Some of the names in this blog are real. One is kind of real. Some are made up.
Kathy and I use our real names. G is “G” because it’s the first initial of his name. It’s not that hard to figure out who he is. Kathy writes a little bit about him in her other blog and book, too. But we use his first initial because if someone is Googling him (or Yahooing him or Asking him), the DHX shouldn’t be one of the first things they see. We don’t want his online identity to be very heavily tied to our blog — it should stay his. Chris and Jack’s names are totally made up to give them just a little more privacy. It’s not that their friends couldn’t (and haven’t) found this blog, but we don’t want this blog to be one of the first things random acquaintances see when looking them up online, either.
FYI: Hollis is my real name.
I think you’ve done a good job of balancing real vs. privacy. The whole google issue is important. Case in POINT:
I (well, not me, but my keeper, Thursday Girl) was online dating last summer and supposed to meet a guy for the first time down in San Juan Capistrano for lunch. That morning, before she left, it occurred to her that she didn’t even know this guy’s last name… But, she did have his email address. So she googled it.
Oh my. She was glad she did!
Turns out he had posted to a message board about having had trouble getting rid of his gonorrhea he had acquired while in Thailand. He was also a member of a ‘kink’ website.
So, despite the lovely weather and her strong desire to go to the beach…she bowed out of the date. (She didn’t have the guts to tell him what she had found–just that she had a personal emergency)
So anyway, yeah, the whole google thing is good to consider.
Have a great weekend!
Purrs,
Hollis