Horologium

July 07, 2002
Isn't that special?

I have a groupie.

Aaron Hawkins, of Uppity Negro, trolls here, here, and here, and gets mad when he's identified as a troll. He's even resorted to posting my real name (here, which I fixed), and on his site (which I can't fix, even if I wanted to). Apparently he knows how to use the whois section of the internic site, because that is the only place where my name is tied to San Diego, which is what his earlier post identified (incorrectly) as my home.

Inferring from my posts that I am a white male (even though I haven't discussed my race, nor are there any pics here to prove it, and I don't have a catchy URL like "www.Insufferable-Caucasian.com"), he lumps me in with the white sheet crowd. How predictable. All because I don't share his enthusiasm for an Orwellian newspeak law in Washington that bans use of the word "Oriental" when discussing people of Asian descent.

posted on July 07, 2002 09:42 PM

Comments:

He trolls me, too.
I think that's sexy.

posted by Laurence Simon on July 8, 2002 07:24 PM

Troll. You keep using that word. I do not believe it means what you think it means.

Laurence, I don't recall ever posting to your site. What definition are you using for "trolls", exactly?

Timekeeper, if you'd like me to remove your name, one possible route you could take is asking.

Politely.

And I found it by typing "whois horologium.net" in a bash prompt. We're not talking Spy Kids level stuff here.

posted by Aaron on July 9, 2002 07:36 AM

Aaron, troll has many meanings. I did not use it to imply that you are a mythical monster (a la Grendel) or to imply that you are looking for sexual relations with children. The sense that I (and Andrea, Jeff, and Laurence) am using implies that you are going to someone else's website and posting deliberately imflammatory comments. Debate is one thing, but bashing another person (in an ad hominem fashion) is quite another, especially on someone else's website. There are those who do this in an attempt to get people to visit their website. The term troll is used in reference to the term "to fish", as these people are fishing for attention. This may or may not be your intent, but your behavior fits the pattern nicely.

Your action tracks very neatly with that of one of the charming creatures over at Warboogerblotch, who posted not only the real name, but the contact address and phone number of another person with whom they disagreed. The information was that of an elderly relative of his, who should not be subjected to abuse.

posted by timekeeper on July 9, 2002 11:13 AM

This is all subjective, of course. Most of what the warbloggers call "Fisking" is just ad hominem attacks, IMHO. And one person's "provocative" is another person's "inflammatory".

Is trolling restricted to actions on someone else's site, then, or is it possible to engage in it on your own? Like by constantly calling someone a troll, to choose an example at random?

By the bye, there is a difference between identifying a statement or action as racist, and claiming a person is a racist, something you and the chap at Blow Hard should keep in mind. I criticized your action of attacking while hiding your identity, and quoted Beetlejuice to do it. Line spoken by Winona Ryder, a/k/a Winona Horowitz.

It was a joke, son.

Finally, you were the one who threw down the gauntlet or whatever regarding your anonymity. What, was I just supposed to hint vaguely that I knew your name, without actually mentioning it? That sounds more troll-like than anything.

posted by Aaron on July 9, 2002 01:36 PM

Regarding my name, it wasn't neccessary for you to say anything at all. You went after me about my pseudonym, even though I have a clear explanation of why I don't have my real name posted (and the e-mail I sent to you would have cleared any lingering misconceptions).

Anyone who has received e-mail from me knows my first name, as it is included with all e-mails I send. (It is part of my signature). There are also at least a dozen bloggers who know my full name, as I posted using my real name before I started my blog, and occasionally sent e-mails from my "personal" account, which is under my full name.

I am sorry that I misinterpreted your Beetlejuice quote (I didn't follow that link, so I didn't know that it linked to a .wav file.) However, since you dropped a line about the Klan in the previous sentence, an allusion to a sheet does not require a huge leap to make the connection, however erroneous it may have been. (And don't say anything about guilty consciences here, because that is decidedly *not* accurate.) And in any case, it wasn't funny.

My original post was made (referring to you as a troll) only *after* you called Andrea a cunt, on Jeff's blog. That, to me, was an action of a troll, especially since the two of you have had exchanges before, on her blog. The next time I called you a troll was when you called Jeff a bitch (you never used the word, but what you said was pretty clear). The subsequent references were after you started posting my name in various places (here, and at your blog, at least; I don't know where else to which it may have metastatized).

posted by Timekeeper on July 9, 2002 04:02 PM

That was the only two places I'd posted your name, and it's now gone from both. De nada.

Humor is subjective too, of course; I think the joke worked. Have you ever seen Beetlejuice?

posted by Aaron on July 9, 2002 05:22 PM

Thank you.

Yes, I have seen Beetlejuice. It's hysterical, although I was stunned by Alec Baldwin's atypical (and blond) role. I've often wondered what the movie would have been like if someone like Robin Williams had been cast instead of Michael Keaton (who was great in the role).

posted by Timekeeper on July 9, 2002 06:42 PM

I wish you would post comments on my site. I'm starting to get the feeling you don't love me. *sniff*

I promise, I'll never go back...

posted by Laurence Simon on July 9, 2002 08:38 PM

Sorry about screwing up the edit initially; it's not like Movable Type doesn't have global search and replace. I think if you'd said "idiot" instead of "troll", you'd have been more accurate. . .

Oddly, the last time I really liked Robin Williams in a movie was "Toys", where he'd gone all blond for the role, too. And Wesley Snipes was good in Demolition Man with that dye job.

Maybe there's something to that Aryan supremacy stuff after all.

posted by Aaron on July 10, 2002 06:49 AM