To use your own pic for the avatar, just resize your favorite pic to 50 x 50 pixels, then go into your User CP, Edit Options, and hit the browse button by the Avatar thing. Select your pic and wha-la! you've got your own favorite pic every time you post.
Coco would thank you if she weren't such a fraidy cat! I feel funny that I always write about Ed, but Coco is just a quiet little mouse and doesn't give me much material. She is a snuggler, though. With me, at least. She really won't let anyone else get too close, but she's warming up slowly.