The Story of Your Screen Name

[Gaybutton]

Nearly all of us use screen names rather than our real names. Often the reasons for the names are obvious and just as often not so obvious. Sometimes they can appear to be obvious, but in reality are not at all what we thought.

 

I'm curious about everyone's screen names and maybe some of you are willing to share with us how and why your screen name came to be.

 

I'll start:

 

When I lived in the USA my life was essentially in the closet. Only once did I ever attend a gay parade. That was in New Orleans. As the parade passed by, there were guys pinning badges, stickies, and all kinds of tags on people's shirts. One of them placed a badge on my shirt, about six inches diameter, and in big bold letters simply said the word "Gay."

 

I took it home with me and placed it on a shelf just above my computer.

 

I never even needed a screen name until after my first trip to Thailand. Just to show how 'green' I was, even after my first trip, I had never even heard of Pattaya. Back then, newsgroups were quite popular. On one gay newsgroup I posted a grand total of two paragraphs about my experience in the gay bars of Bangkok. I made the mistake of giving out my Email address with a note saying to feel free to contact me with any questions. To my amazement, within a few hours there were literally dozens of messages pouring in asking for more details.

 

I tried answering as many as I could, but the sheer number of Emails quickly became so overwhelming that it was just impossible. I realized there was no way to handle this. What had I gotten myself into? The only thing I could think of to do was to try my hand at creating a small web site that would contain answers to the most common questions I was receiving. I had never tried making a web site before, but I managed to come up with a small prototype of what eventually became my Gaybutton web site and message board. At first I didn't even have a message board. That came later.

 

It was then that I first needed a screen name. I was sitting there in front of my computer, racking my brains for an appropriate screen name when I realized it already was right there, staring me in the face. That badge that said "Gay."

 

I was going to call myself "Gaybadge," but that just didn't sound right. It didn't take long to realize that "button" is a synonym of "badge, and that's how my "Gaybutton" name was born. The Gaybutton name sounded right to me, so that's what I used and that's the screen name I've kept to this very day.

 

That's my story. What's yours?

[Guest lvdkeyes]

I have had people ask me how I like Florida. No, the KEYES in my screen name does not refer to Florida Keys. I also have had people ask me how the real estate business was doing. No, my screen name does not mean LEAVE DA KEYS. It's very simple -LoVeDarK EYES.

[KhorTose]

No interesting story here. I just looked up the Thai word for excuse me in a tourist guide book put out by a Dutch travel service and it was written in Dutch. Later on I was to find out the Dutch had it wrong, but what the heck I am stuck with it now.

 

GB loved your story and, as someone who spent way too long in the closet myself, I can completely understand why that Button was so important to you. Something the younger generation will never know about--the lucky devils.

[Guest GaySacGuy]

Mine is really simple...at the time I started reading this board...found it when looking for Gaybutton's long gone board...I lived in Sacramento, CA. Now I guess the name is getting old, because I live in Ubon Ratchathani.

[Bob]

Well, it's because I'm unimaginative and probably would forget anyway....so it's always just been boring old "Bob", my real first name (or nickname - if anybody actually called me "Robert", I knew I was in big trouble). And, given I signed up on the various boards (Ned's, GB's, GP's, SWD, Tingtong, etc.) early on, I was able to grab the moniker.

[atri1666]

atri1666 means a = andreas tri.... is standing for family name and 1666 was my old housenumber

[Guest xiandarkthorne]

When I wrote my first book, it was an angst-ridden, x-rated autobiography which I wanted to bring out at an internet publisher's and I was advised to use a pseudonym or else I might never be able to get published in Asia under my real name. So after some thought, I decided on a combination that would reflect my Chinese roots and English education and writing, hence Xian Darkthorne...

 

Xian (pronounced see-yen) is the Chinese word for "mysterious" while Darkthorne comes from "thorne" (meaning "from the thornbush" though at the time, I seemed to remember having read somewhere that the additional "e" meant it referred to "sword" in one of those old English - or maybe translations of Norse stories - but everybody in my family said I was "all thorns" anyway, so I added "dark" because I was going through a very depressing period of my life when I first coined the name back in 1997. Anyway, that's why it's written as "hsien an-chien" or Xian Dark Sword" in its Chinese form.

 

In case anyone wants to know, my first book got US Library of Congress and ISBN registration numbers, came out on the internet and three days later, the publisher went belly up, abandoned his website and disappeared while still owing the website designer a lot of money. My book was stuck in limbo (to the best of my knowledge) but I liked the name and decided to stick with it when I began drawing gay BDSM comics and illustrated stories for the internet.

[Guest]

My screen name is a hastily cobbled together spur of the moment effort. Considering the number of posts made with it, I should have thought of something more imaginative.

[kokopelli]

Kokopelli (coke-a-pelli) has been around in the southwest of the USA for thousands of years. His image can be found as petroglyphs in the southwest. Older forms have him with a big "member" but new images are cleaned up. He is a flute player, fertility symbol and mischief maker. I thought mischief maker would be good for some forums but maybe not so on GT.

[ChristianPFC]

Thanks for this post, Gaybutton! I always wondered, but never dared to ask.

 

For me, it's simple: Christian is my first name and PFC stands for Private First Class, the US-American equivalent of the last rank I had in the German army. I had a good time in the army, therefore I don't undertand why no one (neither in Germany nor in Thailand) wants to go there! (Yes, we showered naked in groups, but this was long before my coming-out and I'm a ricequeen so there was nothing to my liking.)

