MEMBIO

I didn't choose "membio." I got into the geek scene in '85, when I was still in high school, and I used my dad's account. He was a professor studying membrane biology. Oddly, I always thought of the account as mem-BUY-oh, but once I started meeting geeks they all said MEM-bee-oh, so I just went with it.

When I went to UCSC I got my own account. I had to fill out a form outside the communications center. I'd considered lots of names, but none really grabbed me. Anyway, I was there with Karine (teddy) and she was already done and gone in to geek. Not wanting to be left outside standing there, I chose something with a full assortment of low-frequency letters: xzquoph.

It didn't mean a thing, but I rather liked it. After I left UCSC, xzquoph was nuked, and I went back to using membio.

On all the fora, (except appliance tree, where I was Toast-R-Oven) I used Pork. (This was also my nick in ICB) This is the only one with a story to it, and I was asked about it often enough that I kept the explanation in a file to be easily included in mail. I am saddened that I no longer have this file.

In the movie "The Secret Policeman's Other Ball" there is a sketch about a quiz show, Top of the Form. The host reads off questions to the contestants, but unbeknownst to him, the question cards have all been shuffled. At one point he asks "What is the name we give to the meat we get from pigs?" Rowan Atkinson answers, as only he can, "Pork."

The host says "No, I'm sorry, the answer is Rangoon." The contestants figure out that unused answers will turn up later, so they start guessing. Thus, they guess "Pork" to various other questions.

My sister and her best friend were taking high school chemistry together, and saw this film. When the teacher would call on them, if they didn't know the answer, they'd answer "Pork?" This drove the teacher bonkers. So, the next year, when I took the same chemistry class, and answered "Pork," the teacher said "Oh no, not another one!" and decided to call me Mr. Pork. Over time, the "Mr." was dropped, and I became simply "Pork."