OK, let's move beyond the Eliot reference.

Where did your handle come from?

Jon and Phillip are easy, Zamphir may claim the panflautist spelled it wrong, and Graham is advertising for his company. Me, Oedipa was the main character in Thomas Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49.

I truly am a fetus, and crawl out of my womb every night to get on the internet. I have this cool umbilical cord made of elastic. Its an Everlast.

Honestly, though, I have absolutley no reason for calling myself a fetus. None, whatsoever

In Response to the_fetus (#3421):

why am i goat_girl? it would seem so obvious wouldn't it? in actual fact i was logging onto things as goat_girl (or 101 variations thereof)before i even new this comic existed. i was at a campground about 3 or 4 years ago, and there was goats there, and i fell in love. i like them, they like me. we're happy happy clams.

Well, I would hope that my name would be obvious, at least to those in the states that are over the age of say, 25. My dad was a big Paul Newman fan and named me after his role as a famous criminal (kind of sets my life up for disaster), Cool Hand Luke.

This thread gets the "Lamest. Title. Ever." award.

Mine came about years ago when I needed a nickname for something or other, probably a game. I suck at thinking up names. But the song I was listening to at the time, "Moonlight You Will Say" by Current 93 had a refrain of "Miserere" repeated over and over. So I chose that, but my spelling of foreign words with silent syllables is pretty lousy. And I've been too lazy ever since to correct it or find a new nickname.

Well, I used to go by 'altor' and log in to a load of places as it. That was all fine and dandy until I tried signing up to a place (can't remember which) and altor was taken. So I had a decision to make. I decided that if I ever met the person who usurped my name that I would need the power of the dark side to defeat them. Hence the 'evil' prefix...

I like hefeweizen.

- Iain

Well, I guess I don't need to reply.

In Response to zamphir (#3428):

And yet... you did.

In Response to mea37 (#3429):

It's so kind of you to notice.

In Response to jon (#3424):

Do I get a trophy with that award?

In Response to zamphir (#3430):

Yes, I am nothing if not kind.

*disappears in a puff of logic*

About 8 years ago I started playing a MUD called Gemstone III. At the time, it was by far the most popular MUD online; as such, pretty much every Tolkien-related name was used already. So when it came time to pick a character name, I chose Dùnedain, (Dunedain was taken) knowing most people wouldn't have thought of trying to use extended characters (in Windows, Alt+151). The Dùnedain are the Rangers of which Aaragorn is the unofficial chieftan. Anyways, when I typed it in, either I goofed, or the game system did, and turned the ù to a y. So I got a unique handle which I have never seen on the internet (except when it was me of course).

In Response to Dynedain (#3435):

Well, Alt+152 is ÿ, so perhaps...

I ripped it off (with a slight change of gender) from some guy who went by the moniker of Robopope. I assume he got his inspiration from Robocop, though it is possible that the idea of a cyber-pontiff came into being of its own accord, like Frosty the Snowman.

In Response to Robonun (#3438):

I chose my name while signing up for very first dial up account. It seemed very appropriate at the time. I've thus far been uninspired to change it.

Graham is advertising for his company

Only by mistake...

I use albionsoft as my standard username everywhere because (a) I can remember it (2) it isn't likely to be already in use and (iii) no one will normally care what I use. Given I wasn't planning on posting to the forums (don't be stupid - I don't have that kind of time to waste) it didn't seem important. I only signed up 'cos otherwise I couldn't send Jon premium money.

This probably says a lot about my ability to (1) plan ahead and (b) resist wasting time...

Cheers,
Graham

In Response to Dynedain (#3435):

Of course, even this doesn't make you a LOTR geek [goats.com], right?

You're just an enthusiast who can stop any time.

In Response to zamphir (#3466):

Just like w/ alcohol....I'm not an Alcoholic, I'me a Drunk. Alcoholics go to meetings.

In Response to albionsoft (#3460):

It's ok, really; wear your username proudly.

I ended up with my username in a similar fashion. My username is an indirect and once removed advertisement for my company.

Thinking of one that is not likely to be in use is the tricky part. I was surprised to find many derivatives of Oedipa Maas, Lot 49, etc. were already taken on Yahoo. I became frustrated. Now my Yahoo username is abortedbabies. Easy to remember and sure to offend.

In Response to Oedipa_Maas (#3470):

Again, this is Haddie too lazy to Login.

My last name is hadfield, friends call me haddie.
Therefore, my username is haddie. Oh so simple. Oh so elegant.

ET. fone home!

In Response to mccallion_d (#3476):

I see. What he means to say is that in his language, mccallion_d means moron.

In Response to Haddie (#3484):

Isn't it a fascinating part of human behavior when the former #1 Loser picks on a newbie so as to redirect ridicule and try to weasel his way into the cool clique that usually picks on him?

Man, this feels like Jr. High.

In Response to luvrhino (#3486):

I was thinking that it was a stunning achievement for mccallion_d to descend past Haddie's low mark.

Of course, we haven't seen proof yet that mccallion_d is not Haddie in, err, disguise.