What's in a Name?

Believe it or not, I am in situations where I meet a lot of new people. Many of these new people know me through other friends and subsequently know me by nicknames, one of which has stuck with me through the years.

Well, what the hell is up with my screenname? Is it a word? A name? What does it mean?

I’ll break it down for you: When choosing colleges, I wanted to go where some of my friends were going so I chose Southwest Missouri State University (now MSU). While at SMS, I decided to join a fraternity, and that may be the single most important, if not influential, decision in my life. I joined Kappa Alpha Order and haven’t regretted a minute of it. Already a member of KA was a friend from high school, Dan. This posed a problem for the fraternity guys. They didn’t want two individuals looking when they yelled, “DAN!” Two Joe’s already existed in KA as well. The first was Joe and the second was OJ (Other Joe). Therefore, I became the Other Dan (OD).

Forgetting what my old AOL screenname was, I opted to reinvent my internet persona and choose a new name. I decided to choose a name that reflected things that were (and still are) important to me. If I went in order though, SMSKAOD wasn’t very symmetrical, and I am a sucker for aesthetics, so I became KASMSOD: Fraternity - School - Nickname.

So there you have it. That’s the story behind my screenname and one of my nicknames. Maybe the others will come up in conversation. In the mean time, you can call me any number of things and I’ll probably answer. Theatre trains you to answer to stage names as well.