How did you come by your username?

[Bertha Venation]

I just explained my username to someone in GD. I've explained it here before; ask me, if you haven't read my explanation, and I'll post it here.

How did you come by your username? What does it mean or signify?

[KamaAina]

1. When I delurked after Nineleven(TM), there were few if any Hawai'i posters

hence kama'aina, local person (as distinguished from malihini, visitor or foreigner).

Like DemoTex and so many others, I've become a victim of DU Geography Shift.

[Mad_Dem_X]

2. Mine is a play on the name Madame X.

Plus, I was a very angry Dem when I joined DU.

[HopeHoops]

3. Obama - Hope + Hoops

[pinboy3niner]

4. Mine was my last radio callsign in Vietnam

Nothing against bowling, but it's not a bowling reference.

[chknltl]

112. I HAVE wondered truth be told....

...now I know. That is as cool as it gets right there!
Do you remember when it was not cool to be a Viet Nam vet? I do. I bet you do too. Welcome Home Soldior!
pinboy3niner

nuff said.

[pinboy3niner]

121. Thanks, chknltl

Last edited Wed Aug 29, 2012, 08:41 PM - Edit history (2)

Sure, I remember. I buried it all for 16 years. Had some pretty heavy-duty psychological suppression going on. It wasn't until '82, when the first dedication of the Memorial was televised, that people began to see VN vets differently.

I had no photos of me with my field unit until last year, when I found Dan, the guy I replaced as platoon leader when he moved up to become our Company XO. Dan sent me a couple of pics:



At rear is Russ (platoon leader - KIA the day before I was wounded) and our captain (Company Commander).

Front is Mark (platoon leader - KIA), me in the center, and Dan (Executive Officer), holding the cup. At LZ Sally, Thanksgiving 1969. Bravo Co., 2/501 Infantry, 101st Airborne Division.


Dan had sent me another photo, but it was months before I realized that I was in it. It's the only photo of me in the field:


L to R: Me, Dan and Russ. Near Firebase Bastogne.


The original callsign I inherited from Dan is one he says is embarrassing: 'Itchy Click One-Six.' Shortly after that the Army scrapped the 'Six' system and went to random-number callsigns, so I became Pinboy Three-Niner. Military radio protocol adds the 'r' to '9' to better distinguish it from '5' in radio communications.

Russ is on Panel 14W, Line 108; Mark is on Panel 9W, Line 9.

[chknltl]

134. Tall handsome boy, Russ

I am 58 now, a Viet Nam era vet who never made it to Nam although I enlisted for and was guaranteed to go to a unit over there. I joined Jan. '73 and by they time I met up with my unit, (1st/1st Armored Cav. ,1st AD.) it had just pulled out and relocated to Shwabach Germany.
I was a turret mechanic who fixed Sherridan tank turrets.

When I arrived, I was one of three newbies in our company who had never served in a warzone. Most everyone there had seen combat, idiot that I was I looked up to them for it. I quickly found out talking about Nam was taboo and these guys were damned relieved to have made it out in one piece .

They treated me as family and I looked up to our Capt. as a surrogate father. Although he could not have been more than 35 he had a wisdom and demeanor of Colonel Potter of the tv show MASH.

He was eventually replaced with a hardass whom I had no respect for, one I was told would not have lasted a month over in Nam, but that is a different story.

Something that always stuck with me regarding that first company was the feeling that these guys wanted to forget Nam. At first I wanted to know but after being told a few times to be glad I missed out, I gave up asking. I found out though that those tanks I worked on, cool as they were, sucked in the jungles of Nam.

I look at your photos, and I see the officers that I came to respect over in Germany. Yes of course, I was an enlisted man, hell a pfc back then but officers were just other versions of us and like us they had their jobs. We saluted them and we respected them but like everyone else around me, they survived Nam.

I can not even begin to imagine what you boys went through over in Nam. Then you came back....to a nation that was divided between folks who would not understand how we could have lost what should have been an easy war and those who thought of you as baby killers.

More up close and personal I imagine you came back to families who did not know how to talk to you about what you survived all the while you did not want to talk about it PERIOD!

We now know more about PTSD. I have it for non-military related reasons. With hindsight, every single member of that company I met up with over in Germany likely had PTSD from their tours over in Nam, including our Captain. With hindsight I am damned glad I never served in that war zone.

Russ looked like a tall handsome confident Officer. I am sure he and Mark would have done well had they made it back. I am sorry for your loss, sorry for our loss, sorry that our fucked up country got involved in something we should never have been involved in. Furthermore I am sorry if I dredged up any bad memories. Got me a new found respect for pinboy3niner that's for dang sure.

[pinboy3niner]

168. Don't worry about bringing up bad memories--it's a good thing

The memories are both good and bad, but they do need to be processed and reprocessed--a lot.

My psychological catharsis came after 16 years, when I spent a couple of months processing my VN experience very intensely. I felt like I was healed, lol.

A few years later I was freaking out even before Desert Shield became Desert Storm, so I called the psychologist at the Vet Center and told him I was in bad shape and REALLY needed to see him. In the next 2 weeks I spent four appointments crying my heart out in his office.

Finally I asked him, "Doc, how many times do I have to process this same shit?" That wise old bastard told me, "As many times as it takes."

I knew more than 60 guys who died in Vietnam. Many of those deaths I didn't learn about until years later. When I came back I spent 18 months hospitalized, but as soon as I was able I wrote back to my unit to let them know I'd survived. (Good thing, because they'd been told I'd died.) The letters I got back told me about casualties after I left, so I learned very quickly--on a subconscious level--to avoid other vets so I wouldn't risk getting that kind of news. I didn't talk about VN even with my little brother, who'd served there with me.

When I learned, many years later, what happened to people I'd known, I'd jot the information on scraps of paper. It took more years before it dawned on me that I was playing my own psychological game on myself. Those names were never together in one place in my house. Instead, I had one bunch of names in one room, another bunch in another room...one bunch in every room of my house, so I never had to face them all together.

