How did you decide on your current username and profile picture?

[HaggisShuu]

This is a very silly thread, but I think it could be fun. 
 

When I was in the scouts, I had a friend who came up with a hilarious joke. My IRL surname is actually quite close to Haggis. All you need to do is add a letter and do some slight rearranging and you have the name of a traditional scottish food. I was called Haggis for quite some time after this. 
 

The Shuu part comes from a pigeon dating simulator called "Hatoful Boyfriend" and is the name of this character:

I don't remember the context as to why, but eventually these were both combined into the nickname "HaggisShuu" which has been my online username ever since. 
 

As for profile picture, I am big fan of the film Porco Rosso, and traditionally I have used this frame as my profile picture:

 

However lately I fancied a change and was inspired by the short fat kid from shrek forever after which is my current profile picture. His relentless determination to get what he wants, and solid bond with his father was truly inspiring to watch on the big screen. 

[Carborendum]

For userid and passwords, I do a double-whammy of unlikely words.  I use obscure words or proper nouns and purposefully misspell them.  There is no dictionary in the world that would have any of my passwords.

My userid is a misspelling of the stone known as carborundum.  I came across it in a lab in college.  We were trying to grind down some concrete to a specific dimension.  And we were using a stone that resembled a volcanic rock (with all the nooks and crannies of the stones that looked like charred sponges). 

I asked the crew if anyone knew what this stone was made of that could withstand grinding away at concrete without seeming to wear itself at all.  I can't be sure what a classmate said.  He may have said it with the "u" sound, but what I heard was "carborendum."    That was what stuck with me.  

(It is used as a grindstone because it has a hardness of 9 to 9.5 on the Mohs scale.)

As the blogosphere got bigger and social media was a thing, I figured I needed a unique userid.  None of the "add some number" to make it unique.  I wanted it to be unique.  So, I chose "Carborundum."  But, of course, to make it truly unique, I purposefully misspelled it.  And I like the sound better anyway.

As I described the rock form as being like the porous stone, the crystal form is a sight to behold.  So, I did a web search for images of carborundum and found my current avatar.

Edited 14 hours ago by Carborendum

[zil2]

For the profile picture / avatar, you must begin with this comment ("Guest" in this interaction is @Carborendum's previous incarnation):

...and continue reading until the "sheathen" bit runs dry.  (It seems to have taken a moment for folks to recognize that sheathen is just a female heathen.)  It stuck around as a running joke across threads, and so I drew my avatar to match.   (Yes, zil was me, but I clobbered that account back when I was having hard times, to prevent myself from using it, and apparently I did such a good job that it couldn't be recovered, so when I was ready to come back, I needed a new account, hence, zil2.)

As for how I chose my user name... I inverted my name (the first time; the second time, I did as described above - added a 2).

 

Sadly, the site's indexing appears to be broken, and badly enough that even google can barely find any instances of "sheathen".  It's possible it took a couple weeks for the avatar change - which I might have made for this post (I drew the avatar):

 

And because the site indexing is broken, I can't go back and relive all the fun referenced in this post:

 

But I can see that we used to have more fun, per my previous opinion, and therefore we ought to have more fun again.  I think we need to coax @Jamie123 to finish the adventures of Henry the vacuum cleaner:

Which ended in a cliffhanger - ironically, at the bottom of a cliff (be sure to check out the second installment on page 2 of the thread).

[NeuroTypical]

Gen Alpha LDS snarky teens were going wild with the AI studio Ghibli generator.  I had my pick:

 

 

 

 

By the way, that AI generator was pretty cool.  I turned some of our favorite family pictures into Ghibli art:

         

 

Edited 10 hours ago by NeuroTypical

[mirkwood]

Mirkwood is the forest of giant spiders and elves in The Hobbit.  It is one of my favorite parts of the story.  It was the name I selected on my first forum (the now defunct Rush Message Board) and what I have used pretty much everywhere ever since.

 

 

I wear these two patches on my body armor under my uniform.  I like boonie hats, sometimes I have a beard and I have a suppressed AR15.  It kind of matches who I am.

[LDSGator]

This is my second name. I’m a huge University of Florida fan, and their mascot is an alligator. My first name here was “MormonGator”. 
 

The profile pic is an alligator who jumped on boat and it looked like it was waving. It did not happen to me, I found it on a random site somewhere.  

[LDSGator]

Dude awesome thread.  

[Traveler]

The application of my particular profession has taken me many places far from my home.  Two things have always been of upmost importance in my travels.  First to seek out and spend time with the Saints that are building Zion in those far-off places.  Second (most important) is to find my way back home.  

My username is a reflection of both my physical and spiritual life.  Growing up in Provo Utah in the back yard of Brigham Young University (BYU) I was shielded a great deal from things non-LDS throughout the rest of the world.  Many professors and their families were a part of my daily experiences.  Hugh Nibley was one of the more influential individuals I grew up knowing.  Even in my youth I was fascinated with Brother Nibley’s concept of Abraham as a stranger in a strange land.  I have identified myself in the mortal experience as the stranger in a strange land.  I have never felt to belong to this earth but rather to some other place that is greatly different.  I am the traveler far from my home.

