Secret Identities and such...

Etiquette is a funny thing, isn't it? Do something the right way and people don't generally notice. Do something the wrong way and it sticks out like a sore thumb. For example, blog etiquette. Blog and etiquette are two words that, at first glance, seem rather silly paired up. However, there's quite a bit of structure built into this medium that you wouldn't think of right away.

MT and I were catching up with our friend, Kerri, over at sixuntilme a couple weeks ago and she mentioned that she and her fiance had come to Brooklyn to have dinner with us (just as I did here). Her fiance and MT were friends in high school and had recently gotten back in touch. In her post about it she referred to me and MT, which prompted MT to ask why she called him MT when she had called me by my name. That led to an interesting briefing on blog etiquette since MT doesn't blog, doesn't regularly read mine (out of respect, he wants me to feel free to write whatever I want and doesn't want to unduly influence any of it with his readership) and isn't familiar with the ways of the blogosphere.

I explained that Kerri is a conscientious blogger and she noticed that I refer to him only as MT, so she did the same. He couldn't figure out why I didn't call him by his name. I said I only refer to people by their names if they also refer to themselves the same way. But since MT doesn't blog, I automatically went to my default of using initials. It dawned on me that I never asked him if it was OK to call him by his name. We had a little chat about it and he said he didn't mind at all.

So, his name is Matthew. There you go. MT is Matthew. We're getting married. He's amazing. That's him, with the beard. He has a real name, believe it or not. The other guy is our good friend, IS. We're all a little toasted in this photo, if you couldn't tell. It was taken in the middle of my company holiday party from the most unflattering possible angle. The last company party we'll all be at together since our office is officially closed now. *le sigh* (this is a blatantly stolen phrase from my friend, M - "le sigh" is hers, but I have shamelessly appropriated it for all sorts of uses) So, Matthew has been outed.

Completely unrelated: go see Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Do it. It's grand. We got invited to a pre-release screening through GenArt and it was amazing. By far the bloodiest movie I've ever seen, but really superb. Matthew pretty much detests musicals on principle alone, and even he loved this film. We both want to see it again. He bought me the soundtrack for an early Christmas present and it's been playing non stop all morning. Johhny Depp... yumtastic. So delicious and dark. Sondheim masterfully trimmed the score himself for this movie adaptation and it shows in the best of ways. See this movie!