These days I speak about the war to high school and college classes every year, and our small, local vet group has a half-scale, mobile replica of the Wall that we display periodically in our SoCal area. Re-processing things now is especially timely, as I have to set up a new training program for volunteers who will be assisting visitors at the next Wall display over Veterans Day.

btw, I started out enlisted, too. I volunteered for the draft and was inducted at 18. After Basic, a brief leadership course and Advanced Infantry Training (all at Ft. Lewis), I assisted drill sergeants in training troops both at Lewis and Benning before I got my OCS class. After the 6-month Infantry OCS course at Benning, they made me a 2nd Lt. at 19 and promoted me to 1st a year later, around the time I went to VN. The neatest thing was never having to peel potatoes, scrub mess hall pots, or polish garbage cans again.

Thankyou for your service, too, chknltl. In war or not, service always entails hard work and sacrifice.

[chknltl]

173. You and I were likely on Ft Lewis at the same time!

Before I joined up I was an army 'brat' who spent three 'tours' at Ft Lewis. I remember when it was used as a basic training center and I as a kid I roamed all over it on my bike. I loved watching the sleek Cobra attack helicopters coming and going from Greys Airfield from a 'secret spy perch' hill near that airfield. I fished out past the rifle ranges on North Fort at a place called Solo Point. You may remember the Donut Shop, French Theater, the PX, Commissary and the Swimming Pool, I swam, shopped, watched movies and slurped malts in each of them. Currently I live nearby in Lakewood and utilize the VA Hospital at American Lake for my primary health care.

I think it is beyond cool that you visit high schools and discuss war. You had a ringside seat to a particularly nasty war, I can not even imagine losing that many friends in so short a timespan. I hear modern battlefield medical techniques have kept our current war-deaths way down but I imagine that there must be some data manipulation going on too.

Not ling ago, we had a Wounded Warrior program out at Ft Lewis, I had the honor of working with a squad of Wounded Warriors on our disc golf course in nearby Steillacoom last year. They honored me with a black disc which had the official Wounded Warrior 'Phoenix' stamp and fifty or so signatures on it for my efforts. It is a treasure to say the least! Btw, disc golf entails a lot of walking, this form of golf is fun but more importantly all that walking is GREAT rehabilitation.

With apologies to the OP for the mini-hijacking of this thread, it has been an honor chatting with you pinboy3niner...Sir.

[pinboy3niner]

175. None of that 'Sir' shit

That was long ago and far away.

They promoted me to captain in the hospital, then gave me a partial disability retirement after only 4 1/2 years in. I never really felt like part of the "officer corps," though. The first thing I did when I got out was grow my hair long, along with a moustache and a beard. I wasn't anti-military, but I needed to separate myself from that life and put it behind me--maybe more sub-consciously than consciously.

The military even made a distinction between guys like me and the Academy lifers. They were retired with the formal designation, "USA (U.S. Army), Ret." My designation was "AUS (Army of the United States), Ret." Sorta like the US/RA enlisted distinction between draftees and enlistees--though by your time they were using the SSN. I had three different service numbers--first with a 'US' prefix designating draftee, then with an 'O' prefix designating commissioned, and finally my SSN.

If you were at Lewis in '67, you might have seen me. I was the one in olive green fatigues and combat boots.

We didn't get to see much of the amenities there because of the Meningitis outbreak on the West Coast at the time. Training units were confined to their company areas and could only go to the PX as a group, marched there by the drill sergeant once a week or two. In the barracks, the protocol was that that alternate windows had to be lowered 6 inches from the top and raised 6 inches from the bottom. We had no passes in Basic, but did get to go into Seattle on pass a couple of times in AIT. I think I only got to the 3.2 beer hall on post once the whole time I was there.

You probably remember the cadence line of Lewis trainees: "All we got is rocks and rain," lol. In the early 90's I saw a news report that they were going to raze the old barracks at North Fort, where I'd trained. My memories were more of the people and the training, though, not so much the place. What I remember of Lewis is mostly the smoke curling out of the barracks chimneys from the coal-fired furnaces when I arrived in March (and the heat, rocks and rain later). Because we were so confined, I never really got a good sense of the post layout.

It's been fun conspiring with you to hijack the thread (though it's pretty hard to 'jack a thread that's more a collection than a discussion). I'm sure we'll meet again on these boards. And thanks for stirring that stuff that needs to be stirred from time to time. That's both helpful and healthy.

[Scuba]

122. I knew that.

[MADem]

166. Heh--really, who'd boast about a bowling score of 39!!! nt

[pinboy3niner]

170. These days, I might be happy to get a 39. :)

When I was 15, a local store offered a great package deal: bowling ball, bag, shoes, and 50 lines of bowling at a local alley. The price was a real bargain (I think it was only 25 bucks), so I took them up on it, and even joined a youth league at that alley.

One day in league competition, it seemed like I could do no wrong, bowling nothing but strikes. After my 8th frame, all strikes, an announcement came over the PA that I was working on a 300 game. A hush fell over the place as all eyes focused on me.

That's when I choked and got a split, lol. I don't even remember my final score, but it was nice while it lasted--up until that damn PA announcement!

[MADem]

183. I had a very similar experience!!

In my case, it was my being begged to join a bowling league because my division needed one more person to field a team. I warned them that I sucked, had only done candlepin bowling a few times as a kid, that I had no experience, etc., but they were desperate. So, I said OK. They found out soon how badly I sucked.

I will say, the rest of the team was pretty nice to me (I bought more than one round of brews to make up for my shitty showing) and they started to give me tips. Soon I wasn't rolling gutterballs, and I got to the point where I wasn't "horrible." I even bought a bowling ball, bag and shoes instead of using the lane ones. I looked like I knew what i was doing between those items and my jazzy team shirt--a fancily embroidered and very well made thing that wore like iron!

Anyway, I got close to a perfect game once...but no cigar, too! Still--I was very pleased with myself, because a three-niner was probably close to my first score on the lanes!

[revolution breeze]

210. Hippy Name Generator

I loved the name and it stuck.

[Rambis]

5. This guy

Didnt have the glasses but I was the white guy who could not jump but could shoot the 3 point shot. It was either that or Bill Lamebeer-

[Bertha Venation]

8. Wow, that's a blast from the past.

I'm not a hoops fan, but it was impossible to live in So. Cali. during the Magic days without knowing all the players on those teams.

