What’s the Story?

Some of you have come in asking me for more information regarding why my profile has changed on TypePad, and what particularly is the issue at hand. I’ve decided a public post is the speediest method of explaining.

As the blog reflects a few months back, the first issue was that the post-editor was given unimprovements which caused the editing to be slow, but also altered where certain functions had moved to the right of the editor area, whereas they had been below. While this may not be a problem for some people, I have mild dyslexia, and making changes where my editor freezes, slows, or blinks is difficult enough when I already have a problem of typing a word backwards when typing too fast. The movement of certain functions to another area further has aggravated the way my eye reads the page (aha, the graphic design degree once again aids me in something, – in this case how movement of the eye effects how one perceives a space,) and contributed to me having more difficulty in typing correctly.

When I’d begun to master the new editor and acclimate myself to the slowness, had altered how it worked a bit (there are some options,) to compensate for some of the changes, TypePad then manditorily imposed a “TypeKey” profile upon me. This changed how I comment on my own blog. This changed how I presented my name to the public.

The problem I have is that I must sign out of my own blog to comment on my profile without it putting my whole name (as it is on my credit card,) on a post or allowing it to be visible to those I am posting comments to on their blogs. While I am not really too concerned about allowing other blog-writers to know my whole given name (which in this case presents my first name as if I am actually called by that name which I am not,) I also am not aware of when the system will decide to put my full name by default onto someone’s blog PUBLICALLY, as in visible to the entire public, which I do not want to happen. My identity is basically just the name you call me by, my middle name. I realize this is difficult for some people to digest, but I know people I have known for well over a decade who still don’t know my first or last name and have been my friends a very long time.

When I complained to TypePad that I am not known by my first name, but by my middle name, and prefer to keep my unique last name anonymous to the internet public, I was told “you can use whatever PSUEDONYMS or nicknames you like…” Um, okay… Listen… I do NOT use any psuedonyms…my name is Cat. That I am not addressed by the first name given to me by my parents is true, but I have known a lot of people who simply use the initial of their first name and are addressed by their middle names like I am. Implying that I am using psuedonyms was incredibly rude. I do realize my last name is an English word and that its also an uncommon last name, ergo, with a name like Cat and a last name which is an English word it does sometimes look like I am very uncreative and can’t come up with a realistic sounding nom de plume, but its my real frikkin name.

I was also treated as being suspect for not wanting my whole given name displayed (I have stalkers already, thanks,) while posting on my blogs or others blogs. I think it is reasonable to request that my rather unique last name not be displayed on the entire internet for all to see. I also feel its reasonable to know whether or not I will appear as just “Cat” or by another name when posting to other’s blogs via this enforced “TypeKey” profile.

To make matters worse, as I’d earlier stated, I was posting to blogs, and people were looking at my profile for this site. While I am not ashamed of having an interest in the occult or in spellcraft, I do respectfully keep this interest to myself or at least toned-down when commenting on certain other people’s blogs – not out of a desire to mislead others about myself, but rather because I have MANY interests, and my interest in the occult does disturb some other people. I feel it is appropriate at times to keep this interest to myself (unless some asked me, in which case I’d confirm I do have an interest in the occult,) because sometimes I am commenting on blogs which are very much of a different topic, and which reflect interests I share with the author which are in no way related to the occult. I do not wear an “I love the occult,” tee-shirt, I do not start conversations with “I once cast a spell to ruin someone’s life, and it worked…” No, I come off as a very normal, maybe even average young lady. That this blog is about my interest in the occult and its related topics, and that you read this blog because you share my interest in the occult is GREAT, but I am not entirely defined by this interest. I love the French Revolution, Monarchy, Art, Art History, I like Crafts and Crafting, Painting… I mean…a lot of this has NOTHING to do with the occult and a lot of the people who share my other interests may be distrubed. Had I known my profile was to be freely shared as the “public profile to define all of Cat,” means it had to be changed. I’d have mentioned liking Hoodoo or the occult as one interest and then labeled my other interests, rather than mentioning several paradigms of occult interest and like 5 other things I like. 😉

So, ultimately, I am aggravated in that I like having a profile which is suitable for my blog, and do not feel like the “general profile for Cat,” is suitable for this blog – but that, if I must have a profile avaialble when I make comments on blogs which topics are unrelated to mine, that I need a general profile, too. If you want to know more about me outside of my love of occultiness, you can always be my MySpace friend, and well…who knows what the new profile will look like when I finish it. Either way, due to the forced changes made by TypePad, I am likely going to need to create an entirely new HTML page, plus connective pages simply to ensure I am not freaking out the uber-Catholics on the monarchy blogs I populate, or the Born-Again Christians who also share my love of the yarn-arts, while also having a suitable profile for those of you who want to know more about my occult-side.

Also, as I’d said, my full name as it is on my credit card (though I sign everything with my first initial, Cat, and my last name, even checks and legal documents,) was showing up everywhere and that was not something I’d liked. I already have stalkers and choose to keep the situation one that ensures less stalkers. My full name was showing up as it pleased to do so on my own blog (ie it was showing up differently at different intervals when I posted comments on my own blog in reply. Who knows what it would do on your blog.) Also, I freaked out people with my very occultey-profile. 😉 So… That is why my profile is changed, and there is an account of why I am pissed off at TypePad. I’ve been a total biotch to them as well, so I am sure there will be all sorts of problems with my blog in the next month or so, since I would not be surprised if I made someone cry, and they retaliated by messing with my blog. 😉

You know a lot of clients and readers know my full name – all I ask is that I have the choice as to who knows that information and who can’t be trusted with it because they are too stalkerish to know.

If you made it this far, you rock.

Much love,

~Cat