My handle originated on /. (Slashdot) - I was a long-time poster on there (and on Fark); one day, it just seemed pointless, that the users over time seemed to grow less intelligent (I remember one thread where for a couple of pages two neuroscientists were arguing/discussing some article - that was fascinating and intelligent commentary - sadly, it was a rare treat). I got tired of it, and stopped posting. The same thing happenned on Fark (over time, it seemed like every thread devolved into either an anti-abortion/pro-choice rant, anti-gun/pro-gun rant, or christian/atheist rant - with the exact same arguments every time, and hardly anything new to add or think about - tarded all around).
My avatar: That's a picture of me standing in front of an old building, drink in-hand, in the near-ghost town of Bumblebee, Arizona - in 2003-04. My wife and I were driving through on the road to Crown King in my 2WD Ranger pickup checking out abandoned mines and ghost towns along the way (the bar in Cleator is awesome, btw). We were going to try to make it all the way to Congress, but the road got waaay too rough about a mile or so past Crown King, so we turned back to ask a local if we were on the right trail. The guy at the general store in Crown King told us we were, but that the trail hadn't been graded in a couple of years (so much for our tax dollars), and 4WD was the only way to really make it. He told us if we had gotten stuck, nobody would've found us for over 2 weeks, likely. A few months later, I bought my Bronco, but I have yet to get it in the shop for the repair it needs for off-road use (so much has gotten in the way these past six years - I'm hopin' that I can swing it this winter)...
...sigh...