What does your LJ username mean?

I keep asking people that when they do axe-me-a-question memes. I get some really cool responses--it's amazing what people come up with. Maybe I'll steal your idea and do an entry asking the same thing.

A padparadscha is a pinkish-orange variety of corundum (sapphire); some people insist that only the kind from Sri Lanka actually count as padparadscha. It's the only color of corundum aside from red (ruby) to have its own name. The word is derived from the Sanskrit phrase padma raga which means "color of a lotus blossom."

I picked it because it's one of my favorite colors. I've always liked studying gemstones when I get the chance, and for some reason corundum is one of my favorites. I also figured no one had taken it yet!

The subtitle, "The Desert Mermaid," refers to my love of the ocean and the Southwest. A rock-art mermaid is a personal symbol of mine--I've got one tattooed on my arm.

Cool, this is fascinating.

'anamacha' is an irish gaelic term meaning 'souls.' The singular of the word (Anam) came to me in meditation several years ago, when I was asked to choose an initiate or craft name for myself. After doing some research, I discovered that the word was somewaht widely used; I therefore appropriated the plural, despite its being more difficult to pronounce.

ditenebre is a condensation of the "surname" I use in certain contexts: Angela di Tenebre being my complete name, under said circumstances. There's a back story around why I chose that name that I'll probably post in my own journal, but briefly, it is a proximate Italian translation for "of darkness" -- or, as one person preferred, "of shadows".

I can never resist when people as this question, because for me it is a very simple answer. I am wheezinggirl because I wheeze (asthma) and I am a girl. I have been wheezinggirl on-line since I graduated from college in 1997. The good news is, however, that my asthma is now managed with the right medications and completely under control. At the time I created the name, it was not.

We spend so much time searching for what we want when the earth we're a part of already has so much to offer: free sprouts, the seeds of change in awareness.

When I got the internet I tried so hard to find an original name that did not attach those stupid digits anywhere. Had no luck. Until one day when my brother paid a visit to my place. Boxes where ever where from moving and he tripped over something and spilled his coffee. He yelled at me and said shit like this would not happen if I was not such a pad hopper.

I truly think I lightbulb went off over my head, cuz I ran to the computer and registered that name everywhere.

It became a frog thing much later, I was in a chat room and was so tired of the age old a/s/l question and would always put some smart ass reply.

One night I put 10/frog/third lily pad from the bridge

It sorta stuck, and now when ever anyone sees a frog, they think of me. I kinda like it.

Unsurprisingly, I go by Dave -- the familiar form of David, my given name -- and I'm a filker.

Now I wish I'd picked something more mysterious.

well, I play many instruments, among them the mountain dulcimer (my first instrument) and the hammered dulcimer. the "goddess" part is a hybrid of the Pagan and the opera diva parts of me.

Tom => Thomas => Tah Moose => Moose

Moose wasn't available when I started LJ, so I took moosl.

Several years back I went through a time when much of what I thought of as my life fell apart. I was talking to a friend, and said that I felt like a ruin in a clearing. He said, "But you've got your art!" And I said, "So I'm an artful ruin."

I started using the name Artful Ruin after that. It became a name in a silly series of super hero stories I was writing. I like the way it contains the idea of "Artful Dodger," too. I've always been drawn to the archetype of Trickster.

Originally, I wanted to call myself "wormwood", because it's Latin name is Artemisia absinthium. Artemis is my goddess, so an Artemisia is appropriate. There are literally hundreds of species in the genus, but the 3 that everyone that I know knows best are: Artemisia absinthium, Artemisia vulgaris (mugwort) and Artemisia dracunculus (tarragon). I took a long time deciding between them, because I good see good reasons for choosing any one. Finally I settled on wormwood because it is the patron plant of herbalists (of which, I am one). However, wormwood has a kind of a dual reputation. Depending on whom you read, it can be enlightening, sensuous, intoxicating, and a bringer of ecstatic vision. Or, conversely, it can be bitter, toxic, and destructive. Both sources consider it addictive. These are all things that have been said about me, in the past. My name was an ownership of that.

However, strangely enough, "wormwood" was taken. Actually, I discovered this before LJ, when I was developing a profile for another site. There, the name "wormwood" was already owned by a gay Pagan man, so I had to change it.

"Wormwood" in Scottish Gaelic is "burmaid". However, I felt for readers in English, this was not gender-ambiguous enough. I have a lot of male energy and I wanted to reflect my gender-balance in this as well. So, I made up a Welshified spelling, "wyrmwwd". This also worked because it had 7 letters, not 8.

I used to have numerous online identities, back when the net was new and I was taking immense precautions to remain anonymous. I went my Lone Wolf (a spirit name given to me in a dream) for a long time, but it was near impossible to get just Lone Wolf on any kind of forum/email/whatever.

Flash forward to the 2000s, and I wanted something more consistent. Having decided online was the best forum for my writing, I wanted something people would recognize as me. So, when I went to sign up for my ff.net account what feels like a hundred years ago, I was pressed to come up with something unique enough to not have to attach a number to it, but still something I liked. I'd been going by Raven off and on as a nickname, so I that's where the Raven came from. Locke came from the fact that I was still an obsessive Final Fantasy 6 fangirl and the games resident thief (or treasure hunter, by his own proclamation)was named Locke. So, Ravenlocke I became. The Lady I tacked on just to make absolutely sure I could get the name I wanted, and now I use either Lady Ravenlocke, Ravenlocke, or C. Ravenlocke for nearly everything.

St Veronica was the girl who wiped the face of Christ on his way to the cross, this capturing an image of him on "St Veronica's handkerchief" which may or may not be the same thing as the shroud of Turin in folded form. I was born on her saint's day, and her name means "true icon" or "true image" which is what you get of me at my LJ site. Milvus milvus is the Red Kite, a bird that was famously introduced into the area where I live and can often be seen from the window where I write.

Since middle school just about everything I made was "Knight Creations (TM)" or "A Knight Creation" playing off of Night/Knight with a crecent moon in the icon. This was right around when I got my first computer, I'm guessing 1995.
I got email for the first time ever and my address was KnightoftheBlueRose[at]snet[dot]net. Quite a mouthful.
I developed a sort of medieval obsession as well as a very strong sense of justice which explains the Knight part.
I'm a Libra and am always in love with roses, especially the scent of roses.
The Blue Rose came about as blue roses grew in places of strong or plentiful magic. I don't know where I got the idea first or if it just came to me, I was super-religious-Roman Catholic at the time. Not long afterwards I found out that other people associated blue roses with magic as well. Makes sense, since they are not a natural color for roses. Later on I figured out that Paganism was much more appropriate for my soul.

I've kept KnightBlueRose from my AIM account that I created all those years ago too. Plus KnightoftheBlueRose didn't fit when I created my LJ account.
:P

My default icon of Cloud was partly because I was in love with FFVII and partly because the theme of the game was "Save the Planet," and I'm an eco-warrior.