being one of those people who don't use their real name... i have to say, it's not by choice. when i first got online, my brother gave me the best piece of advice -- do not use your real name.

ever.

it makes it too easy for pyschos to track you down. and considering the fact that i live alone (with my dog) i figured discretion is the better part of valor here.

quite frankly, i don't give a fetid pair of dingo's kidneys whether or not people i trust know my real name. it doesn't take a rokkit scientest to do a 'whosis' for PoorSue and figure it out. ;-p i'm just more worried about the people i don't trust.

i know we've talked about that subject in the past -- that there are real people on the other side of the monitor -- and kinda drawn the same conclusion. its really, really hard to second guess who you can 'trust' and who you can't while online. it's so easy to pretend that it's made me very cynical about internet interactions.

on the other hand, i've been very, very lucky that atxf was inhabited by some hella cool people... you, Gizzie, Martha, Stacey, Sandy, Sandi, DonnaJ, Alan Hurshman, etc.

what it boils down to for me, is that it's not about privacy or any of that... it's about security.

can i emphasize that one point again?

i've been really, REALLY lucky. some of my friends... not so lucky.

and while i'm here -- i don't know how much of livejournal you read, but i ran across a drummer girl who reminds me of you. not a lot, mind you, but she has her cozish moments and it makes me smile.

http://www.livejournal.com/users/littleshebear/

if that link doesn't work, just do a search for the name littleshebear at live journal.