Pseudonymity

Horst Prilliger of The Aardvark Speaks has made a couple of forceful statements against anonymous and pseudonymous weblogs. I find his blanket condemnation (with a minor disclaimer for people at political risk) inappropriate. As I've said in his comments, there is a long and noble history of pseudonymity in belles lettres. In fact, one of the wonders of writing and publishing is the opportunity to be someone other than what an accident of birth and society claim you to be. This is a marvelous and precious freedom.

Certainly people can and do abuse anonymity. There are straight-forward and legitimate responses available to counter such abuse. Ignore them, boycott them, delink them, or debunk them.

Furthermore, some of the most wonderful weblogs are written anonymously (and probably wouldn't be written at all otherwise). Go read Real Life Preacher and tell me you give a rat's ass who he "really" is. If it's all 'made up,' all fiction, it's still some of the truest writing I've ever read.

I think Horst is looking for certainty and reliability, and I think it's a lost cause, even when dealing with so-called 'real' identity. We are more complicated entities than that. Call me postmodern, but I don't think a legal identity really buys you all that much more in the way of truth value. At least not the kind of truth that I find most valuable.

Pascale Soleil is the name I use for this weblog. I consider it as much "my identity" as the name I got from my parents at birth, if not more so at this point. It is NOT, however, the name on my birth certificate.

There a few people out there who can tie one to the other; they know who they are and they know that I have invested a unique form of trust in them. If my pseudonymity should be utterly destroyed I might suffer some minor embarassment, and a few people might have their feelings bruised more than I'd prefer, but I'd survive and so would they. The fragile entity that is my weblog would probably be destroyed, and perversely enough, I happen to like it the way it is. Nor do I feel I'm doing any harm with it ~ I genuinely do try to be careful that way.

A sufficiently motivated person could probably ferret out my "legal" identity if they wanted to. But in NO WAY do I think that the identity I've chosen and which is expressed in what I choose to post in any way bears on my credibility. Read because you find what I have to say interesting, or thought-provoking, moving, entertaining, or whatever. Come back if you find I'm consistently to your taste. But I'm NOT a reporter. Nor do I have any fiduciary responsibility to my readers. I have my opinions and my enthusiasms, and I have the life I offer for others to share on my weblog. That's my truth, take it or leave it.

Pascale Soleil, c'est moi.

Rain Rain Go Away

Last evening, driving over to AF's place through yet another thunderstorm, I crossed Chain Bridge over a raging, boiled-over, brown and frothy Potomac. The water was much higher than I'd ever seen it. A great blue heron was floating dreamily over the swollen waters.

Today, the water is pelting down from the sky. Again. The pavement cannot drain the water fast enough and there are rivers on the sidewalk as well as in the gutters. People are looking at each other with a certain weary desperation. It is predicted to rain all weekend.

I slept one hour last night (because I am an idiot). Lack of sleep has driven me to magical thinking: perhaps if I take a nap, when I wake up the sun will be out!

Yeah, that'll happen.

If I didn't have plans to get together with a friend later this afternoon, I'd crawl into bed now and sleep around the clock. What's the point of being awake if there's never any sunshine?