Behind the Citizen Journalist: What's In A Name?

This week in "Behind The CJ" we will take a look at some of our user names and how they came to be. Get ready for another fascinating glimpse into the lives of Citizen Journalists.

Names are who we are. They tell us alot about ourselves and speak loudly to others. They can convey our interests, dreams, humor, or it can be just a plain name used so that you can get right to reporting the news. This week I took a look at 14 random users who had names that I was curious about. I knew there would be some interesting stories behind their screen names. So once again, let's get to know some of our Citizen Journalists. Shoyu (What could this one mean? I was curious. "Sho" me what exactly?) I chose shoyu because that’s the original name of my Web site. It means soy sauce in Japanese. Of course, I have to spell it about four times every time I tell someone. I ended up buying the domains for the other spellings and redirecting. (Resourceful girl. Now I know. Anyone needs Soy Sauce, talk to her. Is it just me or does her avatar look like Paris Hilton?) Planet Janet Hey muse,

I got Planet Janet from a saying my husband uses to describe someone who has very little upstairs shall we say. Thankfully he doesn't say it about me or I'd divorce him. It sounds funny anyway and it makes me laugh, especially when people address me as Janet...

Cheers (Not much upstairs huh? At first I thought maybe you were talking bra size. I think what you mean is what we call an airhead, dingbat,ditz, Cameron Diaz etc) Skyangel it's part of my granddaughter's name "Sky"ler, and the "angel" part is that she's been such an angel! LOL! Well...in theory anyways!!!

No other meaning is attached to it, though! (Here I thought you were leader of some supernatural Army of Angels. My illusions are shattered.) momentsintime (Now this one I figured would be full of juicy details. No doubt, some important moment in time in her life inspired this name. I couldn't wait to hear the details.) Hey Muse,

my name is pretty simple

moments in time are all we are, brief fleeting seconds that can either mean something or nothing (????? And???? Thanks for making me look dumb in this moment... ) Lightening Hi Muse,

I can't recall why, but I decided I wanted the name lightning. The problem was it was taken. So I tried "lightening" instead. It worked.

When I was brand new and just started to post on some of the articles, my name became an issue. A couple of people (who didn't like my comments/position in a thread) were mean and told me "You are so stupid you don't even know how to spell!... it's Lightning not Lightening!!" I told them my spelling was not incorrect, and they needed to look it up. Now who was stupid? LOL! ;-)

Lightening (I think you mean, Now who IS stupid? Wait...Is that wrong? Am I stupid? I'll have to edit this out later.) Franklin Franklin is a turtle. It used to be in cartoons, but when I was

picking it I wasn't actually thinking of a turtle but Rosalind

Franklin. For those of you who don't know who she is, she was the

English physical chemist and crystallographer. She used X-rays to

construct or at least put in a hypothesis of how our DNA is

structured. She never received a Nobel Peace Prize because she died

before it was given out. Of course, she died from cancer caused by the

X-rays which she used to determine the DNA structure. Her

contributions were used as the basis for Watson's and Crick's double

helix later on. She is someone who definitively needs to be remembered

in my heart. (Huh? Too many big words from you scientist types. Not the cartoon? Surely, the X-rays would have made her a Super Hero of some sort. Very interesting.) Gohomelaker My screen name is gohomelaker is because of where our cottage is up north, on Go Home Lake, in Central Ontario. (But when you are there you are basically being told to go home. That can't be any fun.) My parents bought a piece of property on the lake the year I was born (too long ago to mention here), built a cottage on it and I have been trekking up there ever since. When I was young, we spent the summers up there and also did a lot of snowmobiling and cross country skiing in the winter time. My husband and I were fortunate enough to be able to afford to buy a cottage on the lake around 7 years ago, just before the massive explosion in cottage prices in Ontario.

Go Home Lake is the place for me, I'm not sure if people will understand this but I think everyone has "a place" where they are the most comfortable, where they are the happiest and most content, where they can just sit and be. Well Go Home Lake is that place for me, my anchor, and that is why I called myself gohomelaker.

Talk to you later muse, and I'm so glad you finally got your arts section. Hey you didn't even have to hold your breath and turn blue! (*wakes up, drooling* what? Oh. Thanks for your brief explanation. The arts section. I only had to hole up in a thread and take it hostage. I am glad you found your "place". We all need that. :) ) Posthappy (Here is another duh! moment that should prove Muse ain't so bright. Is it just me or is PH a bit condescending here?) Hi Muse,

I will answer today's question.

"explain your user name".

Post = to post to a website, forum or social network.

Happy = me. Mostly always a happy individual.

It is also serves as a reminder to be “Happy” even through life’s ups and downs.

