The Story Behind the Name

There are not many things that I've named except my dog, a turtle, and my screen name. I didn't get to name my 2 daughters because they came to me already named!

First I'll start with my dog that we named Caesar. He was a chow and we wanted a regal kind of name but not common like Prince or King so, Caesar it was!

I also had a little turtle we named Bozo. I was diagnosed with fibroid tumors and after a 4 lb. tumor was removed, we told people that I gave birth to a 4 lb. tumor. Of course people wanted to know what we named it so we said Bozo. Then I wanted something to show for this so we bought a tiny turtle at the flea market and named him Bozo. My students loved to play with Bozo and watch him grow. We eventually gave Bozo to a friend who had an outdoor pond and he is doing very well.

As for my screen name, my maiden name was Loon. I hated it when I was growing up because it gave people one more reason to make fun of me. First, I was the only Chinese girl in a school full of whites, blacks, and hispanics. I was also the brainy nerd and not athletic at all. Once the school bully found out my last name was Loon, I was nicknamed Loony. I had that name for almost the last 10 years of school. Then I went on to college, and I mentioned how I didn't like my nickname to one person who decided that is what she would call me and it stuck. Once I became an adult, and got married, it brought back sentimental memories (not all bad) and I was proud of my maiden name instead of being embarrassed by it. I also started hiking which I never did growing up and loved it! So, the very first email address I had to come up with began as Loonyhiker and it has stuck with me ever since. I use it for sending out emails to people in my professional education organization and now everyone recognizes me as Loonyhiker so it has become my trademark. No one knows the information is sent by Pat but if you mention Loonyhiker, everyone smiles and knows exactly who I am. What a nice way to be remembered!