Wednesday, 15 February 2006
Beth: Internet proliferation
Faced with a relatively light afternoon at work today - the superintendent candidates have been selected, the moldy school has been closed and my vacation looms after just two more work days (more on that later) - I took the opportunity to Google myself. Now, I'm not always the most humble person - I've done this once or twice before. First I tried my maiden name, and then my married name. Neither of them generally turned up anything interesting, but that was probably a year ago. The names would turn up a few things - my resume, our wedding announcement in the alma mater's magazine, and strangely, a critical letter to the editor from my years at Chimes. I've been visited via email from two delightful strangers who, respectively, share my love of mint m&m's and have a car named Jigglypuff.
But today - wow! Since I started reporting and putting my name on things out in the public domain, I'm all over the place. This is probably due in no small part to my unique byline; I'm using both maiden and married name as my signature, so the chances of the internet search coming up with that exact combination elsewhere is slim. (Case in point: I Googled my reporter friend Erin, who has a pretty common name overall but has been reporting much longer than I, and didn't get any hits for her on the first page.) But still, it's a strange feeling, seeing how accessible my name has suddenly become. I've even discovered that some of my articles have been published in other newspapers, unbeknownst to me. I suppose it's yet another indication of the importance of the work I do; it's impossible to guess how many people may be reading. Pretty cool.
I'll soon be taking a week's vacation away from reporting, however, as we embark on my family's first bona fide "family vacation" since the addition of Christian over two years ago. Just to keep things interesting, the parents also agreed, surprisingly, to invite my sister's long-time boyfriend along for the ride as well. (If you knew them, that news would be really surprising.) In celebration of my awesome father's recent successes at work, we are heading to the exotic tropical location of Maui, Hawa'ii. To say that I am excited would be an understatement. It will be YEARS before Christian and I would even be able to afford a trip like this, so I am thankful for my parents' generosity. We have not always had the best relationship in the past, but things have been on the upswing in that department lately. So I am praying that this trip offers us more time to have fun together, and that we do not encounter very many head-butting moments. Oh, and I'm also praying for great weather. It would be a shame to not come home from Hawa'ii with a tan. Not to rub it in or anything.
What other people had to say
Erin wrote:
Yeah, I'm all sorts of things before I'm a reporter. It is a hoot, isn't it?
And that thing with your work showing up in other publications is just weird. Do people not care about copyrights? And by people, I mean, the newspapers that own the articles don't seem to do a good job of preventing publication, but if someone takes the time to ask for permission, permission is denied. Just my experience...
Have fun in Maui. Say a prayer for me while you're there. I have a close friend who is (allegedly) in the running for a teaching job on the big island and his receiving that job would significantly increase my likelihood of visiting the islands (if you catch my drift).
Emily K. wrote:
Have fun you guys! Maui is possibly the most heavenly place on this earth...better than the Caribbean by far. I know you will enjoy yourself! If you get a chance, take a drive up to the Ritz Carlton and Kapalua golf course. It is the most amazing place on the whole island...wow! There is a restaurant at Kapalua that overlooks the golf course and is open air. Super expensive, but if you feel like splurging, this is the place to go...it is AMAZING! I wish I were you .... :o)
Rebecca wrote:
you inspired me to google myself. I showed up once for NHD (probably because it's the only significant thing I've ever done) and I think someone with my name is a swimmer in Germany. I hope she has good times :) if I knew more about swimming I'd be able to tell
Add your own comments
Add style and hyperlinks to your comments
<a href="www.link.com">link text</a>
Makes a hyperlink to another page; text goes here is what the person reading your comment sees, while http://www.link.com is where the link goes.
<strong>text</strong>
Makes 'text' bold.
<em>text</em>
Makes 'text' italics.