random fact #006

[orangerful]

subtitle: What's in a name?

So I've had a few people ask about the origins of orangerful so I figured I would share.

You see, way back in the day, my Grandma sent my Mom a note saying that AOL had this cool thing called Instant Messenger and she needed to get on there so we could all chat. My Mom went to sign up and they asked for her to create a username. Being a good geek, she ran through all the Star Wars, Star Trek and book names she could think of, and they all came up already in use. In a moment of frustration, she typed "orangerful" -- and it was available.

Of course, I took over the computer at that point. This would have been when I was starting high school and I opted to chat online instead of talking on the phone. I don't really remember who I was chatting wtih online...I think it was mostly my friends Amanda and Joanne. Probably a boy. It was my preferred method of communication. I remember during my senior year, trying to think of other names to change it over to, but none of them really stuck, they were too dated (references to the play we were doing or a tv show that I stopped watching etc.)

So I kept orangerful. After IM, the next place I "moved" to on the Internet was Livejournal. My boyfriend at the time was using it so I decided to give it a try and figured "orangerful" would be available.

And, because I am either lazy or into branding, I'm orangerful everywhere now.

Even on my car. ORNGRFL. (yep, it's orange -- which is funny because I would never consider orange my favorite color or anything)

So, yeah orangerful means nothing, it's gibberish. It's not connected to a single fandom. But now it means me. It's my online persona, my online life. It's every single fandom I know and love!

I guess, really, I'm not the one who should define it. I should ask my online buddies to say what "orangerful" means. :)

Comments

[hickumu]

Huh. I actually associated your name with maybe locations, instead of any kind of fandom - being from a tropical, coastal-type area myself, oranges are easy to find and damn good, too. An "orange full" place, if you will. Probably a silly assumption, but there you go. It's just what my brain filled in that particular blank with, much like when another friend was going by polycistronic and I always read it as polycistrionic.

It's kind of funny how many username stories start with "well, it's open and unlikely to be taken on this or any other site", is it? That's how hickumu started for me. It's a good system though, I think - I think it's healthy to have a defined, online identity, and having a username you default to kind of helps with that. Or so I've always felt.

[orangerful]

Almost everyone that guesses my license plate assumes it has something to do with Florida.

I like having a unique name. I always feel bad for people that have to put numbers after their usernames.

[hickumu]

Really? Not Brazil? Apparently, oranges are becoming quite a hot commodity in Brazil.

Yeah, me too. If only because it looks so...not like a name. Like, I can say "Orangerful" in my head, and it doesn't sound awkward. Numbers sound awkward in your head, if they're attached to a name. Like it's an android, or something.