Worlds collide

It is not that I don't personally know any of my readers. Aside from Trillian, however, it has been the case that I knew them as bloggers before meeting them in the real world. It's an interesting dynamic since we immediately know intimate details of each other's lives, but I am very thankful for the extra connections it has created for me in Toronto.

Meeting other bloggers has meant giving in a little on my anonymity, but that hasn't been a big deal, particularly because of the compartmentalization between blogging acquaintances and real world acquaintances. Trillian truly is the only person I see on a regular basis who knows of my blog. My best friend in my department knows I blog, but nothing more. I convinced myself that the likelihood of someone I interact with in real life discovering my blog was practically impossible. A needle in a haystack sort of situation.

There is a difference between improbable and impossible.

OK, the full, less cryptic version. There is another Toronto-area blogger whose blog I read and who reads my blog. We both wrote for an earlier version of Mommy Blogs Toronto, yet did not cross paths physically that I knew of. And then one of her posts this past week made me realize that I know her. Through our kids, of course. And I felt like a bit of an idiot, because, dur, she signs her posts with her first name and mentions her kids' relative ages and a number of other little details. And then I think, "Has she figured out who I am? And, if she has, is she now convinced I'm a bit slow?"

I shouldn't be so surprised. Given the number of Toronto-based parenting blogs I read and my multiple connections with the university community (including some aspects of Scooter's life), I should have expected the two groups to overlap. Really, I'm just glad it's not a former (or parent of a former) student!