Me, Myself and I
In the next day or so, I want to write about something I feel to be very important.
With that in mind, as of today, I will be writing under my real name to show that I stand by what I say.
I’m Justin McKeating and I used to have a blog a few years ago called Bar Room Philosophy which some people might remember. BRP is no longer around but you can find proof of its existence if you google for it.
Posted on April 13th, 2005 at 11:13 am
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Well well well…
I was thinking of coming out myself - although it’s fairly easy to find out who I am with a few clicks of the mouse. Only trouble is, with my EU focus I seem to attract a lot of maniacs, and have a few regulars who I suspect of having BNP connections. I’d prefer not to have some skinhead maniac turn up on the doorstep and scare the missus.
(And there’s the whole not wanting my employers to work out how much time I spend skiving thing…)
Well done sir!
And I have to say it makes me happy that I no longer have to link to your stuff as Chicken Yoghurt - it made me feel silly (obviously not as bad as linking to a character calling himself ‘Nosemonkey’ though).
To be honest, I always felt uncomfortable with it and each time I signed off on an email with “Chicken Yoghurt”, or worse, “CY” I felt like a total knob.
No disrespect to Nosemonkey though - his reasons for using the nom de plume are valid to me.
Hi Justin. Hats off to you. Jeez, I feel like I need to defend my pseudonymmery now. The potted version is this: I have fallen out very badly with one or two people, specifically on one blog from which I am now banned. I have no wish, ideally, for them to know my real name as in some strange (unfortunately, professional) way I am linked (Kevin Bacon game style) with aforementioned enemies. The only blow came when I discovered that my special pseudonym email address printed my real name in the header.
I guess, though, that since after the dizzy heights of mid-March when I twice got 200 unique visits a day on my site, only 60 now care. And most of them probably don’t either.
Sorry, I didn’t want to start a rash of guilt trips and justifications.
I think pseudonyms are fair enough - there are quite a few journalists who write under pen names - it just didn’t sit well with me.
[stands up nervously]
[clears throat]
Hi. My name is Jim Bliss….
And I use a pseudonym.
I used to blog under my given name, but found I was censoring myself when discussing certain subjects (I guess my blog is as much personal as political, so the situation is kind of different). And that just didn’t sit right with me… especially since those were often the exact subjects I wanted to cut loose on.
But it wasn’t because I didn’t want my readers not to know who I am (which doesn’t bother me in the slightest), but for the completely absurd reason that my parents would be displeased at seeing certain things published under ‘the family name’. They’d hate to have one of their friends come up and say “I typed your son’s name into google the other day, and you’ll never guess what showed up!” [cue: unfolds long print-out with indepth description of The 2005 'Last One Standing' Bong-athon]
Plus I’m sort of planning on publishing a book or two in the not too distant future, and I don’t want to dilute the search results for serious stuff with the often deliberately silly stuff I post under ‘Jim Bliss’.
I would say though, that Chicken Yoghurt wasn’t the most well thought-out nomme de clavier. It always sounded like a euphemism for ‘vomit’ to me, which isn’t exactly the image you want in people’s minds when they think of you. Usually.
Euphemism for spunk, shirley?
Anyway - nice one, Justin (or may I call you TBFKACY?) Real names are good. (I might even put my full name in my profile one of these days.)
Pah. Bunch of bastards, making me feel bad for remaining anonymous. Anyone who really wants to know my true identity can email me. But then you’ll end up having me ask you to buy my books and stuff. And then asking me to explain precisely why the fuck you should bother as you’ve never heard of me…
I stand by my Nosemonkey decision. If your writing is sound enough the name doesn’t matter - just look at Homer… Always makes me chuckle, that. But then again, I am very childish.
I must be really naive. I thought Chicken Yoghurt was yoghurt that was chicken flavoured. A bit like strawberry yoghurt with a different taste.
Hey, Jim - the ‘family name’ isn’t Windsor or Rockefeller is it?
Alright. I will duly explain where I got my secret identity. Be prepered for an anti-climax.
When she was little, my daughter used to call chicken nuggets “chicken yoghurts”.
That’s it. Sorry.
Thank sweet baby Jaysus for that - was worried it was in the same linguistic ballpark as duck butter.
In the name of all things holy. No.
Well I’m looking forward to reading this.
I just knew it was a “child speak” reference; that’s what comes from having kids I suppose.
I will stay anon, just in case I say something that may get me sacked. Not that anyone cares. Least of all my employers.