[Capn Sunshine]

6. My Nickname in central America

long story. I was deployed as a Civvy with a platoon of Marines who gave me the nickname.

[auburngrad82]

7. I went to Georgia Tech and graduated in 2003

Just kidding.

[bluesbassman]

9. Won it pitching quarters behind the Lounge liquor store.

[RebelOne]

10. I live in the South, but that is not origin of my name.

I was born in the north, but I am a rebel in that I am an atheist, vegetarian, feminist and left-handed.

[Moondog]

11. The ones I usually use were all taken.

So what came to mind next was a former callsign. And it wasn't taken. So here we are.

[Rambis]

12. Moonglow?

[Moondog]

16. Nah. Not sufficiently butch.

[Iggo]

13. Term of endearment among my me, my sibs, and our progeny.

(Hey! That was my 20,000th post!)

[Bertha Venation]

17. Cool!

to 20,000

[pinboy3niner]

18. Congratulations!

[nolabear]

14. Two thngs near and dear to my heart, NOLA and bears.

I've spent considerable time with both.

[OriginalGeek]

15. Mine's a play on OG - Original Gangsta

Word to your motherboard.

I was never gangsta but I been a geek and a nerd since before they were a thing. And my grandparents on my momma's side were carnival people.

[NightWatcher]

19. I used to be a Private Investigator and worked primarily at night

No idea what I'll change it to the next time we get the chance.

What's a play on words for retired/homeschool/stay at home dad....

[Betsy Ross]

143. Mom?

[NightWatcher]

150. or Mutha

[graywarrior]

20. I have gray hair and I'm always at war with myself

[Downwinder]

21. Downwind of the Nevada test site.

[pipi_k]

22. It's a carryover

from another (private) discussion board.

I love the Hawaiian language. So musical.

I was looking for Hawaiian user names.

Went through a list of foods.

Pipikaula!

Which then became Pipi_k.

[MADem]

167. What kind of food is it?

I always thought about that northern European girl with the braids and the striped socks--Pippi Longstocking--when I saw your name!!

[LeftishBrit]

23. Well, the meaning of mine is fairly self-evident.

I chose it when I joined in 2004, because I wished to convey that I was a fellow-traveller in the opposition to the Bushies and the Right, but was not involved in the then very contentious American primaries. I nearly called myself BritAgainstBush, but decided to define myself more in terms of what I was for rather than against.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

24. When I joined DU in 2001, I lived in Oregon, aka the Upper Left Coast

and "Lydia" goes better with "Leftcoast" than my real name does.

I've since moved back to Minnesota, but I now live on the left side of a lake, so the name is still appropriate.

[greatauntoftriplets]

25. Because I am the great aunt of triplets.

They were not yet one year old when I joined and are now almost 12 -- their birthday is late October. How time flies!

[orleans]

75. OMG-- i'm looking at your post count.

i think you'd probably win the prize for highest number...
if there was a prize

[greatauntoftriplets]

78. There are other members with higher post counts.

I served as a moderator for four years and my post count rose fairly rapidly during that time.

[ZombieHorde]

26. My first try was "Zombie Holocaust," but that was deemed either unacceptable or already taken.

Zombie Holocaust is one of my favorite movies.

Since that name was rejected, I went with "ZombieHorde."

[Glorfindel]

27. From the Lord of the Rings books

They left him out of the movie, and substituted Arwen for him in the race to Rivendell after Frodo was stabbed at Weathertop. I thought he should be memorialized somehow. Beside, *ahem* - his description fits me to a "T."

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.

[luv_mykatz]

28. mine is kind of self evident.

When I delurked and finally joined I had 2 cats.

One of them went on to cat heaven....maybe I should change it to luv_mykat?

I spelled it the way I did, because I figured the regular spelling would already be taken.

I really that so many DUers love cats...and critters generally. I often come here to get my dose of cute, and here the words of like-minded people.

[Bertha Venation]

81. Do you have pictures of your cats that you can post?

What are/were their names?

[luv_mykatz]

89. Sorry, no pics.

I don't own a camera.

Kitteh names: Cinnamon (who is still with me), and Stormy Gale (who went to Kitty Heaven.)

[liberaltrucker]

29. Political orientation and former occupation

[Graybeard]

30. I just look in the mirror.

I've had a beard since I was in my 20s. When it started to go gray I would say, "No. It's just prematurely blonde." But it soon went all-gray.

Some here on DU think I'm a pirate.

[Denninmi]

31. Mine is boring, but logical I guess.

Denninmi = Dennis In Michigan

[Ptah]

32. Ptah was the demiurge of Memphis, god of craftsmen and architects.

[dixiegrrrrl]

45. I always wondered about your name.

Thnx for the info.

[El Supremo]

33. Because that's who I am!

Actually, it came from another board over ten years ago. And it's a long story that would bore everyone here.

[madinmaryland]

36. How do you explain the screen-name...

cboy4 or upton??

[El Supremo]

40. Years ago I discussed the various meanings that "cboy" could have.

Most were not pretty.

Upton? Ask Upton.

[Auggie]

34. Family dog

I grew up with him ... he was like my little brother. Great pooch.

[madinmaryland]

35. I was really pissed at the swiftboating of John Kerry in May of 2004, and hence the SN.

And I lived in Maryland.

[hay rick]

37. It came in a dream.

The night before I joined DU I had a dream.

In the dream I was at a retirement party for a long-time supervisor who I respected. I was standing next to a display of the gifts that people had given him. Everybody had given almost identical gifts- plaid shirts. A retired co-worker was standing next to the display and said- "Hay Rick only wears short sleeves." I looked at the shirts and noticed that they were all long-sleeved.

When I remembered the dream in the morning, I couldn't remember whether the name used in the dream was Hay Rick or Rick Hay- but I vaguely thought it was a reference to me because I almost always wear short sleeve shirts. I'm less comfortable in long sleeves.

I joined DU the next day and Hay Rick popped into mind as a username. If I had joined DU a week earlier or a week later I would surely have a different username (neither Rick nor Hay are parts of my real name).

[Bertha Venation]

82. Interesting.

[demwing]

38. Dr Dean /nt

[applegrove]

39. I come from people who either lived on farms (with apple trees) or had apple trees in

their backyards. A few of my ancestors lived in houses that were build on former apple orchards. From all sides of my family. So in honor of these ancestors.... I'm applegrove.

