What made you choose your avatar/username/user title?

Lori_7 said:
i bet she could be trained to...but no. i want my friend to paint a picture of my dog, and he knows pooh, and i gave him some good pics of her and bought him a canvas like almost 2 years ago. :mad:

i think i'm going to have to commission another artist.
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Meh... cheapest method take a High quality digital picture of your dog, parse the picture through a "paint stroke" filter of a paint program like photoshop, paintshop or of course GIMP. This will give you a huge picture that looks like someone painted a picture of your dog. You should then be able to take it to a printing shop and have it printed huge enough to be framed.

Alternatively you could do some sort of "amateur" painting contest, get a picture of your dog like before and stick it online on a website offer some sort of reward as a prize and get people online to submit their works (either electronically or by post) of course you'll probably have a bunch of kids send you their interpretation of what your dog looks like (priceless).
 
Stryder said:
Meh... cheapest method take a High quality digital picture of your dog, parse the picture through a "paint stroke" filter of a paint program like photoshop, paintshop or of course GIMP. This will give you a huge picture that looks like someone painted a picture of your dog. You should then be able to take it to a printing shop and have it printed huge enough to be framed.

Alternatively you could do some sort of "amateur" painting contest, get a picture of your dog like before and stick it online on a website offer some sort of reward as a prize and get people online to submit their works (either electronically or by post) of course you'll probably have a bunch of kids send you their interpretation of what your dog looks like (priceless).
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those are both really great ideas. thank you.

one of my brother's best friends is also an artist. i'm not sure if you can access this link without a facebook page, but these are pics of some of his paintings. i love the colors he uses, and i'm really impressed with his ability. i'm thinking of asking him to do a portrait of pooh...

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=194196&id=721727376
 
My avatar is a picture of Western University in Pittsburgh Pa. The university moved and became the University of Pittsburgh. The buildings on Perrysville Ave Upper North Side became an orphanage. In the 1950's it was called The Protestant Home for Children. We weren't all Protestant and weren't all orphans. The main building, shown as the avatar, became the girl's building. I was in the boy's building, not nearly as impressive. Our counselors were disinterested and sometimes just plain mean including physically.

The campus turned orphanage was amazing. A library, gymnasium, an auditorium for plays, musical instruments to learn on, outside fire escapes to sneak out at night, a dirt field for sports, woods to venture into and have apple throwing battles, and grounds large enough that one could leave without being detected.

The children performed a lot of work, sometimes dangerous, to help maintain the facilities and grounds. The buildings are long gone from back in the mid 1950's and, as a teenager, I watched it disappear forever. Large parts of the land were sold off. The buildings were replaced with something new and dull. A magical world was lost forever. I have visited once since then as an adult. Nothing, other than the driveway, is left to recognize.

James Putnam
 
John99,

Thank you for your reply. The whole story is, of course, much longer. However, my point was to emphasize the historical loss that occurred when those buildings went down. Today I think it could not happen. Today, I think, it would have become a public place, perhaps a museum of Pittsburgh history or something intellectually valuable. The one valuable left in the inconsequential buildings that replaced it is a picture. That picture, which the present occupants had no idea as to what it was, is the only relic left. My avatar is a picture of that picture.

James Putnam
 
Ok, the link appears to be correct but doesn't work here. Here is her message (It incudes pictures that do not appear here): By Marjorie Dennis Murray

Here it is, the building that lingers in my mind and inspired the witch’s house in Halloween Night. It is where I grew up—The Protestant Home for Children, aka The Protestant Orphans’ Asylum. It is a sprawling, multi-floored, rundown building with gables, turrets, and a never-ending dark, musty basement.

This building was a distant memory until a few years ago, when I was able to track down and acquire a photo of it. It was a very long journey between living there as a child (leaving as a 12-year-old) and eventually becoming a writer, an author of children’s books. But the building that I once hated I now find oddly fascinating.

How would I feel now if I could walk through its dark hallways, back staircases, and oversized rooms? When I was a child it provided a cold environment that perfectly mirrored the coldness of the people who were in charge of the children. It was an inauspicious beginning for any child, but inauspicious beginnings can be overcome, can be left behind with enough resolve and time.

