my various nom(s) de plume (or whatever)

I'm normally pretty hesitant about allowing my real life into my online life, and vice versa. I don't know why. I think there's still some lingering apprehension about the internet being solely populated by freaks and perverts (whereas in reality, everyone knows that it is, and that pretty much everyone is a freak or a pervert by some measure), and admitting that you have more friends that you've never met than "real" friends is kind of a shocking admission.

I've dispensed with all that. I introduce you all to the various names of me, and then I'll leave you to sort out how you know me and deal with it:

arbitrary: this is my screen name here on this blog. It made sense at the time. Feel free to call me something else.

Dan: that's my name. I don't use it as a screen name because, well, it's boring.

Fluffy: this is certainly my most active screen name. I don't like it much. I find it embarassing that people know me as Fluffy. I used it briefly during kind of a theme day at PBnW forums, and carried it over when I signed up for Linkfilter. It made sense at the time. It was originally accompanied by a picture of a collie getting its hair cut with a Flowbee. It is more commonly associated with a picture of Snowball from The Simpsons coughing up a hairball.

6v: I used this screen name when I regularly participated in forums about aircooled vintage VWs. It referred to my affected militant belief that 6v cars should remain 6v instead of being converted to 12v. I kind of made a name for myself over at The Samba by suggesting that they make a rules-free off-topic area, that then devolved into the nastiest, longest-running flamewar I've ever witnessed.

Ookla: I "published" a couple of articles on Everything2, then dropped it because the place irritated me. I think this is actually my favorite screen name. Why don't I use it more?

stinkycheeseman: "run run run as fast as you can you can't catch me, I'm the stinky cheese man!" I like the stinky cheese man as a symbol of humanity's grotesque fascination with itself despite its inherent unpleasantness. Your mileage may vary. I tried using this screen name for Pandora, but that place annoyed me so I stopped using their service. I also use the name at woot.com, although why I post there is beyond me. It's a compulsion.

misanthrope: this was my first screen name, going way back to the first time I ever talked to other people on the internet (1995, it must have been). I wasn't amused. Later, I used it on the Planet Black & White forums on gamespy. I retired it after I stopped going there because people told me it didn't suit me and because it implies that I hate everybody, when in fact I'm just highly irritable.