Your Profile Name And Photo

[Denyoz]

Here is the place where you can explain to the world your choice of profile name and photo. Some are pretty obvious, others quite mysterious, but they all reveal something interesting about you that you might wish to share.

 

I am certainly interested in hearing what that name means to you and why you selected that photo.

 

I'll go first. Deny is my real name phonetically. "yo" means "hey" or "hi". The letter "z" is seldom used, so I just wanted to pay tribute to it.

 

My profile photo is a Sim I created with The Sims 3 video game. This character was meant to represent me.

[jdog]

Well my name is not really representing me now. When I signed up with ex-c two years back I was not thinking clearly to tell you the truth and quickly chose my dog's nick name. I would actually like to change my name but not sure how to do that.

 

And the avatar photo I have now was something I chose a short while back when I was in a fun mood. And perhaps immature too. I thought it was funny Sponge bob smoking a j. Look at his eyes. Ha ha. I change my photo periodically depending on how I feel.

 

So maybe that in itself says something about me.

 

[mymistake]

I picked my name because the power to change comes from taking responsibility. We live in a world of blame. Well, you can't improve if you are too busy telling yourself that somebody else has the power.

 

I like trees and sunbursts. To me the photo symbolizes the truth getting past my indoctrination.

[flockoff]

I just wanted a short, funny sounding apostasy related name and flockoff was the first thing that came to me. It doesn't describe me too well because I'm not that mad at the church. And when people address me by it it feels like they're telling me to fuck off.

 

The avatar was just something I stumbled across on google and I'm not on facebook or anything so I didn't have anywhere else to show it. But it's not very timely, I wasn't Catholic, and I sort of liked JP2.

 

So I guess I just like to make random choices and stick with them.

[Deva]

Deva is just my online name after so many years. I like the Kill Bill movies and the strength of "The Bride" Uma Thurman. Not into revenge, but she just never quit and it is that spirit I need right now.

[Kurari]

My avatar is one I discovered on LJ a long time back. I felt it was very fitting for this forum. I happen to be bisexual, so Christian homophobia DOES affect me. It also represents just how few Christians actually know about the Bible and don't realize that there are EQUAL abominations unto their Lard.

 

The name "Kurari" is a more phonetic spelling of the word "curare," which is a poison that native peoples of South America used to create poison tipped arrows to hunt with. I picked this because I have a habit of poisoning minds. >

[Thurisaz]

1. jdog, if you want to change your user name here, you should contact our admin Dave, or maybe one of the mods can help too.

 

2. as for me, my avatar pic is that of my main Eve Online character (though he looks different nowadays) and "Thurisaz" is the name of the Elder Futhark rune that my RL first name would begin with if written in runes, and that among other things stands for Thor who is kind of my favorite among the High Gods of the North.

[TrailBlazer]

My photo first: I took this after an XC race. It's a reflection of myself in a really shiny Trail Blazer I found in the parking lot.

My name came from the picture. I've always been one to do my own thing and find my own paths to take; thought it was a fitting name.

[midniterider]

Midnight_Rider was probably already taken. An alter-ego on some other forums. Not original by any means. May have to do with my occult work after midnight. Sounded cool at the time. The photo of course is a mockery of the god that won't be mocked and is subject to change.

[Eugene39]

Eugene is my middle name and I was 39 when I left the faith.

 

My avatar is a picture I took from inside a railroad tunnel, specifically for here. The symbolism has to do with being in the darkness, looking out into the light and the rails leading me to where-ever I end up.

[RedStar]

My user name refers to the next motorcycle I'm going to buy. It's a V Star 650 and I want it in red hence "RedStar". My pic is just me on my current motorcycle which I also love, but it just isn't powerful enough.

 

 

[Mike D]

Mike is my middle name.

