What's In A Name? SongSmith, that's what.

Hi there! 
Today there was an article in my daily newspaper about internet protocol for teachers.
It made me think.
And think.
The gist of it was that, as a professional who works with young adults on a daily basis, I should not make myself (meaning my personal life) available to them, since they need me to be a grown-up roll model whom they can look up to and rely on.
(The incident which sparked this off was a teacher who had accidentally sent a photo of his penis to his entire school class of 14 year olds through WhatsApp. I mean: yeah...)
In other words, they don't want a heart-broken 57 year old with marriage issues in the process of getting a divorce and feeling absolutely shitty most of the time.
The article further advised me to make myself (and my issues) hard to find. Thus: use a pseudonym.

Now, so far not one of my guys has bothered to look me up, I'm sure. (Otherwise I would have been told, 'cause they wear their hearts on their sleeves)
But, just in case they do, or my employer does not like my issues either (let alone my songs and poetry), I have decided yet again to change my name.
Sigh - deep sigh.
Since you are reading this, not a lot (nothing) has changed. You can still read my stuff, and (far more important) Viggo's Blog.

I feel totally silly now.

It Never Rains, But...

Hi there!
This is a joint message from both Viggo and myself.

The readers-between-the-lines (you, in other words) have discovered that I have recently discovered that all was not well in marriage land. Again in other words: I have been dumped. Jilted. Betrayed. Found wanting. Found lacking. Found to be approaching sixty-thus-sexlessly-age. Take your pick. Take them all, I have.
I prefer to use: we have drifted apart so far, that land was totally out of sight.

Don't worry. I'll survive. My blog will survive. My posts will survive, and I will try not to turn maudlin on you.
But it is essential that you, my readers, will come to realize that the Renée Koopman that you know has seamlessly morphed into the Renée Grashoff she was unto 1990.
That means there is suddenly another name on top of this blog. It also means that I cannot change my email address simply because of the enormous logistics involved, but that I will have to change it in due course. I will let you know.

To the ones that have taken the trouble to send me sweet and uplifting messages: thank you. You have no idea (no idea!) how much this has meant to me.

Talk to you soon!

Renée