites, particularly as a gay man.