Avatar Stories

1.4k · August 17, 2004

My avatar is what it is because it represents me best.

With less than 50 cache finds in 3 years, I hike FAR MORE than I cache. And being in desert warfare most of my military career, living in the desert, and doing back-country trail patrol as a volunteer in the state park, people think of me as a desert warrior. The dog is my bast hiking partner, and the only dog allowed in the park without a lead. Here is the original, taken on the eastern slopes of the Franklin Mountains while the poppies were in bloom.

August 17, 2004

Our very first avatar:

The ones I (lulu) seem to have settled on:

The ones that where recieved less then favorably

If anyone wants to adopt any of these last five feel free to do so....

Edited August 17, 2004 by woof n lulu

August 17, 2004

Currently using the rubber duck because that's what I've been leaving in caches I find more or less as a sig item, not a trade item.

At the gaming board I frequent I use a sniper kitty and have a title that says "I camp so you don't have to".

August 17, 2004

I bought this hiking stick on ebay from a real cool guy with the initials D.M. I liked it so much I asked him if he could carve a special one for my son who likes dwarves and elves. He sent me the second stick at no charge! We use them every time we go out caching now. We figure it will be easy for fellow cachers to recognize us on the trail. Almost a year and 43 caches later, we have yet to run into another cacher!

1.3k · August 17, 2004

I've played with mine for a bit, used some goofy pictures of the kids now and then. The current one I think I'll stick with for the long term. I just wish it showed up better avatar sized. Here is a larger version. I found the frogs in the 'X' with a google search, I added the G to make it the Gx Logo.

2.4k · August 17, 2004

Up until a couple of days ago, mine was the painting "Nude Descending a Staircase", because it has been used to illustrate an eye condition that I have (keratoconus), which makes me see multiple copies of everything. (Well, up to two copies out of one eye, and up to six out of the other. Makes life interesting sometimes.)

Shrunk down to avatar size, though, it's hard to actually see what it is.

The tag line "I see everything twice!" has three meanings: it's a reference to the same eye condition; it's an indication that there are two of us hermit crabs out looking for caches, and it's a quote from one of our favorite parts of Catch-22.

I recently switched to my current avatar, to be something more recognizable that goes with our geocaching team name. The hermit crab image came from a rubber stamp we bought for letterboxing.

2.7k · August 17, 2004

I love the Get Fuzzy comic strip by Darby Conley (can be found at www.comics.com. Use the pull-down menu to find it.)

Bucky Katt (the 'cat' character) is mean spirited, intolerant and demanding. Just like a good cat SHOULD be. And he hates mushrooms. The two of us are so alike, that he just makes a perfect avatar for me.

Now where is my tuna, you lazy excuse for a human?

:lol:

9.5k · August 17, 2004

No reason behind it. I like bizarre art and decided to build on that from a card I scanned in. The dog is my trusty all time hiking pal, Snickers!

24.7k · August 17, 2004

No reason behind it. I like bizarre art and decided to build on that from a card I scanned in. The dog is my trusty all time hiking pal, Snickers!

Jim Warren? I like some of his stuff. The cartoon kids picking on the normal person is one I got a kick out of. His women in scenes can be good and I love his horses in the crashing waves.

9.5k · August 17, 2004

Yah this is his work minus the gps and the pooch... there was a circuit piece in the scientist's hand.

August 17, 2004

Here's the scoop. I was born in late 1957.

So was I!! Did you know that there were more babies born in the US in 1957 than any other year in history? GO US!

August 17, 2004

Mine symbolizes an American Indian tribe known for their seven clans; hence the seven points on the outer circle. They are part of my heritage.

The above is true, but for those of you with some imagination, look at the avatar and squint. Now imagine that you're seeing the south end of a north bound cat. If you can see that and can't get it out of your mind.....sorry.

August 17, 2004

Desert Warrior, you probably could save alot of time hiking if you just rode your dog! That guy is HUGE! Whats his name and how old is he?

