Tuesday, October 23

It's like being back at school!

Do you remember the feeling at school when you suddenly found out Mr., Mrs. or Miss. X had a first name that you shouldn't ever use in front of them?

When I was teaching we had some teachers who became very cross if anyone used their first name in front of the children but to be honest it was something I never really bothered about.

I remember one boy forgetting himself when I had done something that impressed him, (it maybe wasn't anything special but he was impressed). He suddenly jumped up from his seat punching the air saying "Super Sue strikes again!" Then he went bright red and covered his mouth with his hand in horror.

I think he was relieved when I just found it funny and said, "Shall I pretend that I didn't hear that?"

Well I must admit I get the same buzz when I find out the 'real' name of a blogger who before then had been only known as WeedyWelly (often not even knowing whether the person in question was male or female). Then I have the same dilemma as my pupils did in that I'm not sure what the reaction will be if I start referring to WeedyWelly as Wendy. Maybe WeedyWelly has a reason for preferring to remain incognito.

Must admit I got a bit fed up of being GLAllotments. My original pen name was down to the fact that my blog was originally our allotments' site blog - then it became my personal blog and I was stuck with this totally unimaginative name. I didn't want to change it completely as by now it was a name I had become known by so I just added the Sue@ bit. I often wonder what I would have come up with if I had my choice again.

If you join Google+ your choice for anonymity is taken away and your identity is exposed for all to see. I joined recently - really by accident but decided to try it out. What I hadn't realised even after reading the blurb was that when I comment on blogs etc. from that day forward I will no longer be known as Sue@GLAllotments. My cover has been blown! I suppose I could have given a false name - they wouldn't know or would they?

There is of course one advantage to using a 'real' name. Recently a school friend who, after leaving university had emigrated to South Africa, tracked me down using the Internet. We lost touch more years ago than I care to mention. Letter writing can dwindle especially when you have to find enough to say to make the correspondence worthwhile. Then you have to remember to go out, find a post box to post it. Sending quick short emails when you have something to say is much easier and failing that you can use Skype so maybe this time we will stay in touch!

I know some of you have very intriguing pen-names so how about sharing how you chose either your pen name or the name of your blog? Again my blog's name was just a slight alteration of the previous Green Lane Allotments. Boring isn't it?

Then again how did you choose your profile image? My Hockneyesque portrait just manages to bypass the fact that I don't like photographs of myself - the blue effect also hides the wrinkles (a little).

I wonder what a psychologist would make of us all? Maybe it's best that we'll never know - that is unless one of you out there is a psychologist and feels like enlightening us!

PS - As Mal pointed out I should have said the portrait was Warholesque not Hockney - Oops! As a thank you Mal I've included a link to you! In fact two.

23 comments:

  1. I've always been known as my real name, or a shortened version of it anyway. Totally uninspired.

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  2. Tto answer your hypothetical question, you could have caled it "Sue's allotment". Or together with Martyn "Aa bit of S&M" That could have attracted some interesting followers.

    Wasn't there a time when everyone had to have an avatar or online persona on the internet? I guess it's a give away that game players were early users. I invented Malagrowther and he still haunts me. In fact Walter Scott used Malachi Malagrowther as a character in one of his books and also as his pen name when he wrote to the Times campaigning against the proposed abolition of Scottish bank notew. He won. My favourite nickname is Mhlala Panzi - the name Baden Powell was given by the Zulus.

    ps More Warholesque tha Hockneyesque?

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    1. Sorry you right I did mean Warhol - oops. If we had been M&S we could have gone into business. If you take our initials from your suggestion I'm glad I am the S and not the M!

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  3. Glad you could make out my message despite the typos. It must be because I'm off school today!

    M&S ? - saved yourself years of legal wrangling there!

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  4. My name of Captain Shagrat is one I used for internet gaming many moons ago my favorite game was The Age Of Empires series back and team fortress classic. When the xbox came out I had got tired of the whole gaming thing and gave it up, it took too much time and was very addictive. Captain Shagrat is a character from The Lord Of The Rings by JR Tolkien, he was an orc captain who captured Frodo and took his mithrill coat to the dark lord Sauron in Mordor. I just can't resist a fantasy book...But as Sue knows my actual name is Debbie

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    1. But I had never heard this story before! Debbie Shagrat.

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    2. Oh that is a great comment! Debbie is Captain Shagrat. I always wondered who you were. BG

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  5. Well you know I'm Tanya...however the way I got my birth name is as much a story as my pen names!!

