This post was inspired by a comment by The Angel and Demon Within. I hope she doesn't mind the shout out, for it may attract the bandwidth-breaking traffic of the person who reads this blog.
Pseudonyms. There are many. Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, more commonly known as Lewis Carroll. Often today suspected of being a pedophile. Is that why he called himself Lewis Carroll? Because when he had it, his relationship with the real Alice in Wonderland was considered perfectly normal.
Eric Arthur Blair. Political writer. More commonly known as George Orwell. Did he hide his identity because he didn't want Russia to kill him?
I wonder vaguely if others tried to use pseudonyms, but couldn't, because their name sounded so damn charismatic.
DO they use it to hide? Some do. Many anonymous bloggers use pseudonyms, myself included, because certain details could be, shall we say incriminating in later years. Some may use it to disassociate themselves with it, in their own mind. Perhaps David Berkowitz used the moniker "Son of Sam" to make himself believe he wasn't responsible for it..... Although with him, I think it was more so he wouldn't get arrested and executed for murder.
Yet that begs the question. They say serial killers like BTK are megalomaniacs of the highest degree, so why use a different name? Sure it's something to say the police can't find BTK, but another thing entirely to say they can't find Dennis Rader, who lives at this exact address.
Englebert Humperdinck.
Aw fuck, I'm not even going to try that one.
Is it the mystery? Is it more mysterious to say that "Opalia Darkknight" wrote a book than Jane Smithson?
Snicket does it to make the story seem interesting. Kal Penn does it to get more jobs. Voltaire did it because no one wants to think that the man who wrote Candide was 5 feet tall.
But if that's the case, why did Napoleon stick to it.
For all purposes, I shall remain nameless. I picked "Greg" because it's generic.
And to be perfectly clear, if anyone wouldn't tell the difference, I'd change it to....Phil. Or maybe Dick.
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8 comments:
I couldn't help but notice that all of the AKA's are just that; they are also known by the other name. They may have been able to keep their real name hidden for a time but in the end the world learned who they truly were.
How about all of us anonymous bloggers that cast our tales upon the sea of 0’and 1’s; do we secretly wish to be able to expose ourselves to the world? For those in the know it is a simple process to locate the vital information from a poster’s IP address. We know this yet we still continue to share our inner thoughts and feelings.
Personally I wanted a pseudonym that expressed who I am. The real me, not the person I am when I’m at PTA, the office, or any normal social outing. I feel I am a true twin within one. I have the proper professional and the silly slut. The outside world generally views me as being a sweet educated southern girl. For the very few that I allow peak behind my walls they see all the multi faceted layers I have hiding within. The good, the bad, and the ugly…
Is it not innate for us to want to feel loved for who we really are?
I think we do. I chose my name for the complete opposite reason you did. Some common everyday name. And I'm seriously thinking of changing it.
Maybe they just had a mental thinking of dissasociation of your dual identity. S.E. Hinton did it because she wanted to leave her gender ambiguous.
Who knows. Mine was arbitrary. Does that make me any less serious? Any less capable than the guy that put thought into it? I don't think so.
And I think we go into the blogosphere because we hope that nobody will care enough to try to find who we really are. But still care enough to read.
If I can figure out who the man is in the damn portrait then that shall be your new name. Please don’t tell me yet. I love a good challenge.
Hint. If you don't want this very vague hint, then don't look at it.
He is also one of the men who use a pseudonym, and one of the few who barely anyone knows the actual name.
Okay, I’m at a loss as to who the artist is of your portrait. My guess as to who the man in the portrait is would be Isaac Newton. I couldn’t find the exact painting but the face is similar. I am sure it is a baroque piece and guess that it was made around the late 1600’s. So how did I do? Can I at least get a crumble of one of those cookies you offered?
I just couldn't drop it... I had to find the answer. I admit I did have to look at the hint this time.
Voltaire AKA Marquis of Duoro
I'm doing my silly happy dance :)
Duh, forgot to give the real name...
François-Marie Arouet
I guess I was to busy with my happy dance.
YAY. You win a cookie. What kind. I have peanut butter and sugar and chocolate chip and fish.
It is true. One of my personal heroes, along with George Carlin, John Locke, and Girlvinyl.
I am sucker for free speech advocares. Hellz yeah.
I will change my name promptly. So when I leave comments, don't forget who I am, plzkkthx.
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