Why Katrine?

Reading my Monday's post about domain names once again, made me note something interesting. Apparently, I never even attempted to check availability of blogger's domains with my real name. That's right, Katrine is NOT my real name. "Katrine" doesn't even have a last name. Before you lost all trust for me, let me explain.

While studying in college I was told too many times about supposedly underrated importance of your online image. One could almost picture terrifying HR people searching through my Facebook pictures, looking at every page my name was mentioned on, and yes...getting to my personal blog. In reality, I understand that 1) doing extensive research about your potential employees is extremely important and 2) this blog will never become something inappropriate for any stranger to see.

The decision to not reveal my real name was more out of concern that my writing won't be as free-flowing and sincere otherwise. I didn't want to concentrate on clients, potential employees or any other professional contacts, thinking up what I am going to share about in my next post. My former roommate even kept her blog secret from the people she knew, so she could feel free to write without addressing a specific audience. Perhaps, I am a little paranoid about my privacy and "correct" image in this age of transparency, but this is who I am.

So, finally, why Katrine? After I moved to the United States, my first name was frequently mispronounced with people adding a "T" where it did not exist. Even in Ukraine one of my close friends would jokingly call me Katrine. This is how it all started. This is how I ended up with my blogging pen name.