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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 make my living writing and performing comedy shows, primarily at Renaissance Festivals around the US. In 1998 I took 6 months off to hike the Appalachian Trail. Along the way, I was given the nickname, or Trailname, of Renaissance Man. Those who became close friends, shortened it to Ren Man. It represented the venue in which I make my living, as well as the fact that I grew up a scientist and now work as an artist. Most significantly, it reminds me that my hike was a period of personal growth, a re-birthing of my spirit, a reshaping of my views of self.