How does your avatar affect your online interactions?

Thanks for sharing. I didn’t start getting into it until around 2016 when I was living in Arizona. A vermillion flycatcher caught my eye and it’s been a hobby ever since (also the hummingbirds they have out there were great). My folks live in Ocean county so when i visit I usually go to Island Beach State Park. My fav local spots are Palmyra Cove and Taylor Farm Preserve (spotted my first white-throated sparrow, palm warbler there last year).

 

My late-Pops was an avid reader of fiction. His dad, my PapPap, was a big Western fan, which neither of us cared for. It did introduce Pops to Elmore Leonard, however, sparking Pops' interest in mystery/detective/noir/crime/ police procedurals which is my area of interest. Pops was also into S-F, but it never did it for me. Pops always referred to ChANdler as his "pseudo-uncle" & so I took up the gauntlet. You should have seen the look of excitement when we met Jim Steranko, writer, illustrator & publisher of "ChANdler"!

As to Woody, yeah, his unsavory (at best) antics have kinda soured me to him.

The nickname comes from an afternoon as a general Deck seaman aboard the U.S.S. Fulton (AS-11). I was in the overhead, chipping paint, when Bos'n Duffy, a guy who strongly resembled Richard Hell, kicks the ladder & yells, "Yo, Woody Allen! Secure all this s**t! Liberty Call went down a half-hour ago! We gotta get outta here!"

Back then, BCGs (Birth CANtrol Glasses) were standard issue & so called because NOBODY was getting laid wearing those bad boys! I wore them to work since my wire-rimmed specs were too fragile, plus I had five or six pairs, plus a couple/few sunglasses as well as ones for gas mask use. Well, the nickname stuck, the frames suddenly became hip & trendy & also my trademark. I have been wearing heavy black frames for nearly forty (40) years!

 

We took our family vacation on LBINJ every year when I was a kid! We would stay at Mr. Flynn's Haven Beach Motel in Beach Haven for a week. Swimming, A&W, the used bookstore across from the A&W, a breakfast place with pancakes as big as my head. What memories. Check me if I'm wrong, but wasn't it all hard hit during Sandy? How are things now? I keep meaning to visit some Summer. Sorry if this is off-topic.

Is Ship Bottom BC still going? That's beer-related! ;=)

 

Another inspiration from my youth. How was the dynamic James in person? Met many other "heroes," but never had the pleasure with Steranko.

I do have a signed bookplate copy of Chandler, however.

It's not even his current antics that turned me off, I was just never a big fan of his "style." Great story on getting the nickname, though.

 

I've seen that video 100 times and always thought it was your avatar because you liked it, not because you created it. Brilliant!!! I always found it funny that there actually was a beerlover567 on this site but I guess that came after you famously named him in your video?

 

He was a REALLY great, patient guy with us. He's from PHL & this was at the now long-defunct Holiday Inn in Columbia. We were all either pre-teens or early-teens, except for our parents who brought us out. I've got a LOT of signed stuff from that day (it had to have been 1977 or 1978) & he got SO excited when he heard the family surname! He & my Pops got into a lengthy discussion & he signed & gave Pops a BUNCH of ChANdler stuff.

Flash forward to ComiCon 2007. I was staying with my cousin, Colby ChANdler, of Ballast Point, to keep it beer-related. Colby & his now-wife were headed to Oregon for some fest as an excuse to avoid ComiCon, but it was to mark my first time back since 1987! Who is in attendance but Steranko! I patiently awaited my turn (he has gotten impatient in old age) & reminded him of that long-ago meeting. Suddenly, he lit up like a pinball machine, grinning, turning to his handler to begin a reminiscence as some jagov took a flash pic, despite his pleas (& signs) NOT to do so! He has developed a light sensitivity & it is actually painful for him. Handler jumps over the counter to manhandle this idiot as Mr. Steranko (call me "Jim", Woody) & I CANinued. He would not sign any Marvel material, but I bought a buncha stuff on a "family discount", all of which he signed & I wandered away, dazed.

He remains such a cool guy, but he does have quirks (as do we all).

 

I liked that post solely because of your avatar. I guess were guilty of the same old things.

 

My avatar is a picture of a river that runs through the city I currently live in. There is another member who has a very similar avatar who once posted on a forum I had just posted on. I meant to comment on it at the time, but didn't for some reason. It's very close to my pic. As for interactions, it hasn't mattered.

 

Well when I go to Barnegat Light I walk on the rock jetty and look for seabirds and seaducks, and don't really do anything else there. Also I'm only going there in the winter when those types of birds are there. I have not been to Ship Bottom but I've had some of their beer at Oceans Casino in AC. However I found a good beer bar/restaurant on LBI and its open year round.

I went to the Municipal marina once last year to look for birds in Barnegat, near the downtown. Cute historic town, never been there before. Also in Ocean County, I've been to Manasquan WMA and Great Bay Boulevard, which is a forgotten road through the salt marshes, with 3-4 rickety bridges, and it ends at a beach. Great for birds. Eagles, Osprey, shorebirds and waders always there.

 

Have not been to Palmyra Cove since 2018, we like Heinz better because its just as close to us as Palmyra and its easier to find birds at Heinz. Plus its in Philly so food options not far away are better.

Arizona is one of 9 or 10 states I have not been to and it is on my short list of places to go. Its so hot though I hate the heat. I'd have to go at a cool time of the year, if there is one.

 

forgot to mention I haven't been to IBSP it seems overwhelming because I don't know where to go. Taylor Farm Preserve I have not been to.

 

I love Steranko's work and had the fortune to meet him a couple of times at signings as well. I can easily picture everything in @woodychandler 's post. In my experiences, Jim Steranko has always been a total joy to listen to, especially well-dressed, and barely ages. Love seeing the guy. Keeping it forum-relevant, I've unfortunately never had a beer with him though.

 

I find it challenging to live up to the happiness and sunshine that my avatar represents but it does inspire me to be a more cheery and approachable person

 

My bird is bigger.

 

This is the most internetest response, quintessential even

 

Is that good or bad?

 

Are we on the internet?

 

Where's your bird?

 

I'll change my avatar for each of the 12 Days of Christmas, Epiphany, Easter, and sometimes Hallowe'en and Dia de Muertos. For the rest of the year, though, I'll proudly wave THE Ohio State University's logo flag.

I've thought once or twice about changing my username to something a little more imaginative. Problem is, I don't have much imagination. Also, it cost me a lot of time and money to earn my DCO (Director of Christian Outreach) certification, so I might as well use my title as much as possible.

 

I view avatars as a part of your message, because it tends to say something about the user. Not always, but often. Some people put little to no effort into it, and that also says something. Mine says I'm a beer drinking dick who is watching the world burn, and you really should read that intonation into everything I say here.

I'd have to dig it up, but I read an academic study a decade ago in school that showed how people read messages online was affected by the avatar. How much they trusted them, how much aggression they perceive, positive or negative tones, all that stuff. So even if you intend nothing to be communicated by your avatar, people will perceive it without even realizing it.