What does your username mean?

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Mine is my initials followed by 123, I don't why, I have always done that.

What does your username mean or where did it come from?

The Avatar means more to me than the name. There is no special meaning to my user name.

Basso is Italian for low, or a vocal bass. I have a baritone singing voice, which means I sing in the bass section in most of my choral groups.

53 stands for 1953, the year I was born

FNORD

1) fnord (Noun): A metasyntactic variable, similar to foo and bar.

2) fnord (Interjection): (Discordianism) A word (which may or may not be "fnord" itself) commonly held to be invisible to the conscious mind, but subliminally causing a sense of unease or sudden anger when encountered. So used in the Illuminatus! trilogy.

3) fnord (Interjection): (Discordianism) A word defined as having no definition.

Fnord was originally the typographic representation of disinformation or irrelevant information intending to misdirect, with the implication of a worldwide conspiracy. In The Illuminatus! Trilogy, free minded people can see the word Fnord between the normal lines of text, so the word can be seen as a joke based on the popular phrase "To Read Between the Lines", with the novel implying a philosophy similar to Timothy Leary's attitude of Turn on, tune in, drop out by implying that schools do not teach people to be critical thinkers. The word was coined as a nonsensical term with religious undertones in the Discordian religious text Principia Discordia by Kerry Thornley and Greg Hill, but was popularized by The Illuminatus! Trilogy of satirical conspiracy fiction novels by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson.

I really like cats, I think little cats are very cute, and I'm always wondering why they like to sit in the window.

I wanted a different SN from some sites I wasn't going to use much; I wanted to distance myself from my old one. I couldn't really think of anything so I used my nickname & thought the 007 after it sounded kewl. I still couldn't really think of anything better when I signed up for more major sites & sense I was using this anyway it made sense to just stick with it.

i have a long history of embarrassments. mmm almost every time i talk/deal with people. i can't get over thinking of them everyday. and everytime i think about something i unconsciously facepalm quickly or/and somtimes i say ahhh loudly when i remember something suddenly.

Mine is pinyin, which is a way of writing Mandarin Chinese. 一个人 means by oneself, or alone. I've been teaching myself Mandarin through different media for a few months, and I like to try to use it everyday.

Apparently it is also a instrumental musical piece, which I was unaware of until told by another member here

Too bad you can't practice your Mandarin with my wife. I would do it more, but she overloads me with information when I try. "Here's the Mandarin Word, Here's the Cantonese version, here are the 45 derivitives, blah, blah, blah....."
LOL

Oh that would be so awesome if I had someone to constantly pester questions about Chinese. Haha, I would be thrilled in your position.
Mandarin is somewhat difficult in that there are so many homophones, and they use particles to indicate emotion instead of tone of voice. Cantonese I think would be too difficult. It's more complicated and has something like 9 tones. But every once in awhile I like to look on my app to see the Cantonese version of words.
I talk to my bf about it but I think all he hears is "blah, blah blah..."

Be careful for what you wish for LOL. I used to think the same thing until she kept overloading me with information. I have trouble with tones. Tone deaf like you wouldn't believe. Had a person with perfect pitch confirm that my 'note progression' is correct, I just start off in some weird key or something that has no relationship to the other sounds. So, that presents an issue with learning a tone based language. And, while I'm trying to practice the tones of one word and cement it in, she's confusing me with the language equivalent and it's tonal differences. And, they have 3 (!) counting systems. Hand signals, Counting (Give me two bananas) and maths (2+2 = 4) and that gets me confused. And, the words can be easy or hard with no rhyme or reason:
"M sai ha hei" is thank you in Cantonese. Took me three days of practicing it to even begin to get it out right.
"Diu Lei ge Lou Mou Hai" (Which is very offensive, my apologies to anyone who speaks Cantonese) I got in two minutes, even though it is more difficult. It's the combinations of sounds that are hard for me to assimilate.
I do enjoy embarrassing the mean ones though that speak right in front of you. I can get enough to know when I'm being insulted. So, I will let them blather on. Then I thank them in either Cantonese or Mandarin and they get embarrassed that the "Guai Lou" or "Lau Wai" may know how offensive they were. And, they can be offensive. They are a very blunt people.