1.8k · August 17, 2004

Up until a couple of days ago, mine was the painting "Nude Descending a Staircase", because it has been used to illustrate an eye condition that I have (keratoconus), which makes me see multiple copies of everything. (Well, up to two copies out of one eye, and up to six out of the other. Makes life interesting sometimes.)

So, when you find a cache, do you log all 8? Sorry, hope that's funny, and not in bad taste. It does seem that this could make caching quite different....how do you do it?

August 17, 2004

My avatar is a meerkat photo that I took at the zoo. It's low-resolution in honor of the satellite signals I seem to mostly get, and it's a meerkat because, well, he/she is cuter than I am...

August 17, 2004

I created mine around the generic "G" logo. I included the White Sox logos from years past and current. I found a crossed bat pic on the web somewhere and tweaked it until it fit just right. As you can tell, I'm a huge White Sox Fan (for better or worse). Oh..and I gave it a shrink wrapped effect to give it some depth.

Edited August 17, 2004 by Sox Fan

5.3k · August 17, 2004

Mine is James Morris "The elastic skin man" This condotion is called Cutis Hypereastica-which means extremely elastic skin. James Morris traveled with PT Barnum and was paid $150 a week. At the time (1882) this was quite a bit of money. I found his story in a book titled Very special people, written by Frederick Drimmer and published in 1973 by Amjon publishing of New York.

I had a chance to see a side show a few years ago. They were missing there fire eater at the time so I did the fire eating bit a couple if times for them, after all I had my torches in my car.

August 17, 2004

My avatar is the insignia for the 25th Infantry Division (light). I spent 4 years posted to the 25th as an Infantryman, and ALWAYS found land navigation a challenge. Geeze, I would have given anything for a GPS then! Anyway, there is more information here if you find yourself interested: http://www.25thida.com/division.html

1.1k · August 17, 2004

Mine is a picture of a sign located in the General Coffee State Park in Georgia. Donna and I spent the day caching in the park (there's 4 caches in there) and I took this picture while we were having a picnic lunch by the lake. The saying below the avatar doesn't make much sense when viewed on the profile page but it does here in the forums.

Zack

P.S. That Yatta video is a hoot!

August 17, 2004

Avatars are fun.

I'm a (currently inactive) member of the Society for Creative Anachronism, and my avatar is supposed to be an approximate representation of myself in early Renaissance garb (No comment as to the accuracy of this representation...). It's a 3D image rendered using the POV-Ray ray-tracing engine - a nice bit of software which I've been tinkering around with for about 10 years now.

I have fun playing around with the basic avatar file to reflect various special occasions and "special avatar days":

Normal avatar, Cinco de Mayo, Tinfoil hat to deflect the mind-control lasers, 4th of July, Canada Day, Sock Puppet Day

It looks like the boss elf from Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer! The one that wouldn't let Hermie be a dentist.

2.4k · August 17, 2004

Up until a couple of days ago, mine was the painting "Nude Descending a Staircase", because it has been used to illustrate an eye condition that I have (keratoconus), which makes me see multiple copies of everything. (Well, up to two copies out of one eye, and up to six out of the other. Makes life interesting sometimes.)

So, when you find a cache, do you log all 8? Sorry, hope that's funny, and not in bad taste. It does seem that this could make caching quite different....how do you do it?

Ooh, 8 logs, there's an idea! Actually, I'd probably only get to log two, since I tend to just use the double-image eye when I'm caching. The sextuple-image eye is mostly used for either very close-up vision, or for just playing -- I actually like looking up on a clear night and seeing six crescent moons spread out across the sky. It's like living in a science fiction movie. (It doesn't work as well with full moons -- they all sort of overlap, and it looks like a giant caterpillar in the sky.)

I guess it's just something you adapt to, like everything else. And it helps to have a another hermit crab to cache with, to see things that I might have trouble with.

