I chose this name 20 years ago (yikes!) when it became obvious that my first choice, which contained part of my surname, left me vulnerable to stupid sexual jokes (this was AOL, home of the snert*). Since I spent lots of time in garden chat and bulletin boards, using my state of origin was easy and logical. I think we had to limit ourselves to 8 letters at the time.

*snert: acronym for "snot-nosed egotistical repugnant teen."