I have often heard people say, “You should Google yourself and see what it says.” Apparently, a lot of people do this, so I decided to do it, too. Now, I have a simple name that is probably common. It not common like John Smith, but it’s not Engelbert Humperdink, either. With a decently common name, I found a lot of alternate versions of myself.
The first version is a singer who has a MySpace page. Heck, I didn’t even know MySpace still existed. Anyway, he has a list of songs that can be listened to. My favorite is a cover version of “He Ain’t Heavy”.
I don’t know, but I bet a metal kid is kind of heavy.
Another version of me is the executive director of the AIA chapter in New York. Apparently, it is an architecture thing because he is a registered architect.
I hope he designed this because it’s cool, and he has a cool name.
The next version is a lawyer in Sugar Land, Texas. This guy has a long resume filled with numerous awards and a long list of professional organizations. My parents wanted me to be a lawyer. I guess that would have made me an alternative version of myself.
On second thought, maybe they wanted me to have another job. I can’t remember.
There is also a version that is a State Farm agent in Chatfield, Minnesota. I know what you are thinking. That is the most exciting thing you have ever heard of.
Dressing up as a bear might make it more exciting.
Somewhere in the list of alternatives, I found the real me. There I am in all of my glory – historian, lecturer, member of the Rotary, a regular jack of all trades.
Overall, this Googling myself thing was a weird experience because it’s a little strange to read about people with the same name as me. I wonder if there would be an explosion if a couple of us ran into each other. I don’t know about that, but I know that I would hate to be named John Smith. Wait, I would hate to be named Engelbert Humperdink, too.
SBI: A Thinning Crowd 