h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The whole nickname-changing business recently reminded me of something I meant to write some time ago, after stumbling upon this article: http://www.bmezine.com/news/pubring/20031017.html

Alright, so these people are obviously nuts (I mean, just look at them!), but the point about nicknames is interesting.
When I just joined h2g2 I simply used my RL name, Yael. Quite a lot of people still call me that, especially those who knew me before the name-change. But I've been called Lady Pennywhistle for about a year now, and I guess you can say I've _been_ Lady Pennywhistle... I mean, even though one of the reasons I chose this nickname was that it doesn't really mean anything, I guess you can say I got attached to it. When I got a Gmail account and found out 'yael' or 'yaelb' were too short, it was clear to me that I'm going to be 'lady.pennywhistle' instead.
What does it mean? I don't know. I don't think I have a completely separate 'Lady P' personality - just a different mode, if anything, like you always have different modes for different sorts of people. But it does have a sort of independence now. And it's unique (just try googling it and see for yourself), unlike Yael which is one of the commonest girl names in Israel, so that's nice. Doesn't mean I'll change my name to Lady Pennywhistle, of course - I like it just fine the way it is.

So...



...well, I don't really have a point here actually. These are just some random thoughts I thought I'd put down. But if you have any thoughts of your own, I'd love to hear them. Or you could just shrug and move on. Suit yourself.

*shrug*

I started here as "The Reverend Something or Other", trying to sound or be someone more fun and outgoing than I really was. (In fact, that article shows a bit of a certificate from the church that ordained me. )

But after a number of months of frolicking about, I realized it just wasn't me and was really very tiring to maintain the "image". So the Reverend went on a sabbatical of indeterminate duration. And a new account, me, Nick, has existed since. I may add a few words to the tag on occassion to reflect a particular mood, but "Nick" is who I am.

I guess I just kinda rambled too, eh? Life.

I don't think I have a separate personality on here, exactly. But it certainly brings out aspects of myself that don't normally see the light of day ... not very often anyway. I just picked my name because it's HHGTTG-based.

Yes. It's true. It's not my real name.

My real name ... is Tony Curtis. Naturally

So you ate your hamster?

When I joined, I didn't want to be a number, so I just stuck in my real name until I could think of something better. Never got around to it

Mine too. Naturally.

I think it's just that names don't matter that much. I would answer to either Yael or Lady P (actually, I'm starting to think that if I ever walk down the street and hear someone say 'Lady P' I might turn... then again, not much chance of that happening!), and it'd the same 'me' either time.

I've said it before and I'm saying it again, GodBen was my email address, so I just used it here. After all, how did I know I'd be here this long?

I'm generally consistant with it, so if you see someone on some other internet site called GodBen it's probably me.

Lady P, I was at the shops the other day, and someone behind me did call out 'Ivan', and I almost turned to look - but then I remembered that I'm *not* Ivan in RL... Oh dear, how alarming. My brain's now treating my online persona as a real individual...

Traveller in Time on top
"I have been 'Traveller in Time < 42' from my first day here. I did check (and had to rearange it before I registered) the name by searching for it.

And I will sure look and wave for anybody calling for 'Traveller' . It is not entirely impossible, actually quite probable someone will call me that. "

*blinks*

I found I did actually respond to lil in the meet at York..

I'm sure if someone in real life said "Hey, Six..." I'd turn and respond.

Jules is a family nickname so I'd definitely turn round, too!

My family call me God regularly, and Ben even more regularly than that, so I'd probably respond to GodBen.

I have noticed that kea wants to broaden her range beyond h2. I'm not sure yet if that is a good idea.


LP, I remember Yael from the Eyes thread. I didn't know you were her for ages, and now you seem like different people (I didn't know Yael hardly at all though).


kea.

Remember when I saw a picture of a random woman and thought it might be you? I had no idea Yael was such a common name. Sorry.

For me, using my name as an SN is easy because it's so weird: Yuvinani. I shorten it for typing reasons, but I like it.

The my first sn, and only non-Yuvi sn, is groovyreader, but now it seems silly. Yuvi is a homynym for sunrays, so it will do just fine.

That's an interesting article, though.

I put my alias(real name)into Google and in 3.4 secs it came up with 2,460,000 sites, thats only on the net. But there is only one 'Animal' it gives me indiviguality, I am a one offonly family call me by my 1st name

My first nickname on here was android82- after a kind-of nickname my parents gave me. Now my nickname is Scandrea, after a nickname my friends gave me.

I don't think there's anyone on here who's actually stupid enough to use their real name...

*Puts up hand.*

......... Its not as if EVERYONE knows my names Jack.............