For me, blogging under a "pen-name" means that I now have a separate blog-self that's better-looking, more fun-loving, and more popular than "I" am.
Though some people blog under their own name, many do not. The reasons are legion, and in my case not to be revealed. No, I'm not a criminal on the run from the thought-police. Though some of my reasons are purely practical, I've also found that having an alter-ego has helped to boost my ...um...real ego as well.…
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26 - Matt Largo
I think that using a blogging doppleganger lets you start with a clean slate in the Blogosphere and leave all of your personal "baggage" behind.
Good post!
27 - Elvira Black
Matt:
Gee, sorry I missed your comment somehow. Good point! Kinda reminds me of the old Mary Tyler Moore show--you know, she left her hometown behind, (I think the backstory was that she broke up with her fiance or something, thus the baggage element) and went off to the Twin Cities to make it on her own...
As for me, Elvira is still lugging around a lot of Ms. X's baggage, but in some ways the blog is a clean break for me. It is definitely not as confessional as a lot of personal blogs out there, though I do reveal a lot about myself--but somehow a lot of it is kind of stylized. Hard to explain--but kind of like trying to use humor and other devices to "depersonalize" and universalize it so it doesn't really focus so closely on "me."
And there's some personal details I won't reveal, and I never use names of family and friends. Plus which, hardly anyone I know (outside the blogosphere) has seen my blog. I often marvel at how "perfect strangers" now know more about my inner workings, thoughts, hopes, and dreams than even my boyfriend (who is computer phobic) does!
Thanks for the comment!
28 - Andy Marsh
I can see the advantages to blogging anonomously. I could say things that are even dumber than the things I say now!
But I agree with some of the other comments...if the govt or the taliban wants to come and get me...they know where to find me. I try to keep family out of it...every once in a while talking about my wife or one of my daughters...
I like the way Elvira writes...does Ms. X write as well??? and I always liked trying to look down that low cut black dress too!
29 - Elvira Black
Andy:
LOL--I'm sure I could be tracked down to my lair if anyone really felt it was in the interests of "decency" and "democracy" to do so...hee hee...
Yes, Ms. X has also written for many a year--both for The Man and as a NYC freelancer. But she's retired herself from the fray and has now let Elvira take up where Ms. X left off. Unlike Ms. X, Elvira has no one telling her her posts are too long, too short, not on the proper subject for the pub, and so on. No tight deadline hysteria either! What fun to ride along with Elvira!
30 - Andy Marsh
I can just hear that NYC accent too! Mom is from the Village...and wife is from East New York!
31 - Elvira Black
Andy:
Fugeddaboudit!!!
Actually, I don't have a full fledged, classic New Yawk Fran Dresher accent, though I was born in Queens. I've lived in Manhattan for most of my life, but am now hanging in da Bronx quite a bit.
I am a NY Jewgirl, though, and my aunts have taught me a smidgen of Yiddish. Very funny when my goyishe boyfriend starts using terms like kvetch (complain/complainer), schrekadik (timid and fearful), and oy vey (oy vey!). Maybe I'm more of a Woody Allen type of New Yorker--you can tell he's from here, but he doesn't mangle his Yinglish as much.
When my boyfriend came to NYC many years ago (he'd lived in Wisconsin, Louisiana, Omaha, etc) he really admired that classic New York accent, and even wanted to emulate it. He wanted to be known as a true New Yorker, and thought that regional accent was the epitome of coolness. Now he knows better, and furthermore, many New Yorkers are "expatriates" from around the country and the world, so you hear less and less of that "charming" dialect in all its full fledged glory.
Now, get me pissed off, and that Queens accent can start to emerge a bit. KnowwhadImsayhin?
32 - Andy Marsh
talking about accents...I was in Germany last year...when I was at the airport to come back home I met an older couple...the wife was a German national that had lived in NC for the last 25 years...she had a german accent with a hint of southern drawl...sounded AWESOME!
My wife is from ENY...around 80th and Jamaica Ave...really nice neighborhood!!!! yeah...right! My grandparents lived in a little italian neighborhood in the Village that I spent alot of time in as a kid.
33 - Rita C
I blog it like it is. Sure my entire name is not disclosed, but anyone with a little surfing savvy can figure out who I am. I think I'll stick to one persona. I'm Italian and bipolar, so Bipolaroni is where you can find me, good cookin and lookin!