Saying Goodbye To 'casseybunn'

Dearest readers,

I hope everyone's doing good both physically and mentally. I've been through a lot of 'mind-wandering' days that I didn't realize that it's November already, which means yet another birthday of mine is coming up. I'll be 22 years old this year, a number yet to sound amazingly old to my ears. And as my mother reads that sentence, she'd go "Old?! If you're old, what the hell am I?!". 

I mentioned in my last post, Macmillan - my famous dirty macbook that has been featured in magazines, the machine that wrote my very first book - has fried itself to death not long ago. Luckily, I have landed a swell job that has been helping me save a little cash to buy a new laptop, oh God do I need it so fucking desperately. With this post I'm happy to introduce you to my brand new laptop, I call him Robert. Named after all the charming Roberts I've come to fancy. In the background I hear my mom go "Robert?! What an uninteresting name...."

So, as I have this lovely new laptop, I decided to give everyone a new update of what's going on. (Ok, I promised a video, but I swear it's still in editing!)

This post is actually dedicated to an "announcement" I'd like to make. About a teeeny-weeeny change that will occur in a mere moment. Ok, here it goes... I am dropping my "casseybunn" alias. Any jaws dropping? I guess not. I know, I know, I've had that alias for seven years, why change it now? Well, it is for professionalism reasons and a small way to grow up. There are many awkward situations that I've been in due to this silly nickname an ex-boyfriend once gave me - such as people calling me "casseybunn" instead of my real name, or when clients ask for my website, the answer "triple w dot casseybunn dot com" has managed to confuse many ears, or as many take this nickname as a childish internet meme. Quick fun fact: back in 2005, I loved writing my name '-CaSsEyBuNn-'. 

One night, there was a conversation in my living room, between my ex-boyfriend and two close friends back in junior high school. We were telling childhood stories and one of mine was about how naughty and hyperactive I was as a child. I ran into fences, tables, even walls dozens of times. Yes, I was that stupid. All that running caused me to lose all my baby teeth at 5 years old! While all my friends in school had cute tiny teeth, my grown-up teeth were already making a presentation, they were HUGE and quite funny looking in my tiny mouth. Then it started, my childhood friends called me "Cassey Bunny" from there on, but not as a compliment! It wasn't as cute as it sounds now. 

I guess that story caught on, then the nickname "Bunn" came along. My ex loved it so much. It was a nickname my friends called me for years. And then there I was, in front of a computer in an internet cafe - it was 2005, I discovered the most amazing website ever, Deviantart.com. I just couldn't help myself, a website where people can post their artworks, whoa, I had to be on it. It didn't even took a minute, I just spontaneously  typed 'casseybunn' as my username. And who knew, in just a year, that name glued itself onto me until today.

I created an internet persona with 'casseybunn'. I booked jobs, I wrote a book, I've created a somewhat base of readers. It is a power I couldn't be ever more thankful of. I love having the ability to say or do something and make people hear and see. I hope this never changes, the only change I want is to be known as myself. 'casseybunn' was a teenager, full of hope and always embarked adventurous drama what-nots. She cried on everyone's shoulders for years, through her blog and her book. She was an aspiring photographer, learning what-to-dos and who-to-knows (still is..). She was a childish little girl, often creating dispute with words she never intended to hurt anyone, but did. She was an alter-ego within me, a costume I wear when I talk to you.

Now that I'm turning 22, I no longer feel that this name still represents who I am. Nobody really grows up, but I did, a little. I have made a brand out of my name, which is awesome, but that brand has made people forgot that there is a 'Cassandra Niki' behind it. This decision isn't really such a big deal as how I'm making it sound right now. However, it is a little painful letting go of something that in some ways define who I am, or was.

On November 27th, I plan to change my website to www.cassandraniki.com and change any casseybunn usernames I have created for these past years into Cassandra Niki. This will include my Facebook page, Twitter (will change into @cassandraniki), Youtube, Formspring, Last.fm and many more. Keep yourselves updated, avoid being confused if you cannot find my online accounts.

By doing this, I feel myself becoming more mature and I do wish for your support.

With much love,

Cass x