Why this name?

Two of my earliest interests are Marathon and Dinosaurs.  I am not going into dinos today, but the name of this blog comes from a level in Marathon 2: Durandal.  Marathon, by the way, was a game made by Bungie in the late 90's.  It was one of the first games I played, and it is only fitting that I rediscovered the game at the beginning of my adult life and became really interested in its story.  I find much of the story text to move me in some way or another; this title is a tribute to that.  

Here is a link to the Marathon Story Page: 

http://marathon.bungie.org/story/

The first time I really named something was when I released my first map for the Obsidian Edge Far Cry modification.  I chose a Marathon map name, Ex Cathedra.  The same for my second map - Charon, from "Charon Doesn't Make Change".  Here I am, naming something else :]

'My' and 'Own' are pretty straightforward; this is my blog.  'Private' is not as simple, the blog is private in the sense that only I can post to it, though it can be viewed pubicly.  'Thermopylae', where the vastly outnumbered Spartans held off the Persians.  In a similar way I interact with you here, and there is only one of me.  

It is implied that the character in the Marathon trilogy (and beyond!) began life, or a new life, in a war regarding a certain Republic of Thermopylae.  In Greek, Thermopylae apparently translates to "warm gates", calling to mind birth and primordial origins of life.  So in a greater sense, this is My Own Private Beginning, the beginning of (a stage of) myself.  It is a way for me to record and later view my personal origins.  And finally I just reformatted my hard drive.