    Allotments4you came about as I wanted an easy name to remember and wanted my blog to be not just about people who had allotments but also for those who wanted to try growing things at home in small gardens or even in pots on balconies as I have friends who don't have gardens to. Ideally I would have liked 'allotment4all' but there is a huge site out there already named that so I went with the next best thing. I don't know if I would change it if I could go back in time or not...I really don't have anything better in mind I could name my blog even now.

    As for 'pen' names I often go by 'poison-dwarf', purely because it was a nickname that I ended up with at school due to my height and the fact that I wouldn't take any nonsense of anyone and always stood up for myself and my friends...the other nickname I had was 'spud'...don't tend to use that one so much but in light of me now having the allotment maybe I had some school pals who could see into the future!!

    When I first started my blog I really struggled with a picture to use and in the end opted for one which my son took when we were all out walking as with the greenery in the background it seemed to go well. Since then I have changed it to the one you see now. It was a shot taken for work so is my 'school' photo...luckily I didn't have to wear my uniform for it. We all got a free photo and as it was quite a good shot I though I might as well make some use of it.

    my nick-name by my parents and brother when I was young was 'Fanny Annie' and they still often refer to me as that too. The one name I don't answer to though is 'Tan'...anyone who calls me that gets ignored!!

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    1. So now I know what not to call you, Tanya. WE're waiting to hear how you got your birth name now!

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    2. I've a cupboard full of school photos - explains the over the shoulder look - school photographers love that!

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    3. You really want to know how I got my birth name??

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    4. Well I was supposed to be called Rachel...that's what I was referred to from being brought home from the hospital until my Dad went down to register me. My brother went with him who is nearly 7 years old and whilst registering me My brother told my Dad that my Mum had changed her mind and wanted to call me Tanya instead...of course my Dad listened to said 6 and 3/4 year old and registered me with the name Tanya. Turns out of course my Mum had said no such thing but My brother had heard/seen it somewhere and liked it better than Rachel. my Mum hated it and refereed to me as 'flower' or (and more affectionately I like to think) 'it' for quite a few weeks before she got used to it. I however do like my name and I don't come across it too often. All the way through my studies (4-18) I only cam across one other with the same name when a family moved from Scotland to our town. Weirdly our parents ended up working together too..weird huh!?

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    5. Great story - as it happens I chose my sister's name but she isn't impressed!

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    6. So what is it?? And did your both your parents know about it??

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    7. It's Judith (Judy for short) and yes they did!

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    8. Well I think it's a nice name and not one that is very common so you don't get mistaken!!

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  6. Liz This is an area I struggle with. On one had you hear so much about identity fraud that I don't want to reveal too much. On the other I do prefer people's names as I think the monkieers can be a little difficult to maintain, particularly when some people know your actual name and others dont. As for teachers my daughters school is divided into half, half the teachers going by the first names and half by Ms/Mr/Mrs/Miss ... which prompted my daughter to ask why Miss Bamford didn't use her real name at school. I debated telling her that Miss Bamford was a superhero and as a result had adopted an alias but thought better of it.

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    1. Sorry Liz
      I deleted your comment by mistake along with my response luckily it was still in my email so I've recopied.

      We didn't use First names at school - I just didn't hide mine. I must admit even as an adult I struggled to call people older than me by their first name (out of respect really) without prefixing auntie or uncle.

      The reason I don't write about the fact that we are going away on my blog is mainly as you never know who (in the background) in reading what you write but basically your name can be accessed from all sorts of places. WE are forever getting spam phone calls asking for us by name.

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  7. Such an interesting question you pose and so many great comments. My name is pretty evident..Bren. As for the gardening bit..when my brother helped me set up blog, he was the one who said you need a name..like right now you need a name, as I sat there figuring blog out...and Gardeningbren popped out of my brain through my fingers and out into blogosphere. I knew I wanted to identify our garden was in Nova Scotia Canada and we were flower and veg growers so, it's been a nice journey this blog thing. I've enjoyed it and enjoy the comments and blogs of others such as yourself. Thanks Sue.

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    1. I too had to think of a name on the spur of the moment too, Bren - when I started my blog I didn't realise I needed a pen name so as I already had greenlaneallotments as an email address I used an abbreviated form.

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  8. I feel much relax and closer to people now that people address me by names rather 'Malay-Kadazan Girls'. Its nice to know that people remember my name even though I never directly use my name.

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    1. I much prefer being referred to as Sue rather than GLA too, Diana.

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