Identity = ? (part 2)

... no, what I originally intended to write about was the tricky, slippery nature of online identity. In my quest for a blog I can share on various profiles that have my name on them, I went looking for a URL I could love.

So far, the ones I’ve tried are all taken: http://thisfar.blogspot.com/, http://highway1.blogspot.com/, and http://101books.blogspot.com/.

I wish the 101books person had kept writing; it seemed like a neat idea, and her comments made me laugh. Highway1: whatever I was expecting, it wasn’t German. Thisfar: I wonder what this was about...it looks like a list of books, but which books? Why? Blogs should have introductions, I think, a “this is why I’m writing” section for the curious reader.

On top of all that, naming things is not my forte. As a child, I named my stuffed animals things like “Kitty” and “Lion.” As an adult, I name my work projects things like “[Feature description] v2” and “Make [desired behavior] work.” I ask my engineers to name things, and their names are consistently better, funnier, and more on-point than mine.

So what’s a would-be blogger to do? I have no idea. I claimed [myfirstname][mylastname].blogspot.com, and even posted a first post, but it doesn’t feel quite right and I’m half-tempted to delete it. The thing about writing on The Internets is that, unlike in the real world, you have to name yourself. And if you’re not good at naming ... well, you write blog posts like this in an attempt to stall, hoping that a brilliant idea sneaks up on you while you distracted yourself.

Nope, nothing yet. I’ve got my eyes closed, I’m not looking....