# Avatars, comments thereon **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 15, 2025, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-comments-thereon/1015633 "2025-03-15T23:46:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2025, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-comments-thereon/1015633/21 "2025-03-16T04:06:48Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > Better than being described as a campfire with burning logs as another poster originally did! Who me? šŸ˜Š ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2025, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-comments-thereon/1015633/22 "2025-03-16T04:22:48Z")
Well, @solost shares the opinion, in a past thread on this subject! > [@(Mis)identify someone else's SDMB avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mis-identify-someone-elses-sdmb-avatar/980129/2): > > For a long time I thought @ParallelLinesā€™ avatar was that of a campfire, but itā€™s actually the face of some hideous frog-like creature with Yosemite Sam eyebrows. ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2025, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-comments-thereon/1015633/23 "2025-03-16T11:01:09Z")
Iā€™m a pirate, and possibly poisonous too. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2025, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-comments-thereon/1015633/24 "2025-03-16T11:09:41Z")
ā€¦ Add standard username icon and location (southern hemisphere ) ---
**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2025, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-comments-thereon/1015633/25 "2025-03-16T12:00:43Z")
Shortly after the switch to Discourse, I opened up my automatically generated ā€œPā€ pic in an image editor, and I wondered how it would look with a white background, so I did that. And left it that way, because Iā€™m lazy. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2025, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-comments-thereon/1015633/26 "2025-03-16T12:15:38Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Your bagpipe _still_ looks like a hummingbird to me about 50% of the time. [![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D8gt0wkU0AI8nq1?format=jpg&name=small) ](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D8gt0wkU0AI8nq1?format=jpg&name=small) ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2025, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-comments-thereon/1015633/27 "2025-03-16T12:35:10Z")
Back to John Philip Kemble as **Coriolanus** Itā€™s said to be his best role, and he is said to be one of the best ever at playing it. Here depicted banished from Rome and plotting his revenge. The full picture, painted by Thomas Lawrence in 1798 is at the City of Londonā€™s [Guildhall Art Gallery](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guildhall_Art_Gallery), ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2025, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-comments-thereon/1015633/28 "2025-03-16T13:14:38Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > Iā€™m mildly curious, @thorny_locust, why your avatar appears to be a strawberry. This one would match your board name, though it might not be as distinctive when avatar-sized: Even better: [![](https://media.sciencephoto.com/image/c0503917/800wm/C0503917-Thorny_Devil_Katydid_Panacanthus_cuspidatus_.jpg) ](https://media.sciencephoto.com/image/c0503917/800wm/C0503917-Thorny_Devil_Katydid_Panacanthus_cuspidatus_.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2025, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-comments-thereon/1015633/29 "2025-03-16T13:43:29Z")
If I may make a humble suggestion, with a request for forgiveness for any perceived criticism, I think that a mistake that many Dopers make is taking a picture that they like and just reducing it down to avatar size. This simply doesnā€™t work ā€“ all you get is an unrecognizable blob. Itā€™s more appropriate to think of an avatar as a sort of logo, like a corporate logo, rather an actual picture. Mine is not an ideal example, especially since the addition of the Ukraine blue and yellow emblem makes it rather cluttered, but at least itā€™s recognizable as a representation of my own handsome features! @CairoCarol has a great, simple avatar, very much in the spirit of a logo. If you must have an actual image, @Seanette and @EddyTeddyFreddy provide good examples of how to do it by using a cropped close-up view. @thorny_locust also has a nice recognizable one, although itā€™s neither thorny nor a locust! @Northern_Piper has the right idea of using a representational image, but I wonder about the execution, since itā€™s not clear what the hell itā€™s supposed to be ā€“ I still think of it as the worldā€™s ugliest hummingbird! šŸ˜‰ ---
**Author:** ![EnglishGrey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/englishgrey/32/14111_2.png) [@EnglishGrey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EnglishGrey)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2025, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-comments-thereon/1015633/30 "2025-03-16T13:45:09Z")
Mine is either the boat I am on, or one very similar, rounding the Fastnet lighthouse halfway through the race (2009 or 2017 canā€™t remember which). ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2025, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-comments-thereon/1015633/31 "2025-03-16T13:47:50Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > Better than being described as a campfire with burning logs as another poster originally did! > [@(Mis)identify someone else's SDMB avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mis-identify-someone-elses-sdmb-avatar/980129/2): > > Well, @solost shares the opinion, in a past thread on this subject! > > > [@(Mis)identify someone else's SDMB avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mis-identify-someone-elses-sdmb-avatar/980129/2): > > > > For a long time I thought @ParallelLinesā€™ avatar was that of a campfire, but itā€™s actually the face of some hideous frog-like creature with Yosemite Sam eyebrows. Hey, no disrespect was intended. I like campfires! Also, when I thought I saw crossed logs in your avatar, I assumed you were making a delightfully subtle ironic counterpoint to your username. Iā€™m getting bored with my avatar, and the reason why I created it in the first place no longer exists. Iā€™m thinking of changing it soon. Campfire, maybe? ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2025, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-comments-thereon/1015633/32 "2025-03-16T14:49:57Z")
Until now I assumed your handle was ā€œ **solo-ist** ā€, but apparently is instead ā€œ **so-lost** ā€. I was about to suggest someone playing a violin or maybe a guitar, but howzabout a shipwreck victim in a life raft? ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2025, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-comments-thereon/1015633/33 "2025-03-16T16:15:25Z")
I was poking fun, and bringing up the prior thread, but Iā€™m in no way hurt by the awesome characterization and thought that went into it. Better to be talked about (and talked up for that matter!) than not to be talked about at all. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2025, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-comments-thereon/1015633/34 "2025-03-16T16:19:13Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > Until now I assumed your handle was ā€œ **solo-ist** ā€, but apparently is instead ā€œ **so-lost** ā€. Yeah, I get that a lot. I briefly considered having my signature or description line changed to ā€œNot soloistā€ at one point. > [@John\_DiFool](#): > > I was about to suggest someone playing a violin or maybe a guitar, but howzabout a shipwreck victim in a life raft? Hmm, maybe. I originally called myself ā€˜solostā€™ because I came out of lurkerdom and subscribed in order to comment in the ā€œLostā€ thread in its final season. If we could have done custom avatars then (I donā€™t think we could, then?), I probably would have chosen the Dharma Initiative logo. But that show is anathema to me now. > [@ParallelLines](#): > > I was poking fun Yeah, I figured you were (hoped, anyway šŸ˜‰) ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2025, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-comments-thereon/1015633/35 "2025-03-16T16:27:51Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > Iā€™m mildly curious, @thorny_locust, why your avatar appears to be a strawberry. I grow strawberries, some years. And that one shows up nice and visibly, with little need for explanation as to what it is, and rapidly findable scrolling through a thread. The thorny locust Iā€™m thinking of, while it is thorny, isnā€™t quite that thorny ā€“ itā€™s black locust, not honey locust. Thorny enough to annoy some people; very hard to get rid of once it gets its roots in somewhere; makes fantastic long-lasting fenceposts (to hold up your grapevines while youā€™re vehemently complaining about trying to weed it out of your vineyard) and also fantastic long-lasting hot-burning firewood. May or may not be a nitrogen fixer depending on who you talk to. > [@John\_DiFool](#): > > Even better: ā€“ what on earth is that thing? It has a very goofy looking face. And false eyes, apparently. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2025, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-comments-thereon/1015633/36 "2025-03-16T16:30:46Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > ā€“ what on earth is that thing? It has a very goofy looking face. And false eyes, apparently. - A (likely AI generated) thorny locust. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2025, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-comments-thereon/1015633/37 "2025-03-16T16:36:45Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > I grow strawberries, some years. And that one shows up nice and visibly, with little need for explanation as to what it is Except for my dumb ass, who admitted (probably in the same ā€˜Misidentified Avatarsā€™ thread in which I mistook @ParallelLines ā€˜ avatar for a campfire) that I used to think your avatar was a habanero pepper šŸ˜Š ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2025, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-comments-thereon/1015633/38 "2025-03-16T16:37:06Z")
The AI part might indeed explain it. I was wondering if it/they is a character in something I havenā€™t been reading/watching. ETA: > [@solost](#): > > I used to think your avatar was a habanero pepper Most years I grow those too! ā€“ the orange ones, that is; though Iā€™ve seen seed for sale for red habaƱeros, too. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2025, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-comments-thereon/1015633/39 "2025-03-16T16:43:25Z")
Site I got it from insisted it was a real species: [Thorny Devil Katydid](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panacanthus). ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2025, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-comments-thereon/1015633/40 "2025-03-16T17:12:30Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > Site I got it from insisted it was a real species: Huh. The world is strange. Thanks for info! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-comments-thereon/1015633.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-comments-thereon/1015633.md?page=3)