Haha. Truth. The play’s the thing.

I never thought anything negative about your old username, but I was also taking Classics classes at the time, so it might have just felt oddly familiar. I certainly wouldn’t object to just switching over to Kellie, but I’ve also grown weirdly used to my moniker, warts and all. I made my martini; now I must lie in it.

I must disagree with the wife, though: I’d say you’re perfectly cranky for what the masses call social networking these days. :)

I regretted my first choice of username as it was more apropos of an internet predator than that of a huge Stewart Copeland/Police fan that I have been for decades – and always will be. I opted for a different username that hopefully doesn’t repulse any of our resident nutters at sc.net.

Two years on now my spelling is still atrocious, my punctuation likely even worse. I can’t write nearly as eloquently like a lot of the gifted folks on our forum can. To make matters worse, I type like a fourth grader but at the end of the day I wouldn’t want to spend my time anywhere else but on sc.net. That’s okay as my wife tells me I am way too cranky for something the masses call “social networking” these days.

What you need a username for matters, of course, but if you have any intention of saying anything ever — even just once — with the account, do choose wisely. Few probably consider that an online social situation could result in actually meeting people in person, but having a really dopey username seems to almost guarantee the greatest embarrassment possible. Like being introduced to someone’s wife as “DirtyMartini.”

@sockii — I love your username. Its distinctive yet unshowy and comfortable to say. The story behind it is fun, but it works well even without any background. Great choice.

After fifteen years or so of using it, I’m still damned happy with sockii. It was a play off of something obscure from my “first fandom” and something I’ve always been comfortable with (when people shout it out at a convention or other gathering, I’m more prone to respond to it than hearing my own “real” name.) While I may go by other names in other contexts, it’s still the identity I primarily associate with my “fannishness”, and I’m cool with that.

Without wishing to complicate your thesis, I’d suggest that if you’d called yourself Rudabaga, history would have unfolded in much the same way.

(except that non-americans would have mis-pronounced your name a lot)