Laurie, I have to use one (yes, it’s true…”Nigel” is not my real name…duh).

I am like Mic…er…W.O.A…my blog “character” is my alter ego. My opinions are my own, but I am not nearly as “snarky” in real life as I am on my blog.

However, for business reasons, I have to take precaution to “not be found out”. Even though I have freedom of speech, my clients have freedom to not use my services if they disagree with my musings. And I get “Googled” plenty by my clients…

You on the other hand can put your name on your blog…because it is properly representative of who you are and what you do for a living. I had that discussion with Murphy while I was in Houston…his professional life is not compromised by his blog. Mine would be…

Now if I made money as a blogger (see Michelle Malkin, Charles Johnson, etc.), I’d have no problem with putting my own name on my stuff.

I’ve NEVER heard of a blogging club etc, though I can imagine the personality that would join one or start one. Some folk take some stuff way too seriously, or, conversly not enough of the rest of their pitiful lives seriously enough.

So, though my full name is George Mann Roper, III, I hide behind my nom de pixel GM Roper and thus, GM’s Corner was born.

I’m a very ordinary girl’s alter ego. She was always wary of being cruel, vain, and materialistic. She was encouraged not to have a head full of irksome opinions.

She is intrigued by playing dress up. So she takes her sexuality, her irksome opinions, her vanity, materialism, and her inner vixen and puts them into another personality.

The question is whether this is a blog she writes or a series of short stories by an alter ego.

It’s great fun.

And I’m not anonymous, I’m just one of Michele’s little projects.

If I can just figure out how to get my new digital video camera to work with the PC.

Varied musical tastes and styles, notwithstanding, he’s a strange little cat, musically speaking.

I’ve heard some of the other stuff he’s done and all I have to say is that while there is some ability there, it’s OBVIOUS that he’s not classically trained.

Whether this vid was hijacked or not, Tay has (as I wrote and as you alluded) made the most of this long, monotonous “Chocolate Rain” phenomenon and has attained a modicum of success.

I hope he invests well, however.

Why? Because the fact that Tay Zonday’s video is infamous on You Tube and some of the chat shows, isn’t a direct result of his God given talents–it’s a by product of other people (that internet “group”) who had the temerity to mock him in incredibly public forums.

In that regard, yeah–it backfired.

But in this You Tube/William Hung/Flash-In-The-Pan world of fame, all you need is a camera, the ability to upload and a little luck. Talent? Not so much.

I hope Tay reconsiders getting his PhD. Seriously. If that’s ever the case, I wish him well in his doctoral matriculation.

LK

Tay Zonday posted his “Chocolate Rain” song for the purpose of getting feedback from other musicians. It was a very rough draft. It was then hijacked by an internet “group” who spread it to the far sectors of the internet as a joke and it backfired. Tay is a self taught musician, lyricist and keyboardist. He was getting his Doctorite in American Studies with an emphasis on the relationship between performance art and social culture. He WAS going to be a college professor. Life is funny.