Ergo Posthappy. (Okie Dokie. Pretty obvious. Obviously very good natured. Post+Happy. Got it.) Ladyjustice I have been politically active for several years and I was often given nicknames that referred to liberty, justice, freedom, and such, including the nick “justice4all.” I imagine that my conservative stances and my penchant for not giving in on arguments, along with my demand for facts rather than emotionalism or opinion, are what led people in different venues to assume that I was male. I came up with Lady_Justice as a way to continue expressing a sense of myself while at the same time letting people know that I am a woman.

Ladyjustice (Cue Superman music...Or Supergirl. You have to admire her convictions. But she does need an avatar. Her secret identity looks so mysterious here with everyone else.) Bart B. Van Bockstaele (His bio is so damn long, I wanted you to know more about him.) It is simply my own name. The reason for that is simple. A number of my books have been published and I am also a correspondent for a Belgian newspaper and a Dutch radio station. Obviously, all are under my real name. Therefore, it just doesn't make much sense to use an alias. (So now you know. An author, a Belgian correspondent for print and radio. I bet he has some interesting stories to tell. Hey, his avatar matches Ladyjustice. And they are side by side, which was unintentional. Kismet? You decide!) Picasso (It's not what you think.) A co-worker of one of my daughters told her about DJ. My daughter thought it might be something I would enjoy.

I looked around and decided to register as I thought I might enjoy being here occasionally. Huh, never realizing it would become an addiction and I have always been very careful of not getting addicted to anything. (Twinkies aside. That's right we know about you.) I had to choose a name and the first name that popped into my head was Picasso. It has nothing to do with the real Picasso.

A friend has a very colorful parrot that she named Picasso. The bird loves me more than its owners and I had just been to their house. If anyone gets near me when I am holding that bird it will attack them. (Who wouldn't be protective of such a sweet self-proclaimed DJ mom?) Wanderlaugh Hi Muse- (I got more then I bargained for when I asked Wanderlaugh.) Ah, um, when I said self educated, this is more or less what I meant. Wanderlaugh is the name of one of my books. This is the intro:

A starving man looks for a piano. A loving woman reads a book. A lonely, thoughtful, child finds a place. An idea sneaks into a painting for safety. A cold wind warms a wandering mind. Depth of mind searches for depth of soul. A song travels through history, un-aged. Somewhere in every musical instrument is a meaningful God. In the storms of the languages is something called Love. In the unspeakable fury of life is the incredible strength of Truth.

No tear ever says enough. Death never kills anything. The passage of time is just a version of what can be. It’s never the whole story. Without light, darkness is meaningless, a mere absence. With light, darkness adds to it. Life never confines itself. Ideas breed thoughts like bacteria, and thoughts breed ideas like elephants.

What is the scale of being? How big is reality? Why is a beautiful woman blinding? What does it mean, that emotions can be more real than solid objects? What does a child mean? Who’s braver, the artist or the art? Why is playing music so much like flying?

Laughter destroys the most pretentious of fools. Laughter creates life. To laugh is to live. Love and laughter are inseparable. Truth and laughter are good friends. No theory is immune to either. No misery survives a real laugh.

Wander on, my Wanderlaugh

I have in fact since found a piano, and I'm feeling much better. (I didn't ask for your life story. LOL Seriously, that is really great stuff. I am impressed. This kind of response is what Behind The CJ was created for. THIS lets us get to know you very nicely) Amaranth It is a flower and grain that is extremely healthy for you. However that is not the only reason I picked this name. Amaranth is associated with immortality. The flower is considered to be rather spiritual and it reflects my desire for enlightenment for my immortal soul. I was introduced to the amaranth while playing Vampire the Masquerade. The flower is used to symbolize vampires in the game because of their immortal nature. It is also a name for diablerie in the game, which is basically the consuming of another vampire's soul. Yes that is rather gruesome but that is why it is called a game of Gothic horror. (*Looks for a scarf* Despite the fact that I fear for my safety at this moment, anyone who knows Amaranth and has read her stories knows that she is a very smart woman and very spiritual as well. Nice to get to know her better. Now where is that garlic?) And now for our featured Citizen Journalist of the week. (Drumroll please.) aarontrippedout A lot of people think that my user name is some sort of reference to me being a stoner/druggie, but it is nothing of that sort. It's a reference to a short film I created a year ago, and that film went through several Film festivals and a lot of people enjoyed it. The film was called Aaron's Tripped Out Adventure, and that is where the reference comes from. And now I present to you the fantastic short film in question. Enjoy. Excellent job Aaron. Again this is exactly what Behind the CJ was created for. I feel like I know you alot better. Keep up the good work everyone and if you want to be a part of Behind The CJ or have an interesting idea, just drop me a line. Until next time.