1. wow. that was really messed up of your boss. chalk that up to that person being insecure, hateful, and jealous.

2. tizzy, you gotta put your big girl panties on. tell her straight up how you feel. don't be a punk and just delete her without saying anything. c'mon now... and if she takes it wrong - f*ck it and f*ck her. no loss there.

3. yes. you are wasting a lot of energy by 'hiding' what you do. (they're not stupid.) i understand that you want to keep things separate (hence the names), but you have to be realistic. you ARE out in the public and giving some of yourself to the public is what you signed up for. i mean, it's good to keep things separate, but when something spills over to the other side, you can't always make a dash for a towel to clean it up or you'll wear yourself out. PLUS, you should want it the other way around. where none of the poetry folk and fans know what your 9-5 is (or that you even have a job.) if you open up to some of the people at your 9-5, you may see that they can honestly help you. (ticket sales, support, etc.) But, it also depends on your relationship with the folks at your job.

4. i'm about to find out how to do that group thing so i can segregate my friends.

Thanks! I needed the push.

So this morning I did it - sent a message too and politely explained, but didn't burn the work bridge.

There are some co-workers that I know would be supportive and even helpful in significant ways that I'm looking for...they are new, younger too...very positive folks that support each other.

Anyway, I did the right thing. Although, she may get offended.

so how did it go?

Well...I received an email at work and a message on FB about it. The email at work bothered me because I was in work mode...and that was already demonstrating the problem of mixing those two worlds.

The co-worker said she was considered a friend and co-worker, but respects my wishes.