Wow howdy! New boards? New members? (explain your username)

[Triplet3]

Can I join the history lovers party please? I'm a senior in college majoring in history and am currently getting all excited thinking about grad schools and a potential career as a professional historian. I love pretty much any era of history (except ancient Rome and the Civil War) but my passion is Tudor England. I was soooooooo excited last semester when I got to write a paper about Henry VIII's divorce from Catherine of Aragon. Fundies mangling history bother me, too, but I get more annoyed by the over simplified, America-centric version taught in public schools, and by supposedly educated people who say things like, "Well, the Salem witch burnings in the 1500's..."

Yay, another history lover! Maybe we should start a FJ history club... :D

I remember having similar feelings; after doing GCSE history that was entirely 20th century, and not having studied history from before the Industrial Revolution since year 8, I was soooo pleased when we got to do the Wars of the Roses (and the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella in Spain) in year 12! It was so refreshing to do some medieval history; a real breath of fresh air. I don't know about in the US, but over here in the UK secondary schools teach far too much 20th century history and not nearly enough from the medieval or early modern periods. Eg. there's periodic complaints that the people who set the national curriculum are obsessed with Nazi history at the expense of everything else.

Good luck with grad school and your academic aspirations, by the way. :)

[O Latin]

Over here the ONLY required history class in high school is American history (at least in my state). The only way you'll hear about the Wars of the Roses at all is if you're one of the few who take AP European. I have issues with this because 1) the U.S. is not the only country with history worth studying, and 2) we do not exist in a bubble. I think part of the reason many Americans are so anti-taxes is because we're pounded over the head with the Revolutionary War and the idea that taxes are bad and the British were eeeeeeevil tyrants for making us pay taxes, with absolutely NO reference to what was going on in Europe at the time. I get wanting to instill patriotism (okay, I don't get it, but whatever) but the way history is taught, the U.S. is always, always, always made to look like the good guy even if that comes at the expense of real history.

Okay, getting off my soap box now. :angry-soapbox:

[JesusFightClub]

Defrauding: just wanted to say - 'icon love'

I am not sure if this is right in this forum but I wanted to say I love so many of the avatars here.

How did you pick them?

[Triplet3]

Wow, I'm gobsmacked! How can any US state make only American history be taught in schools?? I agree, the US does NOT exist in a bubble, and the history of other countries informs American history (and indeed knowledge of America today) to a huge extent. For example, how about the Reformation and the birth and rise of Protestantism? Or the Industrial Revolution? Or the Renaissance, which if I remember rightly first kicked off in Italy in the 14th century as an indirect result of the catastrophic Black Death? With all the obsession with the 20th century, at least schools over here do as a matter of course teach some world history as well as British, no doubt partly because of the ties between Britain, the US, continental Europe (particularly France) and the Commonwealth countries. Off the top of my head, at GCSE we covered WW1, WW2 (both including what was going on in Europe as well as on the home front), US civil rights, the US's Vietnam and Korean wars and the fight against apartheid in South Africa. In year 7 we did the ancient Romans and in year 8 the transatlantic slave trade.

Whoops, didn't mean to write a miniature essay there! Sorry if it's a load of witter.

[teddybear]

I am teddybear because I had the build and personality of one. My partner, Aaron, also says I'm as cuddly as one too!

Don

[Marchpane]

Marchpane is the original English word for marzipan. I am loving the almond paste and history. Embossed and gilded marchpane was served at Tudor banquets as a dessert. I am also fond of obscure facts! :eusa-shifty:

[wildflower]

I picked wildflower because I like gardening and cultivating flowers of all kinds, and I imagine myself as a rather sturdy sort of woman unlike the delicate Victorian flowers that Dougie and company prefer.

[almostfundylyte]

My name is how I see myself in terms of religion. I chose to spell it with y's because we know how much the fundies love kre8ive spellings. I don't fit the stereotypical fundie mode because 1. I don't beat my child 2. I only have 1 "blessing", but know Jesus loves me anyway, 3. I work full time, and my husband/headship is a SAHDad, 4. I have a master's degree and will have doctorate finished in about a year (I hope, statistics is making me seriously doubt how great Dr. Almostfundylyte will sound). 5. I hate cleaning my house, and would pay someone else to do it if I could afford to. 6. My son (9) can cook, clean, sew, etc. He can also throw a football, play baseball, and use age-appropriate toos. 7.I've read Jane Austen, and get that it is a classic, but I really don't care for the writing style. I'd much rather read romantic thrillers with lots of teh secs and people getting slashed up. 8. I wear pants and don't care if people notice that I have boobs. I don't flaunt them, but they're there. 9. I don't homeschool. I don't really want to, either. I could keep going, but I'm getting tired.

Oh, and IRL, my name is Amanda. That's vague enough as I was born in the 80's and had 12 Amanda's in my graduating H.S. class of 150.

[almostfundylyte]

Also, I don't know how to edit on here, but #6 should be age-appropriate tools. I do know how to spell, but like I said, I'm tired.

[GrapeSlushie]

My name is a reference to Glee, where the main characters are always getting slushies thrown in their faces. The grape part comes from it being Rachel's favorite flavor on the show. :D

[doubtingkimmy]

Hello all. My name is Kim, and my user name stems from that coupled with where I find myself re: religion and God these days. I am a cradle Catholic, and so is my husband, and the fact that neither of us attends mass any more (Christmas and Easter aside) causes poop storms of various severity from both of our families. We're now trying to decide how to introduce our daughter to the whole realm of God/religion/spirituality. I live in Catholicville, PA, and to not have a religion will definitely label my daughter as a "freak"/bad influence/heathen. I kid you not, some parents would not let their children play with my daughter if they find out that she does not attend religious services of any kind. So, we have a conundrum that we are trying to deal with.

