thefourthvine | Me, Myself, and I

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Me, Myself, and I

This is one of my periodic attempts to keep my various internet selves all organized and accounted for. (It doesn't work, but I think the effort is what counts, don't you?) So, if for some reason you want to find me somewhere else:

I'm thefourthvine on InsaneJournal.

I'm thefourthvine (just for variety) on GreatestJournal, and I'm also keeping an off-site backup of my LJ posts there. (Thanks for the kick in the ass to do that,

brown_betty. And if anyone else is wondering how to do it, and do it easily, I used Betty's helpful instructions.)

I'm thefourthvine (Look, I don't like change, okay?) on GoodReads, where I'm experimenting with reviewing some of the published stuff I read. Notes: these are not considered, thoughtful reviews, they are not consistently positive reviews (or even consistently not frothing at the mouth reviews), and at this point they're also pretty haphazard; I've just been clicking around until I feel the urge to review coming over me. Also, I'm brand-new to the GR thing, and I'm making mistakes; people who have already friended me there have been spammed with reviews of older books. I've figured out how not to do that now. But other mistakes are inevitable. Join me now and you can point and laugh! (And tell me what to read, too. That would be nice.) ETA: I really am entertainingly new to this. Apparently I'm TFV, not thefourthvine, on GoodReads. Perhaps I should change my name to "easily confused by text boxes."

I'm thefourthvine (Consistency is a virtue. It's a foolish consistency that's the hobgoblin of little minds, thank you very much.) on IMEEM, too.

And I'm sometimes

littera_abactor right here on LJ. (Well, I had to have one different name. It's a rule. I think. I, uh, kind of lost the Official Internets Rulebook, v. 3897.144. Please don't tell on me.)

...And I think that's all of me. I'll look around and see if I've got any more of me lying on a virtual shelf somewhere, though.

Soon: a return to actual recommending! Probably! Or maybe meta! Content, is my point. (Oh, content, how I've missed you.)

ETA2: And

cofax7 and

bluevsgrey have reminded me that I'm TFV on del.icio.us. Apparently I need skilled professionals to help me keep track of myselves. This can't be a good sign.

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Well. Okay. Let me tell you a story.

Once upon a time, there was a girl who had been following fandom for a bit, and she wanted a LJ. Only for the friends list! To keep an eye on many journals at once! No posting whatsoever! And there would definitely be no recommending or anything. No. Of course not. It'd just be an empty watcher journal. So it didn't matter what the name was.

But she was still kind of scared to get a LJ, and so she waited until very late one night (or, more accurately, very early one morning), when she was half drunk, to sign up. And, as she kept reminding herself, this wasn't like a real internet pseudonym; she wouldn't be using it for anything. Not even for comments. No, no, a thousand times no.

So, being drunk and dumb and deeply in denial, she picked the first name that came to her mind. Which happened to be a really bad pun on her real name.

And what can we learn from this? Don't pick your username when you're drunk, dumb, or in denial. You'll end up with a lame name that is nonetheless so inextricably welded to your internet identity that you can't even imagine changing it. And the odds that you will use your fannish pseudonym somewhere, somehow, somewhy are very, very good - I don't care what you tell yourself now - so oh my god please learn from my sad example and pick a decent name. There are many good ones available. I know, because I've been making a list of them for three years, thanks to my severe case of Good User Name Envy.

*sighs*

If I wrote A Newbie's Guide to LJ Fandom, that story, with accompanying lesson learned, would be featured prominently on the first page, I'll tell you that for free.

(All that said, though, I have grown attached to the name. It's who I am in fandom. And, well. It's useful, too. If I ever start thinking of myself as even a tiny bit cool or with it, my user name is right there to remind me that I am a dork of uncommon size.)

LJ ate this comment, probably to sustain itself in its fight for survival against the DDOS attack, so I'm having another go.

Your username is not lame, it is seriously awesome. (Admittedly, I do like a good pun, but even so!)

Don't pick your username when you're drunk, dumb, or in denial.
*eyes own username* So true. Oh, at first, you just want one so you can get that handy flist feature, but the next thing you know, there are recs, and comments, and you're left wishing you'd spent that extra time coming up with a better name.

Of course, I've been trying to think of a better name for three years now, and I'm still not going all that well. Mostly everything I can think of is taken, or okay but not worth the hassle of changing. It's like I used up all my Good Username Allocation when coming up with the username I use with RL friends, and now I'm destined to stare blankly at the username box forever more.

LJ ate this comment, probably to sustain itself in its fight for survival against the DDOS attack, so I'm having another go.

Yeah. It's been, uh, peckish lately. Would I guess be the nicest way of putting it.

Your username is not lame, it is seriously awesome.

I am delighted you think so. I still think of it as pathetic and dorky, but my pathetic and dorky, if that makes sense.

Oh, at first, you just want one so you can get that handy flist feature, but the next thing you know, there are recs, and comments, and you're left wishing you'd spent that extra time coming up with a better name.

YES! PRECISELY. Judging by the comments here, this is not an uncommon problem. Why does no one warn us about these things before we're inextricably wedded to our unfortunate flashes of late-night inspiration? (At least your name means something, let me note. This puts you way up on me.)

Of course, I've been trying to think of a better name for three years now, and I'm still not going all that well.