Come to think of it, maybe it even helps sometimes -- this past Saturday we found four caches that were all hidden the same way: tucked in or under or near a crevice in a large rock, and covered with small logs. Now, five pieces of wood all the same size and lying in the same orientation look pretty suspicious -- but ten is a dead giveaway!

August 17, 2004

Linux mascot Tux, holding a GPSr.

6.4k · August 17, 2004

There is a song called "Yatta" that was performed by a Japanese Comedy Group called "Happatai" (English = Green Leaves). The song was first performed on a Japanese television show called "Silly Go Lucky". Silly Go Lucky is a sketch comedy show by the same group of guys that perform the song. So of course one day during a sketch they performed "Yatta!" and the rest is history.

The song and now the group have made it really big in Japan with the song going triple platinum in weeks. Green Leaves has also spawned it's own cartoon series.

If you want to see the video and hear our team theme song, you can visit the link below. Be warned that the guys in the video are wearing nothing but shoes, tighty whitey underwear with a green leaf attached to the front and nothing else. I wouldn't recommend watching the video unless you are on a cable or DSL connection.

My avatar is a screen grab from this video.

The Yatta Video

The figleaf dance came first, but I actually became aware of ""Yatta" years ago when I saw this version.

There is a great history of "Yatta" with lots of different versions (including a techno dance mix) here.

August 17, 2004

For the past 6 years 3 friends and I go to Sylvania Wilderness in U.P. to fish, camp, canoe. 3 yrs ago some people we know also where there camping, the 4 of us played some jokes on them and They gave us the name " The Wilderness Gang".

a member of our group made a drawing of a Racoon Catching a fish, (I dont know if they do this or not), to represent us. so I wanted to get a racoon drawing to put on the spare tire cover on my camper. i searched the net and found the one i use as an avatar. I use it on a lot of my stuff.

Bronzback is a nickname for the fish I like to fish for; Smallmouth Bass.

of which there are quite a few in UP.

Bronz

6.4k · August 17, 2004

This is the only avatar I've ever used here or in any other forum or bbs since about 1980.

"Mopar" originally was an abbreviation for "Chrysler Motor Parts Division", the replacement parts division for Chrysler Corp. It eventually became a slang term to stand for a vehicle built by any Chrysler division.

In the 60's Chrysler's Dodge and Plymouth divisions became very active in racing and high performance, and you could buy special race-ready parts directly from Mopar's Direct Connection division (Now known as Mopar Performance).

Over the years I've owned, built, raced, and restored many Mopars. Just a few of my favorites over the years:

1959 Chrysler Saratoga

1967 Dodge Charger

1968 Dodge Charger

1970 Dodge Challenger

1978 Dodge Ramcharger

Since I also spent many years working an automotive parts counter, and in a automotive machine shop, and I have never paid money for car or truck but a Mopar, the nick is an obvious choice and I've used it online for almost 25yrs.

My avatar is the Mopar logo that was current when I got my first modem. It hasn't been used by Chrysler in 20yrs. Here are some of the other Mopar logos used through the years:

And the current one:

Edited August 17, 2004 by Mopar

2.1k · August 17, 2004

It (Mopar) eventually became a slang term to stand for a vehicle built by any Chrysler division.

I think you're misunderstanding what other people are calling it...they're saying "Moped".

Everyone knows Mopar stands for "Move Over, People Are Racing". Those things are Mostly Old Parts And Rust.

1.8k · August 17, 2004

Over the years I've owned, built, raced, and restored many Mopars. Just a few of my favorites over the years:
1959 Chrysler Saratoga

1967 Dodge Charger

1968 Dodge Charger

1970 Dodge Challenger

1978 Dodge Ramcharger

Sweet!!! I'd give anything to have a mint condition 1970 Challenger sitting in the garage. I'd never take my eyes off of it.

2.7k · August 17, 2004

It (Mopar) eventually became a slang term to stand for a vehicle built by any Chrysler division.