[Curmudgeoness]

41. If you have to ask......

I will have a hard time explaining it to you.

But actually, I just get pissed that single old men have cool and interesting names, while us women are stuck with "spinster" or "old maid".

[TheCentepedeShoes]

42. A joke

A guy is feeling lonely and decides to get a pet
He goes to the neighborhood pet store and looks at the puppies, kittens, birds and fish but nothing strikes his fancy
The owner goes to the back and come out with a centipede
It has its own clear plastic habitat including a little house it can crawl into when it wants some privacy
He takes the centipede home and they start to become acquainted
A few days later he goes to the habitat (his new friend is in his house) and asks if he would like to go out to Joe's Diner for some lunch
He gets no answer so he asks in a louder voice
Still no answer so he asks again, louder than before
Then a small voice comes from the house
= You don't need to shout, I'm just putting on my shoes

Yes I know the correct spelling for "centipede"
Like the admins say, choose wisely

[dixiegrrrrl]

47. I love it!

already added to my "silly joke" collection.
Thnx!

[Scuba]

123. Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus

Favorite hobby.

[Archae]

43. I use this name on most Internet boards.

I'm an anthropomorphic archaeopteryx. (Try saying that with a mouthful of peanut butter!)

[dixiegrrrrl]

44. well, since my name is "grrrr" and I live in the South...

[mike_c]

46. I cleverly combined my real first name with my real last initial, so no one will ever break my code

...BWHAHAHAHAHAHA.

--mike_c

[SteveG]

224. I like how you think.....(nt)

nt

[hifiguy]

48. I have written about high end home audio gear for more than

15 years in print and internet publications. Ergo, hifiguy.

[femmocrat]

49. I chose mine to honor the early feminists.

I did some graduate work in women's studies.

[Initech]

50. Mine is the name of the company from Office Space.

[steve2470]

51. first name and part of an old address, how original :p nt

[CaliforniaPeggy]

52. Well, I knew I wanted to use my own name, Peggy.........and I live in California!

I also like having the two names together: CaliforniaPeggy

This is who I am!

Bertha!

[pinboy3niner]

58. A likely story! Riiiiiight!

You think we just fell off the turnip truck?

[CaliforniaPeggy]

63. HAHAHA!

[Where was George]

53. Mine asks the important question about George namely

Where was he on 11/22/63? And why can't he remember where he was that day?

Doesn't he remember speaking at the oilman's club in Dallas the night before??? (documented in Russ Baker's "Family Of Secrets&quot

Why can't he remember talking to the FBI from near Dallas only 75 minutes after the President was murdered? (Documented by FBI special agent Graham Kitchell's memo)

For that matter how does he even get through to the FBI on their busiest day in history prior to 9/11??

And why doesn't he mention this photo of him right outside the Texas School Book Depository that same day???





So where was George?????????

[TheMightyFavog]

54. Mine is from a somewhat obscure Muppet...

[REP]

55. Laziness. I used to slug my type with my initials.

It's pronounced "aripee."

[Brother Buzz]

56. First broadcast television program Saturday morning

It was not unusual for me to watch the test pattern for fifteen minutes waiting for the The Wonderful World of Brother Buzz to begin, eating cold cereal, milk and sugar. Did I mention sugar? .

I could not tell time, but I could explain to my parents that when the big hand was straight up, and the little hand straight down, my world would begin. I'd turn the volume down, and they'd go back to sleep.

[LWolf]

57. I couldn't get

the registration box to take "LoneWolf," so I deleted the "one."

I remember yours.

[HeiressofBickworth]

59. My 14th great grandmother

She was born 1438. I've never found her actual name, but the information I have found only refers to her as the Heiress of Bickworth.

[panader0]

60. My last name is Baker

My Mexican bricklayer co-workers called me Panadero--breadmaker

[DippyDem]

61. Lurked here for a couple years

then I joined. Wasn't sure if I would be a full-fledged dem. I was a repug. Huh...did I just say that? That's why I decided on dippy.

[Rob H.]

62. The username I wanted was taken

A girl I was crazy in love with in college used to call me "Robbo," but it was taken when I registered here so I just decided to use my first name and last initial. Boring, I know.

[OxQQme]

65. whenever I do a 'woopsy'

Steve Martin, hands to cheeks, going, "O xxxxxx QQQQQQ ME' comes to my mind......

two Q's seemed more appropriate.

btw: phonetically, multiple q's sounds like 'cues', not Q, Q ;0)

besides, it brings a smile to my face when I observe, in my rear view mirror, the curiosity & pondering
in the faces of those behind me trying to figure it out on my license plate, and the delight when i see them 'get it'.

[Wounded Bear]

64. My current name refers to a totem/tribal name I took....

many years ago in a men's group I attended for a few years. We did drumming and story telling and various rituals, most of which we made up as we went. Mostly, we just fucking talked to each other. It's surprising how little of that actually goes on in the world.

I identified with the bear totem, especially with it's cave dwelling aspect. I'm a bit of a loner and spend many hours apart from my fellow humans. The wounded part is an entirely unrelated story.

[Doc_Technical]

66. Firesign Theatre

A minor character in a little known sketch (Mark Time) , and
because I'm also old and stupid.

[ashling]

67. Irish Gaelic

Ashling = Dream

though after watching the Newsroom this week I am thinking about changing it to "Greater Fool"

[OriginalGeek]

71. THAT was one of my favorite hours of television

ever.

[vanlassie]

68. It's because I am a Van Morrison fan

Big time. My first forays into the world of Internet lists was a Van Fan list.

[Monk06]

69. Mine is short for Monkey Man, a nick my GF gave me back in my mountain biking days.

[fizzgig]

70. it's one of the critters in the dark crystal

and the little guy in my sig line. it's one of the first movies i remember watching and still one of my favorites.

[Tom Ripley]

72. I like the character's, taste, erudition, and class resentment

Also, Ms Highsmith was a hell of a writer

[Spider Jerusalem]

73. My username comes from the protagonist of the graphic novel "Transmetropolitan" by Warren Ellis

Spider Jerusalem is a sort of 23rd century Hunter S Thompson. A violent, drug-addled, chainsmoking journalist whose nemesis is a viciously corrupt president who embodies the qualities of GWB, Nixon, and John Edwards rolled into one.

