Much Ado about NOTHING

I discovered today that someone I know has a secret nickname, and, in fact, a whole other life in which he is known by this name. What's rather odd is that the nickname isn't a name I've ever heard before or even a real word, at least in English. Googling it brings up a video in which this person is engaging in an activity I already knew about -- nothing controversial. But I wasn't aware that this fellow had constructed a whole other persona under this alternate moniker. It's a curious feeling when you find out that someone you thought you knew has another side to his personality. It's doubly peculiar when you realize this other side has its own name, under which he associates with people who probably have no knowledge of his "real" legal name. It's enough to make your head spin.

I never really had a nickname. Someone in college called me "Salamander" a few times (why? and why do I remember such things?), but it didn't stick. My mother used to call me "Pumpkin" for some reason. (I wasn't orange or spherical, and I didn't have a stem on top.) When I see her, I never remember to ask her why. She probably doesn't know, anyway.