Avatars: what is yours and what is its significance to you?

madhen · 10-28-2008, 01:02 AM

Mine is of Greta, the original "mad hen." She is a black-tailed white Japanese bantam, and she was one of the first chickens I hatched here at the ranch. She was bold and brassy, and she ran the flock, even though she was about 1/3 the size of the rest of the chickens. She was the only chicken who refused to go in the coop at night. While the others complacently followed each other in, she would fly up into the pine trees and roost there, looking down at me defiantly if I tried to coax her to safety.

Greta was the inspiration for my on-line business, which is still in its fledgling stages. She was the inspiration for my avatar, because I like the idea of this single individual, eschewing what was safe and proper, and doing her own thing, despite the risks.

Greta was taken from me a few years ago when a pair of nesting Cooper's Hawks started picking off all my bantams. The rest of the chickens stayed close to the coop, but Greta refused to follow the rules. She would stray out into the pasture, out in the open, and pick up all the good stuff everyone else was afraid to go for. She was the last bantam, and I saw her being killed as I drove in from work one evening. I got to her, but too late, and I buried her up on the hill near my house, so she can still oversee "her" flock.

The pic is of Greta guarding her clutch of eggs. She would fluff up to about four times her normal size and just eyeball me with a stare that said, "Just try it buddy, and we'll see how many fingers you draw back."

Greta holds a special place in my heart, and I try to live my life in a way that she would approve of.

10-28-2008, 02:17 AM

My avatar is a depiction of the artist herself

My haircut is a bit exaggerated to make me look more hedgehog like (hedgehogs - they look cute, but if you do not know which side is their soft side and which side is their spiky side, better do not approach), but everything else is 'just like the original' :-)

OK, except the orange tinge of my skin color. And I don't own a book as large as the brown one at the bottom of the pile

Darlene · 10-28-2008, 06:53 AM

Greta lived life her way, a noble hen indeed.

My avatar is always changing. Depending on my mood at the time it can be funny, holiday related, whatever. :change:

joyofsix · 10-28-2008, 06:56 AM

oooh, love the story of Greta. My avatar ....well it changes as my whim. I just like this picture of the 4yo looking up. She is a happy, perky, life is a huge ice cream cone to be eaten kind of a person. Something I need to strive for.

jacqueline · 10-28-2008, 07:00 AM

i can't remember where i got this avatar but as soon as i saw it i fell in love with it. i'm a bookworm and have brown hair and brown eyes.
i usually change avatars every 6mos or so depending on mood or if i find something that just really jibes with me.
i love seeing everyone's avatars--you always catch some side of them in an avatar.

cmdarlin · 10-28-2008, 07:09 AM

I loved the story of Greta.... very inspiring. My avatar is of my grandson, Jaygen. He's the light of my life. He knows what to do to make Grandma smile.

Debbie

rosey7415 · 10-28-2008, 07:56 AM

mine is the standard choice from here. i just picked her because i love the color orange and she seemed perky........lol

oh oh...i am just starting to know who is who by their avatar....now everyone is changing......i better start paying attention to the names....lol

jas · 10-28-2008, 07:58 AM

Great story about Greta! I don't really know how to get anything that is not right on the choices they give you. I will get my dh to help me.

TheRootedNomad · 10-28-2008, 08:01 AM

Well Greta sounds like she was something. Isn't it odd where inspiration can come from?

