LMNOP FAQ

Q: How much time do you spend on this blog?
A: I get this asked a lot.  I think people are sort of afraid that I am going to say something like "three hours a day," and then their enjoyment of the blog will be ruined a little by realizing I'm really pathetic.  Most days though I spend about 20-30 minutes on posting, which I think is a permissible amount of time to devote to a hobby. Some of the more elaborate stuff takes a little bit longer than your average post, but I only usually come up with that stuff because I'm bored and feel like spending a long time on, for example, a detailed explanation of my nightly bathroom habits accompanied by a graph.

Q: Honestly, I'm a little worried that that someday you will permanently slip away into this little world you've created with Cathy Addison-Weemer and whatnot . . . not really a question, but I'm just saying.
A: (Note: Cathy Addison-Weemer is the mythical blog spokeswoman who was created in this post as part of a one-time joke, but was immensely popular and thus given a full-time role as "LMNOP Spokesperson and Legal Counsel."  We had a contest to determine her  name, and she makes occasional administrative announcements.)

This is less of something that people frequently come out and SAY to me and more of a concern that occasionally seems to be written obliquely into other questions.  Like, in reference to Cathy Addison-Weemer submitting her own bracket for the LMNOP Invitational, someone may have asked, "Wait.  You registered a separate Yahoo! ID for Cathy?  Which probably means she has her own e-mail address too.  Um, wow."  And then there's the fact that she has her own MySpace page, so . . . OK, for the record, I realize that I occasionally go to elaborate heights to maintain the appearance of Cathy's existence, but that does not mean I set an extra plate up at the dinner table for her or anything.  As of now, I'm still pretty connected to reality.  And if you're still concerned, I encourage you to look up a man named Raif Forbes and talk to him about it.

Q: How do you find all of the fun websites you link to?
A: I spend a LOT of time on the Internet. 

Q: I hate Flickr.  Do you care?
A: I care, but not enough to stop using it to publish my photos.  I have my reasons for liking Flickr: first, it has fun features like tags, comments, notes, etc; also, the interface and uploading tools on my end of things are superior to other services I have tried.  Finally, since it is currently the Web 2.0/upper blogoshpere darling, lots of websites are making cool Flickr-related widgets like the one I currently have in my own blog sidebar.  So basically, I have my reasons for liking Flickr.

Q: What's the deal with commenting?
A: I have purposely made commenting really easy on this site.  You don't need to register or login or anything like that, although you are more than welcome to login using an existing TypeKey identity if you have one.  I like having an open commenting system because I think people are more likely to comment if they don't have to jump through hoops, and because I also love when readers post using clever aliases.

Mean comments are welcome, but please observe the age-old rule of "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't hide behind 'Anonymous.'"

Q: Do you ever think about the ramifications of putting your full name, along with all of this ridiculous stuff, on the Internet?
A: Yeah.  I know that it's public, it's searchable, it can be found by anyone at any time, and I'm fine with that.  I have some strict rules for myself in terms of what I will post, e.g., no mentioning where I work or who I work with, no saying things about people that I wouldn't say to their faces, nothing that I wouldn't want a future employer to see, etc.  I'm sure it's possible that I could get turned down for a job in the future because of this website, but if that happens I will be neither caught off guard nor greatly disappointed.  In fact, I will probably be relieved at having avoided taking on a job with boring and humorless people.

That being said, I realize that some of my friends aspire to be teachers, doctors, lawyers, government workers, etc., and as a result your own circumstances are different from mine.  If you are someone I mention by name (or have mentioned in the past) on this blog and would like your name removed or modified, all you have to do is ask.  Let me know if I should refer to you first name only, or use a pseudonym, or whatever, and I will apply that to all future postings and go back and modify any existing ones.

Q: Anything else you would like to clear up?
A: I am not a graphic designer or web designer, and I am not a man, although these seem to be the common misconceptions stemming from my America's Most Fonted post.  I was very intrigued by how many sites linked to that post and referred to me as he/him/'this guy'/etc.  It reminded me of seventh grade, when some mean boy called me "Lauren McTalks Like a Man."  Do I also blog like a man?

If you have any questions of your own, send them to lmnopmail@gmail.com.