Naming blogs is hard.

So, I spent a good deal of time at my job today thinking about a possible name for the blog.  It got me thinking about my history as a geek/nerd.  As a brief aside, those labels are too vague and it's annoying.
Anyway, reviewing my history as a gamer reminded me just how different people are when it comes to naming things.  Some of my friends pull from favored characters in literature, or composers and works of art.  Others follow a theme (I happen to dabble in this), and then there are the M1LFp0UnD3r types.

That actually sounds like a good drink name.

Back in the days of original X-Box gaming, I had trouble coming up with names, because I didn't know what would fit for me.  My name is monosyllabic, so I've never had any nicknames stick, and I couldn't ever think of anything that was distinct about me, so I had no theme.

Then I played Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.  Possible spoiler after the jump.
Toward the end of your "Jedi training" montage/experience, you're sent to get a lightsaber crystal from one of the Jedi masters, who asks you a series of questions.  It's a cute little personality test that determines your Jedi class for the rest of the game.  It was the first time I had an opportunity like that in a game, that I can recall.

On my first run-through of the game, I took it very seriously.  I answered each question honestly for me, not my game avatar (who had the lamest soul patch ever, by the way).  The game decided I should be a Sentinel.  I liked the sound of it, and on I went with the game.
From then on, though, I kept coming across Sentinel references.  Usually, it was a cool weapon or something to that effect that I'd pick up and think was neat...then I'd discover it was named the "Sentinel ____."  It was like I was meant to like that specific item, as cheesy as that sounds.

So, the Sentinel theme became my thing for a while.  My friend Nathan has a "Phawks" naming convention he's been running with for years, across many games.  We have ideas and themes that really resonate with us, for whatever reason.  It's neat.