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What's the deal with your nickname? How did you get it? If your nickname is self-explanatory, then tell everyone when you first started using the internet, and what was the first thing that made you say "wow, this isn't just a place for freaks after all?" Was it a website? Was it an email from a long-lost friend? Go on, spill it.

I was given the nickname "shroom" in 1992 when I was a freshman in college. The name had nothing to do with ingesting nasty tasting tea, but stemmed from some contortionistic yogic position I got myself into with a beanbag on my feet while hanging out in the dorm. Everyone in the room said "Hey, you look like a mushroom."

over the years, "shroom" changed into "champignon", because "shroom" sounds like some tripped out hippy. oh, and i have this slight fascination with the french language, france, and anything french.

I have a horrible sense of time, but I think I discovered the internet in 1994. Maybe 1995. Anyway, it was a new thing at my college and a group of us discovered chatting. I was addicted to that for a few weeks, astounded by the sudden ability to communicate in real time with people from all around the globe. The chat thing got old pretty quickly, though I still keep in touch with one of my first "chat friends," amazingly enough.

After a few weeks, I ventured past the one url that I knew and discovered that there was a whole universe of information, writing, art, and personal expression out there... Being the nerd that I am, I was instantly in love. :)