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Thursday, March 23, 2006

Reinventing Tim

"I'm tired of being Elvis Presley."
--Elvis Presley

"I'm tired of being Tim-Elvis."
--Tim-Elvis
We are who we think we are. That was the premise of an article I was reading about memory the other day on Psychology Today's Web site. In it, the author suggested that our conscious and subconscious minds reinvent our past and in the process, our futures. It's a memory thing. We sometimes remember things the way we want to. That in turn reshapes who we are or want to be.

I don't think it is a bad thing. It helps us rewrite that screenplay of our lives in hopes we'll have a happy ending.

I think the Web is the ultimate illustration of how easy it is to reinvent ourselves, at least in the virtual world. I read all the time about people in chat rooms and on dating sites presenting themselves as completely different people (including fake photos). Of course, this is not really the type of reinventing one's self I had in mind. That is just lying. If you really are trying to connect with someone, presenting yourself as single, HWP and well adjusted when you are married, obese and majorly messed up, is basically just wrong. But it happens all the time.

It's the blog world that really allows us to reinvent ourselves. I get a kick out of the names people pick for their blogger identies. Some use nicknames. Some pick names that represent a fantasy. And some just use their own names or hyphenated versions thereof. Because in the blog world, the user name becomes who we are.

Which brings me to Tim-Elvis. It started as a joke more than 10 years ago. It was the mask I put on when I ventured out onto the Information Highway and stuck out my thumb. And it was fun being Tim-Elvis. But I am kind of tired of being Tim-Elvis. So I've dug out my tools and have begun to tinker with reinventing myself as myself (or myselves).

This is not to say that I will now only refer to myself as Sir Tim Edwin the Fair and Flatulent (which is catchy, but kind of a mouthful). I'm just going to start embracing my inner multiple personalities and break away from Tim-Elvis as my sole Web personna. Because being Tim-Elvis is very limited. For that reason you will very likely see my blogger profile shift randomly according to my varied whims. What won't change is the name of my blog. Dizgraceland will always be my home.

Now this is also not to say I'm changing the types of things I post on my blog (including Photoshop enhanced images which I create because I like to). And this is not a whiny gimmick to try and get more Web traffic or solicit more comments. I, Tim, just feel like I need to let go of Tim-Elvis (odd as that sounds). I'm not even sure why I feel compelled to explain something as ridiculous at this other than the fact that not everyone accepts even the slightest change in our sometimes dysfunctional little virtual community.

So ladies and gentlemen, Tim-Elvis has left the Blog and the King is more or less dead.

And long live Tim Edwin (at least for now).

4 comments:

Alex Pendragon said...

Tim, we are who we perceive ourselves to be. In reality......well, let's not explore that tragedy.....but here in the virtual world, I am......ah......never mind.
I absolutely love your adventure with your new persona, and am looking forward to the flavor it will add to those strange thoughts in your head.

I myself am considering dropping the "THE" in THE Michael, upon realization that when I was born, my name was the most popular male name in the US, and that I truly cannot handle speaking for every Michael that was ever born. However, I am very proud of the name that my dear Mother choose for me, and intend to do it proud, one way or another.

If you ever get tired of blogging altogether...well....that will be a day that will live in infamy.......may that day never come, short of your death, upon which I'm sure you will somehow manage to get in your own epitaph, which we all know should be the best one ever written.

Time said...

Sir Tim Edwin...Edwin. That is my real middle name. And working for the government, I belong to the Acronyms Suck Swampwater association. Imagine what the acronym for that group is.

Time said...

Thanks Cherish, I'd call myself Duke Tim, but I'm afraid I'd get confused with John Wayne. And I'm tired of associating with dead celebrities. :)

Time said...

the or a or just michael, thanks. I doubt I'll ever get tired of blogging. And as the man in Monty Python's Holy Grail put it, "I'm not dead, yet."