This week I am going to take a break from my three subjects circuit-schedule because I am participating in the 30 Days to Kick Start Your Blog Teacher Challenge. So, for the next three posts, I will be writing about various aspects of blogging, from a novice’s perspective.
Presenting my Gravatar
In this post, I am going to introduce you to my avatar. Here it is.
My Gravatar
This gravatar represents me whereever I use my user name, shawnurban, and my e-mail address. You can find it under About Me near the top of the sidebar to the right. In fact, if you hover over this gravatar in the sidebar, it will tilt and a hovercard with information about me will appear. If you click on my user name in the hover card, you will be taken to my gravatar profile. If you click on my gravatar, you will taken to my launch page, where you can find all my Net resources. (My Find Me page points to the same launch page.)
Additionally, when I comment on other blogs using either my user name or e-mail, my gravatar will appear, so visually identifying the commentator as me. Readers who come across this avatar may recognize it and the associated comment as mine, so the strength of the comments and posts associated with this avatar will build (or break) my reputation.
What my Gravatar Means
Prior to becoming a teacher, I was an ecologist. Teaching is my second career, and part of my teaching education prepared me as a Biology teacher.
So, my gravatar illustrates various nature motifs – the owl, the sky and my sporty naturalist’s style wear – and teaching motifs – the blackboard, desk, globe, books and ever important apple.
As you can see from the picture of me at Boyce Thompson Arboretum in the header of this blog, that broad rimmed Tilley is actually something I wear. I am not so sure about the feather, but it seems to complete the naturalist attire and provides a unique flare to my gravatar.
Experimenting with Other Generators
Part of the current Teacher Challenge activity asks that participants experiment with several avatar generators.
In addition to Gravatar, I also explored Picassoheads and Voki. Here are my creations.
My Picassohead avatar |
My Voki avatar
To ensure your security on WordPress, plugins are disabled. This link has been provided. Click to view this avatar. |
I also have two cartoon or comic avatars, which you can find in the comics I submitted in Educational Comics.
I prefer my Gravatar. It better represents me and it can be used on my blog sidebars and in comments.
What about you? What does your avatar say about you? And which of mine is your favorite?
Follow @stefras
Digital Substitute 
I don’t know who is having more fun with avatars today– my 5 year old daughter or me! Knowing that she can make them (Bless this Chick and Wild Self) helped me realize the ease in creating them.
I like the Boyce Thompson Arboretum, it’s just down the road… Do you get to go there often?
Hi Tracy,
I like your avatar. It is very distinct and memorable. Who made it, your daughter or you?
I have only been to Boyce Thompson Arboretum (BTA) once. I liked it a lot. I actually live in Alberta, quite a way away, and if I remember, I stopped at BTA as a side stop on my way from Mesa to Globe. I was interested in the Besh Ba Gowah Salado Ruins at Globe, but I was definitely more impressed with BTA.
(I had an unfortunate encounter with a cactus in the ruins and expected something more cliff-like and less modernized. This may have coloured my experience a bit. I like to imagine what life was like in the ruins I encounter. It was hard to do that at Globe, since what I was seeing did not match what was described to me.)
I particularly liked the original BTA 1920’s homestead near Silver King Wash in Queen Creek canyon between High Ridge and Magma Ridge, perhaps again because I had a chance to imagine raising a family in that homestead between those Ridges.
Hello,I really like reading through your blog, I wanted to leave a little comment to support you and wish you a good continuation. Wishing you the best of luck for all your blogging efforts.
Hi Isobel,
Thank you. I appreciate the encouragement.
Shawn
Pingback: Three Things I Learned From My Nephew « Digital Substitute
Pingback: Blogger – gravatar « Work – live – travel – a life in diversity
hello, love from finland. your post looks great. Mind if i quote it in my blog?
Hi,
So long as you follow standard Creative Commons protocol, you may cite and quote content in my blog.
Also please leave a trackback to the post you are referencing by linking to that post. This way I can identify you and read your post. I look forward to doing so.
Thank you for asking,
Shawn
Pingback: History of My Past: My Twitter Avatar « Digital Substitute