I chanced a handle, and I got into the VC and tried posting.
It worked.
My posts came back to me.
I had to wait FOREVER to actually get in after I'd hit the enter button, but I got in and posted at least a dozen messages all of which made it to the forum.
The only thing is that my handle was simple, no HTML, and I must have gotten it right the first time because you can't edit your handles through the Edit Profile button.