My only negative experience of meeting a fellow Mudcatter face-to-face was after I'd been singing, chatting & drinking with this bloke for a few hours at a festival and then the talk turns to Mudcat. He asked what name I posted under, and when I told him he stared in horror, made his excuses and left. Very odd. Before that we were set for lifelong brotherhood. I occasionally get the you're-nothing-like-your-online-persona (what on-line persona?) but mostly, and happily, meeting & knowing 'Catters in the real world is always a positive & uplifting experience. And I know a fair few, many of them counted as very dear friends. Hell, even the most gloomy & notorious 'trolls' on line turn out to be most sunshiney folks in the flesh.

Still, you can't win 'em all; so whatever name you go by, be true to yourself & when it comes to others, as Kipling wrote, and Bellamy sang: The people, Lord, thy people, are good enough for me...

*

Soon as I can get to a proper computer to change my biscuit my new Mudcat name will be Jack Blandifer. Apologies in advance for any confusion this might cause (as if), just as I was sitting the other day watching old Jack kicking his bells I thought, now there's a man I can truly relate to. He's folksy (like me), fun (like me), historically painted (which I am on occasion), medieval (unike me, though I have occasional inclinations in that direction) and a kinetic percussionist with temporal leanings and a fondness for sounding antique idiophones in anciently resonant ambient spaces (like me). I'll still be keeping the same account though...

As Flann O'Brien says, in the common law a person may go by any name they so choose. For the record, my real name is Sean Breadin and my musical name is Sedayne. If ever we do meet, call me Sean - though ever since I was 5 I always wanted to be called Jack, like my old Granda... Actually, I was, briefly, by the kids at a youthclub I used to tell stories at. Felt great, but it never caught on. Maybe the time has come, eh??