The journey away from an inauspicious beginning can lead one in the most unexpected directions. My journey brought me eventually to working with young children and to writing picture books for them. It is one way to almost recapture a lost childhood. And, in a way, that is what working with young children and writing for young children allows me to do. And I sincerely love what I do.

The world of children’s literature embodies all of the fears and frustrations of children—all of the uncertainties of being a little child in a grown-up world. It also embraces the wonder of childhood, those fresh exhilarating moments of joy and anticipation that only children fully experience, that only children can feel. And that brings me to Halloween, and the joy and excitement it, in turn, brings to children. Halloween is the one night of the year when young children can go out after dark in search of fun, adventure, and treats. What better night can there be?

I remember my own immense surprise, and sense of wonder, at being able to visit the houses on the streets that bordered the orphanage on Halloween night. We were allowed to dress up in whatever costumes we could make. We were allowed to leave the property (by ourselves) and go through the neighborhood asking for treats. On that night we were permitted to break all the established rules. Even now it seems incredible to me. What kind of magic did this holiday bring? So now, of course, this unique and mysterious holiday is irresistible to me.

Today, in my neighborhood, houses glow with golden pumpkins and purple lights. Black cauldrons emit fog and steam, and children come and go in search of treats. Enormous spiders lurk in giant webs as the sounds of Halloween permeate the night. When the witching hour ends, and the children go home, my dog and I venture forth for a walk. Jack-o’-lanterns flicker at us as we pass by. He gobbles up bits of popcorn while I take in all the sights, as we both tread lightly over the lane on Halloween night.

Marjorie Dennis Murray is the author of Halloween Night, illustrated by Brandon Dorman. She’s also the author of five other books for children, including Hippo Goes Bananas!, which was an IRA Children’s Choice.
 
just kidding. i saw someone with 99 at the end of their name and the song johnny99 was playing at the same time. you cant google john99 and get to the song either. I had another user name before this one though. two sock puppets, that i only used ofr a day or two and once because i lost my password, the mods know if i use them. oops, never mind that part.
 
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John99 said:
just kidding. i saw someone with 99 at the end of their name and the song johnny99 was playing at the same time. you cant google john99 and get to the song either. I had another user name before this one though. two sock puppets, that i only used ofr a day or two and once because i lost my password, the mods know if i use them. oops, never mind that part.
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Yeah, I know.....I tried googling john99 the other day, got nuttin'..

Why I decided to ask in this thread.
 
Whyfor the name?

Simple question: why did you pick your forum name?

I showed up during one of the chronic no belief in evolution threads, so I picked the name chimpkin.

96% of my DNA is chimp, I know it, I'm o.k. with it.
 
For much the same reason as you picked your name.
96% of of my DNA is gibberish.

PS: if you look back in this sub-forum this topic arises fairly regularly.
Most of the old hands have gone through this before.
 
The topic comes up semi-regularly. Maybe every 18 months or so. (Give or take).

Here's the last one.
 
Ah yes, summer re - runs, a tradition in America. :)

For you though, Chimpy, I shall go all out this time though.

*ahem*

I was a member in a small, backwater - type semi science - oriented site, had a good time, made some friends. Then the 22 year old site owner started getting delusions of granduer, making proclamations and calling for members to quit being so social and start being more scientific - like at the real science sites, such as.....this site.

The owner and mods bitch slapped the members around, killed off the social forum, puffed out their hairless chests, announced their collective superiority and generally made themselves a real pain to be around.

I figured that if the 'real' science sites were all that great compared to where we were I should get in on that action, so I joined up here. I chose my handle from a word made up by a fellow at that other little site - "stonified", as in something that has been turned into stone - and my favourite irrational number, "phi", the ratio of a side to the base of a triangle in a pentagonal star, the original Pythagorean symbol. "Stonified phi" morphed to "Stoniphi" with great ease, a concrete moment in the eternal life of a never - repeating decimal. :D

My title ( I forget what you call it - a snotfrau?) is semi - descriptive, as I am quite skilled at things obscure and am fascinated with fossils, thus 'obscurely fossiliferous'.

"My hat is old, my tooth is gold, my sock is off, my foot is cold, and now my story is all told!"
 
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