Zero to Hero Day 1: Enter the jaklumen

January 4, 2014 by jaklumen 8 Comments

The day 1 assignment is to write and publish a “who I am and why I’m here” post.

Who am I?

That’s a fun question.  I go by the name “jaklumen” on the Internet.  It’s actually unique, so if you look up that username, I can pretty much assure you that the search hits refer to something I wrote.

Isn’t it safer to go by more than one pseudonym?

I have had a few online stalkers and harassers, and it seemed to me that they targeted me for reasons other than an easy-to-follow electronic trail.  Sure, it might make me easy to track, but I’d rather people know that “jaklumen” is really me, which you might not get trying to search me for my real name.  What you see online is generally what you’ll get in person.

How did you come up with “jaklumen”?

“Lumen” is the first track on Mannheim Steamroller’s album Fresh Aire V.  It became the first psuedonym I used on the Internet around 1994 or so, after I decided to use something other than initials, or my real names with an initial; which were standard practices at the time.

I’m a gamer, and I was a gamer when the term was more associated with pen-and-paper RPGs like Dungeons & Dragons than the pixelated console and computer variety.  My long-time Game/Dungeon Master introduced me to a superhero RPG based on the GURPS system called SuperGURPS and asked me to make a character.  I was a fan of Paul Hogan’s Crocodile Dundee character and thought it’d be fun to base a superhero off that concept.  Besides, I couldn’t think of any particular Aussie superheroes in the comic books!  My friend wanted a name and wasn’t satisfied with just “Lumen”.  Off the cuff, I thought that Jack would be a common enough name for an Aussie (no, not Mick or Bruce!) and went with that.  Besides, I have a grandfather named Jack, and the combination sounded good.

I decided to bring the name online and it got shortened to “jaklumen” over time.  Actually, though, I’ve still used “Jack Lumen” online, such as Google’s recent insistence on “real” names.

Why am I here?

I started blogging in 2003, and WordPress is my third blogging platform.  If you’re wondering how and why I started blogging, see the A 10-year Blogging Journey: The beginning and A 10-year Blogging Journey: The hidden beginning posts.  (Please be aware that I talk about issues of abuse in the “hidden beginning” post.)

I started at LiveJournal, which, best I can understand, was initially aimed at writer’s circles and cultures (including geek culture and gaming) that intersected with writing.  I was drawn in by the Camarilla (now known as Mind’s Eye Society, I believe), who did Live Action Role Play (LARP) in White Wolf Gaming Studio’s World of Darkness setting.  A lot of Camarilla members were using LiveJournal as diaries/journals for their characters, as well as themselves.

What do I hope to accomplish with the Zero to Hero challenge?

Well, I do enjoy writing– supposedly, I’m good at it.  I’d like to connect more with the WordPress community and see if there are other bloggers that are interested in what I have to say… and to find bloggers with similar ideas.  The possibilities are pretty endless, I think.

That’s it, dear readers!

(Yep, that’s an anachronistic expression I use a lot in my blogging.  It’s probably one of the few things I admire about Victorian culture, that phrase in literature from that period.)

If you’d like to learn about the Zero to Hero blogging challenge, click here or click on the badge in my sidebar.

Please send my wife and her blog some Hero love, too: The Dragon’s Lair Goes Zero to Hero

and thank you once again to Flamingo Dancer for letting me know about this challenge.