In Which I Explain That I’m Not A Cornflake

/ Ally Bean

I like Janet. She knows things. She is encouraging. She is her own style muse. And her name? So easy to remember. { image source }

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Having reached Level 1000 in Candy Crush Soda Saga, I decided to give it up and download a new game onto my smart phone.  To play the new game I had to create a user name, a nickname as the game called it.

Anyone who knows me knows that wordsmith-ery and problem-solving are my strengths in life.  Thus, you’d think that I’d be a wiz at creating nicknames, wouldn’t you?

But in this case I became frustrated because I couldn’t find one that was not already in use.  I mean I tried basic ones, then I tried what I thought were unique names for moi and to a one, these names were all were taken.

Teal Flower? GONE.

BeeBeeBee? GONE.

One Fine Gamegirl? GONE.

So eventually, being a woman with a large vocabulary who prides herself on perseverance & perspicacity, I decided to turn this problem on its head and do the opposite of what I thought made sense. Hence, instead of describing myself as I am, I chose to describe myself as I am not.

And guess what?  Using this shrewd reverse-thinking approach I found a nickname that wasn’t taken.

Yes, my gentle readers, please share in my amazement that NOT A CORNFLAKE was an available nickname, that is now mine.

So on that rather absurd note, with joy in my heart about life’s funny moments, I’m back to blogging.

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How ‘ya been? What’s new with you? Got a nickname that you care to share? 

Just say something in the comments below. Talk to me.

I missed all of you. 

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59 thoughts on “In Which I Explain That I’m Not A Cornflake”

  1. I’m horrid with nicknames, password changes, and all that. Unfortunately I work where I must change a password every 3 months in two separate venues. It has been a nightmare trying to coordinate and remember which one goes where.
    Glad to see you back Ms. Bean!

    Liked by 1 person

    • Deb, I’m bad with passwords, too. I hate changing them but do so because I’m supposed to for my own safety. And all these ridiculous nicknames are going to fry my brain. How did life get this complicated?

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  2. It’s like userids. All the ones I want are already in use. Now I’m sad to find out that I can’t use cornflake either. I wonder if potato chip is available. That describes me to a T! Welcome back. Missed ya!

    Liked by 1 person

    • Kate, I have one account that has my actual name on it– and that’s because I got it eons ago. All my other names are created ones. Try potato chip & let us know how that works out for you! Happy to be back.

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  3. All these passwords, UserIDs, nicknames…they’re the worst. Even stringing together random words is useless because, NO! You need to include a Character and a Numeral! It has to be Impossible To Remember! Sigh.

    I’ve taken to using snips of Beatles lyrics and adding a number and character combo. The possibilities are endless, and it’s at least a wee bit fun.

    Welcome back!

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    • nance, clever idea with the Beatles lyrics. I’m not that systematic when I chose a nickname or an id or a password. I wing it, but the reality is that I’m forever confused about who I am online. [The last sentence holds true in my real life some days, too.]

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  4. Welcome back! I laughed at your user name. I had a site that demanded passwords be changed EVERY month. I resorted to having it begin with the same letter as the month, so January might have been Justine. I don’t remember what this was for, but thankfully I don’t use it any more. Even word smiths can be hounded into the ground.

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  5. So does that mean that Cornflake was already in use? I’ve had the same issue trying to find nicknames for games, and then I have to pick a weird one that I can’t remember. Luckily, I don’t play many games or very frequently. Welcome back!

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    • Margaret, I didn’t try just the word cornflake. I was getting irritated about all the names I couldn’t have so I went straight to Not A Cornflake. Naturally it was available… 🙄

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  6. I’ve missed you, so welcome back! As to games – I tried Candy Crush, got to level 147 or something like that and those darn chocolates were such pigs, and unfriendly ones at that, that I decided games were supposed to be fun, not frustrating, so I moved on. As to user names and passwords – what I think is unique my password saver tells me is weak. So be it.

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    • Carol, you’re right about those chocolates in Candy Crush. They’re not in the least bit helpful. I made it as far as I did in the game because I played it daily while the house was being remodeled last summer. It kept my mind off of the construction chaos that was going on around me. I find that I create passwords so clever that the system says they’re strong, but I can never remember them. Of course.

