How DID you choose your screen name? ...and your signature? ...and avatar?

[Father Bill]

This topic has been around the mulberry bush before (probably more than once) but we have a lot of new and newly-active members since I last remember discussing it and it's been fun in the past, so why not again?

My screen name, "Father Bill" is just my name; it's what people usually call me, (that or just Bill, or "Padre," or just "Father," or "Hey Stupid!) and my signature is what folks have told me I am and that I'm like. My avatar is clergy tartan and a shot of scotch. Nothing overly creative there, but some of the names, signatures, and avatars are extremely creative, and some signature titles are quite unusual. Some are Gaelic, which I don't speak - some translated, some not.

If you'd like to share, I'd like to read. Think of it as sitting around the evening hearth with a small crystal glass at hand, and a half-full bottle loosely corked on the coffee table between us.

Cheers & Blessings! int:

Bill+

[Thomas H]

Screen name : Simply my real name (lol I wish now I would of thought of a Better screen Name )

Signature : Clan Fergusson - Region 4 RVP and Clan tent conveyor for South East

-- This is a title given by the Clan to me

Pro 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

-- A favorite verse of mine to keep me in check and a reminder to
Trust in Jesus Christ above any and all other things.

Avatar : well just a recent pic of my self - showing I now have the ability to wear the single feather .

This is the magic that is me LOL

[artificer]

My screen name isn't really a name so much as a job description (which is why it's not capitalized). I make stuff. It's a screen name I've used back to somewhere around 2003 or so.

My signature is the pronunciation guide and definition for those who might not have heard the word before, as it's old and not commonly used outside of the British and (ex)Colonial armies where it is the title for their mechanics.


ith:

[Laird_M]

Screen name: in honour of a friend who researched the family tree, one of the last he did ebfore cancer claimed him, and bought myself and the wife titles as a wedding gift.
Avatar - our clan badge.
Singature - brief pen pic of who I and and where I came from.

[Kalok Sundancer]

Name: Kalok Sundancer

I am a computer systems engineer/network engineer by trade. Back in the mid 1990s there was this horrible brand of computer hard drives with a really cool sounding name. Kalok. They were one of the last brand of computer hard drives that used voice coil technology for their actuator motor, thus had a high failure rate. In about 1995 or so they went out of business. I thought the name sounded cool, so I began using it as a "gamer name" for the various computer games that I played. When a friend got me into the game Everquest (the original one) back in 1999 he had started a "clan" with the last name of Sundancer based on the name of his favorite dog Sundance. Thus the name Kalok Sundancer was born. My friends have also been known to call me "Unfiltered Frankie".

I don't have an avatar as of yet, but it would probably be something to do with motorcycles or Freemasonry if I did. I am also a Freemason. I've been appointed or elected to every seat in the Lodge (three times as JW) except the WM. Mostly because I am having a tough time meeting one of the requirements to sit that chair. I am also the President and a co-founder of a (newly formed) Masonic motorcycle riders association called Riders of the Third Degree.

[Tomak]

My screen name is an online persona I have been using in online games for years. It is derived from my real name. My avatar is the U.S. Army tartan, since I served for 20 years and that is the tartan of my current kilt. I haven't yet come up with a signature, but I'm working on it.

[McElmurry]

My screen name is the full version of my middle name. It was shortened to Murray on my birth certificate. After researching the name and realizing how amazing it is that it survived intact (at least phonetically) some 500 years or more I started using the full version on important documents (like my Green Bay Packers stock certificate). I also use it on forums where I might stumble across others of the name.

To continue the chin wag, yes I'll have a little more decaf please, as it turns out the name is not directly associated with the Morrison's of Lewis and Harris but is most likely from County Down. Many of the name moved back and forth across the firth so I will likely never know the extent of Irishness or Scottishness of my ancestors. This actually turns out to be quite useful since I am active in various expressions of Goidelic culture.

My signature is a subtle indication I belong to the pick-a-clan-and-stick-with-them club.

Regarding my avatar, my grandfather McElmurry always wore a hat out of doors and lived to 100 years of age with his skin intact. It's not a double blind study but it seems like a good habit to have.

[creagdhubh]

My handle, creagdhubh, which is Scottish Gaelic for "black rock," or "black crag." It refers to the geographical landmark of Creag Dhubh, which is a particularly dark looking hill in Badenoch (Inverness-shire, Scotland), and are the traditional lands of the Clan Macpherson. After the deafeat of the Jacobites at Culloden Moor in 1746, the then Chief of the Clan Macpherson, Ewan Macpherson of Cluny, fled Culloden and went into hiding for 8 years. Cluny was never given up by his loyal clansmen, despite the massive reward for his capture, and eventually fled to Dunkirk where he lived in exile and eventually died.

One of Cluny's more famous hiding places is now referred to as "Cluny’s Cave," located high up on the northeast face of Creag Dhubh. The cave is not accessible without expert assistance and is quite challenging to get to. Every year in August, the Clan Macpherson holds its annual gathering and rally during which a ceremonial run from The Eilan (the Newtonmore Games/Shinty field) to the top of Creag Dhubh and back takes place. "Creag Dhubh" is also referenced in the war/battle cry of the Clan Macpherson: "Creag Dhubh Clann Chatain," or "The Black Rock of Clan Chattan."

The chap in my avatar is the fictional character of Hector Naismith MacDonald, Laird of Glenbogle, MC from the BBC series, "Monarch of the Glen," which was filmed on loaction near Creag Dhubh in Laggan, Newtonmore and Kingussie, Inverness-shire. Hector, an auld crabbit and stauch traditionalist (much like myself), was brilliantly played by the late actor, Richard David Briers, CBE. One of my all-time, favourite British actors.

My signature is self-explanatory.

The annual Clan Macpherson Gathering and Rally in Newtonmore. Creag Dhubh can be seen in the background.


Me hill-walking near Creag Dhubh.


Cheers,

[McMurdo]

My screen name is actually my middle name, when I was a boy growing up I absolutely hated it, however as time has gone by I have come to grow into it. The name was my Uncles first name and as he was my Godfather I was named after him. He passed a few years ago and he missed daily. Here is a photo of him from Christmas about 9 years ago.


As for my avatar it is a photo of me I may change it again not sure. The signature is something that also changes as time goes by and I may change it again.

[cessna152towser]

My first need for an internet username came when I joined eBay. I wanted to choose "Towser" for a stuffed toy scottie dog which my mother made for me when I was a child and which still exists, but the name was already taken. Then I tried "Cessna" which is the make of aeroplane on which I learned to fly and that was also taken. Next up "Cessna152" the specific model of aeroplane and aqgain that was taken. In sheer frustration I typed the whole lot in "Cessna152towser" and much to my surprise eBay accepted that name. As it was quite a handful to remember I decided it would be easiest to keep the same user name when I subsequently joined internet fora including Xmarksthescot.