I think you're misunderstanding what other people are calling it...they're saying "Moped".

Everyone knows Mopar stands for "Move Over, People Are Racing". Those things are Mostly Old Parts And Rust.

Oh dear... where's that fire retardent vest I bought last year... *rummage rummage*. Can't find it. I guess I'll run away!

Edited August 17, 2004 by New England n00b

6.4k · August 17, 2004

It (Mopar) eventually became a slang term to stand for a vehicle built by any Chrysler division.

I think you're misunderstanding what other people are calling it...they're saying "Moped".

Everyone knows Mopar stands for "Move Over, People Are Racing". Those things are Mostly Old Parts And Rust.

I've got just one word for that:

HEMI :lol:

When it comes time for a top fuel car to squeeze 8,000 horsepower out of a 500 cubic inch V8 engine, it doesn't matter if the body says Dodge, Ford or Chevy, chances are it's got a Mopar engine under the hood.

In other words:

Massively Over Powered And Respected!

Edited August 17, 2004 by Mopar

6.4k · August 17, 2004

Sweet!!! I'd give anything to have a mint condition 1970 Challenger sitting in the garage. I'd never take my eyes off of it.

Me too!

Some of those cars would make for a nice downpayment on a new house if I still owned them.

1.8k · August 17, 2004

I've had several; most involve cheese in some way because, well, I'm from Wisconsin.

The original cheese. I had this forever, before I started to change it regulary. At first it was for the various seasons:

I've used anime characters:

And recently, a cow:

Currently, my avatar is Olympic-themed, changing daily.

August 17, 2004

Here's the scoop. I was born in late 1957.

So was I!! Did you know that there were more babies born in the US in 1957 than any other year in history? GO US!

I'm also a 57 model.

Last April, Team K9 was using a Mountain Dew avatar, and it prompted me to wonder if they were being paid to advertise for them. Got me to thinking: if I were to use a company logo for my avatar, who would I want? Chose Merrell, because I love their boots and trail runners, and because I figured if they cared, maybe they'd give me a new pair of boots for advertising them on this very outdoor board. I even sent an email to Merrell to ask if they liked my co-op idea, but they never did reply. Oh well, I still love the boots, and don't mind saying so even if they won't give me anything for it!

My former avatar is the Piasa Bird:

In 1673, Marquette and Joliet were seeking the headwaters of the Mississippi River when they happened upon the original painting of this mythical beast. It was painted high up on the river bluffs. I wrote an as yet unpublished caving adventure novel that uses the Piasa Bird legend in the story line. If you'd like to learn more about the tale, here's a good link:

Piasa Bird Legend

The original painting is long gone now, as Indians shot their arrows at it every time they passed on the river, and when they traded bows and arrows for guns, that was that. The image has been recreated over the last century no less than 5 times, as the pictograph has been lost to erosion and road construction again and again. The avatar is the current version.

August 17, 2004

Here's the scoop. I was born in late 1957.

So was I!! Did you know that there were more babies born in the US in 1957 than any other year in history? GO US!

I'm also a 57 model.

Last April, Team K9 was using a Mountain Dew avatar, and it prompted me to wonder if they were being paid to advertise for them. Got me to thinking: if I were to use a company logo for my avatar, who would I want? Chose Merrell, because I love their boots and trail runners, and because I figured if they cared, maybe they'd give me a new pair of boots for advertising them on this very outdoor board. I even sent an email to Merrell to ask if they liked my co-op idea, but they never did reply. Oh well, I still love the boots, and don't mind saying so even if they won't give me anything for it!

My former avatar is the Piasa Bird:

In 1673, Marquette and Joliet were seeking the headwaters of the Mississippi River when they happened upon the original painting of this mythical beast. It was painted high up on the river bluffs. I wrote an as yet unpublished caving adventure novel that uses the Piasa Bird legend in the story line. If you'd like to learn more about the tale, here's a good link:

Piasa Bird Legend

The original painting is long gone now, as Indians shot their arrows at it every time they passed on the river, and when they traded bows and arrows for guns, that was that. The image has been recreated over the last century no less than 5 times, as the pictograph has been lost to erosion and road construction again and again. The avatar is the current version.