 

"D" because of a line from one of my favorite songs back in my youth: "I'm Mike D and I get respect, your cash and you're jewelry is what I expect"

 

My avatar is Nero. He's was a crazy fuck, which makes him interesting to me. I think because so many Christians over the ages thought he was the anti-Christ

[Akheia]

I'm shit for picking out names. The one thing I wanted to ensure was that my name here was unique and completely unrelated to other online names I've used in the past. I like the Greek language (I took a few years of it in college), I'm attracted to the ideals of the Hellenic culture and religion, and think Artemis is the shiznit, so picking the name of one of her handmaidens seemed like a win-win. It took me damn near a week to come up with it. Kittens help me if I ever have to change it. I'll never think of another.

 

The old green pic was just one I had laying around that I'd never used; it was of Tokyo "after people," but was painted way long before the series. The artist had a bunch of these painted to represent the progression of Tokyo from a busted up post-apok city to the overgrown ruins in the picture. The current avatar is Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld. I have a major affection for her because her 12-parter was my first introduction to comic collecting. My first freelance gig, if you want to call it that, was a regular column in a local fanzine and my first article was about Amethyst and her relevance to a 14-year-old girl (which I was at the time). I can't believe the comic club put up with me. Don't get me started talking about how DC FUCKED HER OVER SANS LUBE or we'll never get home.

 

PS: ETA: I love this thread so fucking much. I love hearing how people come up with names/avatars.

[RankStranger]

Rank Stranger is an old Ralph Stanley bluegrass/gospel song that I like- we listened to lots of this stuff when I was a kid, and I still enjoy it.

 

 

Some people read this as "stinky stranger", and I guess that's ok with me. It's true enough.

 

 

 

The picture is unrelated. It's Major Kong from Dr. Strangelove, which is a fucking classic:

 

[MerryG]

MerryG is for merry-go-round. Even though I deconverted long ago, I seem to attract so many proselytisers I've often felt I'm "going 'round and 'round and 'round in the circle game." Now that I've found this place and declared myself done being polite to the Christ-peddlers I suspect (and hope) it won't apply so well. But there it is. Sounds cheerful, so that's a plus.

 

The image -- which I just now uploaded -- is the mandala from a kaleidoscope, symbolizing the beauty, color, harmony, and endless variety I've found outside of religion.

 

Yeah ... good thread.

[Kaiser01]

I choose Kaiser because i have such an interest in German history and the history of the first world war.

 

My avatar is representative of my love of evolution, and learning in general.

[TheBluegrassSkeptic]

Well, my handle has a lot to do with my rather macabre animations, portraiture enhancements, and such. I use it everywhere so people can find me on the internet rather quickly as well.

 

As far as my pic? Any of you that have known me for a bit already know that I tend to shake things up on a regular basis. This week's newest pic depicts my rather serious "Get the fuck over yourself and relax" side. I am not smiling while picking my nose. I'm frowning at the people frowning at what I am doing.... It's my nose, not yours... Get the fuck over yourself and relax!

[SilentLoner]

My main personality traits, along with my actual name initials (S.L)

 

My pic is usually anime related to a character I identify with. But right now I just have Sebastian from Black Butler because he's badass. But I usually do glare just like he is doing in the pic.

[Droptail]

To clear up any potential confusion, "hokun" is not "hokum" misspelled. I was honestly unaware of the latter word before joining here. "hokun" (/xo.'kun/ for those of you who know phonetic representation) was just a made-up word that sounded nice. No deeper symbolism or meaning.

 

And the avatar has Idaho's state bird (Sialia currucoides) and flower (Philadelphus lewisii). They're both pretty, and birds are like miniature dinosaurs. Fun to watch.

 

My avatar is a picture I took from inside a railroad tunnel' date=' specifically for here. The symbolism has to do with being in the darkness, looking out into the light and the rails leading me to where-ever I end up. [img']http://www.ex-christian.net//public/style_emoticons/default/smile.png[/img]

 

While your avatar was familiar and distinctive, I hadn't made that connection before. Very cool!

[sarahlee]

My name's Sarah.

 

I like bread.

 

Jesus memes make me laugh.

