The origin of my username... I love kitties and have had a few lovely cats throughout the years. My username means...

:eek:!

To all future posters on this thread, I'll just let you carry on, and won't interfere much. Most of these entries are fascinating, I must admit.

It's my college nickname. I was a Geology major with (really) long hair and a beard, and way too tall to be a Neanderthal.

Just Eli Schwartz, I'm afraid. :o

Though if you like, you can think of me as an e-schwartz.

After the main character in Henry James' The Ambassadors.

Jim

A variant on Odin's name is also where we get Wednesday from as it translates to "the day of Woden/Odin." In fact most of the days of the week take their names from Norse Gods. Saturday (the day of Saturn), Sunday (the day of the sun) and Monday (the day of the moon) are the exceptions.

Watch out for Spaceballs references. :D

With a Jewish last name like Schwartz, trust me I know. :D

Yes, I get them a lot...

(Great movie, BTW!)

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away there was this thing called AOL. I joined up because I got a free disc with the modem I'd just bought. (There was also an installer from a.n.other ISP but it was harder to navigate and seemed slower).

Day 2[*] on this thing and I discovered "chatrooms". Where I met someone called "LateDrm" and she and I began a friendship that turned in an internet relationship back when such things were considered a bit odd. It lasted for a couple of months I suppose. I kept ending it and then getting back together. There was changing of usernames and searching for each other and other silliness. We'd never exchanged real names or anything.

At a certain point - after it had been over for a little while - I left AOL altogether. It was costing me too much - both in AOL charges and phone charges. I joined a regular ISP this time and figured out how to make it work.

I tried to find a non-AOL version of chatrooms and discovered IRC. I can't remember what username I used at very first but after a while I wistfully wondered if I might somehow find "LateDrm" again. I knew the odds were against it so I decided to use "LateFrnd" (LateDrm's Friend) as a sort of signal to her. I knew it was a bit of a longshot and I suppose it was more that I wanted there to be a chance, even a slim one, rather than it being a realistic strategy.

After a while I changed it to LatePaul because I was sick of getting hit on and wanted to signal my gender. And after that I just got used to it and it became my go-to username.

Sometimes I tell a different version which involves Slartibartfast and Princess Bride but that's usually when I don't want to tell the whole story.

[*]Day 1 was looking for porn - sorry but it's true!

[edit: LateDrm was short for LateDream - nothing to do with Digital Rights Management]

I'm glad your name isn't quickpaul. I would have hated to hear that story.
Mine is just my name Flemming Uldall Madsen. And back in the days you only had three chars to write your name on the highscore lists, so I used FUM.

Back in the day, people were discouraged from using (traceable) real names on the internet. My first name is common and my last name is unique, so I didn't want to use either of them as a username.

The first discussion board I signed up with was a (now long gone) anime board. I wanted a name that was unique, but also ridiculous enough that no one else would want it. I can't recall all the different ones I tried but this was the one that didn't get any hits when I searched for it.

(Somehow, these days when you google it, you get a lot of hits that are not me. I guess it wasn't ridiculous enough. Today, the first hit that is me turned up on page 9!)

"Sakura" is both a Japanese cherry blossom and the first name of two of my favorite anime characters (from Cardcaptor Sakura and Sakura Wars.) When I was younger, I collected Giant Pandas -- stuffed animals, figurines, pictures, etc. These days I have a soft spot for Red Pandas too, but back then it was only the Giant Panda.

I prefer it with the hyphen in between, although I will use it as one word if wherever I am registering does not allow it. When the Japanese character "Sakura Panda" became popular, I considered switching my usernames over to "katiecb", but then I lost the consistency I had between communities. Now I'm sometimes "katiecb" and sometimes "sakura-panda", but mostly still sakura-panda. :)

I agree it does have its moments as it spoofs SF and Star Wars in particular.

Home In My Shoes was a song written by a Canadian blues guitarist named Amos Garrett. Well, actually it was "I Make My Home in My Shoes". I adapted the last four words and removed the spaces as my moniker about a decade ago.

I've moved around a lot and I am reasonably upbeat. While the song itself is about the homeless I find the lyrics also speak to me about making my home wherever I end up. So I make wherever I am my home.

Now, get out of my living room. :)

Moyogi is a japanese term for a style of bonsai, in English, informal upright. It means a tree shape where the apex or top of the tree is above the base, but the trunk is not straight. I have used it since the days of compuserve and the Well (a bbs).

An ad came on the television for bottled water when I was trying to think of a nickname for this forum.