354) Fear of Subject Syndrome

The other day, a friend of mine commented that he sometime wondered if our conversations were research fodder for me, in an unconscious way. How terrible to feel like you're being studied, when you're just trying to shoot the shit.

Therein lies one of my fears in being a planner. I don't want to use the lines, "it's hard to turn off" or "I'm always on," because it makes me sound like a robot. But there is something to be said about the researcher-subject role, and being able to keep that dynamic separate from life outside of work.

But where does one draw the line? I do pull inspiration and anecdotes from encounters with friends, things I've read on Facebook and Twitter, etc. I try to keep personal conversations out of The Plan, though many are the jumping off point for a particular topic (tonight included). Clearly, I don't operate in a vacuum, but can think of nothing worse than friends succumbing to subject syndrome, changing their natural behavior because they know they're being studied (there's an official name for this syndrome, but I can't find it).

(Mini aside - 11 more days! Having trouble wrapping my head around April 16 and what happens next. Also, ladies (and gentlemen?) - do you ever have days where you just have to take pictures of yourself? I'm not sure why I've been all self-portraity lately. In my head, lame/vain, but could also be a reflection of how attractive I'm feeling on a particular day. Ack, now I'm studying myself.)