Since this is a teen blog I thought I’d address an issue that a lot of people associate with teens(but is not limited to them).

Confidence and Self respect.

Through my four years of high school I’ve heard a lot of things that I disagree with. “I respect myself, I just love him so much.”, “He’s so out of my league”, “What’s the point of saving myself, I’m already used.”, “I’m totally not his type”, “I’m too fat for a guy like him.”…. blah blah blah!

I’m so SICK OF IT! What is this whole league thing? Who says you aren’t good enough for whats’his’bucket? Who told you you’re ugly? Who told you you’re fat? Who told you you’re stupid?

nine times out of ten nobody said that, it’s just them being insecure and critical of themselves. One time out of ten it’s a bitchy mom who should have her children taken away because the damage done is more permanent then growing up in poverty. Poverty can be risen above. When you tear down your kids, that damage is irreversible.

So here is the destructive teenaged girl confidence circle.

1. Girl looks in the mirror and notices that she doesn’t have perfect skin and perfect eyes and a perfect tan and the perfect lips and perfect hair and bla bla bla bla blaaaaaaa.

2. Girl puts on a butt ton of makeup which causes (breakouts) which causes more and makeup(Insert vicious cycle of own)

3. Girl goes out in public. Boy sees an unconfident girl that looks completely fake and is completely turned OFF. Therefore the boy doesn’t give the girl any attention.

4. Girl notices that the boy has dismissed her and she goes back to square one.

How most girls decide to get out of this mess is by giving the boy an offer he can’t refuse. SEX! And the crazy thing is that most girls don’t even realize that’s what they’re peddling with their desperation. Guys want girls who will sleep with them. Okay this isn’t true of all guys, or even most guys…. But when you have a friend who just met a guy at a party and they’re already dating… expect to get the “So…. last night….” Conversation. Nasty creepy guys are excellent at picking up on low confidence and they know that low confidence pays dividends. Unfortunately, this guys are, for some reason, thought of as highly attractive by females.

“Oh my god, he’s so attractive. He’s probably had thousands of women, and I want to be the 1,001st woman that he uses and then throws away” oh wait, never mind, we convince ourselves that we’re different from all those other girls. That for some strange reason involving a stupid cherub and an arrow tipped with a phenomenon can change the whole picture.

Ladies, cheaters don’t change. Cheaters will cheat. Only an act of God can change this fact. Dogs will eat their own vomit, recovering alcoholics will return to the bar, and cheaters will cheat. It takes an act of God to change these things…. (And sometimes an act of man. you know, if we chain people up then they wouldn’t….)

So basically we as women need to find out how to attract the non-cheating men. I have a solution.

CONFIDENCE!

Of all the memes and websites and facebook statuses and viral videos and teeshirts and you name its I’ve read, I have gathered that men are attracted to confidence. Yeah, they like it when you have a rockin’ bod and bla bla bla that’s pretty important to guys. But when a girl is wearing confidence, it is the sexiest thing ever. Hell, I’m attracted to confident women(in an entirely platonic way). It’s how we choose our friends. It’s how this whole “league” thing got here. Confident people are in a league of their own. Why? Cuz they don’t believe in leagues.

Bazinga!

So when I tell you you’re beautiful, dammit believe it! God doesn’t make ugly people. People make ugly people. And you know how they make ugly people? By trying to be pretty. Just be yourself and be confident in who you are. You can’t change yourself. You are who you are, and if people don’t like that then you’re better then them. They don’t deserve you. You deserve to have someone who loves you when you’re wearing your glasses with no makeup on and in sweats. And frankly, that guy is worth waiting for. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Whether it’s your mom or the devil himself, don’t believe a word of it.

For those of you who don’t know me, I’m nothing special. I’m pasty white. I have ratty hair that somehow looks good(I didn’t do it!) I have little eyes and lopsided lips and oily skin with ginormous pores. I have freckles all over everywhere. When I flush I turn tomato red because I’m so pasty. I’m too tall to be petite but too short to be all legs. I wear glasses. My eyebrows are so blond they might as well not be there and today I found my first gray hair. I have extremely large shoulders that make the rest of me look kind of off, even though the rest of my body is decent looking. I have big wrists and sausage fingers. Big feet. I hate shaving my legs so most of the time I don’t do it. I don’t get enough sleep I’m sick a lot, I live my life in sweatpants. Did I mention I have acne? All over my neck and chest. It’s not cool. And to top it off, I’m shy and slightly socially awkward. I never know the right thing to say, I’m not funny, I’m terrible at telling jokes, and if someone is laughing at me it’s because I unwittingly did something funny. It’s never premeditated. My personality at it’s best is when I’m really angry or really tired. That is pathetic.