[SilveryMoon]

74. Mine is a fictional city from a fantasy novel.

In the Forgotten Realms books, it's a city in Faerûn.

[Rincewind]

76. I'm a fan of the Diskworld books,

and I've always wanted to be a wizzard. (not misspelled)

[woodsprite]

77. Mine came about because

I greatly admire, and try to sculpt on my own, OOAK fairy dolls AND I live in the woods. I didn't think "wood nymph" would suit me, so I'm woodsprite. It's also leftover from my days on the virtual site "Worlds".

[Waiting For Everyman]

79. The Jackson Browne song, "For Everyman".

from the lyrics:

"I'm waiting here for Everyman,
Don't aske me if he'll show -- I don't know... "

I joined during the '08 election, so this summer is like deja vu all over again.

[MichaelSoE]

80. Soe = Son of Edward

[Odd Won Out]

83. I was dreaming that I was thinking of a Band name

and woke up at 2 in the morning with "Odd Won Out".

[Skip Intro]

84. I was once nu_duer.

Skinner gave us an opportunity to change our usernames and keep our stats around 2004.

I made a list of new usernames for me to use and went down to the wire trying to decide among them, and chose this one at the last minute.

I actually posted a thread asking for help: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=2063799&mesg_id=2063799

Skip wasn't on the list. I don't know where it came from, really. I think I just saw it on some website and said, "I'll use that!" That should have been a sober decision. I mean, "Skip?"


I might yet change it again if Skinner will let me and I can come up with something good. Like Reality Cashew...hmmm...

[DryHump]

208. I wanted

a name that was not juvenile or meaningless.

[LoveMyCali]

86. I was a "lurker"

for a long time before I officially joined DU and I wanted to post birthday wishes to my dear friend Rhiannon12866 as a surprise but I also wanted her to realize it was me so I used my cat Cali's name since she knows I love my Cali

[mwdem]

87. Joined when I live in Kansas.

Since then, moved to Texas for 7 years, and now living in SoCal.

[AsahinaKimi]

88. My name is me.

Kimiko Asahina. (Kimi for short)

[From The Ashes]

90. What a long strange trip it's been...

I started out here in 2003 with the name 'Trekkerlass'. When Skinner offered the name change amnesty in 2004, I changed to TOhioLiberal; which I thought was at least a little better as a descriptor.

My world and my marriage collapsed in 2007; I moved to South Texas to start over. I was looking for another name because (a) I wasn't in Ohio anymore and (b) I'm wasn't that person anymore either. I debated the pros and cons for some time. A thought occurred to me that I was like the legendary Phoenix rising from the ashes. Someone already had Phoenix in their name so I went with From The Ashes.

[Bertha Venation]

96. Hi

A good story. How is the rebuilding going?

[From The Ashes]

191. It's going well...

I just keep on keeping on.

Time for a gratuitous shot of the sweetest 3yr old on the planet:



Of course, I *AM* biased!

[fizzgig]

198. hey you!

he does look like a sweetie. good to see you

[NecklyTyler]

91. Stole mine off a dead Republican

Actually people used to make fun of my neck in school, so I am just throwing it back at them.

[Unite2DefeatGOP]

92. disgust at infighting in the Dem Party. nt

[ArnoldLayne]

93. Pink Floyd my favorite Rock Groups first

single released in 1967 was Arnold Layne.

[MissHoneychurch]

94. It's the main character

in my favorite book (and also movie) "Room with a View" by E. M. Forster.

Played by a young Helena Bonham-Carter in the movie. Not that I compare myself with her. I just love the book.

[chknltl]

117. Wow, nice to see ya Miss H!

Made me smile to see your post just now. Had to say hi. Hope things are well with you and yours.

[oldsarge54]

95. Geeze

Well, retired Msgt (USAF), and the year of my birth. ( please include the 19 in front of the 54, I'm not that old, I think)

[Soylent Brice]

97. my name is Brice,

and although I despise heston I dig the concept behind soylent green.

that and it's a sly way of me saying "eat me".

[navarth]

113. Soylent Green

is actually a very prophetic and important movie IMO. So many things to like about it: it puts the spotlight on Monsanto (Soylent Corporation), features a brilliant performance by E. G. Robinson (his last), the music of Fred Myrow is wonderful.

Here's how krazy I am: the ring tone on my droid phone is Charlton Heston screaming "Soylent Green is People!!!"

The book is even better: "Make Room! Make Room!" by Harry Harrison.

You chose well.

[FoxNewsSucks]

98. Some truths can't be be said often enough.

[damnedifIknow]

99. How did I come by my username?

Damned If I know.

[classof56]

100. Mine is the year I graduated high school in a small Colorado town.

I guess I'm now officially elderly, huh? I must say, I have lived in interesting times. One of the best things I did was join DU all those years ago. Has helped keep me sane!

Bertha, did not see your username explanation, but will take a wild guess that it might have to do with the D.W. Griffith movie? Whatever, I like it. Thanks for this interesting thread!

[tomm2thumbs]

101. typing skills

or lack thereof

[geardaddy]

102. after a favorite band at the time.

These guys.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gear_Daddies

You've probably never heard of them, but if you ever go to hockey games and heard the song "I Wanna Drive the Zamboni" they wrote it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zamboni_(song)

[alfredo]

103. It is a shortened version of an old nickname.

The full nickname is used in my flickr account.

[kentauros]

104. It's due to me being the centaur of the universe

Either that, or I have bull-killers in my past:

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=centaur&allowed_in_frame=0

http://www.theoi.com/Georgikos/KentauroiThessalioi.html

Yeah, I'm a bit obsessed with them They've shown up in various ways throughout my life. Plus, no one was using the word "kentauros" when I first went online in 1996.

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

105. From a line in a song from the band, Cream

Just seemed apropos when I decided to sign up.
Plus, I used to play a ton of tennis before open heart surgery last October.


Lyrics:

"Twice upon a time in the valley of the tears
The auctioneer is bidding for a box of fading years
And the elephants are dancing on the graves of squealing mice

Anyone for tennis, wouldn't that be nice?

