Nothing to See Here…

I was looking through my stats yesterday, and I saw a Google search for my name - first name and last name - that brought someone here, to my blog.

Whut?  How’d that happen?

I do a bit of vanity surfing occasionally.  For example, if you go here, you’ll see that my blog is valued at about $47,000.00 (but today, if you are one of the first 20 callers, I’ll give you a 10% discount.  BUT WAIT!  That’s not all!  I’ll toss in a set of Ginsu knives that can cut through aluminum cans!  Act now and all this can be yours for just 2,120 payments of $19.95 EACH!  Hurry!)

And I Google people sometimes.  Including myself.

I mostly Google myself for security reasons.  I like knowing that my name brings back a bazillion genealogy sites.  Evidently, people with my name are either really into genealogy or else maybe my name is descended from somebody important.  Who knows.  There is a writer of children’s books with my name and a professor of hispanic studies.  There are many, many people who are “out” on the Internet who have the same name as me. 

But I never found MYSELF in those Google searches, and so I would hunker down a little more secure in my online anonymity.  I was completely anonymous.

Until yesterday.

Because?  Suddenly, when one Googles my first and last name, the first site that comes up is this one, my blog.  It’s not on page 27, it’s not after the writer of children’s books or the professor of hispanic studies.  It’s FIRST.

So, say, a colleague went and Googled my name (hi, colleagues!  please don’t go reading the archives, I didn’t mean a WORD of it, not any of it!  I swear!), this site is the first one that will come up.  Or, if my mom were to Google my name - she’d know I was making fun of her about the ham. 

The thing is, I’m screwed.  How did this happen?  I don’t use my last name anywhere on this website.  I really only ask the question rhetorically because my husband already figured out how it happened.  I’m going to try to correct it if I can.

To be honest, I had been flirting with the idea of being out.  I am kind of sort of out already.  For example, anyone who gets an email from me sees my full name.  I’ve been quoted a few times where the writer quoted me by first and last name.  And?  The biggest one - someday I want to be a real boy writer and not just a puppet blogger if I’m good and that would likely involve my last name.  And maybe a blue fairy.

Unless I take a pen-name.  Linda Roquelare, Linda Twain, or perhaps Monique Kashmir.  Something.

But now that I’m already kind of out I’m not sure how I feel.  Do I want my parents reading about my sex life?  Do I want my employees reading about my work issues?  Do I want my employees reading about my sex life?  Do I want my older kids reading about any of this? 

What do other bloggers do?

The thing is that I want to write about what I want to write about.  Having parents and coworkers and neighbors read my blog might impact that.  I don’t want to change my writing, my topics, my language.  The more I think about it, to be honest, I wouldn’t be mortified over any of it, except I suppose it could put my job in jeopardy (dammit, I shoulda listened to Dooce, huh?)

So is it possible to put that Genie back into the bottle or what?  I’d love to hear stories of what others have done and how they deal with similar concerns.  Thanks for sharing.

Best Regards,

JustLinda

Linda

Larry

Monique

Anonymous