What Is In A Name?

The steemitnamechallenge was started by @felobtc. My husband, @longsilver, tagged me in his post even though he knows exactly what my name is about - he came up with it! Before I get into all that, let me explain the challenge:

The Rules

1. Tell us in your post how you chose the current Steemit username you have, the story behind it.
2. Tell us your real name!
3. If you could change your current Steemit username, which name would you choose and why? If you have a possible usernames list, mention it!
4. Use the tag #steemitnamechallenge so that I can track all the posts and check them out
5. Nominate 5 people for this challenge

Because I often do things backwards, let me start with people to tag. I am going with folks who I am very curious what they mean with their names... like @arbitrarykitten, @battleaxe, @craigcryptoking (is that crypto king or crypt toking? LOL!) @deadgrlsuppastar and @funbobby51.

My first internet screen name was "amommamust." I chose that name in support of the work being done by a little band of Scientology protesters on youtube who were taking activism to the internet. They were hacking for "team good" if you will. No one had heard of them except folks on 4chan. They called their group "Anonymous." I made my very first youtube for them. I actually ran across it not long ago on our external hard drive which amused me immensely. At one point I lost all my youtube uploads, that one included. I did not attempt anonymity, I put my face out there because I had children who needed a better world, so a momma must do what a momma must do... not be anonymous. If I were to choose any other name, that would be it since that is still my youtube name.

My next internet alias was paul4won, on the dailypaul. That was a forum where Ron Paul supporters planned our poliltical strategies and woke each other up. Truly, it was an ASTONISHING group of people gathered there. I have a "Universe seal of approval" on steemit because of what happened when I joined here, I'll get to that later. For now, understand that after the election, politics became secondary to everyone there. We still had so much to talk about! So most of us chose new names, non-political ones, and the site carried on through the next election.

When the dailypaul went dark some of us decided to meet face to face before it was too late.


One of the things that I learned about on the dailypaul was permaculture. It is funny, it was a man's screen name and I knew him and respected him very much for many months as we worked together for Dr. Paul. It was not until it was all over that I bothered to ask what the word meant. Boom! Our WHOLE LIFE CHANGED with one word!

I became a permaculture designer so I could do the design for our land. Now if I could become an heiress or a steemillionaire I could actually do this TO the land...`

We still love permaculture as a concept, we just have been unable to really implement very much here on the ground. Still, it was through permaculture contacts that we discovered aquaponics. My husband and I got VERY excited.

We used coconut coir in our first system. It worked, but it made the water dark and that made it hard to see the fish!

We started an aquaponics meet up. We got AP systems put in peoples' homes, a local school, we got written up in the local paper...
https://www.idahopress.com/news/fishing-for-answers-husband-and-wife-experiment-with-aquaponics/article_42cd2aac-df61-11e0-a914-001cc4c002e0.html

It was the most exciting thing we ever found in self-reliance! And we learned it all from truthers on a politics website! Bear in mind I AM the word nerd around here. No one disputes it. Yet when I needed a new screen name, my husband was the one who just nailed it, the perfect name to blend the politics and our new direction beyond politics: From fighting for change in this lie-based society to the marriage of aquaculture and hydroponics.

fishyculture

The dailypaul went dark several years ago now, most of those connections are lost now. Indeed, on the dailypaul is where I learned about this newfangled thing called "bitcoin" where heated arguments ensued about whether to jump on board... I did not understand so stayed out. 🤦

Last summer I discovered this newfangled thing called "steemit" and after listening to @joshsigurdson go on and on about it, I decided to check it out. On the outside chance I might find an old dailypaul buddy by using my old name, I went with "fishyculture" again. Then I started trying to figure out what the hell steemit was... lol! I started with contests - easy enough to understand a contest, right? I picked out two or three and entered them. One of them was being held by an old dailypaul buddy who recognized the name and we got to reconnect! It was so much fun, @libertyteeth and I had a special connection back then so to find him here in my first week really helped me stick out those tough days as fresh plankton. Sadly he was embroiled in the berniesanders / haejin nonsense and seems to have stopped posting. Still, it was worth using that old name just to get to say "Hello" again!

So all that leaves is my real name... I go by my middle name, Claire, because my first name was the same as my mother. I used my first name briefly, in 5th and 6th grade. Then in 7th I went to the big Junior High where they had this fancy new thing called a "computer" and the attendance sheet was printed out each day and the teachers checked off who was there and sent it back in and tardiness and truancy were going to get eliminated with this new technology! The first day of class, the teacher began reading the attendance list. The computer only allowed six characters for first names. That got Cathy and Susan and Tracey, and the teacher realized that Jonath was probably Jonathon. Me? She looks up and without a hint of realization calls out "Virgin Smith?!" (Not my real maiden name.) As much as I hoped the floor would open up and swallow me, I realized I needed to nip this IN THE BUD.

According to the program Cinderella was played by Virginia in this 6th grade production.

"Virginia, that is Virginia. But I go by Claire." I can count to six REALLY fast.

There you go, who knew I could go on that long over a questions like "What does your name mean?" (Only everyone who knows me!)

Thanks for stopping by!