Archive for October, 2008

Hello. My name is Jenny Frazier. You can find me “all over the internet”. A good start is my main page JennyFrazier.com.

My full name is not a mystery – I mean it IS (one of) my URLs – but it wasn’t always that way.

I started blogging in 2001 (over in Diaryland (yikes!). I purchased the domain “AllEyesOnJenny.com” and set up this blog in 2004. In the Diaryland blog and even in this one in the beginning, I referred to myself as “Jenny”. By the end of 2004, I ever so boldly added an “F.” to the end of my name in a disclaimer on the bottom of my site.

Then I got into Myspace, and Flickr. I started going to networking events and booking design business and photoshoots. At some point during 2005 I made the leap to adding the full “Frazier” to my name. I had reached a point where I was meeting so many new people and promoting local events I organized or took part in that were all done in my full name (not to mention my picture is plastered all over this and all my other sites) it just seemed silly to maintain a “Jenny F.” here. So everywhere you look, you now see me sporting the “Jenny Frazier” loud and proud.

My initial concern wasn’t completely ridiculous – back in late 2005 I was actually denied a job because of this blog. I’ve told this story here before, but just to refresh your memory and for the newcomers, the prospective employer I had interviewed with called me back for two interviews. A week later I got a call – a call that sounded positive, to start. She told me that “out of everyone they interviewed for the position, the combination of my portfolio and my interview proved to her that I was by far the best candidate for the job, but….”

Are you ready for the “but”? It’s a good one …

“But, we googled your name and found your blog. It’s not what you write about, it was your “About Me” where you say that you bite your fingernails and you like Britney Spears. To be honest, that’s not the image (insert firm name) would like to project.”

Well to be honest, a firm who couldn’t accept who I was is not a firm I wanted to be working for.

As jaw dropping as that experience was, it was also eye opening for me. By being honest about my name and who I was online, people were either going to accept me or they weren’t. “People” ranging anywhere from potential employers, to potential dates, to friends and family members (Hi Dad!).

My friends and family know who I am – I really am no different on this site than I am in real life. Luckily for me, I got my current full-time and many, many freelance jobs BECAUSE of my site(s). Similarly, I have had the opportunity to meet so many incredible new people and contacts as a direct result of this site, or the types of work I do and promote here.

Honestly, I’ve mostly ran into weird circumstances with dating when it comes to the site (I was not asked on a second date by someone I liked because of my site. True story.). This mostly stems from the fact that OF COURSE you’re going to Google who ever you are going to go out with. And these guys are going to know A LOT more about me than I could ever know about them. I’m fine with that – but sometimes they aren’t.

So that leads me to my questions of the day:

Who are you online?
Do you use your whole name? Your first name? A fake name? No name?

Whatever name (or lack there of) you use, why?
How concerned are you about your online image? Did you ever use your real name or do you think you would in the future?

And finally,

What kinds of positive or negative experiences have you had from using whatever name you choose?
Has the decision to use the name you choose impacted your life offline?

Please contribute your thoughts and concerns in the comments section. I’m looking forward to this discussion.

So I seemed to have … done something … to my neck. And here’s where you have every right to yell at me because I am stupid: despite the fact that my neck is not right, yesterday I went to the gym 20 minutes early to stretch it out so that I could still work out with my trainer. I know. I’m a moron. But to tell you the truth, after our session and even more so after my shower – I felt GREAT. Back to normal.

Cut to this morning. I was woken up by scratching under my bed. A MOUSE?!

I jerked up and yelped from the pain. (I, quite literally, have a pain in my neck.) And just as I yelp, Guinness, my roommate’s rabbit, runs out from under my bed. This rabbit is a.) a giant, b.) apparently has figured out how to open my bedroom door.

OH. THE. PAIN. THAT. FOLLOWED.

So I jumped in the shower, turned it up as hot as it would go and tried to make the pain stop. Then I downed 4 ibuprofen and headed to work.