But that’s who I am. I can’t change it. I love who I am cuz I’m the only me. I wear my freckles with pride. I flaunt my body(when I want to… which isn’t very often). I talk to people like I have a right to, which I do. I treat people with respect and I treat myself with respect.

If I have never been asked out on a date, it’s just because the right guy hasn’t met me yet. There’s nothing wrong with me. (Also I tend to give off a “Not interested” vibe. I think I intimidate guys…) But one day I’m going to meet a guy and I’m going to give off the “interested” vibe and he’s going to give it off too. and he’s going to ask me out and I’m going to say yes. Then we are going to date for a while and he will NOT be getting anything from me. Cuz I’m worth waiting until the wedding night.

“Wow, Grace. I wish I could believe that. I wish I could be confident”

You can. Confidence is a choice. Make it.

Happy Martin Luther King Jr day. Before I say anything, I respect and admire Martin Luther King Jr, and despite how this post will sound, this could not be more true.

Why do people always forget the Junior of his name? Biggest pet peeve associated with this day(and there are a lot of them). Seriously, when you say Martin Luther King, that means nothing to me. I don’t even know who you’re talking about. For all I know you could be talking about MLK senior. Seriously people, if you’re going to sing a man’s praises at least get his name right!

Also…. the Wednesday after halloween we talked about reformation day in youth group. We asked the people “Do you know who Martin Luther is?” the answer was “oh sure, he was that black guy who faught for civil rights.”

erm, no.

Why don’t we have a Martin Luther day?

Also! Since we’re talking about the civil rights movement, why don’t we have an Abe Lincoln day or a William Wilberforce day or a Grace Menter day? What makes MLKJ so special? IN the history of the world there are a lot of people who gave their lives so the we as Americans can have freedom and equality. Hell, we need a Jesus Christ day. We need a George Washington day we need a Ben Franklin day. We need a John Locke day and a Paul Revere day.

I think we really really really need a Martin Luther day.

And this is the part of my post where I recommend a book(I biography) entitled “Here I Stand” by Roland H. Bainton. My freshman year of high school I wrote a few papers on why Martin Luther changed the world. The majority of my research(ok, a fraction of it) came from this book. Bekah, I know you will read it, so do it soon! Completely changed my perspective on religion and revolution and, of course, Martin Luther. You think MLKJ was a good man? I think he learned it from his namesake.

Week from hell, I believe. The past week feels like the longest week of my life. After school each day I had show choir practice. NIGHTMARE! Granted I get out of school at noon as an awesome end to my high school career, but having to go back after three hours at home? Not ideal. These practices are in full dress(that means wearing a dress that slices my arms open for hours) and I have to stay afterwards because I am on stage crew for our mixed choir. Basically I didn’t get home until 7:30 pm all week. not. cool. Thursday I had my Showchoir showcase(was awesome even though my voice cracked during my solo despite my water-logging. Mrs. Smith blames it on fatigue. I agree with her. Damn after school practices.) and Saturday(yesterday) I had my first competition(voice did not crack during solo. I blame even more excessive water logging, not singing for the whole song before hand and skipping after school practice on Friday to sleep and rest). And today I had to wake up really early to go to worship practice.

Which was freaking amazing, in case you were wondering. I haven’t had such a good worship time in a while. Perhaps less stress during the service? Idk. I liked it though. I wasn’t mic’d(sp?) I was just playing the piano for my savior. Awesome.

Also! In a few weeks I’m going to DISTRICT CONTEST. for solo and ensemble singing. I’m really nervous and excited at the same time. I’m going to get JUDGED and get FEEDBACK on if I’m singing correctly. As a singing fanatic who doesn’t take voice lessons, this is very valuable to me. I’m excited. nervous, but excited.