I really do have a list. Including some I have pre-emptively claimed, just in case. And yet I know I will never change. How sad is that?

*considers*

Very, very sad. Sad enough that we should start a sad user name support group, I think. Will you join me? I will bring cookies.

Even before I got the pun, I liked your name. It's very mysterious. It sounds like there should be some kind of story attached to it, possibly involving the fate of kingdoms. (Or maybe Romans.)

Why does no one warn us about these things before we're inextricably wedded to our unfortunate flashes of late-night inspiration?
A good question! They should have a little sign at the 'pick your username' field along the lines of, "Yes, you've been sitting here for five minutes trying to think of a username, but a username is for life, not just for christmas. Maybe try again tomorrow? :)"

(At least your name means something, let me note. This puts you way up on me.)
True. On the downside, though, everyone pronounces it differently, and no-one can decide where the stress should fall. Also it is used by other people occasionally, which is weird. And also it does not feel like my name. :(
(On the upside, it is easy to spell, it's easy to stick on icons, it has a pleasing topography, and it starts with a letter I really like. So I could have done worse. It just - doesn't feel like my name.)

Sad enough that we should start a sad user name support group, I think. Will you join me? I will bring cookies.
I will! I will bring cupcakes with lemon icing, and we can comfort ourselves with cake and the knowledge that it could have been much worse - we could have chosen

mrs_emo_legolas_01, or something.

[Bad username: mrs_emo_legolas_01]
Ahahahahah! *ded*

My username has a typo in it. Trufax.

But in eight years you accumulate a lot of accounts and it's not like I'd *ever* be able to change it now. (I've been bookmarking every time I visit a site where I have an account lately. I'm up to 20 and I know I haven't got nearly them all. This has got to be the best one. (http://www.uselessaccount.com))

(also, that typo apparently makes it spell the Sindarin word for "Beloved", so now various LotR fangirls keep trying to use it too.)

My username has a typo in it.

*cries for you*

But buck up! I totally thought it was intentional. It's not like this one user name I saw recently, in which the person named herself after a (presumably favorite) character and spelled the character's name wrong. That is a really woeful user name typo.

But in eight years you accumulate a lot of accounts and it's not like I'd *ever* be able to change it now.

I know. And at least, with my user name, there's the advantage that no one else wants it; it is untaken on every system I have ever tried. Dorky but unique, that's my user name. (...That's also me, come to think of it. No wonder I'm so attached to this name.)

also, that typo apparently makes it spell the Sindarin word for "Beloved", so now various LotR fangirls keep trying to use it too.

See, now, that is just not fair. If you have a dorky user name, then at the very least it should be easy to get it everywhere you go. (But this does give you an excellent cover story, should you ever need to explain your user name in company where you need to be cool.)

Oh god, it's true, so true. Just like yourself: I am just going to have a flist! So I can read my friends' locked posts! I will never post anything!

Yeahright.

Now I have an idiotically long username that no one can spell, just like my real name. Bleah.

But if it makes you feel any better, if you don't know your real name, "thefourthvine" sounds like it has mysteeeerius backstory to it, maybe from a myth or something. Ya know?

Just like yourself: I am just going to have a flist! So I can read my friends' locked posts! I will never post anything!

God, there should be a clear warning posted on the registration page about this, judging from all the people who have had this problem. (Although I guess we can't really complain that no one protected us from our own stupidity and denial. Wait, no, I totally can. WATCH ME.)

Now I have an idiotically long username that no one can spell, just like my real name.

Um. At least you're...consistent? *tries to look on the bright side*

(And, actual bright side: I would not have identified your user name as one of the "What was I thinking?" ones. So it looks good from out here, is my point. Although this is coming from a woman who voluntarily named herself

thefourthvine, so consider the source.)

But if it makes you feel any better, if you don't know your real name, "thefourthvine" sounds like it has mysteeeerius backstory to it, maybe from a myth or something.

This does make me feel better. I think. *considers* Yes, it does.

That's why I bought myself a name change token for my 2 year LJ versary. I thought I would *never* use LJ so I just recycled the username I had used on a few BBS's back in 9th and 10th grade. Yeah. It was bad.

...Now I really, really want to know what your old user name was.

Also, I'm thinking this is definitive proof that people should never be allowed to name themselves, a la Picabo Street. We will inevitably fuck it up.

It's a good thing we decided to paint our dining room RaisinTorte. :-)

And now I also want pictures of your dining room, actually.

...Now I really, really want to know what your old user name was.

It's not a secret - it was Control_Freak80. My high school user name was controlfreak. Except I couldn't get that on LJ so I added the numbers and an _.

And now I also want pictures of your dining room, actually.

I'll post them when we're done. We've set aside 4 weekends to paint so far and every time something work or family related has happened. We're probably going to wait until the fall so we can have the windows open while we do it.

I totally think you should write A Newbie's Guide to LJ Fandom.

*is firm*

On occasion it comes in handy to be unknown in fandom. It makes it much easier to switch usernames, which I did last year. I was ainsley in my first foray into online fandom, and I missed being ainsley.

As for you being a dork of uncommon size, it's so very true, if the uncommon size is that of your sheer awesomeness and excellent taste.

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Me, Myself, and I

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