When I first set up my retirement computer, I made some decisions that were less than ideal. For example, use of “weggieboy” as an identifier here and other places. It’s meaningful to me, but it has other meanings to others, some not so good! The confusion my user name causes occasionally attracts unsavory people or comments wherever it shows up on the Internet. It prompted me to write a blog called “wedgieboy vs. weggieboy” in July 2009, and that helped for the short-term, if not so much now.
More and more, the user name is a burden, so I want something more comfortable and less provocative to wee brained people trolling the ‘net. I’m just not sure what that new user name might be!
Weggieboy might morph into “birdman”, since I am a life member of an ornithological group. I use “phainopepla95” on YouTube. The phainopepla is a bird. I’m a man. Erm. Yeah. Birdman. I note, for clarity, that I am the first person to make a photographic record of a phainopepla in my state, where records go back to the Lewis and Clark Expedition of May 1804 to September 1806. No one outside of my family saw it since I didn’t realize in 1980 that my record was unique, a first state record accepted by the organization that evaluates and maintains state records of birds. In the 33 years since, no other phainopepla wandered north to sample the lovely winters we have here!
There are people in the ornithological group to which I belong who feel it is unfair that an amateur spotted and gained credit for this record and that it spent two months in my backyard feeding area (January through end of February 1980) as my exclusive rara avis. Snot happens. (Thank me later for cleaning that up a little!) That makes “phainopepla95” a bit provocative as a different user name, but only to a small number of people worldwide. Ha! Many more confuse my current user name with immature behavior involving yanked underwear.
The blog’s evolved into a “guy with two cats” format since the early days, too, with a subtext of retirement issues. The blog might be, then, “Andy, Dougy, and Doug” or “2 cats and a guy” or “a guy and two cats”. Not too punchy, no sizzle, no pizzazz….
How about “birdman and the boys – surviving retirement with two cats”? I often call the cat brothers “the boys” here and in day-to-day references to them elsewhere. Seems a natural! Of course, no one will recognize the new name and I’ll risk losing both the people who subscribe to this blog. It’s a conundrum.
What do you think? Does any possible change above make sense to you? Or do you have an idea you like better?
Here’s a link to “wedgieboy vs. weggieboy”:
Reggieboy – you rain cats and blogs (sorry, but it was not intentional!!) and thanks for looking into my two blogs: scienceandartblog.com and abriefhistoryoflife.com Already they both have new posts so please keep on looking – like my long-deceased neighbour Charles Dickens, our work get published serially – oh, the suspense. – Michael
I love puns, especially accidental ones! Thanks for following. I suspect your posts will strain and stress my peanut brain, but that’s part of my retirement strategy, too: keep on learning! I’m pretty excited about what you’ve posted so far. The history of science combines two of my interests in one delicious lump, and your writing style is among the friendliest I’ve encountered in this genre. I said I wanted to be strained and stressed, but that has no masochistic element!
Whatever you do, don’t change your posts — I love them! I’m a somewhat new reader here, but I love them. As for your “weggieboy”, it makes me smile. Though I admit my ignorance and thought of … well, you know. WeeGee-boy is kinda cool! So, long ramble just to say, “Just keep up the great posts!”
🙂
I’ve decided to stick with the one that’s famliar rather than go through the process of people having to learn where my blog went.
Phew! I’ve lost a few blogs that way — don’t know where they went! 🙂
That’s why I decided not to change it. On the other hand, I’m a bit stressed about upgrading my blog and getting a domain. I hope I don’t mess up! It seems like a bigger, more cojmp0lex deal than I want to find out. I am reasonably computer-smart, but nowhere near to IT level in my understanding of how things work. I have a day to back out as of 7-15-13. If I don’t, and I disappear from the blog-a-sphere, that’s what happened!
I love ‘Birdman and the Boys.’ I think it’s fabulous! There is nothing wrong with punchy, you know.
Ha! I’m partial to that one myself!
My vote goes for you keeping your current identities… You already have your following of friends, so why do you care what others think that don’t “get it?” As long as there is an internet, there will be trolls… It’s what they do instead of making their pathetic lives count for something by doing things constructive… No matter what your name is they’re still going to be around… They like to make people uncomfortable by making them victims… It makes them feel important… Little men always like company at the bottom of the barrel and they hate winners…
Aw! I just thought of a punny possibility: “Cats and Doug”, a play on cats and dog. You bring up good points about trolls. I am very good about blocking them or ignoring them, depending on what the site allows, but I’d like to keep them away period.
Well… Since you insist on going there and there is two of you…
“Raining Cats and Doug’s”… (psssst… Don’t tell Andy) and “Bird Brained Banter Blog”
Probably closer to the truth than my other thoughts! LOL!