What inspired your name?

[fredsevent]

oh, man, i am lovin' this--you guys are such fun!

but listen, i'm still not clear on you, fredsevent--originally, i too had read yours as "fred's event"--and now, after reading what you wrote, i wondered if the "seven t" meant you're 70--but looking back, i realize that's not really what you said. so. where'd the "7" and then the "t" come from? (my poor brain needs more clues!)

I was just going to add "random" keystrokes to fred until I had a unique identifier. So, ages ago when creating an email account at AOL (remember how they sent you CDs every other week!) I wanted to be fred@aol.com, but it was taken. So, I just hit another key - obviously a 7 - that too was taken. Following the 7 with a t did the trick. Then, after the passing of a few more ages, I was registering at pogo.com (games). Apparently there was a fred7t already there, so not wanting to really change I changed 7 to seven. Since then, I usually use fredsevent for gaming sites.

[wvwoman]

ohhhhhhhhh, gotcha---thanks for your patient response, fred. and i DO remember those aol cds that were everywhere--some came in nice tins--i think i still have some of those around.
and there's a "whole 'nother topic"--things we save for no apparent reason...or things we save because we like 'em, but would never be able to support a valid reason for hanging on to them. my daughters think its sad that i have a boat-load (like how i cleaned that up?!) of stuff like that, but my grandkids think its cool.

[GtrZan]

Mine's fairly obvious: "Guitar-zan... he's a guitar-man" (Ray Stevens)

I had GTRZAN as a license plate for about a decade, kept having people ask me what Gator-zan was (?)

Ah well

[wvwoman]

woo hoo!

you know...i'm not sure exactly how...but i had forgotten all about GUITARZAN!!!
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OqbbOhoOfQ)
that brought back all kinds of memories from 1969, which was an epic year for me. thanks for that!

[universalmom]

wvwoman - we haven't heard your story yet! West Virginia?

[wvwoman]

oh--well, it just seemed so obvious (to me, anyway!)--sorry 'bout that.
born & raised in wv--but lived most of my adult life in phoenix, so i was "azwoman" there--when i moved back here to be with my mom, i changed to wvwoman. now, i'm doing my best to get my s**t together & move back to az, as that's where one daughter & all the grandchildren are. it's just so darned complicated for several reasons. but i've decided to remain wvwoman when i go--these hills will always be 'home' in my heart.

[universalmom]

What a wonderful thread!!

Barnabas, I think I met you on vacation in Italy back a few years ago! If it wasn't you, it was certainly another mortician with a great sense of humor. He entertained all of us daily! And our dinners together are still a delightful remembrance! He bought the greatest metro-sexual Italian shoes in Venice...! I've always wondered if he wore them when he got back to the States.

No WAY...can this be true??? (I actually said this aloud in an amazed and envious tone!) Barnabas, please confirm!!

Speaking of Barnabas...I want to give him a "tip of the hat" for helping me to discover what a wonderful community of solvers you all are. Until recently, I was like what Lurker described - just here for the puzzles, nothing more. The most I would do was leave a comment after I'd solved a quote. Then a few weeks ago, to my amazement, I saw that I had a Message! It was from Barnabas, responding to a rather thoughtless comment I had posted about one of the quotes. In corresponding about this post, I became curious and started poking around the threads...I learned of pootie's death...I saw how helpful and supportive you all are, and I was impressed and moved. So, to Barnabas the self-deprecating mortician - and how many of us gasped in delight when we read that post - thank you, I'm very grateful to you.

[wvwoman]

and barnabas, i'm still curious about those metro-sexual italian shoes gryhnd51 spoke of...haha!

[contrary]

My name comes from the urge I have of doing the opposite of what someone tells me do to. I try to avoid acting on those urges when it isn't useful but I let a reaction slip out every once in a while.

[Barnabas]

What a wonderful thread!!

Barnabas, I think I met you on vacation in Italy back a few years ago! If it wasn't you, it was certainly another mortician with a great sense of humor. He entertained all of us daily!

Well, I've never been to Spain, but I've been to Oklahoma.
... oh, ummm, and I've never been to Italy. Glad to hear my counterpart helped make your trip even more enjoyable than it already must have been.

[Barnabas]

Speaking of Barnabas...I want to give him a "tip of the hat" for helping me to discover what a wonderful community of solvers you all are... a few weeks ago, to my amazement, I saw that I had a Message! It was from Barnabas, responding to a rather thoughtless comment I had posted about one of the quotes... So, to Barnabas the self-deprecating mortician - and how many of us gasped in delight when we read that post - thank you, I'm very grateful to you.

U-Mom is being too kind. The truth of the matter is I had sent a message to apologize for a hastily posted and not very well constructed comment I had left after solving a quote. U-mom's comment was in no way thoughtless, and I am grateful to her that her reaction to my comment helped me to see how people were interpreting my comment (which was not the way I had intended it to be interpreted). So the thanks rightfully go to U-mom. And if I in any way had a hand in your becoming part of the "social" aspect of this website, well then I'm glad I did. It's fun to see what's on people's minds, and we enjoy your comments, U-mom.

[skoogie2]

what inspired your name

I had pondered a name for my son in law to call me and always wanted a nickname of some kind. He was driving in Charleston and saw a restaurant called Skoogies and said...he thought jokingly....how about Skoogie? I loved it! It stuck!

[wvwoman]

that's a fantastic name! (and your method of choice is exactly how my daughter once got the name "hobart" for her new baby doll! we've laughed about that name for years.)

so, skoogie, while we're telling all (ha!), your gender?

[universalmom]

I had pondered a name for my son in law to call me and always wanted a nickname of some kind. He was driving in Charleston and saw a restaurant called Skoogies and said...he thought jokingly....how about Skoogie? I loved it! It stuck!

Skoogie, I just saw a comment by you when I solved a quote - it was so cool knowing your backstory And I'm guessing you're female...a guy would just have his son in law call him by his first name!

[chopstix]

What an entertaining and informative thread - great idea!

I have to say that I've never participated in any online commentary or threads until this site, and I feel like I'm just blabbing all the time here! (By the way, please excuse those comments produced by one too many glasses of wine.)

Anyhoozles, on a different site I needed a screen name and happened to be eating Chinese food to go…. nothing I came up with worked. I looked around, tried "chopsticks", that didn't work, but chopstix did and there ya go!

Also, I'm half Japanese…. also also, I'm female…. I was lucky to find an avatar that worked for me (I like mushrooms, and doing puzzles - although I don't usually use a pencil).