...is PREVARICATE. Perhaps dictionary.com is just a tad slower to react to the news that politicians lie than Salon blog writers Rich Pure&Simple, kriselda jarnaxa, and Jan Haugland?
5:59:06 PM    

How many email addresses do you have?

A day or two ago, several blogs that I read talked about an article in the New York Times titled "Dating a Blogger" (free registration required). Unfortunately, whether a symptom of age or of being otherwise submerged in administrativa these days, I didn't keep links to to share with you, and Google just wasn't forthcoming based on a search for the Times article's URL.

[Edit: In looking for another article I'd read on Secular Blasphemy, I found Jan's comments about "Dating a Blogger" for you. Penny at My so-called lesbian life said it reminded her of something her mom told her, And Fiona talked about the cost of NOT writing a personal blog anonymously. Knew I'd re-find some of these when I wasn't LOOKING for them!]

Perhaps it just took a couple of days to bubble up through the other detritus occupying my active consciousness or perhaps it just took that long to sink in, but the article explains a choice I made when I actually made the move from blog reader to blog writer: the choice to blog anonymously.

Now, chances are, you don't know me. I've been around on the Net or its predecessors (the old paid services) for more years than I like to admit (ok, since you know my age, I suppose saying since the late eighties won't really shock you). But like most of the world, I'm only known by even my most common handle or my regular email address to a small group of people. It's not like I'm some big celebrity here hiding behind the name on this blog.

I got to thinking about the ways that we "wear different hats" in the world, depending on our circumstances, and how nearly all of us who are active on the Net have email addresses to go along with each: work, friends/family, gaming or hobby circles... the list goes on and on. Perhaps at work I'm a version of my real name that fits with some formal email standard. To friends and family, I might be a familiar nickname at a large ISP. Maybe I've got a gaming handle somewhere. Maybe I post on tech boards with a gender-neutral name. Eventually, I'm going to add another email address when I return to school. So both online and offline, my self-presentation is, at least to some degree, tempered by situation. What do I want to say? And to whom will I be saying it?

None of that changes who I am, after all. It is certainly true that my friends recognize me in business attire and my coworkers would recognize me in a party dress. Those who know me well, particularly through correspondence, could associate my writing style here with an email address in their inbox, particularly if they correlate the style with some of the stories I will undoubtedly tell. I don't have anything to hide, as the airline passengers all say when interviewed on television about the latest airport security measures.

I chose to orient this blog about a particular cliché that I happen to fit, primarily to examine its meaning in my own life, but in a public way that would allow others to take what they wished from it and add to it what they would. In other words, it's a personal blog rather than one devoted primarily to news, politics, cooking, etc. I love all of those things; they are what got (and keep) me reading here in the Salon community, and I might even wander there in my own writing from time to time.

The thing about a personal blog, though, is that it always ends up being interpersonal. If I thought I would only represent myself or my own thoughts, I'd wear the same hat that I wear most of the places I go. Truth be told, I have a lot of email addresses due to associations (and fruitless attempts at spam avoidance), but I've really only got one handle on the Internet. I'm going to hide behind Triple F here, though, because I'm the only guilty party and there's no need to drag all the innocents around me into the muck of my personal midlife crisis, right? :)

So the last thing I mean to do is hide. I mean to tell you the good, the bad, and the ugly about being female, fat, and forty from my little point of view. That's my weird little contribution to the blogosphere. I hope that you won't be too put off by the fact that, in doing so, I prefer only to expose myself and not the people around me in such a public way. :)

11:14:21 PM    

Jake Tapper writes:

But despite years of complaints about Democrats who throw around cash like Bill Bennett at the Bellagio, the Republican-controlled House, Senate and White House are now calmly writing check after check in red ink.

Mind you, that's not a complete summary of the article, but I just can't resist quoting such a well-turned phrase.

10:06:42 PM    

Say it ain't so. This is one of the writers around here who really inspires me. He makes me think and he makes me laugh. His turn of a phrase is unmatched. He will be sorely missed.

Here's hoping it's a brief respite from the fray and not a permanent retirement. There's truly nowhere else on the web that I've found that comes close to The Raven's artful use of the English language.

10:36:29 PM