I first used the Gilbert moniker on German fora. In that context it’s a relatively subtle reference. But I think using it in English-speaking contexts might have been a mistake. A Catholic naming himself after Chesterton is a bit pretentious and cliché, no?
Also, though I used to plan to do so occasionally, I never really tried to imitate his writing style and no longer plan to do so. So it might also seem like false advertising.
There are potential downsides to a change though: I would lose visible continuity with a lot of old blog comments. I’m not sure I have a better pseudonym at hand. And maybe I’ll want to use my real name at some point in the future, in which case an intermediate pseudonym change would double the hassle.
So there may or may not be a pseudonym change announcement soon. For now I’m just thinking out loud.
What other pseudonyms do you have in mind? How bout “Billy BadAss”.
Yeah, I haven’t thought of anything good yet, and the lack of a new handle makes it kind of hard to change to it :-).
I think you should keep “Gilbert.” Although calling yourself “Chesterton” would seem presumptuous to me, calling yourself “Gilbert” merely seems like an homage. Since “Gilbert” is thus unobjectionable, there’s no reason to incur the discontinuity in your commenting history.