I find people such fascinating things. I can sit and watch them for hours, I think that's why I like airports so much - especially international ones. You get to see so many different breeds of people. I like to invent their life story with the visual clues you get to work with. (And in my case, I reckon I would most probably have a ten percent hit rate, accuracy wise. But, hey, it's not a competition.)
However I reckon it's interesting the way you build pictures of what someone might look like if you only know them from their voice, or their writing voice and nom de plume. For a few years I have been working with a team in Sydney and, when I first walked into their office (after a few months of communication) one woman exclaimed, 'But you're small! I thought you were going to be a big woman!' I must sound and write tall.
My brother Sunshine first started me with a blog. Originally he set me up with an actual website, wrote all the copy for it, as he had grand plans that it would be a fantastic platform to sell my book. However, as it's still making a name for itself getting rejected by publishers around the world, there seemed no reason to carry on with that site so I came over to Blogspot. (But as Toby Young*, whose book 'How to Lose Friends and Alienate People' got rejected twenty-two times before being published said to me, 'Just remember they're all wrong, and you're right,' don't think I shall be giving up anytime soon.)
*is aware of shameless name dropping.
So when it came to setting up a blog, the first thing we had to do was pick a name. We wondered about a few and Sunshine suggested Laughy Kate. When Master Sunshine and Little Miss Sunshine were very little they asked the question, 'Why is Kate so laughy?' (Oh, because she's always drunk. Apart from that, no reason.) About a week later they were discussing a Kate, 'Which Kate, is that?' asked one of the parent-Sunshines. 'Laughy Kate', was the answer from the small-Sunshines. And it's sort of stuck ever since.
Anyway, this post is a very scenic route to the point, it's time for you guys to put out. I want to know why you picked the nom de plumes you have.
As my first sentence would indicate, basically I'm nosy.
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27 comments:
Mine picked me, instead of the other way round. I had a good mate at uni who went through a phase of calling everyone something-'dogg'. Mine stuck, dropped the end 'g', and there you have it. Interestingly, our firstborn was for a time known (by some of our friends, not by us) as 'vpuppy' but it hasn't had the same longevity...
I have often been mistaken, on my blog and commenting on other people's blogs, for a British man. Which is plainly quite silly, for not only am I a short, fat American woman, but as people can plainly see by my avatar, my plumage is female. Sheesh.
I was computerless for several years due to my last computer carking it, during which time blogs became really popular and thus I had plenty of time to stew over being poor and to think up my name and plan out my magnificent (and completely unrealized) plans for my blog. I picked "Fat Sparrow" because the fat sparrows always seem the most contented. So, the moment I got a computer again, in 2006, I set up my blog and have been annoying people and getting banned ever since. The "sparrow" part, well, that's part of my half-arse Pagan thing. Every time you meet some random Pagan female, her Pagan name is "Raven" or some sort of variation on that (there's even a standing joke on that: Q:"How do you pick up chicks at a Pagan convention?" A:"Have them page for Raven and Morgan to come to the registry table."). "Sparrow" reflects more accurately who I am, and it's a hell of a lot less pretentious.
I like "Laughy Kate." It's fun and friendly and thing.
The home paddock is the one closest to the house. I was trying to convey that I'd be giving a rural view though I'm not a farmer.
I use Surfergirl because I am a girl who (used to) surf. At school I used Gidget (from the famous 1959movie - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gidget) but when I 'grew up' this user name was taken so I had to come up with another. So, Surfergirl it was.
I must say though you're good at the 'name game'....I think Numbers really suits you know who....
Vdog, I think Vpuppy is outstanding!
Fat Sparrow, brilliant! And well done on getting yourself banned from blogs. I do like the thought that you picked Fat Sparrow since fat sparrows seem so contented.
Homepaddock, maybe it's because I come from a farm, but I really like the connotation of Homepaddock.If that makes any sense at all.
