Why Are You Called Eric?

I went to a party once, when I was just getting involved in the SCA. There were nine Pauls there, all with nicknames: Paul the Furry, Paul the Taller, Paul the Elder, Paul the Bottle, and so on. They asked me what I wanted to be called. I had the option of Paul the Poet, which was my nickname in a previous life, but that would have doomed me to normality. I’d been reading the collected Monty Python (both volumes) so I had the Fish Licence sketch in mind. For reasons lost to history, I suggested people just call me Eric the Fruitbat instead, and that stuck.

Oh, Is That Why? How Dull. Isn’t There A More Interesting Explanation?

OK, you’ve got me. I’m actually a t-shirt shop that came to life and moved to the east coast. Sorry to have bored you with the previous explanation.

So What Should We Call You?

That depends on you. If we have a professional or familial relationship (so: employers, co-workers, customers, or parents, aunts, uncles, cousins) then you’re probably used to calling me Paul Sleigh. That’s fine; don’t change on my account. Paul is still my legal name, and I have no reason to contemplate changing it.

If you know me socially, you were probably introduced to me as Eric TF Bat, Bat, Batty, Fruitbat, Fruity, Ecch the Fruitpudding (© David Hunt), Heinrich der Frutzenluftmaus (© Greigy Peacock) or EtFb, so call me whatever you like.

If we’re doing SCA stuff, I answer to Karl Faustus von Aachen, or Baron Karl, or some approximation thereof. At a middle eastern themed SCA event, I may drag out my alternate persona, abu Harun Khalil ibn Bilal al Khuffasch, known familiarly as al Khuffasch in the Arabic style. No prizes for guessing what “al Khuffasch” is Arabic for.  And I have recently submitted a classical Roman name, Tiberius Aelius Paulli filius Sabatina tribu Faustus Vespertilio, which I will probably use at least some of the time when it’s registered.

In short, call me by any name you’re comfortable with. I’m unlikely to correct you unless the rules of the environment (SCA custom, legal requirements) demand otherwise.

How Do We Get In Touch?

My mobile is 0407-468-244. My main email address is bat@flurf.net. My postal address (remember those?) is PO Box 393 Geeveston Tasmania 7116 Australia. My Facebook is Eric TF Bat. If you can’t get in touch with me by one or more of those methods, you’re probably not trying hard enough, or I’m off murdering munchkins in the wilds of Taswegia.