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  7. LOL of course I thought this post was going to be all about me! I thought, “How nice of Ally to mention me in her post.” I agree with the difficulty with finding new user names and passwords. I try to use something to do with scrapbooking (hence scr4pl80 – pronounced scrap lady) or combinations of the names of my husband and I. Cornflake is a good one. Yes, please don’t kill Janet. I may not be all-knowing but I am a being of the universe. So nice to have you back, Ally! Janet

    Liked by 1 person

    • Janet, sorry to lead you on like that! *oops* I used the Janet photo because her username/nickname is so simple… unlike all the ones I have. I like your system for creating user names. Mine is much more, shall we say, freeform? Illogical? Often forgotten.

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  9. I’m so happy that your absence was brief and now you are back. Another favorite blogger buddy left years ago with an “I’ll be back soon” sign-off, never to be heard from again.

    I recently had to come up with a password so I could put a credit freeze on my Equifax account after the data breach. I had to try about ten obscenities until I found one that hadn’t been taken yet.

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  10. OMG – I never thought to use obscenities in my user name or passwords!! What a brilliant piece of information. Somehow I doubt they would be allowable for user names, but it would make me so happy to spew off an obscenity every time I have to log on to certain websites 😉

    Welcome back, Ally. I hope all is well in your world – give or take the necessities of creating new online identities.
    I’ve been “Blaze” for so long now, I would be seriously annoyed to discover that someone else snagged it before me. Maybe it’s time for a new identity … I’m rather partial to Fruit Loop myself 🙂

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    • Joanne, your thinking about adding obscenities is the same as mine. For certain passwords it’d be delightfully passive aggressive. So mature, not!

      I usually try to do a nickname that has something to do with Bean but that’s almost impossible now. Then I go for something having to do with colors. However. if this experience taught me anything it is to be absurd.

      Blaze is a great name. Combine it with Fruit Loop [if you have to] and the online world will be yours! 😉

      Liked by 1 person

  11. Glad to see you back and about! I’ve used a lot of different nicknames over the years I’ve been ‘on line’ and before that in the Personals ads….yeah. *whistling*… um. I do so because even before the internet and global non-privacy, it was a bad idea, if one were a single woman living alone, to advertise that fact. I was ShyUtGal for a very long time, until I started to think how unsuitable that had become (I’m NOT shy and I haven’t been a ‘gal’ for eons now)..Embeecee suits me just fine. I like “Spectacled Bean”…did your game not allow that??

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    • Embeecee, I didn’t try the name of this blog. I only use it when I want to connect it with other social media– currently Twitter and Instagram. My game playing is only for me, so my nickname in those venues doesn’t wear eyeglasses. 😉

      I like your current name, btw. The word “gal” seems antiquated and regional to me. More southern than western.

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  17. “Never was a cornflake girl, thought that was a good solution, hangin with the raisin girls…” Tori Amos isn’t a cornflake either. ❤
    Usernames are getting complicated, I concur.

    Liked by 1 person

  18. Oh, oh, you’ve got me thinking about accounts with my real name. Another sleepless night!
    On a positive note, I’m happy that you are back. I’ve missed you.

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    • Donna, I’d use my real name but it’s too common for it to be available anywhere! In theory I like nicknames and making up passwords because I like challenges, but in reality it’s just a pain in the patootie.

      Liked by 1 person

    • Radhika Acharya, I know what you mean about how difficult it is to pick a nickname. By all means, tell the world who you aren’t– and see if that approach works for you as well as it did for me!

      Liked by 1 person

  24. I’m reaching the point of only using a finger or my face for everything. Reading this, I can see why I enjoy not typing in my own umpteenth username choices. At least you aren’t occasionally forced to use a spelling variant for your real name….😥

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    • Ed, I sometimes wonder what the future historians will make of all our various names when they study this era. Can’t you just imagine a long PhD dissertation: Usernames in the 21st Century, A Study of the Theoretical Underpinnings & Practical Consequences of a Long-forgotten Social Media Reality. 🤓

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  25. Firstly, great to have you back and … yeah, I know, I’ve been very slack with my reading (I cope with the posting as it’s all auto’d in advance), but still. Your nickname made me snigger, yes, actually snigger out loud. So you get a SOL rather than a LOL!

    It does remind me of those years I spent in the online dating world wilderness. Initially I kept it simple and just used by name and a number. But, after a while, I decided that was showing a lack of inspiration on my part and ran out all kinds of options. Some of them just reflected where I lived, but I cannot tell you what some men read into my profile name of Lady Hamilton (I lived in an area of Nelson-related street names!) Hey ho, off to catch up properly 🙂

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    • Deb, I never thought about how online dating profile names might be misconstrued. Yours is a perfect example. My latest nickname is funny if only in its obviousness. No one, I should hope, could ever read anything risqué into not being a food. Could they?

      Liked by 1 person

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