humor

I’ve been asked occasionally where my “scpetrel” handle comes from — no, it’s not “South Carolina Pet Relationships,” although that’s a good guess.  No, it’s really not.  Sorry. My alma mater’s mascot is a stormy petrel, which is a seafaring bird akin to an albatross.  It was the favorite bird of James Edward Oglethorpe, who founded the state of Georgia and gave his name to the university.  I wrote a features piece for the college paper back in the day about the origins of said mascot, including some original source citations about the poor petrels (which are oily birds) being set on fire in a storm so that the sailors could follow them to land.  I am not making this up, I swear.  Anyway, how’s this for a word of the day?  I like the second definition.