While it would be possible to whip out a post that fills in all the details about what's been happening around the old Nutz House since my last entry, I honestly don't have the drive to do so. There was a great trip to Oregon that Mrs. Nutz and I took with her sister, or I could ramble on about our newsest addiction on Facebook... Farmville. Heck, I could even finally post about the trip we took to Walt Disney World back in February... although it would be nothing more than a moot point now.
No, rather than trying to fill you in with too many details of the past, I will just move on to the present day.
Today was an exciting day in the neighborhood. Our friends bought the house just around the corner from us (literally) and today they moved in. Since this is the first time I've mentioned these friends, I will furthermore give them the moniker of Mr. and Mrs. Munk. I have chosen this name for two reasons: first, it ties in nicely with the woodland creature theme I have going on (Munk meaning chipmunk.) Second, Mr. Munk is a major fan of the classic Disney Afternoon series Chip n' Dale Rescue Rangers.
Mr. Munk and I met in animation class a few years back (2003 I think) and we developed an instant bond. Even though I know this is opening myself up for some severe teasing from my wife and brothers, I would maintain that the best example of My and Mr. Munk's friendship would be the characters Turk and JD from Scrubs.
Anyway, we had decided that we were both tired of being bachelors, and we agreed that we would encourage each other by setting a double date, both with ladies our families were setting us up with. Both of us married the gals that we took on that date, and all of us have been close friends ever since.
Now they've moved to a house whose property touches ours. This is going to be AWESOME!!
While coming up with blog IDs for my friends, I remembered one of the news articles from this week that got me thinking about a possible post update. CNN reported a story on Friday about bloggers losing their anonymity, and some of the points in it really got me thinking.
The article started out with the public outing of a blogger in Pittsburgh who went by the moniker PittGirl. She wrote for a local magazine and had become viewed by many people in the city as a sort of "masked superhero." She said that she had tried to maintain her secret identity, but people were starting to figure it out, so she decided to finally come out and tell Pittsburgh who she really is, especially before someone else did it for her.
There were other cases listed from bloggers who had dropped their cyber alter-egos for various reasons: one for publicity, and another who was ousted by a politician; there was even mention of a woman who blogs under her real identity, and was fired for it.
The thing that stuck with me the most from this article was a comment from the blogger who chose not to go by an online persona. She said, "I think if you're doing something anonymously you've got some issues going on. There's a reason that your hiding."
Are bloggers who go by assumed identities hiding? It makes for a provocative argument, but I don't agree with her reasoning. Am I hiding anything in my blog? Yes and no. I'm choosing to protect my family and friends by not broadcasting their personal information on the internet, but I don't post anything that I wouldn't say in person. I don't use the Mr. Nutz persona to change who I am, and I hope that those who know me would agree that I am genuine in my blogging.
Well, I guess I should call it a night and consider this another post successfully completed. I'm optimistic that there will be more postings in the future, particularly with the shenanigans that Mr. Munk and I will no doubt get ourselved into. Our wives have already consented to let us buy 2 way radios so long as we set a time in the evening when the radios will be shut off. Actually their first suggestion was the old-school telephone with 2 cans and a string, but I am much more comfortable with the grown-up walkie talkies. Mr. Munk is also pushing for a signal system using tiki lamps, but the jury is still out on that one.