Explanation of user name aside, I found Free Jinger through NoLongerQuivering and have been reading here ever since, which is ironic, since I rarely look at the NLQ site any more. I almost never post, because by the time I get to sit down at the computer catch up on all the threads, y'all have already said everything that I was going to say, only in a much more succinct and entertaining way.

[NurseShannon]

Well...My name is Shannon and Imma nurse. Combine the two and you have my username!

[Lady Elaine]

Hi, I'm here. Long time listener, first time caller.

[FaustianSlip]

Okay, Lady Elaine? That's awesome. Totally brings back trolley-induced memories.

A Faustian slip is like a Freudian slip, except instead of sexual innuendo, you accidentally sell your soul to the devil in exchange for knowledge. Maybe not such a bad deal. Anyway, Doctor Faustus is one of my all time favorite plays, so I started using this screen name.

[synchroswimr]

Well, I am (or was, don't have a team at the moment) a synchronized swimmer. It is spelled funny because this way I could be sure nobody would have it.

[bertiebean]

I looove learning username meanings, so color me totally obsessed with this thread. Anywho, bertiebean's a smushed version of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans from Harry Potter. I started using it on HP fansites & forums because I didn't want to wind up having a name like [character]random#. Pretty soon I was using it everywhere since 1) it's a fairly vague reference & 2) I'm lazy. :lol:

[Brainsample]

This has been the greatest thread.

A must get caught up on reading after I get caught up on sleep and go through to go get acquainted with everyone. Was in on Wednesday or Thursday of last week, I found myself wanting to comment on every post.

I stopped reading (tired, distracted) somewhere near Turquoise and Oolong. I greeted my husband who came home late and asked him "Where did this quip come from?" As expected, he lit up and said "Douglas Adams!?" My dh is a zarkin frood. :ugeek:

I then informed him that I think I found the first rap that I liked, and he got a sick look on his face. The fact that it was British and had pretty good to very good music, and the fact that it was silly turned out to be a pretty good combination. So thanks to Oolong, I think I'm a Professor Elemental fan. :P

Still tired and distracted, I still have to go back and read, but it's a guilty pleasure when my computer gets fixed.

So the thread doesn't beat LOLDOUG, but it ranks pretty high.

[Witsec2]

my name is from South Park, because that's just about the best TV show ever. And everyone loves Mr. Mackey.

Oh, and "mmm...kay" is pretty much my main expression when I read some of these redonkulis blogs. Usually, it's combined with an eyeroll ;)

[defrauding]

Defrauding: just wanted to say - 'icon love' :)

Thanks!

Since one person PMed me to ask, it's the slogan for Tel Aviv Pride 2011 -- in English, "it's worth being gay."

[Witsec6]

I am teddybear because I had the build and personality of one. My partner, Aaron, also says I'm as cuddly as one too!

Don

If your avatar is any indication, I would have to agree!

[formerlyfundie]

Hey Hey! My name is Jess, long time lurker and now have a lot to say! I am 23 years young, been married almost 4 years and have two very little children, a 16 month old and almost 6 month old. (and I loooooove them!) My husband and I had been living the ~fundie lifestyle the past few years, even applying for Gothard's programs (for which we were rejected, we weren't good enough apparently!) and now we are getting away from it and loving life, loving people, and loving God in the way He probably really intended it. After a few run ins with some other fundies on FB and just not seeing eye to eye (because I started wearing pants OH MY), I started to see how ridiculous a lot of it is, how sad it is, how utterly depressing it is, it's a constant competition. (and I BET some of those women are probably going to see this post - they read and talk about this forum- and will say something about me being here, but whatever. :roll: ) Anyway, good to be here, yall crack me up, have a great day!

[countressrascal]

I am a JAP (Jewish American Princess) and a Rascal. I did not want to be a Princess because everyone is, so my husband decided that I was the CountressRascal, Countress is higher in the royal pecking order than a Princess. Now I want to be a Duchess because that is higher, but it does not have the right sound. So Countress I am. Found your board after my sons found my TWoP login and password one summer and did some posting which I thought were funny but they threw us off. Then Emily came, now my SIL and I are involved with ZuZu and Cedar chick.

[MrsKay]

My username is so insanely creative that I almost piss myself every time I see it in a thread. Here's the back story:

"Mrs": That's the title that goes in front of my last name, now that I'm married.

"Kay": My last name starts with the letter K, which sounds like "kay" when spoken.

I know, you wish you thought of it first, right? :icon-wink:

[Lainey]

I am a JAP (Jewish American Princess) and a Rascal. I did not want to be a Princess because everyone is, so my husband decided that I was the CountressRascal, Countress is higher in the royal pecking order than a Princess. Now I want to be a Duchess because that is higher, but it does not have the right sound. So Countress I am. Found your board after my sons found my TWoP login and password one summer and did some posting which I thought were funny but they threw us off. Then Emily came, now my SIL and I are involved with ZuZu and Cedar chick.

What's a Jewish American Princess? Countess isn't supposed to have an "r" in it...

[keeperrox]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_american_princess