A rose by any other name

Updating mah blawg... yeah.

I decided to fill you guys in on my many and varied names. Over a lifetime, I find that it's possible to accumulate many nicknames, aliases, and alter-egos, and I would like to share a few of those (the ones I can remember!) with you now.

The first nickname I ever went by was Sprite, at the age of 13. I never really had nicknames as a kid, so I had to choose my own for a forum called Zenhex. Back in the day (it's still around, in a somewhat reduced format), it had millions of members, so somehow Anna was taken (who'da thunkit?). As Sprite, I was generally nice but immature - well, duh, I was 13! Didn't stay there for long. It was one of those communities that reacts badly to sweetness and light. I used the same name when I joined the Adrift forum. Again, I was childish, generally good-natured and positive, and I generally got on well with people, which was very nice for me. I became an obsessive poster until I was one of the top posters, then pretty much quit - I still go back occasionally to check how people are doing.

I was given the nickname Anna the Elf at school, also known as Anna the half-elven, 3/4 elven, 7/8 elven (depending on how my school attendance had been lately. No, really.) This was because of Lord of the Rings, of course, when we all had to decide what race we would be - and being fairly tall with long hair, it was fairly obvious!

It was about this time I went into nickname overload, many of which are never used. I became Cookie briefly when my Sprite username wasn't working. I became Kina for any fantasy stories I was writing. I became bomb when my family texted me, at least until they worked predictive text out! This confusion probably contributed to something very strange that started happening. I stopped answering to Anna. People would have so much trouble getting my attention, they could call my name out five times and I wouldn't hear them! You know how you're tuned in to your name? If someone says it, your ears will prick up? That failed for me. So I decided I needed a replacement name, and thus Emma Jay Roshenko was born. I still have that name somewhere in me.

I joined another forum, where I was known as Thiefree - which is also my YouTube username. Thiefree gets on well with almost everyone, ahh isn't that nice. Again, I became one of the top posters, and then more or less quit again because of some inappropriate (and frankly scary) things a forum member said to me.

At the moment, I'm living online as Corsair - a word that means a sort of legally-endorsed pirate. Sounds good to me! I don't know what kind of impression I'm making under this name yet, which is nerve-wracking, but there you go.

That brings you up to date, I believe - sorry if I've forgotten anything, it probably wasn't very interesting. I don't know why I decided you needed to know all that, but it's a bit of a confession. Now you can see my entire reputation, I guess. If you felt so inclined, you could check up on me. ... I mean, don't, that would be creepy, but you know. The thought's there.

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other word would smell as sweet."

--From Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2)