My only purpose here is to seek out Saints building Zion and to find a way back to where I belong.  My profile picture is a device that combines a sextant, star chart, sundial and compass – It is my private symbolic Liahona.  This forum is a safe harbor for me.

 

The Traveler

[LDSGator]

1 hour ago, Traveler said:

This forum is a safe harbor for me.

I think it is for a lot of us. It’s a virtual ward for me. 

[HaggisShuu]

7 hours ago, Carborendum said:

For userid and passwords, I do a double-whammy of unlikely words.  I use obscure words or proper nouns and purposefully misspell them.  There is no dictionary in the world that would have any of my passwords.

My userid is a misspelling of the stone known as carborundum.  I came across it in a lab in college.  We were trying to grind down some concrete to a specific dimension.  And we were using a stone that resembled a volcanic rock (with all the nooks and crannies of the stones that looked like charred sponges). 

I asked the crew if anyone knew what this stone was made of that could withstand grinding away at concrete without seeming to wear itself at all.  I can't be sure what a classmate said.  He may have said it with the "u" sound, but what I heard was "carborendum."    That was what stuck with me.  

(It is used as a grindstone because it has a hardness of 9 to 9.5 on the Mohs scale.)

As the blogosphere got bigger and social media was a thing, I figured I needed a unique userid.  None of the "add some number" to make it unique.  I wanted it to be unique.  So, I chose "Carborundum."  But, of course, to make it truly unique, I purposefully misspelled it.  And I like the sound better anyway.

As I described the rock form as being like the porous stone, the crystal form is a sight to behold.  So, I did a web search for images of carborundum and found my current avatar.

This is a very mesmerising photo. I must admit, I made this thread with you in mind as I've never been able to make out what it actually was in your profile picture. 

Answer achieved.

[HaggisShuu]

4 hours ago, zil2 said:

For the profile picture / avatar, you must begin with this comment ("Guest" in this interaction is @Carborendum's previous incarnation):

...and continue reading until the "sheathen" bit runs dry.  (It seems to have taken a moment for folks to recognize that sheathen is just a female heathen.)  It stuck around as a running joke across threads, and so I drew my avatar to match.   (Yes, zil was me, but I clobbered that account back when I was having hard times, to prevent myself from using it, and apparently I did such a good job that it couldn't be recovered, so when I was ready to come back, I needed a new account, hence, zil2.)

As for how I chose my user name... I inverted my name (the first time; the second time, I did as described above - added a 2).

 

Sadly, the site's indexing appears to be broken, and badly enough that even google can barely find any instances of "sheathen".  It's possible it took a couple weeks for the avatar change - which I might have made for this post (I drew the avatar):

 

And because the site indexing is broken, I can't go back and relive all the fun referenced in this post:

 

But I can see that we used to have more fun, per my previous opinion, and therefore we ought to have more fun again.  I think we need to coax @Jamie123 to finish the adventures of Henry the vacuum cleaner:

Which ended in a cliffhanger - ironically, at the bottom of a cliff (be sure to check out the second installment on page 2 of the thread).

I used to have a Henry. I must say I hated the thing. A cordless Shark hoover is what we have now and it was a life changing purchase.

[HaggisShuu]

3 hours ago, NeuroTypical said:

Gen Alpha LDS snarky teens were going wild with the AI studio Ghibli generator.  I had my pick:

 

 

 

 

By the way, that AI generator was pretty cool.  I turned some of our favorite family pictures into Ghibli art:

         

 

Seems like a good tool for Youth Sunday school lessons or family home evening to be honest.

[HaggisShuu]

3 hours ago, LDSGator said:

This is my second name. I’m a huge University of Florida fan, and their mascot is an alligator. My first name here was “MormonGator”. 
 

The profile pic is an alligator who jumped on boat and it looked like it was waving. It did not happen to me, I found it on a random site somewhere.  

Is the Florida man stereotyping at all accurate?

[HaggisShuu]

1 hour ago, Traveler said:

The application of my particular profession has taken me many places far from my home.  Two things have always been of upmost importance in my travels.  First to seek out and spend time with the Saints that are building Zion in those far-off places.  Second (most important) is to find my way back home.  

My username is a reflection of both my physical and spiritual life.  Growing up in Provo Utah in the back yard of Brigham Young University (BYU) I was shielded a great deal from things non-LDS throughout the rest of the world.  Many professors and their families were a part of my daily experiences.  Hugh Nibley was one of the more influential individuals I grew up knowing.  Even in my youth I was fascinated with Brother Nibley’s concept of Abraham as a stranger in a strange land.  I have identified myself in the mortal experience as the stranger in a strange land.  I have never felt to belong to this earth but rather to some other place that is greatly different.  I am the traveler far from my home.

My only purpose here is to seek out Saints building Zion and to find a way back to where I belong.  My profile picture is a device that combines a sextant, star chart, sundial and compass – It is my private symbolic Liahona.  This forum is a safe harbor for me.

 

The Traveler

I had always assumed it was an artistic replica of the Liahona, not a real life item. Very cool. 