And the ice creams are all melting on the streets of bloody beer
While the beggars stain the pavements with fluorescent Christmas cheer
And the Bentley-driving guru is putting up his price

Anyone for tennis, wouldn't that be nice?

And the prophets in the boutiques give out messages of hope
With jingle bells and fairy tales and blind colliding scopes
And you can tell they're all the same underneath the pretty lies

Anyone for tennis, wouldn't that be nice?

Yellow Buddhist monk is burning brightly at the zoo
You can bring a bowl of rice and then a glass of water too
And fate is setting up the chessboard while death rolls out the dice

Anyone for tennis, wouldn't that be nice?"

[antiquie]

128. Still apropos

Anyone for dressage, wouldn't that be nice?

(Hope you are playing tennis again...)

[emmadoggy]

106. It comes from my beloved doggy, Emma.

She died a year or two before I joined DU. Best doggy there ever was.

[datadiva]

107. Double meaning

Mine is a play on words. I am female, I am a Trekkie, and I worked as an office manager before I retired.

[jamesatemple]

108. I wanted to create something creative, meaningful, clever, tasteful...

but I couldn't think of a thing.

James A. Temple

[woofless]

109. Southern bastardization of "worthless".

I worked as road labor for a rythm and blues band out of Gainesville, and one night the manager/sax player looked at me and said,"Man, you woofless!" and I was Woofless thereafter. I never let it affect my self esteem.

Woof.

[chknltl]

110. Back in '05 i sorta was a Chicken Little

Before joining the BigDU, I had discovered the nightmare that we know as depleted uranium and its use as a WMD by our military. I told anyone anywhere and everywhere about depleted uranium and why they needed to write/call their Senators and Congressmen to investigate this horror. I told anyone who would listen that they needed to keep our kids out of the military until after we stopped using this WMD.. I always backed up my rants with written notes containing online links so folks could look themselves.

In a very real sense I was a Chicken Little. Then I discovered the Democratic Underground. My first OP was about the depleted uranium issue. I was amazed to find that there were a few here who already knew about and shared my horror about depleted uranium and its affects both on our victims as well as on our troops.

So the name Chicken Little fit for me. I deleted the vowels from the name for vanity reasons thinking it would make the name more noticeable, not realizing that we are each noticed by our words, our thoughts and our deeds around here moreso than by any creativity that we put into choosing our names.

Btw: The fact that my last name is Chick was only a minor factor when I choose my DU name. I would never change it so two names I have toyed with over the years are up for grabs: 'Smeghead' for fans of Red Dwarf and Fart Petals for those in anguish over the fact that someone else outside of DU is proudly using Turd Blossom as his nickname.

[Wolf Frankula]

111. My Name was inspired by a character in a movie named Frank Dracman

Wolf Frankula, the Wolfman, Frankenstein and Dracula.

Wolf

[rhiannon55]

114. I took the name Rhiannon about 25 years ago

when I joined a Pagan circle. I wanted a cool name and my given name was not cool. It stuck, and when I joined DU, I was 55 years old. Voila! rhiannon55.

[FSogol]

115. FSogol

Father Sogol was a character from the unfinished novel: "Mount Analogue: A Novel of Symbolically Authentic Non-Euclidean Adventures in Mountain Climbing" by René Daumal. Daumal dropped dead while penning the novel. In the novel, Father Sogol is the leader of the expedition to climb the mysterious mountain that unites Heaven and Earth. Like the fictional character, I am an engineer, writer, hobbyist philosopher and (now former) mountain climber.

Sogol wants to wake people up so they can experience life more fully.

They "called me that because of a turn of mind they noticed in me
which led me to reverse, on a trial basis at least, any
statement proposed to me, to invert cause and effect, principle and
consequence, substance and accident. `Sogol' is a rather
childish anagram and somewhat pretentious, but I needed
a name with a good ring to it, and it reminded me of a rule of
thought which had served me well. Thanks to my scientific and
technical knowledge, I soon found jobs in various laboratories
and industrial plants. I readjusted little by little to contemporary
life, but only externally, it's true. For when you come down to it,
I can't bring myself to fall in with this monkey-cage agitation which
people so dramatically call life.'' - Father Sogol

When the net first came along, I posted as Father Sogol, but people scorned me as an actual religious figure, so I shortened it to FSogol.

[navarth]

116. this is fun

one of the most amusing characters in a book ever, by one of the most fun Sci-Fi and Fantasy authors ever (Jack Vance)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navarth

[FSogol]

124. Cool, love Jack Vance.

I read the whole Dying Earth & Lyonesse series years ago and have been making a point to read all of his stuff. Just finished "Ecce and Old Earth" and will start "Throy" next. Favorite story by him is: "The Moon Moth"

[navarth]

130. Ah! Then you have yet to read

the Demon Princes series and the Planet of Adventure series. ( The Demon Princes series is where you will meet the redoubtable Navarth.) Wonderful, wonderful.

I envy you; I have to wait years between readings so I can forget enough of them so I can enjoy them once more.

Vance is magic, his fans are legion. Nice to talk to you.

BTW, Vance increases one's vocabulary to an incredible extent, don't you think?

[benld74]

118. My home town and HS graduation year

[RiffRandell]

119. Ramones fan from Rock N Roll High School. n/t

[Borchkins]

120. Borchkins

My husband's last name and my last name mushed together. Borcherding and Haskins

I like grantcart's username, my sons are Grant and Carter.

[hibbing]

125. Robert Zimmerman

Hi,
I am a big Bob Dylan fan and he grew up in Hibbing.

Peace

[Quantess]

126. I stole it from a little girl named Quantess.

I liked her name so I jacked it.

[sibelian]

127. It's an adjective meaning "similar to the music of the Scandinavian composer Sibelius".

Last edited Wed Aug 29, 2012, 04:42 PM - Edit history (1)

Applied typically to classical music of a similar period to his that sounds noble, soulful, stirring and sad. I started using it many years ago and it stuck.

EDIT - I was, once upon a time, a little bit self-absorbed.

