DonnaN
Posted: Nov. 24 2007, 12:49 ET
brianb,
i was wondering if you could possibly change my user name to donna? or if donna is taken then donnaN?
i'm so invested in this forum and my goals that i feel it is unfair to myself to hide behind a "handle"...i've come to the realization that i cannot hide the truths from myself...tough love so to speak...also, i think that being this honest with myself and my new "family" on this forum is a step i need to make
i hope this is okay and at all possible
donna
BrianB
Posted: Nov. 24 2007, 13:05 ET
Sent you a PM with instructions...
DonnaN
Posted: Nov. 24 2007, 15:36 ET
brianb...you are the man!!!!! thanks ever so much 
BrianB
Posted: Nov. 24 2007, 17:17 ET
You're welcome Donna. This topic is everyone's notice that henceforth eoewan is now DonnaN.
mom22greatgirls
Posted: Nov. 24 2007, 22:37 ET
Hi Donna. I admire you - I will retain my handle as I don't feel that I'm in a supportive enough environment to release my real name, yet. Not this forum - which is very supportive - but the rest. Ottawa is a very small town in alot of respects and I'm just not comfortable giving my real name yet. So kudos to you.
DonnaN
Posted: Nov. 24 2007, 22:56 ET
i truly hope no one thinks that i was inferring that a "handle" is something to hide behind...my decision was a very personal one and needed for my own truths
we all have issues of why we became overweight - in my case morbidly obese - and the lies i told myself...even to the point of basically becoming a shut in whereby i missed so many extended family gatherings...it's so easy to lie to myself then face the realities...but, not any more
mom22, thank you 
MelismaMcG
Posted: Nov. 25 2007, 00:14 ET
I mentioned in my own introductory post that Melisma is my online nick, not my real name. I'm not ashamed of my real name - it's just that I've been online as Melisma for a good ten years now, and it's become as familiar and automatic to me as my real name. So much that when my dad was over here last week helping me set up my new computer (yay! my old one is a real turkey ) I told him to register me under it without halfway thinking about it. Think he might have been taken aback, actually, but then again, he does know my email addresses and Yahoo messenger ID use it too...
Of course, if I was to meet any of you in real life, I'd gladly tell you my real-life name, no hesitations!
I'm just saying... an online handle or nick isn't necessarily a bad thing, or mean that you are hiding something. In my case, my nick is my online identity, my real name is my offline identity, and I'm perfectly comfortable with it that way 
Hope everyone is having a good weekend - looking forward to seeing your reports of success on Monday!
Melisma
Michelle
Posted: Nov. 25 2007, 02:53 ET
Woooo hooooo !!! Not even a week and she's outta the closet! Welcome again Donna !!!
BrianB
Posted: Nov. 25 2007, 09:05 ET
While many folks have well established online handles that are just as much their real name as the ones their parents gave them, many folks do indeed use handles to gain some degree of anonymity on the Internet. This is a sensible precaution for many, for a variety of reasons that vary from person to person. Most of the people that have asked me for a handle change have given the same reason Donna did -- "when I signed up here I wanted to be anonymous, but this quickly felt like a group of friends and I really want to use my real name".
Bottom line is there is nothing wrong with either one. Everyone should do what they are comfortable with, and the good news is, if what you're comfortable with changes, we can change your handle no problem. Many (most?) forums you can't do this -- and in fact there was no built in way to do it here -- I had to write a custom little program that would check to be sure the new name was free, rename the account in the database, recalculate the password hash, go rename your ticker graphic file, update your signature box to reflect the changed ticker graphic file name, update the calendar to change your birthday entry if you entered one, etc., etc.
I always like handle changes because it gives me a chance to fix the capitalization of handles. Lots of folks have handles that either start with a lower case letter (which doesn't seem right for a "name"), or are a first name and last initial, but the last initial isn't capitalized -- like "Brianb". For some handles, the capitalization is intentional, for others, when answering the question when signing up it was easy to forget that this would be your "name" to everyone else.
As always, if anyone wants a handle change, just PM me.
BrookeB
Posted: Nov. 26 2007, 16:32 ET
Some people come up with some really clever names, I never thought of it as "hiding" I just thought they were really creative. I have been using my middle name as my online name for YEARS! My firstname is very common and I always found it was "used" up if I tried to register with it so I switched it to my middle name, which is also my nickname in real-life.
Not an interesting story at all LOL
DonnaN
Posted: Nov. 26 2007, 16:35 ET
BrookeB,
is your puppy a swiss mountain or a bernese mountain dog?
beautiful dog for a beautiful lady
donna
BrookeB
Posted: Nov. 26 2007, 16:40 ET
thanks Donna
That's Kaipo, he is actually an Australian Shepherd but he is PERFECTLY marked like a Bernese Mountain Dog and he still has his tail. I have a lot of people ask me if he is a "Mini-Berner" because he isn't tall enough to be a real Bernese Mountain Dog...but when you watch him herding sheep you know for sure he is an Aussie ;)