I just went BY that bird last week! We were visiting my aunt and uncle in Godfrey, IL (by Alton, where the Piasa Bird is on the bluffs), and did some really fun caching there, too. The current location of the Piasa Bird is pretty cool, with some caves.

1.8k · August 17, 2004

My former avatar is the Piasa Bird:

You traded your very unique avatar of a mythical bird painting for a hiking boot logo Dude, dump the boot and go back to your original idea ... (Just my 2 cents).

August 17, 2004

Mine is a picture of me, taken by my wife, while doing a multi-cache in the nearby Kettle Moraine area. The coords were written on a tag on the back of the sign.

It wasn't until I got home and looked at the picture that I realized the sign was pointing at my belly. My wife thought that was pretty funny and it seemed the perfect picture to use.

22k · August 17, 2004

Mine is a picture of me, taken by my wife, while doing a multi-cache in the nearby Kettle Moraine area. The coords were written on a tag on the back of the sign.
It wasn't until I got home and looked at the picture that I realized the sign was pointing at my belly. My wife thought that was pretty funny and it seemed the perfect picture to use.

Now that made me laugh!

August 17, 2004

<--- Evil Chicken

The full length (and much funnier sounding) story is listed on our profile page.

The abbreviated version is that while at a birthday party, my 4 yo dtr cornered a chicken between a fence and the chicken coop. Not a good thing to do. She then jumped into the famous Lou Ferrigno stance from The Hulk while growling at it. The chicken launched itself into the air and attempted to gouge out my daughter's eyes. She pulled back and received superficial scratches on her neck and the chicken somehow connected with my foot before scurrying off. My daughter then looked at me solemnly and said in a serious voice, "Man, that is one evil chicken."

1.8k · August 17, 2004

My wife thought that was pretty funny and it seemed the perfect picture to use.

Leave it to our wonderful wives to point out our most redeeming qualities ... hehehe.

Edited August 17, 2004 by clearpath

1.4k · August 17, 2004

Desert Warrior, you probably could save alot of time hiking if you just rode your dog! That guy is HUGE! Whats his name and how old is he?

Well, his real name is Fleckenhaus Quannah Parker Von Bonehenge.

Fleckehhaus is the kennel name of the father.

Von Bonehenge is the kennel name of the mother.

Quannah Parker was an Indian Chief who's mother was a captured white woman named Parker. History says that Quannah Parker was never beaten in battle by the white soldiers.

I call him Parker - much simpler. He turned 4 years old on 1 June. I never have had a dog that fits me as good as this one does. Parker's mother was mostly white.

Hereis a link to Parker's Story.

Parker and I took obedience training under the watchful eye of my wife, a professional dog trainer. Dispite my inept mistakes, (some dog commands start on the right foot, military ALWAYS starts on the left) Parker earned an AKC CD obedience title.

You will find us patroling the trails in the 37 square mile desert mountain range that makes up Franklin Mountain State Park almost any weekend. The rangers love him, and only a few park visitors have been afraid of him. He wears his volunteer patch proudly on his collar. He is every bit as good a partner as I could ask for.

Hope you enjoyed the story.

August 17, 2004

One of the many things that I hauled back home from Africa ~~~

August 17, 2004

<--------- Mine is "Our Family Coat of Arms" traced back thru the family tree from the yesteryears. Upon recieving "Our Family Tree Book " , "Our Family Coat of Arms" was on the back cover and I decided to use it. I must admit: Back when I started, I didn't have one. I was inspired by Welches avatar. SF1

2.5k · August 17, 2004

Mine is the original cache container and contents of my first cache... Interestingly enough, out of everything in the picture, the sticker is missing, and that's about it... I went to all the trouble of items for the cache and everyone just TNLNSLTFTC.