Now cut to me on the train. I touched my hair and it felt … weird. Only on the top – near my part and where my bangs start. What was it you ask? OH, I seemed to have not rinsed the conditioner out of my hair completely.

I am officially the hottest mess out there today.

But at least today is BAD Wednesday at Starbucks (Do you work in the Copley area? Every Wednesday the Westin Copley Starbucks picks a handful of businesses and they receive 20% of their purchases by flashing their business card. Get it? BAD? Business Appreciation Day?)

Whatever. I got myself some of those heavenly petit vanilla scones. After all, I shouldn’t have gone to the gym yesterday, so I should make up for it now – right?!

My sister and I are wearing costumes that go together for Halloween. I am being Jennifer Beals from Flashdance (hence the hot pink leg warmers). She is being Punky Brewster.

What’s the connection? GO.

I’ll leave out the parts about going to more shows and taking more pictures. Or accidentally getting wasted with my Dad, sister, entire waitstaff of a restaurant and Dink (even if all of it was really fun).

This weekend I donated platelets. As you know, my poor Dinkanator has had a rough year medically including a recent 3 day stay in the hospital where she received not one, not two, but THREE platelet transfusions. She is doing well and is a total trooper about it all. And since she is such a trooper, me and Sarah decided to be troopers too and go replenish the platelet supply that Dink sucked up. (Kidding D!).

There is a constant need for platelet donation – 1.) because they are used in so many treatments and 2.) because they only last 3-5 days outside the human body! There is plenty of information about the process and where to do it here.

But I’ll tell you my version – the REAL version of how it goes down.

First of all you answer A LOT (and I mean a lot) of questions. Then they get you comfortable in these insane BarkaLoungers complete with a giant heating pad and warm blankets. When you donate platelets they take your blood, separate the platelets out and put the rest back into you. What they put back in is room temperature not body temperature, so you get a little cold.

Once you get all hooked up to the machine, the comforts keep coming: they pass around a snack basket, they order movies for you on Pay Per View (Sarah and I chose Sex & The City). It’s great. And for most people that’s it, you just sit there for anywhere from 1-2 hours (I was 68 minutes, Sarah was 90) until you’re done.

I said most people. You know what else MOST people are smart enough to do? Have enough sugar in their system before they donate.

Can you guess who didn’t?

But even that wasn’t that bad. Basically I got SUPER HOT all of a sudden, so I shut off my heating pad. But then I got lightheaded. And my vision got all spotty. The nurse noticed in 0.2 seconds and covered me in ice packs, elevated my feet and force fed me sugary ginger ale and within 2 minutes tops, I was fine. And returned to taking silly muppet pictures:

God I’m hot (literally – I’m covered in ice packs in that photo.)

Even that issue would not keep me from donating again. Pass out vs. Save a Life? No contest. But that’s why I wanted to give you the whole truth of what happened to me – yeah things happen, but it really wasn’t bad at all! And there are nurses there monitoring your every move.

All in all, it was an awesome experience – and me and Sarah both said the same thing: we actually felt BETTER after we donated. Not in a “OH AREN’T WE SAVING THE WORLD” better, but like physically better. I didn’t expect that – especially seeing as I am a needy, high maintenance donor who nearly passed out.

So if you’ve got your health – please go help someone who doesn’t by donating! (You can donate platelets every three days up to 24 times in a calendar year!)

The other important thing I did this weekend? Carved my Barack O’ Lantern of course!

I put it right in my window and burned it loud and proud. You all best be voting on November 4th. I don’t care if you don’t vote for Barack (just don’t tell me about it!) as long as you do your part and vote!

I am so incredibly sad to see these boys go back to San Francisco. (Well they still have 3 weeks left of their tour. Go see if they are playing in a city near you.)

I got roughly 4 hours of sleep last night so I don’t have much to say. Also I look like complete hell. But underneath my fancy work sweater, you KNOW what I’m rockin’. (I wasn’t kidding about that 4 hours of sleep – hence the strategic head crop.)

See a few photos from last night here. Tonight? LMT at the Middle East Upstairs. Rock.