Random fact for the day:

Did you know that I’ve chosen my college? just paid my enrollment deposit. Rationale? God has me here for a reason. I don’t know what it is and there’s a lot of criticism and difficulty that I don’t like, but running from it isn’t the answer, and I don’t want to end up in the belly of the whale. I suppose you’ve guessed by now what school I’ve chosen. Pre-nursing at unl baby. Scared crap-less, but God has a plan.

Lastly, would anyone like to go dance the night away with me? I would really love to forget my own name at this point in time. I blame the hellish week. Don’t I sound like Obama? Casting off all the blame. Oh well, nobody’s perfect. Not me and especially not our beloved future hopefully-ex-president.

81 Questions about someone you know…

1) What’s their name?

Allison Meyer

2) Does she have a boyfriend/girlfriend?

Naw, she’s single.

3) Do you get along with this person all the time?

HYEAH!

4) How long have you known each other?

Since freshman year

5) Has he ever cooked for you?

Does a smoothy count?

6) Is this person older than you?

by a month or two.

7) Have you ever kissed this person?

not that I’m aware of…

8.Have you ever swore at her?

yeah…

9) Are you related to this person?

Nope. Just sisters in Christ.

10) Are you really close to her?

yeah we’re tight.

11) Nickname?

Alley boo

12) Do they have a nickname for you?

ermmm…. Gracie?

13) How many times do you talk to this person during a week?

Erryday!

14) Will this person re-post this?

This is on a blog….

15) Do you live with this person?

Nope. I wish.

16) Why did you pick this person?

Cuz she’s my bff

17)been close to this person?

mmmmm gurrl

19) Have you ever been to the mall with this person?

aaaawwww yeah…

20) Have you ever had a sleepover with this person?

you know it

21) If you ever moved away would you miss this person?

Yeah she’s the only person I”m going to miss after high school.

23) Have you ever done something really stupid or illegal with this person?

DDDD Not as much as I would like. Prude.

24) Do you know everything about this person?

Maybe. idk. Alley?

25) Would you date this person’s siblings?

Scottie is 12….

26) Have you been to this person’s house?

Yeah I think her parents hate me…

29) Have you gone skinny dipping with this person?

No, alley would never skinny dip.

31) Is this person on drugs?

Naw, I thought we’d been over this

33) Have you ever worn this person’s clothes?

Yeah before show choir I wore her shirt.

34) Does this person wear your clothes?

No I don’t think so…

35) If it was “freaky friday” would you switch bodies with this person?

YEAH!!!!

36) Have you ever heard this person sing?

Her voice is so bertiful

38) Do you and this person have a saying/word?

undoubtedly…

39) Do you know this persons Facebook password?

that’s a creepy thing to know…

44) Have you and this person gone clubbing?

no Alley’s a prude…. and we’re under-age. Kinda boring when you’re under-age…

45) Do you know how to make this person feel happy?

Yeah Talk about Tobuscus.

46) Do you and this person talk a lot?

Yeah we do.

47) Do you like this person as a friend?

If I weren’t a Christian….

48) Has this person yelled at you?

oh I’m sure she has.

49) Have you and this person got into a fist fight?

Nope I would remember that.

51) Do you want to be friends with them forever?

yeah

52) When is the last time you talked to this person?

today. at show choir.

53) Do you text this person?

mmhm

54) Do you and this person talk on the phone?

on occasion

55) Descibe this person in one word -

SUPERMEGAFOXYAWESOMEHOT!

56) Does this person like anyone?

not that I know of. We’re both semi-sworn off boys…

57) Have you ever played a sport or watched a sport with this person?

Does show choir count?

58) Have you met this person’s family?

Yeah lol

59) Has this person been to your house?

all the time.

60) Do you and this person have a special song?

all songs are special to me and Alley.

61) Have you told this person you loved them before?

You know it.

62) Did they say it back?

I think so…. yeah

63) Do you think this person still loves you?

YEAh. She might be pissed at me at the moment, but whatevs. It’ll be drama related and it will pass. If it is even there…. Which I hope it isn’t…

64) Can they make you laugh alot?

DDDDD

65) Do you hang out with this person on weekends?

Sometimes. If we have time…

66) Would you consider this person your best friend?

One of them!

67) Do you miss this person?

mmhmmm

68) Is there a song that describe the relationship between you and this person?