August 17, 2004

I chose my avatar because I am Black Mage, and thus I chose to use the Black Mage sprite from the early Final Fantasy games (personally this one is my favorite depiction of Black Mage, simple and economic.)

Here's my original avatar

Recently, though, I decided to change it to this:

Which is a slightly edited and more 3V1L version of Black Mage from the "Final Fantasy 9" game. It's also one of my sig cards.

Oh, and I like your avatar kayaker22589,

have you had any "light switch raves" recently?

Edited August 17, 2004 by Black Mage

August 17, 2004

My former avatar is the Piasa Bird:

You traded your very unique avatar of a mythical bird painting for a hiking boot logo Dude, dump the boot and go back to your original idea ... (Just my 2 cents).

You're right; I changed it back. I guess I just got tired of looking at him for awhile, as I have him as framed art over my desk, and on smaller things like a magnet clip, my coffeee mug, wallpaper, etc. I changed him out for a time, since he was a constant reminder that I've been a slacker trying to market my novel. Gotta get back on that horse.

Anyone know an agent, or a publisher looking for new fiction talent?

August 17, 2004

Plus, his picture is sooo small. How do you get it to be bigger? Some of the avatars are many times the size of mine.

2.6k · August 17, 2004

Plus, his picture is sooo small. How do you get it to be bigger? Some of the avatars are many times the size of mine.

They're all the same width (100 px). Try turning him vertically and size to 100. Yeah, I know that's not the way it goes, but you could get the pic a lot bigger. And what does a flying mythical beast care?

I read the story, by the way. Very cool.

Edit: no, wait, it's 75px.

Edited August 17, 2004 by AuntieWeasel

1.8k · August 17, 2004

Plus, his picture is sooo small. How do you get it to be bigger? Some of the avatars are many times the size of mine.

If you have a photo editor you could try playing with the resolution. The lower the resolution of your picture, the larger the avatar. Of course you'll lose some image quality so you may have to play with it. If you are real nice, maybe Amishhacker or Cache Viking could fix it up for you ... I'm not very good with photoshop.

PS - after looking at your bird avatar, it seems to blend into the background and make it hard to view. With photoshop, I think you could color the background a different color thus creating more contrast with the image of the bird.

Edited August 17, 2004 by clearpath

August 17, 2004

My current one is on one of the boats I race. About twenty minutes after this shot was taken, I found myself standing on the foredeck, with a jammed spinaker sail, winds shooting past 35 knots, and the boat on its side with water up to the mast. Fun stuff.

Another one I've used is of me pulling a frosty 4 AM watch on my birthday in April on another boat I've sailed, which has also served as an avatar.

This is of a stupid jaunt I took in my snowstorm,

which briefly generated this image when someone in the forums complained that I looked like a terrorist with my face covered.

I've used one of the launching of my Old Line State Travel Bug in Wales,

and finally this was my first, a flattering facial picture of myself cropped from a goofy shot of me on top of Gothics in the Adirondacks. I replaced my job's ID card with this shot. No one notices.

I'm thinking of changing to something else soon, but as of yet, don't know what.

August 17, 2004

Road Rabbit was my CB "handle" way back in the 70's. It seemed a natural thing to resurrect this alias when I created my username.

The picture is a crop of a larger photo of the meanest, most insane looking rabbit I've ever seen. According to my teenagers, it's a good fit.

1.8k · August 17, 2004

Road Rabbit was my CB "handle" way back in the 70's. It seemed a natural thing to resurrect this alias when I created my username.

The picture is a crop of a larger photo of the meanest, most insane looking rabbit I've ever seen. According to my teenagers, it's a good fit.

Hehehe, that is one mean looking rabbit. LOL! My CB handle back in the day was 'Chicken Killer' ... don't ask why.

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