: sounds of hammer nailing a board to a wall :
For whom it may concern.
(warning: lengthy)
This post is to inform you that I have humbly asked TubaDiva to change my username, and she, benevolent Übergoddess that she is, has in her infinite mercy and inscrutable wisdom decided to grant my request.
Hereby I’m following in the footsteps of such well-known and/or highly respected posters as Honeydew, the poster known formerly as Rhino’s Honey, and Gazelle, otherwise known as the poster who used to be known as the poster who used to be known as Cantheyara, or as I call her, simply The Poster who used to be known ;). Unlike them, I cannot lay claim to fame and fortune. I’m happily lurking away, slowly but surely putting in my posts.
For those of you who are curious, my old username was TTT. Though being short, it has several drawbacks. One of these is that it is also used as abbreviation of an obscure little three-hour movie that I believe was filmed in New Zealand (. Another is that you cannot very well do vanity searches for three letter usernames (even with a wildcard, I somehow keep getting those movie-references). Not that I want to do vanity searches, no sir, there is not a single vain bone in my body. But I like to have the opportunity, yes, that’s what I like.
When I was reminded by a source who shall remain nameless that there is also a truckstop in Tucson named TTT, that was the limit. Hence my request to the Powers That Be. And here I am.
I have considered other names too. I wanted to keep some kind of continuity. Only the highly prestigious name of Atomic Badger Racing would have tempted me to leave the ‘T’, but unfortunately that has just been taken. Since I do not have the wit and extensive knowledge of SF books and pop lyrics that y’all share, I could not derive an available cool username from those sources. Thinking of a username that has the right kind of associations, I would have liked Cicero, but again that was taken. I briefly considered Tertullian, but those of you who are familiar with the history of the early church know why I decided against it. Since then, a post by Cavalier has confirmed this as a wise choice. Riffing on the the Cicero theme, I thought about Tullian, but that sounds too much like a woman (Trillian in Hitchiker’s guide), and I didn’t want those kind of confusions. Not that there is anything wrong with being a woman. 
So in the end I chose: Tusculan. Sound masculine, slightly boring, with a vague aura of classical knowledge. Just like me. I’m sure you will also inform me that it sounds like a boorish stocky farmer or soldier, but hey, you can’t have it all. At least it is a reference for people who know their classical literature.
As I said, I don’t believe I have made a very deep impression in general during the few months I’ve been here. But then, who has? In fact, it is fine with me to be somewhat anonymous. I would gladly have deleted about half of my posts (some of which are frightfully embarrassing, downright stupid or sadly mistaken). Of the other half, most are just drive-bys with hardly any redeeming features such as humoristic content. I also am rather adept at killing threads by burying them under lots of long, boring and irrelevant posts with slight errors in grammar or idiom to make them even harder to read. Only a few posts of mine may lay claim to being worthy of notice. (Can you tell I’m quite self-critical?)
Given my aptitude for facts and discussions, I tend to post mainly in the factual instead of the social fora. In GQ I used to (and occasionally still do) wreak havoc by posting about U.S. legal issues where I’m not always as well-informed as I think at the time of posting to be (but I’m learning to think before posting, really!). In GD I feel more at home, especially in the philosophical debates, of which I have some fond memories (hi there, TVAA, erislover, and the rest of you guys!). I like CS for general atmosphere, to read about other people’s opinions, and occassionally to voice my own.
The more ‘social’ IMHO and MPSIMS fora I like to lurk in since I find it hard to get the proper tone across in writing, and also because I sorely lack the easy and ready wit that so many of you do show in your highly entertaining banter. I will, however, pop in once in a while to say hello to my fellow countrymen and -women (the illustrious Coldfire, as well as Maastricht, Goodbeem and others). The Pit: well, let’s just say that I feel that even while it may be good to have some things around, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to go in there voluntarily. Maybe I just don’t get angry enough to rant, maybe I’m severily repressed, but even while I sometimes can be amused by what I read, I’m not one for contributing much over there.
So that’s me, almost up to my 500 post count party (here I come, lel)!) I hope to see you guys around, even though I don’t post too often. I’m just recovering from a serious addiction to SDMB and try to refrain from spending too much time hanging out here. So even if you do not see me often, rest assured that it is not for lack of interest but rather because I have other things I have to take care of, too.
Thanks for your attention.
Do carry on with your business.