Esther, I also love the fact that Numbers can't read!
sav = savannah because it's where i live
marsh = because they are all around where i live
mama = because i am to 4 people.
savmarshmama at y'all's service, sugar! ;~D xoxoxo
That's great!
I always write "moi" or "mwa" on the score card when we play games. And it also sounds like a kiss. So I liked that.
Mine is trivial, I like growing veg, so Grow Up seemed appropriate. I started out blogging as Thriftcriminal though, that one arose because my thrifty nature seemed counter to the pervading culture in Ireland at the time (indeed the head of the country at the time suggested that people who questioned the rampant consumerism should go top themselves, well, he kind of said that) so I mutated 1984's thoughtcriminal to Thriftcriminal.
Because I never had a daughter to give the name to, so I took it for myself. Medbh was much maligned by Kinsella's translation in The Tain. She was a smart, savvy warrior woman.
Huzzah!
Mine is fairly obvious, Tinman for the pacemaker, & 18 for the 18 seconds my heart was stopped one time, which is why I got the pacemaker.
When I told Mrs Tin the name I'd picked so said "Oh, for God's sake let it go."
Mwa, that is great. I so get it.
Grow Up, and there was me thinking that you thought you were being immature.
Medbh, what a fantastic explanation. Ignorant old me thought that it was an acronym that meant something to you.
I notice Holemaster hasn't answered yet...
PS tell us more about the book, which you kind of sneaked in there...
Tinman, I think yours was the only nom de plume I suspected I knew the back story to. And now I understand that the 18 isn't because you were the 18th Tinman around.
Nah, immaturity gets a bad rap, I'm all for it.
I worhship at the altar of immaturity.
Oh Tinman, missed your second comment there. I'm a bit scared about finding out reason behind Holemaster's naming.
So the book. Wrote a film script. A friend of mine who is a writer said, 'Turn it into a book, so many more books get published than films get made.' So wrote three chapters and sent it off to publisher. They say, 'Great, send us the book.FUCK! Write the book. Send to publisher. She rings, tells me she chuckled away all weekend reading it, but that they had just published a chick lit and that she thought it would be a much better television series. Send it off to production company, they say some really nice things - but that they reckon it would be better as a book. Yada yada yada.
Its journey continues.
It's bastard chick lit.
Laughykate is a fabulous webname.
Mine, as I believe you know, Kate, is a pseudonym. I picked it because I wanted something that was normal sounding, kinda to offset the theme of snarkiness and insanity that I was indulging in when I first started this blog. Little did I know it turns out to also be the nom de plume of a topless dancer and brothel madam.
*Whoops!*
It also turned out to have a number value that appealed to me. I get a silly kick out of numerology.
And, finally, most boring of all, I like Jane because Jane Austen is my most favorite author.
This has been a fun post to reply to!!
'Little did I know it turns out to also be the nom de plume of a topless dancer and brothel madam.'
Most excellent!There was another name Sunshine and I had been considering but it turned out to be a porn site!
Mine pretty much self explanatory, and explained in my profile. The blog was originally set up to blog some stories that Cactus didn't want to touch, and to write about the social adventures of a lesbian in our capital city.......however as time has passed the nature of the blog has changed, due to precious little lesbians getting all cry baby over some comments, and a stalker issue, so have ended up sticking to my obsessions instead!
Sticking to your obsessions is a good idea I reckon, Unpc. There's always something to post about.
Artemisia is the genus name for Russian sage, which we Americans know as tumbleweed. Also, Artemisia Gentileschi was a famous Renaissance painter, only unknown today because she was a woman.
What a great reason for a nom de plume.
Am I the only blogger on the planet who hasn't wrote a book and is trying to get it published? I'm beginning to feel left out.
Would you hurry up and write one, please?
Now that would be a book I would buy in a heart beat.
Yes, I can see the disclaimer in the frontispiece already... "Names and places have been changed to protect me from lawsuits."
Heeee, at least you can represent yourself (from all your other selves).
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