What is DJA? All this time you have probably been thinking, "Why does this guy call himself Dis J Aster? That makes even less sense than a flamingo with ice skates!"

Well, it all started with a game called "shadows of the mind."
The game no longer exists, however its website is still online
at icubed

The game is what is known as a MUD, or "multi-user-dimention."
A MUD is basicaly like Dungeons and Dragons. It involves roleplaying,
and most importantly, dealing with other people. The great part about
a MUD is that you get to interact with other people from all around the
world!

Anyway, back to the name. My friend Troy got me started on this game.
The very first problem is that you need to think of a name! Well, I was
completely stumped. However, I had just finished reading "Dante's Inferno"
and thought that I might be able to scrounge up some ideas from it.

Lo and behold, I found the perfect name. Blunt, easy to spell, and having
actual meaning, I chose the name "Dis" from the following passage:

    The Poets are at the edge of swamp, and a tower which is sending out
    a signal. On the other side of the lake there is a reply to the
    signal and almost immediately they see Phlegyas, the Boatman of
    Styx. He expects souls to torment but is dispointed when he finds
    the poets. Virgil takes the boatman into taking them across the
    swamp. As they cross Dante recognizes one of the Wrathful souls
    covered in filth. Dante, with Virgil's approval, wish to see he
    tormented further and all the other sinners attack the soul and
    tear him to pieces.
    As the boat gets closer to the shore they can see the flaming red
    towers of Dis, the Capital of Hell. The walls of the city block the
    way to lower hell. The get off the boat in front of a great iron
    gate gaurded by the Rebellious Angels. They refuse to let them pass
    and Virgil can do nothing against them. Virgil sends a prayer for
    assistance.

So Dis became my name.

After playing the game for a while, it became apparent that I needed to
add to my name. I decided to borrow a slightly modified last name from the founder of 
Astoria, OR, John Jacob Astor.

My name evolved into Dis Aster (much different than "disaster" of course!)
However, people failed to notice the connection. I needed to find a middle
initial. The perfect solution, "J". My middle name is "J," and my middle
initial is thus "J." Its the perfect oxymoron because the abbreviation
is actually longer than the original name!

So there I ended up being Dis J Aster. Adding the J between Dis and Aster
created a unique name for me that I can use everywhere and have no fear of
the name being taken anywhere i go.

After shadows of the mind went offline in winter 1999, the name stuck. I
had already established it as my online alias everywhere, so I kept it.
And now you see why I am called Dis J Aster.



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