[Guest]

Great topic. Thanks GB.

 

For me, I had always used another moniker on other boards. I wanted to start a new era in my life and when i started this board I started with my real name. I was advised by GayButton to keep a lower profile and thus I quickly changed to GayThailand as that was the name of the site. I also though that since GayButton has been my hero before I came to LOS the first time and his board was GayButton.com that my name should be the same.

 

However, I may now change my name. Thinking on this since I saw the thread I am considering using the moniker I go by on most other boards, TotallyOz. Would that cause too much confusion if I changed my name on all of my posts?

 

BTW: I chose TotallyOz before as I love the Wizard of Oz and even did a Master's dissertation on the book. Since I have every doll, book, photo, etc of the Wizard of Oz series I can get my hands on, my friends always said I was Totally Oz.

[Gaybutton]

Since I have every doll, book, photo, etc of the Wizard of Oz series I can get my hands on, my friends always said I was Totally Oz.

I would not recommend "Totally Oz" as a screen name because these days OZ represents Australia.

 

In your case, maybe "Totally odd"?

 

Here's something for your Wizard of Oz collection:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPuwnyep51Q

[Guest fountainhall]

Mine is much more mundane. It refers to a simple place associated with my childhood - not, I hasten to add, anything like a country mansion. I started using it merely because it is so easy to remember!

[Guest rainwalker]

In those ancient days of acid trips, my bombed out friends and I would talk for hours about topics that ranged from mundane (Man, I must be stoned 'cause you look like a Modigliani painting) to sublimely mundane (Your face is melting!!) with the occasional 20 second break for some lucidity (Far out, Man).

 

In one such conversation, I was asked if I ever had an original thought (Don't think so) and if I ever did have one, in what circumstances would that be.

 

I replied that the only time I would expect to have an original thought would be if I was walking along a beach in a light September rain with seagulls hovering in the wind overhead, and two red Labrador Retrievers wandering beside me.

 

My friend said "A rainwalker, are you?' and I answered yes.

 

 

[KhorTose]

BTW: I chose TotallyOz before as I love the Wizard of Oz and even did a Master's dissertation on the book. Since I have every doll, book, photo, etc of the Wizard of Oz series I can get my hands on, my friends always said I was Totally Oz.

 

TotallyOz sounds a little weird, and I am sure Dorothy is already taken on most gay boards. Seattle calls itself the Emerald city and Oz, and we are great Wizard of Oz fans. How about some play on the word Emerald or Oz. EmeraldCityKing, EmeraldKing, KingOz, GayOz, Ozgay, gayEmeraldCity, EmeraldCitygay, GayinOz, or my favorite, EmeraldCitySmoothie.

[Guest fountainhall]

WoOzY? The Y of course refers to your youthfulness

[Guest xiandarkthorne]

Kokopelli (coke-a-pelli) has been around in the southwest of the USA for thousands of years. His image can be found as petroglyphs in the southwest. Older forms have him with a big "member" but new images are cleaned up. He is a flute player, fertility symbol and mischief maker. I thought mischief maker would be good for some forums but maybe not so on GT.

 

Kokopelli is Anasazi, right? Are you Amerindian? Sorry, just curious. I've never met a gay Amerindian before.

[Gaybutton]

TotallyOz sounds a little weird, and I am sure Dorothy is already taken on most gay boards. Seattle calls itself the Emerald city and Oz, and we are great Wizard of Oz fans.

Well, there's "Toto" too . . .

 

The Lizard of Lez?

Tin Would Man?

Auntie BM?

Yellow Prick Rode?

Poppers?

The Foreskins?

Miss Gulch?

[Guest lvdkeyes]

Don't forget Munchkin.

[PattayaMale]

I remember that David (RIP) was a fantastic poster. I always enjoyed his pictures which at first were taken with film and then the film had to be developed and scanned before posting them. David was really nice and when I came to Pattaya he showed me around. I admired him.

 

This in no way refers to me other than David used David in Pattaya.

 

When I was thinking about a name I could use, I combined the thought of him and a take off on Pattayamail which I enjoyed reading on line when not physically in Pattaya.

 

So I came up with Pattayamale.

 

GB this is an interesting topic.

[Guest TOQ]

Mine is rather simple. Tired Old Queen. It fits

 

john

[kokopelli]

Kokopelli is Anasazi, right? Are you Amerindian? Sorry, just curious. I've never met a gay Amerindian before.

 

One correction, Kokopelli has only been around for one thousand years, not thousands as I wrote.

 

Kokopelli is a Hopi word and maybe the current Hopi are descended from the Anasazi. No, I am not an Amerindian, just an interested wannabe. Although I have "encountered" a gay Amerindian.

[Guest xiandarkthorne]

Kokopelli is a Hopi word and maybe the current Hopi are descended from the Anasazi. No, I am not an Amerindian, just an interested wannabe. Although I have "encountered" a gay Amerindian.

Wooo....lucky you!

[Guest Patexpat]

I wish I had an interesting story to tell! PATEXPAT = Pattaya Expatriate ... boring huh?

[Guest voldemar]

Well, it's because I'm unimaginative

This is (a rare from Bob) fair self-assessment.