What's the story behind your avatar or username?

[katerific]

Okay, so I've noticed we have some pretty cool avatars going on, but I'm curious about them. Some of them are straightforward (strangefox has a fox, for example,) but I honestly have no idea what I'm looking at for others (this means you, bhikhaari ). And I assume there's a story behind usernames, too--so what's yours?

katerific is a portmanteau of my name and "terrific." And as for my avatar... it's hard to tell, but it's a pic of a foram--basically, a little protist that floats around in the ocean. Forams are really important to my field.

Your turn!

[eklavya]

'bhikhaari' stands for 'a beggar' in my language. i was deeply moved by a poem titled 'bhikhaari' written by the most renowned poet in our country. thus, the alias.

my avatar is the sage grouse - a bird that predominantly lives in the intermountain united states, and its survival is obligate to sagebrush. i am performing some molecular genetics study on sagebrush. and thus, the avatar.

[newms]

My username is a nickname that students used to call me when I was a high school teacher. They'd call me that to themselves sometimes and I kinda liked it so I used it as my username. I chose my avatar because of my interests is artificial intelligence.

[katerific]

my avatar is the sage grouse - a bird that predominantly lives in the intermountain united states, and its survival is obligate to sagebrush. i am performing some molecular genetics study on sagebrush. and thus, the avatar.

ooooooh. I.... couldn't tell it was a bird. Way to go, self. OH jeez.

[surprisecake]

1) Prepare ingredients

2) Take rohypnol

3) Bake cake

4) Fall asleep

5) ??????

6) Wake up

7) CAKE?! CAKE! Where did this come from?! ..... SURPRISE CAKE!!!!!!

[eklavya]

ooooooh. I.... couldn't tell it was a bird. Way to go, self. OH jeez.

yep, a bird standing next to a sagebrush bush. don't feel bad though... it's not a very popular bird. some people have even asked me why male birds of this species have 'boobs'!? i love people!

[hello! :)]

I had a surprise cake once... The cake looked like cat litter. The surprise was that it really was cat littler.

Just kidding. It was delicious. If you haven't seen it before, the poop looking things are actually tootsie rolls.

I can't really explain my name, except it's just me saying hello. And I love doggies and laughing is my favorite sport!

[Alyanumbers]

My original username is alya+string of numbers (the numbers stand for something in my childhood, but it's a long, boring story). On another forum, people started referring to me as Alyanumbers. I thought it was cute, so started using it as well. Alya's my first name.

My avatar is from a painting by Alphonse Mucha, called 'Summer'. I completely fell in love with his stuff when I went to Prague and visited the Mucha Museum last year. I also love summer. It seemed fitting.

[Strangefox]

I like foxes. I think they are cool.

Foxes are red, which explains, partly, their coolness

I have red hair.

Also, my name sounds almost like "fox" in my native language.

Why strange? I guess, being a bit strange, somewhat different from others, is kinda nice

[Strangefox]

yep, a bird standing next to a sagebrush bush.

I knew that! I mean, that it's a bird and a bush, not the exact names of species

[balderdash]

I have a love of stand-up, debate, and basically any sort of verbal demolition of another's character or argument (in a humorous way). Thus, H. L. Mencken on President Harding's 1921 Inaugural Address:

It reminds me of a string of wet sponges; it reminds me of tattered washing on the line; it reminds me of stale bean soup, of college yells, of dogs barking idiotically through endless nights. It is rumble and bumble. It is flap and doodle. It is balder and dash. But I grow lyrical."

Edited December 19, 2010 by balderdash

[A. sesquipedale]

Interesting thread. It really highlights the strange ways we pick screen names

Mine is from Angraecum sesquipedale, the orchid Darwin correctly predicted would be pollinated by a moth with a really long proboscis. I enjoy evolutionary theory and think the example showcases well the predictive power of a Darwinian perspective.

Edited December 20, 2010 by A. sesquipedale

[Tall Chai Latte]

Haha, this is a very interesting thread.

My username refers to the drink I always order when I stop by a coffee place, whether it's starbucks, seattle's best coffee, or panera (except you wouldn't say "tall" when you go to places other than starbucks). My avatar has nothing to do with the drink, but Peanuts has been the my favorite since the kindergarden days.

[waddle]

Penguins. They waddle.

[surprisecake]

your avatar/username makes me smile everytime, waddle!

[Ludwig von Dracula]

At one point I was trying to write a mock bio for a fake industrial-goth-electronica-metal band that I put up on myspace. I decided that "Ludwig von Dracula" was a cool name that encompassed the cheesetastic, overblown evil pomposity of those musical genres and would serve as an excellent name for a frontman. Basically I still use it because it makes me laugh. Then I had to make a picture to go along with it, of course.

[Alyanumbers]

Penguins. They waddle.

Cuuuute!

[katerific]

surprisecake: your story made me LOL. A++.

strangefox: I have red hair and I love foxes, too! how 'bout that

waddle:

Ludwig: HAHAHA. Also A++!

heck, everyone gets a gold star sticker. I love these stories. so interesting.... and rather revealing of our personalities.

keep them coming!

[Strangefox]

strangefox: I have red hair and I love foxes, too! how 'bout that

This thread is great, thank you for creating it!

[surprisecake]

bhikhaari- where are you from?

[Bumblebee]

People call me B (bee) because for them it's easier than pronouncing my name the way it's pronounced in my language. But I prefer BumbleBEE because I like that word better in English. My picture is because this is The Grad Cafe (duh!) and because I love coffee (actually, I like cappuccino, which is the coffee in my picture).

[Bukharan]

Bukharan - referring to a member of the mediaeval Persianate society of Bukhara. I am fascinated by Central Asian history.

My nick has nothing to do with the Soviet revolutionary Bukharin ... whose surname of course means 'Bukharan' in Russian.

[Strangefox]

Bukharan - referring to a member of the mediaeval Persianate society of Bukhara. I am fascinated by Central Asian history.

My nick has nothing to do with the Soviet revolutionary Bukharin ... whose surname of course means 'Bukharan' in Russian.

And what about the avatar?

[UnlikelyGrad]

I think my name is pretty obvious. I started my grad school journey with some incredibly major handicaps, and I really didn't think I would get in anywhere.

I've considered changing my username/blog name to something that would last me past grad school, but I think it's too late for that now: over half of the people who come to my blog through a search engine are searching for me by name.

My avatar is a landscape shot from the city I now consider home. I <3 Colorado and hope I never have to go to California again. (A stupid thing to wish: I'm actually in California right now.)

[Bukharan]

And what about the avatar?

This is a painting by Alessio Issupoff, a Russian-born artist who made a career in Italy. The name of the painting is Samarkand (1921). Monsieur Issupoff lived and travelled in Central Asia before he came back to Moscow that has gone Bolshevik by then. He eventually made it to Rome where he settled. This is one of my favourite paintings.