MetaFilter

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'm an academic, eccentric, adventurer, and responsible loon. My field is sociology of the body, and I direct a university LGBT+ Studies program. I do research on virtual embodiment, especially in Second Life (TM), and advocate on behalf of the intersex community.

I'm a parent of a teen with a disability. A birth father, to be specific; I gestated her. It's a good thing I'm fond of adventure. . .

I was introduced to MetaFilter by my lovely and wickedly bright spouse, the sometimes-MeFite Betafae. I lurked here for some time before finally plonking down the cash to allow me to actually actively engage, and I love the place. Betafae is also responsible for my nickname. I mew and prrrrt a fair bit with friends and family. What can I say--maybe I was an ocelot or lynx in some prior life. One day she gave my hair a scritch and said, "Who's a good Doctor Mew?', and it cracked us both up, and it stuck.