Juha

My avatar: I'm a cat person. I think cats are cool, they understand the value of a proper rest (like 18 hours of resting per day...), they always stretch when they get up, they are independent, they watch what they eat. All good habits for a biker as well IMHO.

Quote: I borrowed this from a friend years ago. Thought it was funny. I don't know who originally came up with it.

Sig line: I laughed my proverbial sitting device off when I read that Prince's PR asked media to call him "the Artist Formerly Known as Prince". That, too, was years ago of course. I must be getting old...

--J

[edit]typos[/edit]

cbhungry

I just chose the avatar because it was cute. My quotes are some bumper stickers my husband made for myself when we first met, not too profound.

D*Alex

Well, my avatar is mercilessly stolen from the Dilbert comic strip (it's a slightly modified version of Bob, the dinosaur, a rarely-seen beast most noted for delivering wedgies to deserving co-workers in his office). I like Bob, being likewise large and lumbering, and I like his humour.

My tag line is easily interpreted using any one of the available translation sites (hint: it's in French).

DanFromDetroit

Smiley faces just make me happy. I think everyone should just "lighten up" more. Life is much too serious to be taken seriously.

"Bike Happy" is a bastardization of the Brooks running shoes slogan "Run Happy". It seemed to go well with the Smiley.

I change my sig from week to week depending on my mood.

This week's sig is

"Everybody wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die" from the famous boxer Joe Louis. This bit of wisdom has meaning on a couple of levels.

The simplest meaning is much like the bodybuilder's saying, "You gotta work if you wanna get paid". Rewards come to those who make the effort.

A more abstract meaning is that most folks do not have the "courage of their convictions". Who would fear death, if they really believed in heaven ? Having high ideals is wonderful but they are useless unless backed by both determination and action.

Dan

Inkwolf

Juha, I hate to admit this, but this was the first time I realized your avatar was a cat photo! I thought it was some sort of artistic troll mask....that the pink thing was a carved face, the white stuff was plush 'hair', and that it was wearing a sort of crown and had two ears on top. I always meant to ask you what it represented.....

Now I see what it REALLY is...and boy, do I feel silly!

Prosody

The avatar? I photograph well. The quote? People tell me I ask this question a lot. The sig line? It's from a Tom Waits song, Time.

bradw

My avatar: That's Mesmer, a pet turtle. If you go to my profile you'll see a larger photo of him.

My sig is from the Simpson's. It seems insensitive but perfectly expresses my attitude towards some issues.

RainmanP

My avatar is obviously a statement on man's inhumanity to man.

1oldRoadie

A self portrait that nobody see's but ME.

Juha

Yeah, I know. The original photo had this cat all stretched up on a sofa, with a huge yawn. I wanted the yawn, but in order to get it I had to crop the photo a lot. Showing more of the cat's body would make him/her easier to recognize as a cat, but I'm too lazy... oops, time for my evening nap

--J

MediaCreations 

Don't feel silly. I had similar thoughts. Now I can see the cat it all makes sense.

D*Alex

Oh, c'mon! Doesn't anybody recognise Zippy Pinhead anymore??

lotek 

The avatar: Jimmy Buffet's line of clothing, I like the
lizard wearing sunglasses.
I'm into retro and I'm a dyed in the wool parrothead.
The sig lines:
One is from a Buffet Song
the other is the Beatles, coz I'm mostly a roadie.

Yes I recognize Zippy.

Marty

RegularGuy

Sure, I recognize ol' Zippy. As a student of culture, popular and underground, I also recognize Johnny Bravo.

My avatar is an electronic doodle of a Regular Guy. Read into it what you wish. I like him because he can change with the seasons.

My current quote pretty much sums up the way I feel about brownies.

*edit for spelling*

Prosody

Fame is so fleeting. Used to be I couldn't walk down the street without attracting a crowd of crazed fans. These days no one recognizes me. Guess I'll have check myself into the old comic characters' home.

In graduate school several of us working as TAs had a rule about sharing offices: Office mates had to like Zippy the Pinhead and had to believe with all their hearts that Pee-Wee's Playhouse was the greatest show on television.

Rich Clark

I'm one of those middle-aged guys who stopped cycling when career/family/house in the suburbs/decadent lifestyle overtook my life. Smoking, Ben & Jerry's, prime rib, etc. The inevitable result: a series of heart attacks, diabetes, and other degenerative diseases.

Cycling was my way back, and helped me prove that heart disease can not only be stopped, but reversed.

My heart is at home when I'm on my bike. (I owe the phrase to the title of a Richard Thompson song.)

RichC

LET

My choice might be a bit unconventional (I don't smoke - and doubt that many of the readers here do) but it conveyed a sense of style and panache that a guy who's moving in on 50 ought to have. . . sigh

It was either that or a Hello Kitty picture.

Paul L.

I guess my Avatar is self explanatory. My other great outdoor activity I like is Backpacking. One of these days I will mix them and go Bike Touring. The signature is just a rhyme I wrote after a particularly good ride. I will probably change it one of these days because it seems a bit longish for a signature.

FatBottomBass'n

I like to change my avatar from time to time. What is there now is a picture of me holding my baby boy when he was just a few months old. He is now 8 months old...and a lot cuter than he was in this picture. On the other hand, I'm still balding.

My sig line is a line from a Rich Mullins song called Creed. The song has recently been covered by my favorite band Third Day. My picture is in their special features part of their new DVD.

Natophelia

It looked like a pissed off kitty. 'Bambo'- cross between Bambi and Rambo. Someone called me that once and said, "You look like Bambi, act like Rambo." My quote..if it's still the one about penguins, it was just a bizarre line taken out of context of The Hitchiker Trilogy. I love that wierd stuff

RainmanP

Yeah, I thought Juha's avatar was a husky yawning.

Psykik

Umm..well, I was jealous because I didn't have an avatar, so in a spontaneous reaction, I grabbed a .jpg of my new '03 Specialized Sequoia Expert and shrunk it down to avatar size!

Now I am not jealous and at my convenience will come up with something more personalized!

Rob

OB1knobe

My avatar signifies that I LOVE to ride. My quote is my own. I think that cycling is an infinite pursuit. No matter how many years you've done it you can always improve; your position, your pedaling style, your bike-handlling skills. Also, the wheel (circle) signifies infinity as it has no end, and we also pedal in circles, and sometimes we even ride in circles. Finally, I think that when I ride I get very in touch with the infinity of the universe.

cyclochica

My avatar comes from my obession with mythology, specifically the Phoenix. I also loved the X-Men Cartoon. So I decided the image of Jean Grey as the Phoenix fit, since I believe that every bad thing that has happened to me has allowed me to come back stronger.

My first quote comes from a Rap song by Nas. My second came from a Dear Abby column, and since I am a student of politics Thomas Jefferson is a very important figure in my studies.

Brains

I never found out how to load one up