It is time for me to be honest.
On this blog, Twitter and in general I advocate both openness (freedom of speech) and privacy; which can understandably easily conflict with each other, as you do not always know where to draw the line, depending on the situation.
I have always used a pseudonym online to keep my cyberspace persona separated from my meatspace persona. This is due to the fact that my views and opinions can be very liberal and controversial; in other words, I want to provoke but still be able to walk down the street without being harassed for my articles.
The last few years now I have forced myself to be less scared of possible consequences for what I write and say, and be more open to my readers so they can know who the person behind .random[oid] really is.
Now I am going to, as I see it, pass a new milestone, or start a new chapter if you will, by being even more honest. As I am exploring the gonzo journalism style I have learned that you need to get a bit dirty and be able to speak about the really nitty-gritty experiences in your own life to really understand what gonzo journalism is truly about.
What I am going to write about might shock some people, it might make a few of you angry, maybe even disappointed; hopefully it will not turn you away, but I truly hope to show to you that I am like anyone else. I also hope to take you on a trip to a world, where on the surface we all pretend to be normal, but under that layer of fake normality, we are not so innocent anymore; non of us are.
It also might go against what people advice bloggers to write about, but I am sick off pretending to be someone I am not and conforming to make everyone else happy. This is who I am, deal with it or sod off!
It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for something you are not.
- André Gide
This idea to actually write about this came to me last week, but I have been toying around with it in my head for while; I just never dared to do it. So I do not know how many articles I will write, but the first ones will mostly take part in The Netherlands, as I experienced a lot of interesting things there.
Play your own game, be your own man, and don’t ask anybody for a stamp of approval.
- Hunter S. Thompson
Note: Yes, the picture above is real marijuana. It is either ‘Biowiet’ from Birdy in Haarlem or ‘Love Potion’ from Amnesia in Amsterdam.
