On the Nature of Identity (Specifically My Own)

When I started this blog over three years ago, I had no ambition beyond cataloguing my thoughts about music whenever I had any. As far as readership was concerened, I liked the idea of people stumbling across it by accident. I hoped this blog would function as a good piece of graffiti, if it served any function at all.

This blog intentionally waded into the public arena one time, when I posted a link to my thoughts on Allison Weiss in the comments section of a Flagpole article about her new album. That was the last time I did that.

The subject of my identity comes up a lot--in the comments section, the e-mails I receive, real-life conversations that get reported back to me. I've always liked the idea of remaining anonymous. Initially, because I wanted to be free to write what I wanted to without it having a negative impact on the people around me (you see, I play a very minor role in a minor band around town, and I'd hate for them to catch shit simply because I have opinions about music). Futhermore, we are so quick in the culture these days to dismiss opinions we don't like by assigning a motive to the person giving the opinon. The whole, 'Well you're just saying that because you're a liberal/conservative, woman/man, old/young, straight/gay, etc.' school of debate. I didn't want to give people the luxury of rationalizing away my ideas based on my identity.

As more people have discovered this blog, it's become harder and harder for me to remain anonymous. To be honest, I've never gone to great lengths to cover my tracks. That would just be dishonest. And to the four people I know of who were able to 'crack the code,' I am honestly flattered you would take the time to try and figure out who I am. And you're welcome to mention this blog the next time we're having a conversation.

I have no intention of 'outing myself' at the moment. But I wanted to let people know that I'm probably going to posting here even less frequently than before. See, because of this blog, I've been offered a writing/editing position at an infinitely more prestigious website. And my identity at that website is far from anonymous. It also, at the insistence of the editor, links back to this blog. So there you go.

Thanks to everyone for reading, writing, and caring. To any of the artists I've offended along the way, I assure you that no one has ever stopped liking a band beause of something I've written. If I were that powerful, you'd better believe I'd write a lot more often. Irreverence is a good & healthy thing. And remember, always try and take your music more seriously than you take yourself.

Cheers,
The Ghost of The Ghost of Paul Morley