[sakabatou]

129. It's the name of Kenshin Himura's sword

[BeeBee]

131. My initials... B.B. n/t

[lob1]

132. I like to throw things.

[evlbstrd]

133. Lost a few vowels.

[IrishEyes]

135. I always liked the song "When Irish Eyes are Smiling".

My great grandparents all came from Ireland. My grandparents were all working class Irish democrats. I look Irish with my auburn hair and green eyes. I also have a very Irish sounding name.

[DaveJ]

136. Complete lack of creative skill. n/t

[mwooldri]

137. My username was assigned to me for the Unix system at university.

First initial of my first name, then the next seven letters of my last name. It literally is a shrinking of my own name.

If I'm posting as me, I'll use this identity. If I want to be anonymous... well... I'll post as such.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

138. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, by Robert A. Heinlein

It's my favourite of his many books. One of his political science fictions.

[phylny]

139. My name is Phyl (short for Phyllis) and when

I joined DU, I lived in New York.

[Systematic Chaos]

140. An album by Dream Theater which is one of my favorite contemporary bands.

[IMG][/IMG]

[Alduin]

141. I'm a gaming chick...

and I love The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, so I chose my name based on the main antagonist of the game.

[Betsy Ross]

142. During the Redefeat Bush campaign of '04

I was asked to do a number of textile projects, banners, ribbons, table covers, etc., for demonstrations and events. I was "the seamstress for the revolution:" Betsy Ross

[glacierbay]

144. Flew over this one year

and it stuck in my mind, thought it would make a great username

[YellaDog1950]

145. Will only vote for a Democrat + the year of my birth.

I've steeped myself in politics and history since the age of 17. Prior to that I had a Democrat grandfather who was heavily involved in politics and had me handing out cards and knocking on doors when I was 5. Thus, I'd vote for a yella dog before I'd vote for a......well, you know the rest.

I've spent the last several years on a forum that is filled with tea baggers, libertarians, republicans, and Rush lovers. I realized that no matter how level-headed I remained, no matter how non-confrontational I was, it was evident I would never make a dent in the Faux News lies they had absorbed into their cellular make-up. I finally left them. I'm sure they're now bored without a socialist, liberal, communist, nazi (how can I possibly be all those things at once? on which to vent their anger.

From being a long-time lurker here, I am now beginning to post some. I love DU. It's comfortable, it's coming home.

[marble falls]

146. Mushrooms. Portobello mushrooms.

[FailureToCommunicate]

147. "Well...some men you just can't reach."

Paul Newman passed away about the same time I joined DU. His role in "Cool Hand Luke" had always been a favorite of mine and seemed to sum up a lot about the pointless but dogged attempts to flee the shackles of the Bush years...

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="

" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

As Luke shows us, we can try to make the best of what often is a lousy situation.
DU is THE place I come to for news, and solace.
Thanks Bertha for the thread.
And thanks as always to Skinner, Earl and the whole DU crew!

[pinboy3niner]

149. Good movie, good choice

I got to meet Paul Newman in Ohio in 2004. I was volunteering in the Kerry campaign there when Newman--a staunch Dem and 'Veteran for Kerry'--came out to support the campaign. Because I'm also a vet, the field office director said, "You have to meet him," and introduced us. He was still cool, as always.

[FailureToCommunicate]

160. Lucky you! I am envious. Newman' final role was the voice of

"Doc Hudson", a racing car in the Pixar animation "Cars".
If you haven't seen it, I recommend it (and not just for Newman's part.)

[quaker bill]

148. I am a quaker named bill

[WinstonSmith4740]

151. Mine has gotta be easy for DUers...

but for you young guns here who haven't read it yet, pick up 1984.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

152. I vote on Tuesday Afternoon.

[pinboy3niner]

153. Ha! I always thought it was the Moody Blues...

[cactusfractal]

154. Mine is random...

Although I like both cacti and fractals...

[Lindyrig]

155. Lindyrig

Mine was given to me by my coworkers and is a play on my name, Minnesota location and a famous fishing bait.

Lindy

[chimpymustgo]

156. Started lurking in 2001. Joined in 2002. Need I say more?

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

157. My name is Jeff and....uh....I live in Milwaukee (nt)

[Harry Monroe]

158. If you're a fan of "My Name is Earl" you don't have to ask

If not, a little explanation: The character of Darnell Turner (played by Eddie Steeples) is in the witness protection program while living in Camden County. Harry Monroe is an alias of his and yes, he still likes cheese.

[progressoid]

159. On my home planet of Progress, we are called Progressoids.

Just as you are called Earthoids.

[Momgonepostal]

161. I chose it right after I started working for the post office...

and I'm a mother.

I'm no longer a postal worker, but kept the name here, and other places, because I didn't want to start over.

And I LOVE the name Bertha Venation!

[TardisBlue]

162. A nod to Democratic Blue with a wink to Doctor Who

[Bertha Venation]

181. Welcome to DU, TardisBlue

[TardisBlue]

193. Thank you!

[Historic NY]

163. I live in a historic part of NY that not many appreciate.

[FailureToCommunicate]

184. You mean that area where Pete Seeger helped save some big polluted river?

Or maybe Sleepy Hollow and Pocantico Hills?

Or am I looking too far South along the Valley?

[Historic NY]

186. A bit north In the Hudson Highlands...

between West Point & Newburgh. Old Pete has been know to sail around on the Clearwater sloop.

[JDPriestly]

164. I got it from reading the correspondence between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Priestley

http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/presidents/thomas-jefferson/letters-of-thomas-jefferson/jefl137.php

http://uucsv.org/carter.htm

[kwassa]

205. I drove by his home in Northumberland, PA

or close to it. I was startled to see a sign for it. What was he doing here?

The town is on the Susquehanna in northern PA, and very quaint. Way out in the middle of nowhere, too.

[JDPriestly]

206. Yes. He came here. He was quite radical for his time. And he came here to live for a while.

[MADem]

165. I am a MAssachusetts DEMocrat!

Not very creative, I know, but it sums me up.