“Me and Jesus” by stellar kart. this is only one… There are a lot more, but I think this one sums up our relationship nicely.

69) Have you danced with this person?

Yes!

70) Do you think this person is going to be surprised you wrote this about them?

Perhaps….

71) How many siblings does this person have?

Scottie!

72) If so, brother or sister?

Brother!

73) Have you ever cried in front of this person?

Yeah. Probably more around her then any other of my friends.

74) When is the next time you will see this person?

Tomorrow

75) Do you tell this person secrets?

mmm gurrl.

76) Do you trust this person?

Yeah I do.

77) Does this person trust you?

Maybe. I think so, but I”m not going to presume.

78) What is this persons middle name?

Shelby

79) What is this person’s full name?

Allison Shelby Meyer

80) Where does this person live?

Creeper….

81) Have you ever seen them cry?

yeah, we’re in show choir together. and Alley doesn’t cry too often. She more looks sad and cusses at things… But she doesn’t cuss as much as I do so don’t think bad of her.

(This was supposed to be written two days ago.)

So a few nights ago I got fairly ticked and wrote a post. Majority Persecution. If you haven’t read it yet, you will be lost. Go read it.

That night I went to bed and read my chick lit book and did my usual 1AM routine… Then I did something I haven’t done in a while(Shame on me a million times over).

I picked up my bible.

Yes yes. Shame on me.

I opened up to…. James? Because I felt like that was a good place to read… mmhm, yeah gurl.

I read the first chapter…. followed a cross reference. Came back to the original verse to followw a new cross reference. Followed another cross reference from there and SHAZAM!

John 15:18-19

“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.”

I must be doing something right then. Cuz the world sure hates me. And according to this verse it’s because I belong to Jesus. It must show. I’m taking this as a compliment. Definitely a compliment.

I love God. I love when He shows me verses that lift the burdens on my heart. I love it when He takes me in his arms and claims me as His. I don’t know what else to say, but this is proof to me that God is real. This stuff doesn’t happen coincidentally.

So it’s 2012! Woohoo happy new year! right now is a time for reflections….

FIRSTLY!

I would like to reflect on a previous post on my blog. Three years ago I ranted on my blog and apparently more people then just Rebekah read it, because I got a good 40 hits. Which is crazy for me, cuz usually it’s just Rebekah who reads this stuff. Anyway, the post was ranting about how much I hate holidays. Well folks, I still hate holidays. Not much has changed since then. But this brings me to reiterate a point that was most likely stated in that post(I should probably go back and read the original post. Pardon for a few minutes)

……Five minutes later…….

MKay now that I’ve sufficiently lost my train of thought I’m going to talk about new years resolutions. Okay folks. If you haven’t caught on to this yet, I’m slightly pessimistic when it comes to myself and my life and the people around me and their motives. I fully subscribe to Thomas Hobbes’ pessimistic philosophy that man is inherently bad. Anyone ever heard of human nature? BUt I also believe that man is inherently selfish. Even me. Which is why I hate holidays. Not because of my family, my family is great. But everybody else… I can’t stand them around the holidays!

I heard the true meaning of christmas at church and on the radio once. That was it. All my friends were talking about presents and annoying relatives and bla bla bla. How hard is it to put God in the center? Really? Can we please just talk about how Jesus came down to earth in the form of a helpless baby?

Today(New years hardy-har-har) everybody is going to make a billion new years resolutions to “Better their lives”. You know, all those great things like breaking bad habits, forming new habits, watching the same movie every month, you know! New Year’s resolutions. These things are all well and good and whatever you know to each his own. Personally, I would LOVE for someone to tell me the point. Cuz from where I stand, it’s just one more thing to worry about. You know what my new years resolution is this year? (Is this allowed? Am I going to jinx it? Wthynkle, I don’t care.)

I”m not going to worry as much. Worry? What’s that!?

Looking back on this past year(urgh I can’t remember most of it…) I’ve spent a lot of time worrying about stuff. My health, college, boys, etc. and frankly, who gives a flying duck?

Considering Christ and his role in my life, I should be the most care-free person in the world. I fully subscribe to “Jesus take the wheel” (The idea, not the terrible country song) and I believe that God is sovereign and that He has an incredible plan for my life. So why should I worry? God has it under control.

