It's similar for me with avatars being my way of recognizing people, though there are a few posters at this point that I don't have a problem recognizing with just their name. (I hope to keep my current pic for others that read the forums the same way.)
Bill's last post thread is a big one, indeed. I read it too, back around when it first came about, and it's the reason I finally stopped lurking and joined these forums. Was that even a month ago yet?
Oh, and welcome back, Mysticspike!