 

[LifeCycle]

I love cycling and race competitively and after defecting from the Christian faith I realized I was just another life-cycle just like each and every one of us. It stuck.

 

My photo is me at an early season and very wet race, in Texas earlier in the year.

[blackpudd1n]

I've never been part of an online forum before, so when I was signing up, the weekend that I fully deconverted, I didn't know quite what to call myself. I looked over and saw my cats, and thought to myself, that'll do. Both of my cats are black, so that's where the black comes from. Puddin is a whole other story.

 

Last year, I kept over-feeding Bruce, and was told by the vet that he would have to go on a diet. Dad thought that was hilarious, and started teasing Bruce, calling him a puddin' in proper South End-on-Sea English accent (dad came out here when he was 12). Then when Wednesday joined us, we nicknamed her the puddin, which lead to both cats being referred to as the puddins. Now I don't have cats, I have puddins. Hence, blackpuddin.

 

For this reason, either one or both of my puddins will be in my avatar. The current one is me and Bruce at the vet. He had a blood test that day, which is why he has a bandage on his leg. I love this picture, and am very attached to it, because it was a really special time for Bruce and I. I am Bruce's third owner; he'd turned up at his second owner as a stray, desexed but unregistered, and had clearly been abused at some point in his past. He ran from the slightest noise, and was very aggressive, attacking me multiple times a day viciously. He was a lot of hard work, and I refused to listen to the vet I was seeing at the time's advice on how to manage him, because I felt her advice was barbaric and might modify his behaviour, but wouldn't make him any happier. They wanted me to take his food away when he acted out, but I refused to, because I could not see how that would build trust between he and I. I refused to put him on prozac. Prozac may have made him quieter, but seriously, shoving pills down a cat's throat every day again, does not inspire trust. So I worked with him slowly, with patience, love, and understanding.

 

We had the breakthrough when Wednesday joined us. The vet had advised to never bring in another cat due to his issues. I'm not a fan of pet shops, but when I laid eyes on her, a little black ball of fluff screaming at the top of her lungs and climbing the walls of the cage while the other kittens slept, for some reason, I just knew that Bruce would get along well with her. I brought her home, and 17 hours later, he was grooming her. He transformed overnight into the gentle giant he is today. He mothered her, he stepped back and let her have his food, he cleaned her, he snuggled up with her. And she taught him how to play. I'd tried so many times to play with him, and he'd just never gotten it. Now he plays all the time. And he only ever attacks now when he is stressed out, like when I've got tradies in the apartment fixing things. He also greets everyone who comes, and thinks my dad has a lovely lap to sit in.

 

The photo in my avatar was taken not long after Wednesday came into our lives. Bruce was happy, calm, and content, and I'd done it without drugs and without barbaric behavioural modification techniques. Moral of the story? You do know your cat better than anyone else.

[Astreja]

My leetle bunny friend is actually a National Geographic photo that a close friend sent to Me some years ago, and it seemed appropriate for a certified (or certifiable?) avatar of the Goddess of Spring.

 

The name is a little harder to explain, and considerably weirder. Back in 1999, when I was having one of My periodic flare-ups of woo-woo, I was in the process of studying Norse mythology, learning the Futhark runes that Thurisaz mentioned above, and building an alarmingly large collection of semi-precious stones from New Age shops all over Winnipeg. I had one particular piece of smooth white quartz that I called "Heart," and one afternoon, on My coffee break at my IT job, I was sitting in the lounge holding Heart in My hand and meditating on it. I imagined hearing Oðinn's voice and 'heard' the name Astreja in My mind. The rest is history.

[thetourist]

The Tourist is the last song on the Radiohead album Ok Computer that I like the lyrics of.

 

The pic is a star trek communicator.

[hereticzero]

Heretic Zero I chose as a moniker for speaking against Christianity and its cult of the cross. I don't care if I am not a True Atheist™ or not a True Agnostic™. It is important to me not to be considered in the True Christian™ catagory. I was an xtian for about 45 years and a minister when I deconverted. I don't feel the urge to return to the flock.