“But Grace! God doesn’t care about the little things!”

yeah he does. If God wants me to stop eating so much pizza, he’s gonna make that happen. Yes it’s a struggle, but if I wake up in the morning with an earnest desire to glorify God in that day, I don’t need to make a resolution for change to happen. This is how I”ve lived my life for the past week and guess what! I’m eating more veggies. God is good. Hopefully he’ll put his goodness towards losing those 10 lbs I’ve gained on ice cream and pizza lol.

jk.

but seriously.

So I was facebook stalking someone today and I came across a status…. “‘I won’t apologize for being a Christian’ you don’t have to because you’re the majority.”

Ok, so it’s ok to persecute the majority now? Kinda like how it’s ok to persecute men and it’s ok to persecute white people and it’s ok to persecute straight people. Now who’s discriminating?

Hypothetically let’s say the person who wrote this status is a black, muslim lesbien. Yeah I know, probably would never happen, but we’re talking about hypotheticals. Is this person persecuted? And for the sake of realism let’s say she’s an atheist. Really, is this person persecuted? She’s almost by default a liberal as well. These are the people getting on my case because I am a prude. Because I”m “homophobic”. Because I”m a racist and I hate people and judge people and blah blah blah! I face incredible hardship in my place of education because I’m a conservative uber religious prude. I can’t even talk about my views and my politics, my values, because someone will call me an idiot. Someone will get mad at me and call me names and become offended. Not because I say anything truly offensive, but because I stand for something that makes them feel inferior and intimidated. It makes them feel oppressed like they have something to hide.

And basically as a result I end up being persecuted. And they don’t see it as wrong because today’s society says I deserve it.

I’m 17 years old and I love Jesus. All my views stem from this absolute truth. There’s nothing threatening in this, and there certainly isn’t anything that says I deserve to be persecuted. Especially considering the peaceful nature of my religion. I am the most peaceful person in the world, my philosophy in interacting with people is to love them with the love of Christ, friend or foe. What is there to hate about that? Why are some people willing to cut a blatant psychopath slack but not an innocent 17 year old who believes in Jesus and isn’t harming anyone?

I don’t deserve persecution any more then the next person, but such is the nature of my chosen path. Jesus said that there would be hardship. That there would be persecution and pain. I signed up for this.

What makes me truly sad is that these people are so blinded by hatred for God and his perfection that they would think it’s ok to put people through hell on earth. I am saddened by the human condition. I want everyone to get along, and I know the only way for that to happen is if everyone believes in God and loves each other with the love of God. This is why I proselytize. Cuz I want peace just as much as the next guy.

Maybe even more cuz I’m the one the world loves to hate.

Would you like to meet my pet peeves? Their names are book-cover models and threadbare morality.

If you are an avid reader, let me give you a tip. DO NOT READ NIKI BURNHAM’S ROYALLY CRUSHED!

The front cover model is tan and brunette and buxom when the main character of the story is obviously a flat ginger.

When picking up this book I thought “Ooh a good book to turn off my brain to”. I was MISTAKEN!

If you can’t tell at the moment I am rather ROYALLY TICKED! This book was supposed to be an innocent romance about a young girl whose parents are going through divorce and how she has to move to Lichtenstein(It’s fictitious equivalent, actually)and she meets the prince and falls in love and they live happily ever after despite the blasted media.

(Calming myself and searching for a blog-friendly curse-word)

The blasted book is about a blasted ginger whose blasted mom decides she a blasted lesbien!!!!!

This is where threadbare morality comes in. I get the picture, Niki Burnham. You have blatantly spoken your hatred for conservatives and their so-called family values. I get the picture that you think that it’s OK to be gay. I get it, blast it! BUT IF YOU DON’T BELIEVE IT YOURSELF, DON’T WRITE A BLASTED BOOK ABOUT IT!!!

(Be thankful I am censoring myself for you benefit, dear reader(Rebekah), my thoughts are not so tame)

Throughout the book the main character is coming to grips with the fact that her mom ended a 20 year marriage with no warning because she was having an affair with another woman. The main character is trapped between a bunch of feelings, all of them mixed, all of them giving me the impression that the author is highly confused as to her own feelings on the matter. There’s a point where an author spends WAY too much time justifying her main’s thoughts so that she, the author, isn’t perceived as a homophobe.