I get confused by the counting systems too. The hand signs are easy. The actual counting is easy, but only to a point. Because 10,000 has its own word, and then zeros are said instead of ignored. And then years are said number by number instead of the full number: 2016= 2, 0, 1, 6 .

It's really different but I love it. I'm so glad that I'm not tone deaf! That must be really hard. I'm good with music and have always been able to sing in key, so I'm lucky in that respect.

I'd actually be happy with the blunt aspect of the culture. It's at least out in the open, instead of the subtle insults I get here.

You suck!! LOL I'm sooooo jealous. Oddly, I can play an instrument. I tune my guitar by first getting the top E string in tune using a tuner. Then I tune the rest by feeling the vibrations. If it's constant, then I know it's in tune.

Believe it or not, I prefer it too. But, it get's difficult when you get into social interactions requiring you to let the other person save face. That eludes me like you wouldn't believe. And, I also prefer the social structures that allow you to 'repent' and it's just over with.

Hong Bao is a prime example. You will see it in the movie "CJ-7" by Stephen Chow. Unbelievable movie BTW. Anyway, the boss insults a man's son by telling him the truth. He is a hard working man who puts everything aside for his child (who BTW is a girl actress playing a little boy. Really good job too). Realizing that the truth hurt the man, the boss calls him into his office another day and gives him Hong Boa as a way of showing respect and apologizing.

Then, it's just done.
We ain't got nothing like that in America. And, as all cultures are, they all have something that really makes them shine. It's what you choose to pull out of it. I am a bit of a Chinaphile, Japanophile soon after that. And, I love the contrasts in the cultural expectations that are different between the two cultures. I hate when Asian Americans get all bent out of shape and say it's an "Asian Fetish". It ain't a fetish. It don't get my rocks off, if you follow.

I think saving face is one aspect I would have some difficulty with. But, at least it's something that can be studied; I wouldn't have to learn it just by observation. There are all kinds of references for dealing with foreign cultures.

I've always felt drawn to Chinese culture myself. I don't know why. I grew up liking Chinese food as a kid. I prefer Asian food over European food in general. I like the art work. I like the traditional clothing. I think the characters are very interesting and beautiful. I've wanted to learn to speak a Chinese dialect since I was a kid.

I know I don't have a fetish. I'm not obsessed at all, the culture just appeals to me and has since I was a little girl.

My screen name comes from:

A nickname given to me when I was 9 by a kid who felt sorry for me --crafty--which became Krafty--which became Kraftie.

A diminuitive of my last name--Kortie.

Hence: Kraftie Kortie

Last edited by kraftiekortie on 05 Jan 2016, 10:02 am, edited 1 time in total.

Good luck with that. I've been married for 6 years and known my wife for 9 years. I'm still having trouble with the saving face thing.

For me, it was the movies. Once I got passed the bad overdubbing, I learned a lot from them. The strength of family and nobody tells of redemption like the Chinese. Stephen Chow movies are excellent at that.


If it ain't tripping the hormone switches, then it's not a fetish. "Asian Fetish" is something that Asian women have taken to calling anybody who appreciates Asian culture or is partial to the anatomical structures (which fit a lot of other types as well). But, there are men I know who have a true Asian Fetish. They can't perform unless they are with an Asian woman. That I find is sad. But, conflating an interest in culture to being debased by such 'accusations' of only a sexual urge are a bit off putting to say the least.

Many men also have the wrong impression about Asian women. They are, absolutely, without a doubt, not subservient. They are supportive and do not cut and run in family crises. Well, at least the older more traditional ones. But, they are not subservient.