====== Qaqaq ======
===== Recruitment =====

I guess I branch off of //Language on Vacation//, which
first made me want to join, though I didn't actually join
until years later when I kept seeing it mentioned in places
like //GAMES// and //4-Star Puzzler//.

Source: npl-folk email from [[treesong|Treesong]], relaying information from Qaqaq.

//First Issue:// Jul 1986

===== Recruits ======

[[blade|Blade]], [[rainman|Rain Man]].

===== Nom =====

I get asked all the time about my nom's origins. I have a
bunch of different explanations, and the one I proffer
depends entirely on whim:
>(1) It stands for Questions and Answers; 
>(2) I nommed myself after renowned Inuit artist [[http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ned=us&ie=UTF-8&q=Qaqaq%2BAshoona&btnmeta%3Dsearch%3Dsearch=Search%2Bthe%2BWeb|Qaqaq Ashoona]]; 
>(3) I wanted to pick a nom no one else had probably ever chosen; 
>(4) I wanted to create the coolest word ever.

Of these, (4) is closest to the truth. I remember sitting on
my bed with a clipboard and a sheet of paper and doodling all
sorts of possibilities: my #1 choice for a long time was
DENARIUS (my real name, Norman Payne, transposes to "a Roman
penny"). But early on I had doodled QAQAQ just as an
interesting letter combination, and no matter what nom with a
real meaning I considered, my eye just kept going back to
QAQAQ. Eventually I realized I wasn't likely to come up with
anything I liked more. It has a pleasing look and sound (I
think, anyway), uses cool letters, and is a palindrome. It is
a cool word.

The only other nom I ever considered was a suggestion of
[[hudu|Hudu]]'s in 1988 or so: JET LAG (a "trip pain"). 
I thought that was so nice, I almost decided to change my nom.

So now you know the truth, unexciting as it is. And now when
you overhear me explaining my nom to some newcomer at a
convention, you'll know I'm lying.

//Pronunciation:// KAY-kack.

==== Combinoms ====

No data.


===== Offices =====

  * 1st Vice President (1991 - 1992)
  * Con host, [[cons:1998:photos|Atlanta GA (July 1998)]]