Edited 7 hours ago by HaggisShuu

[LDSGator]

23 minutes ago, HaggisShuu said:

Is the Florida man stereotyping at all accurate?

Yes and no. We have 22 million people in our state so sure, we’ll have more bad apples than Iowa or West Virginia. We also love our freedom down here. When I go to Rockville (a large music festival) you’ll see people crowd surfing and moshing holding signs that “ban” both activities. Also, Tampa and Miami are known for wild parties, especially when our sports teams win . So do we like to party? You betcha. 
 

We also have all types of people down here. Florida is enormous and the cultures are very different in this state. You’ll have small town kids who have never left the county (true) living in the same state as the typical cosmopolitan elitist in Miami, Jacksonville, etc.   Not to mention we have academics in world class universities, rich athletes, poor people, Cuban migrants, old people….

So, if you come to Florida thinking all of wrestle alligators, commit felonies, and live in trailers you’ll be very disappointed. 
 

On a personal note, no, I’m not a Florida man. I can’t change a tire, have never been arrested for a felony, attacked an alligator or rescued kayakers from an upcoming hurricane. Sorry bro.  

Edited 7 hours ago by LDSGator

[Backroads]

Username: Don't recall why. I've used it for almost two decades in more than one location 

I like the look of leaves.

Yup.

[HaggisShuu]

5 minutes ago, LDSGator said:

Yes and no. We have 22 million people in our state so sure, we’ll have more bad apples than Iowa or West Virginia. We also love our freedom down here. When I go to Rockville (a large music festival) you’ll see people crowd surfing and moshing holding signs that “ban” both activities. Also, Tampa and Miami are known for wild parties. So do we like to party? You betcha. 
 

We also have all types of people down here. Florida is enormous and the cultures are very different in this state. You’ll have small town kids who have never left the county (true) living in the same state as the typical cosmopolitan elitist in Miami, Jacksonville, etc.   Not to mention we have academics in world class universities, rich athletes, poor people, Cuban migrants, old people….

So, if you come to Florida thinking all of wrestle alligators, commit felonies, and live in trailers you’ll be very disappointed. 

My wife and I both want to visit USA at some point, but both for different reasons. I want to go to Salt Lake, she wants to go to Disney World. America is too big to see both in one trip! 

We got family in Utah who says it sucks, and the Salt lake is Gross. Which is not helping to sway the wife to my side. 

[LDSGator]

2 minutes ago, Backroads said:

Username: Don't recall why. I've used it for almost two decades in more than one location 

I like the look of leaves.

Yup.

I’ve always liked your screen name. Same with @mirkwood

[HaggisShuu]

3 minutes ago, Backroads said:

Username: Don't recall why. I've used it for almost two decades in more than one location 

I like the look of leaves.

Yup.

They look like Mint leaves. Which are actually quite an annoying weed to get rid of in the UK.

Plant a bit of mint in your herb garden, and it'll end up taking over your flower beds, your vegetables and your sense of enthusiasm to even try and continue to maintain it.

[Backroads]

9 minutes ago, LDSGator said:

So, if you come to Florida thinking all of wrestle alligators, commit felonies, and live in trailers you’ll be very disappointed. 
 

On a personal note, no, I’m not a Florida man. I can’t change a tire, have never been arrested for a felony, attacked an alligator or rescued kayakers from an upcoming hurricane. Sorry bro.  

[LDSGator]

1 minute ago, HaggisShuu said:

Lake, she wants to go to Disney World.

I’m with her. My wife and I have annual passes. 

 

1 minute ago, HaggisShuu said:

America is too big to see both in one trip! 

Like I’ve mentioned my Melissa and I are hosting a 15 year old German girl. We took her on a road trip for Spring Break and went from Florida to NH to Kansas City to Florida. When we told her she traveled over 4000 miles and saw less than half the country she was stunned. 

[Backroads]

1 minute ago, HaggisShuu said:

They look like Mint leaves. Which are actually quite an annoying weed to get rid of in the UK.

Plant a bit of mint in your herb garden, and it'll end up taking over your flower beds, your vegetables and your sense of enthusiasm to even try and continue to maintain it.

Same invasive thing in the US!

 

[LDSGator]

2 minutes ago, Backroads said:

Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha. 

Florida jokes make us cry. All the way to Disney. 😜 

[zil2]

39 minutes ago, HaggisShuu said:

I must say I hated the thing.

Then you should be able to relate to @Jamie123's cartoon!

[HaggisShuu]

10 minutes ago, LDSGator said:

So, if you come to Florida thinking all of wrestle alligators, commit felonies, and live in trailers you’ll be very disappointed. 
 

On a personal note, no, I’m not a Florida man. I can’t change a tire, have never been arrested for a felony, attacked an alligator or rescued kayakers from an upcoming hurricane. Sorry bro.  

This is devastating news for me. I must admit, as a true Bri'ish citizen, with very bad teeth. My knowledge of what Americans are like come from the following sources:

The discovery Channel
The Tabernacle Choir
All the America fast food chains which are suddenly popping up in the UK
Florida man articles

Not likely a balanced view on things.