[Honeycombe8]

169. Song. Jimmie Rogers. Honeycombe....

Well it's a darn good life
And it's kinda funny
How the Lord made the bee
And the bee made the honey
And the honeybee lookin' for a home
And they called it honeycomb
And they roamed the world and they gathered all
Of the honeycomb into one sweet ball
And the honeycomb from a million trips
Made my baby's lips


Oh, Honeycomb, won't you be my baby
Well, Honeycomb, be my own
Got a hank o' hair and a piece o' bone
And made a walkin' talkin' Honeycomb
Well, Honeycomb, won't you be my baby
Well, Honeycomb, be my own
What a darn good life
When you got a wife like Honeycomb

[pinboy3niner]

176. Jeez, I remember that

Written by Bob Merrill in '54 (according to wiki), and recorded by Jimmie Rodgers in '57. I remember it being very popular on the radio back then.

Just for you...

[Bertha Venation]

180. I love this song!

[Vestigial_Sister]

171. My sister cohabitates with me...

of course she only shows herself by way of a small tuft of hair above, and right, of my belly-button and with two finger/toe (?) nails piercing out from my skin just below my left nipple.

[Cobalt-60]

172. it's an isotope of Cobalt

that kicks out the nastiest 5MeV gamma in town.
I was probably a little presumptuous, but its a good
nick for a nerd like myself in any case.

[Heathen57]

174. One part of my wife's

family who are 'christian' (talk but no walk), and her Aunt declared that I was a hopeless heathen and would never make it to heaven after we had some words about a social issue that I believed she was not Christ-like on.

Being the smartass that I am, I told her that I took the declaration as a badge of honor coming from the likes of her.

It was a joke for a while and then sort of stuck. When I started writing high-grade smut (romantic Erotica) I used it as my pen name and the 57 is my birth year.

[malokvale77]

177. From my given name...

First two letters of my first name, first two letters of my middle name, my maiden last name, and an old pager (remember those) code the guys in the field gave me (the meaning of said code would be inappropriate for tender imaginations).

[alliswellinmyworld]

178. Plucked it

straight outta me arse!

[Lucy Goosey]

179. It's my real first and last names

...kidding. It's something you get called a lot when your name is Lucy.

[Pat Riot]

182. Thanks for this thread.

There were many I was curious about.

I love puns and wordplay, so was considering Justin Tyme or something like that. (Shout out to femmocrat! my absolute fav; wish I'd thought of that myself.) A couple I tried were already taken so I just sort of lurked and thought about it for a while.

I stumbled on this site in the dark days of Bush/Cheney when you were considered unpatriotic if you criticized or even question the wars. That "America - love it or leave it" hearkening back to the Viet Nam era. I was sick and tired of hearing that shit, and all the chickenhawks calling themselves patriots. I think I was just staring at the word "Patriot" that somebody on another forum was using for his username when it hit me. I "riot" against the notion that I don't support or love my country if I disagree with government decisions.

[ohnoyoudidnt]

187. .

[Kali]

185. my parents came up with it

[ohnoyoudidnt]

188. It was the last thing I heard before the first time I got my ass kicked. nt

[HelenaHandbasket]

189. I Love That Nic...Bertha

Mine was inspired by Kentucky Bourbon LOL.

[pinboy3niner]

192. LOL!

Looks like you and Bertha are on the same wavelength.

Welcome to DU, Ms. HandBasket.

[EastTennesseeDem]

190. After days and days of thinking.

[LiveNudePolitics]

194. It's the same as

my blog. Come visit and show me some nude love! Click!

[DFW]

195. Well, you see, I have serious dementia

So I remind myself of little things this way--my user name tells me where my bags are sent at the airport, in case I get tempted to take a plane to some other place after checking them in.

[Tom Ripley]

196. It's an homage to the Talented Miss Highsmith

[Jamaal510]

197. My first name+my area code

[mgcgulfcoast]

199. mine is original

i live on the gulf coast, lol

[mnhtnbb]

200. It's short for Manhattan Baby (where I was born, NY, not Kansas) and my initials BB

[Sedona]

201. Its where I live

[cliffordu]

202. Mine is a combination of my first name and middle initial...

nothing to do with "Cliffor-DU" as once accused...

Although I do like the other spelling - "clifford-duh"

[a kennedy]

203. a kennedy, I'm a kennedy......

kinda wish now I could change it and come up with something better.

[WillParkinson]

204. Sigh...

I foolishly married the man whose name I took.

(Just kidding. I love my husband a lot.)

[Grey]

207. Because life is never black & white.

[BarbaRosa]

211. At one time my beard was red,

and apparently I bear a resemblance to Willie Nelson.

[VOX]

212. Love British Invasion music/era, am a musician who uses certain amps -- AND I have a voice...

Plus, VOX is short!

[PRETZEL]

213. Old childhood nickname

still have alot of friends still to this day that call me this.

[bamacrat]

214. From Alabama and a Democrat...

There are more of us than you would think but still outnumbered. My wife really likes my DU name, its my PS3 name too.

[antiquie]

215. Brain and finger glitches

caused me to not remember my password or the email I originally signed up with -- so I signed up again with finger twitches.

[rachel1]

216. My real first name is Rachel and

I couldn't think of anything else to include so I just randomly chose 1 to follow it.

It's nothing that interesting.

[Redlo Nosrep]

217. It's What I Now Am, Backward

Not that I'm "backward" so much as a mature individual.

[txwhitedove]

218. I've always loved yours, by the way. Mine is homage to Grandpa and Cherokee ancestry, live in TX and

a pacifist.

[opiate69]

219. I know I've done this before, but it's been a while so..

Opiate - The name of Tool's first album, as well as a very good song there-on. Also, refers to the quote "Religion is the opiate of the masses." Being an atheist, I like that quote. However, on a now-defunct Atheist message board I used to frequent, the simple name "opiate" was taken, so I had to add numbers:

69 - The year I was born. (I've heard there's a sexual meaning there too, but being a good boy who doesn't swear, drink, smoke or consume things like pornography, I wouldn't know) (Yeah... Nobody's gonna buy that last bit lol!)

[joshcryer]

220. Goes without saying.

I use my name everywhere I post on the internet.

[Blue_In_AK]

221. After 2004 election,

I was blue (as in sad) and a dem (blue) in AK. It made sense at the time. (AK being Alaska.)

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

222. I blame marijuana. nt.

[sinkingfeeling]

223. My expressed my feelings about the country after Bush stole the election.