I don’t know if it’s particularly unusual (I suspect not), but I tend to keep my online and offline lives as separate from one another as possible. This is mostly out of some twisted sense of shame; the interests and pursuits that are most integral to my internet existence tend generally to be ones that I most suppress in real life. Of course, my sarcastic sense of humor, my odd mannerisms, and my bizarre sense of perfectionism seem to shine through no matter what, but my love of webdesign and my often fangirlish devotion to visual kei aren’t exactly my favorite conversation starters. Internet people are an odd breed, and I think, to some extent, there are stigmas surrounding the upkeep of a personal blog among the uninitiated (and perhaps, also among some of the fully initiated). Despite this, I’ve never tried particularly hard to remain anonymous online, either. Links to LastSong.net and Neogrotesque are easy enough to find on my Facebook or AIM profiles; few people actually care enough to look. Imagine my mild horror, then when I saw the following entry on my tracker:

So I know it was someone from WashU, and likely someone living in Olin. Anyone want to fess up?

It’s 2 days before the start of the new academic year and my official induction into medical school, and it seems that I’ve come down with a bit of a cold. I’ve been coughing and sniffling for past day or so now, and my mucus has apparently turned a lovely color of pale goldenrod. It seems I’ll have to meet my new classmates pumped full of drugs and with tissues at the ready. Well, I certainly hope that my symptoms will get a little better before then… but knowing my luck, I doubt it.