I've always thought pseudonyms were cool. In fact, I like to think of them as almost an equivalent of having a double identities. I may just be your average Jane Doe, but then BAMMM! I'm also a high ranking secret service agent, who is fluent in seven different languages and has mastered every single form of martial arts.The idea of anonymity and freedom of not going by your own name and still being in the good books of the law is, I must say, pretty priceless. So, that's probably one of the reasons why it took me almost two whole days, flipping through the dictionary (by the way, in case you were wondering, E has a lot of eloquent words) and asking anyone who was remotely interested in conversing with me "hey, what name should I go by? " to figure out a pseudonym for myself when I sign up for Sajha.com. I know you're cringing your face. Don't be scared of me yet, read on.

But its not like I haven't tried to use alternate name before but it’s never really worked out . Warping a few years back, when I was first introduced to the magical world of internet and social media websites, I was probably the ultimate champion at embarrassing myself. Not only did I wR!t3 L!ke tH!$(releases heavy sigh), like all the cool kids in town , my profiles were NEVER by name. I remember constantly changing my profile name from Miss Melissa (no, my name is not Melissa) to Coral (no, my name is not Coral) to even Nooren Brown (LOL).Now, of course I go by my own name and I don't look back at these memories with a lot of pride, but then it makes me wonder if I am so ashamed of these things, why is it that I still find pseudonyms cool?

When having one of my "what name should I go by? " conversations with my Mom, she looked at me with almost a disappointed look and said "what's wrong with your name?" and then proceeding to give me a looong lecture about how I should be more proud of myself and who I am and all that. This got me thinking again if I was being hypocritical of my stance on pen names, whether I was ashamed of being who I am and whether it was this shame that had me wanting to go by some other name than the one given to me. My flare for drama, has always got me thinking about the profound, philosophical phenomenons of life over the tiniest things.

But when I did settle for a nom de plume ,(french for pen name; isn't it absurd how they make everything sound so elegant?), "Owlet" is when I realized a pseudonym doesn't have to be a reflection someone completely different from you but it can be an extension of a person. I have been obsessed with owls since I was in the sixth grade( perhaps someday soon I will share why? ), they are not only majestic but represent a virtue I have yet to master- wisdom. They also represent death in a lot of cultures, but lets stick to wisdom for now. Like the owlet, I have yet to grow into being smart and majestic but one can be sure I am definitely on my way there.

This entry, my first one here, was not only to share my awkward journey to finding a pseudonym. After this incredibly uninteresting experience, I find that just because I don't have my name up, doesn't have to devoid me from being my goofy self. This is also up here so I can give you an idea what sort of person this owlet is like. So far, I hope you've gathered, I am weird, incredibly obsessive over the tiniest things, always looking for the meaning of life (LOL), used to be incredibly lame, obsessed with owls, pretentious enough to use french words and phrases I just googled, subtly sarcastically funny( hopefully) and very happy to be here.

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Owlet I liked the way in which you wrote about a very simple matter. I am also a high ranking secret service agent, who is fluent in seven different languages :)

Good read. Like you I too have faced the same crisis of picking out a nom de plume and i'm sure we are not the only ones. look forward to reading more of your stuff.

It just takes one or two asinine comments to decimate an amazingly written story like this. SMH.

Welcome Owlet,,
Now, owl reminds me of Harry Potter..Are you a fan too?
Nice, heartwarming rambling btw..

I think if your pseudonym is not disconnected from your words, then it becomes something like a prominent facial feature - a nose, forehead, chin or mole - a lasting first impression that people have of you.

Good read. Do share more about your obsession.

Nas :Aww, that is an adorable owlet!! Had me squealing for a good amount of time.
Thank you for welcoming me so warmly. And its glad to know that you're weird too.
I am looking forward to this.
And don't worry, I do not find your comments asinine, but very encouraging.
wonton: Haha thank you and O_O
Paroo: Thank you, its good to know I'm not the only one. I thought I was weird for making quite a fuss out of this.
behoove_me : Its really no big deal, in fact Nas was the first person to comment and it was quite motivating. Anyhow, I am glad you enjoyed it. Flattered even :D
s_usa : Ironically, my interest in owls stems from something completely different. While I do admire the Harry Potter series, I haven't really ever showed much interest in them, Everytime people have a Harry Potter conversation, I'm completely lost. Haha, I know you must think I;m weird
Vivant: I get where you're coming from. Hopefully mine has presented me as a person worthy of being heard.
Thank you for your support guys and I;m sorry but I am new around here (and a little dumb) and don't really understand how the comment system works so I just replied to everyone all at once haha!