intparent

Hah! We should also say what we think our screen name SHOULD be now that we have been on cc for a while!

DougBetsy

On a different forum I used the first syllable of my first, middle, and last name. That was way too hard to read.

So, for this forum, I thought, "Ah ha, clean slate! Keep it meaningful, but easy to read."

In hindsight I regret naming myself after the kids.

ucsd_ucla_dad

I wanted mine to be descriptive so people would understand the context of some of my posts. I included the 'dad' part because if I ever posted in the college areas where there are lots of students I wanted them to know I wasn't a student posting. With the college names in the moniker it lets people know that I might have some experience with those particular colleges and might be able to answer some questions for them if they're interested. I guess my screen name's not very imaginitive but at least fairly transparent.

BunsenBurner

On the day I joined CC, we were clearing some hardly-used junk out of the lab, and someone asked me, "Do you have any use for this old bunsen burner?" "Nope, please toss it!" That old piece of metal junk was the first thing that came to my mind when I was picking my screen name. Not exactly a creative choice, but it fits, sort of. I'm old and I have a tendency to fire up my burners

oldfort

People thought I was trying to use old fart, got some jokes about it in the beginning, and most people thought I was a man. I am not very creative, it is my street name.

Youdon'tsay

oldfort, I must admit I've always wondered about your name.

I always used some combination of my initials and birth year on other boards and thought I better not keep doing that. I lurked for months before I posted and knew I'd be spending quite a bit of time here, so I knew I wanted something nondescript. I wish I'd picked something more interesting now. Though I do like when people use YDS, not sure why that is.

geomom

I used another name at first, but I said some stupid things. I quit and then came back. The geo is from being a geophysicist by trade. Also geo-mom is earth-mother, so it reminds me to be gentle.

QuantMech

After lurking for quite a while, I picked the name as part of a joke to amuse Ben Golub on the Caltech forum. However, it's legitimate also. I do research involving quantum mechanics. (I am not an economist--not that kind of Quant.)

galwaymom

mine is somewhat self-explanatory: family from Co. Galway, Ireland, and H's family are all there, our home away from home! I used it for years on an Irish dancers forum as well.

bookworm

Oh please--I used a name I have on another forum. Sounds pretentious, but then again, I never expected to be around my virtual friends' community for 6 years...
Oh, I notice others use my screen name with a . between words, and other versions. Coincidentially, I now lead a book club, but not at time when joined this group. Reading was more of a dream of something I would do if I had free time.

Quantmath, Haven't heard from Ben G for a year. Why would your screen name bother him?

blankmind

I really wanted dazedandconfused, but it was taken. Every clever name I tried was already taken. I honestly could not think of a thing that wasn't already used. I kept thinking, "what's wrong with me, my mind is a blank." I then tried mymindisablank, but either it was taken or it was too long or something, so I shortened it to blankmind.

geomom

Ben G is busy learning to be an economist at Stanford. I always admired that he flat out used his real name. I once asked him why, and he said, "I thought it would keep me from saying anything too offensive."

I wonder now if he thinks it worked?

QuantMech

bookworm, my username didn't bother Ben Golub at all--it just was part of a joke to amuse him. I wrote up the qualifications of Richard Feynman at the time of college application, in the form of a chances post, with the title "Yeah, I can get in." I'd be glad to send it to any Feynman aficionados--there are a lot of "in jokes" that only make sense if you've read books such as "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman."

mathmom

I'm not the math person (though I like math), my older son is. If I'd been thinking, I'd have realized that it doesn't work for my second kid at all. I'd like to have one of those clever names, my personal favorite is lurknessmonster. I'd probably do a gender neutral one next time, though I don't mind letting people know I'm a parent when I post outside the parent forum.

toledo

I have to pick a new screen name as I've just discovered CC is linked to Naviance. Too many people from our school use Naviance so it's only a matter of time before they're all on this web site. So you won't see Toledo any longer, but I'll still be here.