My avatar was the best reflection I could find at the time of the duality of my soul/personality. I believe in possibilities, that there is a flip side to every coin, that my beliefs are my beliefs and every one is entitled to thier own, (no matter how strongly I may believe that mine is the RIGHT one.) I learned early on to "be" both sides of the coin even though it went against what seems to be natural born tendencies. I guess nurture can play a huge part as well as it has publicly "tempered" my personality a great deal. I was born with an "alpha type" personality into a family with lots of stonger, older 'alpha type" personalities. I "learned" to be beta as well. I can lead and WILL if no one else picks up the reighns but I can also sit back and enjoy doing my own thing if someone else will run the show. I am not much of a follower though, that seems too far off for me to be. In the avatar I can see light and dark, soft and hard, cold and warm, old and young, wild and contained.... all to some extent. I may switch it at some point but it will probably still have some representation of duality in it. My role and response is always changeing. I may be soft and nurturing with my children and harsh and cold with a co-worker. I may dress one day in leather and think nothing of wandering the subway with a drink in a brown paper bag enjoying the hustlers/performers and another day I might be a conservatively dressed mom too scared to get on the rollar coaster. I embrace the challenges of that day, that moment and go with it.....and most of the time .... there are no regrets.

IntlMom · 10-28-2008, 08:54 AM

RootedNomad - I always figured that you were a "dark (and light) and mysterious" person from your posts, I have always thought your avatar was an excellent embodiement of that!!

mine also changes periodically, right now it is me and my middle son (the one you often hear me to refer about his special needs) this summer at church camp where he was a camper and I was his counselor. it was taken this summer

Momto2Boyz · 10-28-2008, 09:36 AM

Mine isn't too original! Can anyone guess who it is???? It's me! One of my kids took it of me this summer, I change it on occasion. I have a really good one of me and both of my boys that I have been meaning to change it too. Maybe I'll get around to changing it soon!

forHISglory · 10-28-2008, 10:14 AM

I change mine every so often, but I really like this picture, so it will stay for a while. This is the deck of the The Delta Queen steamboat at sunset on the Tennessee River in June 2008.

It represents me because I love to travel. Hubby and I have explored all the US states except for Oregan and Maine, and have been half way around the world and back. We've traveled by horse and wagon, rail, plane, truck, bus, bullet train, cruise ship, and steam ship. We used to spend the winter plotting out our next trip, and spend the summer traveling while we were out of school. The kids thought it was normal to do so, and would talk about how they saw this and that when they studied it in school. We always thought that when we retired, that we would travel a lot. We dreamed of seeing the autumn leaves on the east coast; never could do that while teaching. But life has a way of surprising us. Now that we are retired, travel is expensive, and we are working part time jobs that still keep us at home!

But this summer, we traveled on The Delta Queen as this is her last season to be on the waters. We have taken 5 trips on her, and explored the entire Mississippi River system. We love the history and education and music and cuisine that it offers. We also flew to CA for a short vacation and to attend a wedding, and went to a Ren Faire this summer. And I traveled with friends this summer also. So we did manage to get out and travel a bit!

It also represents me because it is such a mellow, peaceful, calm picture. I guess we all, to some extent, show our personalities on FV. Don't know if I come across as a calm and gentle person who likes to think and be introspective, but that's how I see myself. The picture seems to pick up on that aspect.

Newsnerd68 · 10-28-2008, 10:17 AM

That's me bellydancing- the only thing that keeps me sane. (sort of)

MrsMcDowell · 10-28-2008, 10:22 AM

My avatar is one of my favorite pictures of my son and I. Wesley looks so happy, he was mid-giggle in this picture because I was tickling him. I love his cheerful face and everytime I see it, it makes me smile, no matter what kind of day I am having. I love this picture of myself because I look happy and feel pretty. I was smiling at DH when the picture was taken. Everytime I see this picture, I am reminded of my love for him, and why I was smilin' so big for him.

And mainly: I love this picture because it's of me and Wesley. He's my buddy. With DH having been gone for the better part of two years, I often feel like it's me and Wesley against the world and when I look at this picture, it reminds me that even if it is me and Wesley against the world, that the odds are stacked pretty high in our favor.

cab54 · 10-28-2008, 10:29 AM

LOVE the Greta story.

Mine changes. Right now, It is very seasonal, because I like Autumn. We are getting 2 autumns this year because the leaves were completely down in northern MI, and now that we are in Ohio, they have just turned. Yay!