Well Niki, You fail. Cuz I’m getting the opinion you’re a homophobe and the only reason you’re writing a book about a lesbien is because it’s a hot liberal topic and you’re the perfect dumb-ass liberal.

And to crown the whole and just make me even more peeved, Good ol’ dear Niki, You just HAD to bring up religion. “I’m sure God doesn’t think my mom is sinning because she’s a lesbien”

Ok let’s look at this. Your mom
1. Cheated on your dad
2. With a woman
3. Which ended up causing a divorce.

Right, so far your mom has broken a ten commandment, shown herself to have a depraved mind, and done something that God hates. idk what God you think you’re serving, but it sure ain’t the real one.

All you people want to justify yourself by saying “Oh, God wouldn’t judge me for this because he’s a kind God.” yet in the same breath admit that you’re not “Religious”

Well if you aren’t religious, how do you know diddly-squat about God and who He judges? Do you just have ESP or something? The Liberal who sets foot in church 2 times a year is trying to tell me, a 4 day a week church goer, that They’re the expert authority on God and who he judges. Have you read your bible lately? Obviously not because if you did you would know that homosexuality is a sin. So is adultery and lying and lust and swearing(ouch) and anger(double ouch) and excessive flirting(triple ouch) and being born human(quadruple ouch)

What I want to know is why morals are so important to immoral people. If I didn’t believe in God, I would go out and do all that shit and I wouldn’t feel bad about it. I wouldn’t try to justify myself, I wouldn’t try to feed myself some bull-crap just to make me feel like I’m a good person cuz frankly, if there is no God, Who gives a fart that I’m a good person or not?

I”m a christian and I’m a terrible person. I admit that. And I am happier in the knowledge that I”m a terrible person and God HATES what I do then a pseudo-Christian is while trying to justify every little action and make themselves out to be a good person just to make themselves feel better. I’m a scum-dweller and I’m happy, BECAUSE I’m living under grace. And the people who try and try and try and are FOREVER trying…. Those people aren’t happy. Those people write highly offensive and confusing books about lesbien moms. Those people grapple with themselves about what they believe God finds to be sin and what God doesn’t. And these people don’t accept grace.

So why not admit you’re filthy rotten and be happy? I did.

Just kidding!!! Right now I’m stuck in a computer lab waiting for slackers to finish their video/compositions. And for the record, Holly is sitting beside me and I can do whatever I want(Even text!). BUUUUTTT I can’t go back to my bed and sleep. Yeah, basically the best day of school is a day where you DON’T GO TO SCHOOL!>

Can you tell the “Senioritis” has set in? Cuz I can. I’ve been late for 1st period practically every day this quarter. I think I’ve turned in one assignment on time…. Yeah, I sleep instead of do homework. It’s a really good thing I don’t have hard classes…. Like math and science. Forget about that! Although in college the classes will be a shock.

Speaking of college.

The thing everyone wants to know….

I think I’m going to go to the local public university. I got a decent scholarship there. My family is here….

Maybe that’ll change, but probably not. I’m gonna be a nurse some day. It’s a good feeling…

Just a bit of silliness stolen from Rebekah’s blog.

Everyone has 6 names

Your Real Name: Grace Joy Menter
Your Detective Name: Yellow Giraffe
Your Soap Opera Name: Joy Teton
Your Star Wars Name: Menjo Grter (?)
Your Superhero Name: Green Amigo’s slushy
Your Goth Name: Black Electric Blue the Anorexic Fish

LOl!

Actually, I have quite a few names, only one of which is listed above (hopefully, you can figure out which is which )

Other names by which I’m known include:

Gracie
Gracie Spacie
Twerp-a-zoid
Zoid
Grapes
Grapeface
Graciepoo
G-race
Gracie girl

Wanna play yourself?

The key is:

Your Real Name: Duh
Your Detective Name: Favorite color & Favorite animal
Your Soap Opera Name: Middle name & Street you live on (of course, I didn’t actually use the street I live on–I’m not giving out info like that)
Your Star Wars Name: first 3 letters of last name, first 2 letters of middle name, first 2 letters of first name, last three letters of last name
Your Superhero Name: 2nd favorite color & Favorite drink
Your Goth Name: Black & the name of one of your pets

And even if you don’t want to play that game, I’d love to hear some of your nicknames.