Also Known As

I have to say, picking a pseudonym for this blog was harder than I thought it would be. There was actually a lot to consider and then reconsider. Originally, I wasn't even going to use a name at all. But, when I went to comment on someone's blog, my name came up as "Mostly.Scared." While that is currently true, I honestly hope it won't always be true. And I realized that if anyone wanted to contact me, they would have an awkward time writing a salutation.

I wanted to pick a name that was simple and that in no way could be related to my real name: it's couldn't be my middle name, no one in my family could have the name, it couldn't start with the same letter as my name, I didn't want any of my friends to have the name and it couldn't have a number of other characteristics that I was worried would lead people back to me. Of course, after thinking about all of these things, I then got slightly paranoid. I thought someone might be able to figure out who I was by realizing that "Joe" was me using those rules. I wondered if I should go the opposite way and pick a name that was very close to mine, or even using mine. It could have become an endless cycle, but I realized how ridiculous I was being. So, I just picked a name.

Henceforth, I will be known as Joe. When you see me comment on others' blogs, I will be Joe. And if you want to contact me, you can now call me Joe (instead of just "man" or "dude" or whatever you would have called me).