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Sunday, April 24, 2011

Not that Elizabeth Downie

When I was a kid, I saw a terrifying movie called Anna to the Infinite Power. It was about human cloning, a concept that has always given me the heebie jeebies.

In the movie, a girl named Anna finds out that she is a clone and that her parents had always known this. She also learns that there are five other Anna clones out there. She discovers this after she sees one of them on the news talking about a plane crash that she had survived.

As a kid, I hated this movie. Not only was it creepy, but it bummed me out that Anna wasn't her own person. She was afraid of fire because the original Anna was. She was good at the piano because the original Anna was, and so on.

I guess it's always been important to me to be unique, which is why when I first joined Facebook and searched my name to see if there were any others, I was disappointed to see sooo many Elizabeth Downie's listed. Luckily, a cursory glance assuaged my fears of being part of a cloning experiment since none of them looked at all like me.

I actually met another Elizabeth Downie once. She went to the same college as me. After talking for a few minutes we realized that besides having the same name, we really had nothing else to talk about. I think she was still holding a grudge against me for for canceling her dorm housing when it was accidentally mailed to me. Other than that, she seemed like a nice girl.

Recently, however, I found out about an Elizabeth Downie who is undeserving of the name. The way I found out about her was from an email I received from someone in Melbourne, Australia, who reads my blog. I responded to his email and asked him how he stumbled upon my blog. In his response, this is what he said:

"Unfortunately I stumbled across your blog while researching a story on a woman of the same name who killed her husband last year in Melbourne."

He found my blog because a woman named Elizabeth Downie killed her husband.

Please tell me none of you found my blog the same way?

Oh, and PS, I'm not that Elizabeth Downie.

12 comments:

Amy said...

The first time I ever googled my own name I found very few entries. I had the most, because of my master's thesis. Amy J. #2 had a single entry that was a race time for a 5K. Amy J. #3 also had just one entry - she as listed as a math teacher at a Utah middle school. Since "runner" and "math teacher" are two really big pieces of my identity, it was kind of weird.

Anonymous said...

This is funny!

Dr. J said...

You didn't kill your husband? I thought I writing Elizabeth Downie in prison.

MMMegan said...

Finding my blog could be even worse. Apparently, Megan Mason was the playmate of the year multiple years running. Awkward.

Katherine said...

Oooh, Megan - very awkward! And E, I'm glad you're not that Elizabeth. This weekend might have ended differently if you were...

Brian said...

When I first joined Facebook I got a friend request from somebody with my same name. There was no info on his profile page except that he was from London, that he only had 4 friends and they all shared our name, and his profile picture, in which he was wearing a bright orange prison jumpsuit, was handcuffed, and was being escorted out a courtroom by a police officer. Most disturbingly, he had a nylon stocking over his face. I denied the invite and got a serious case of the wiggins.

I forgot about that until about a year later when I got another request from this same guy. This time around, he had 16 friends all with our same name, he had written in the personal info section, "I like to wear nylon stockings over my face. Deal with it!" This time around the profile pic was him swinging on a swingset with a bunch of children around, and yes, a nylon stocking over his head. I could not block him fast enough.

On a far less creepy note, growing up I shared my name with a character on Alf. I'm not even kidding when I say that tons of kids in my elementary school asked me for my autograph. Recently I was introducing myself to someone and he was having trouble remembering my name and I said, "Like the kid on Alf!" That drew a bank stare (and made me feel old). Oh well - it was good while it lasted.

E McL said...

I tried to friend my brother on FB. Of course being the artsy guy he was he didn't have his picture on his page. We sent messages and laughed a little, but then he mentioned that although funny, he couldn't figure out how he knew me... I LOL'd and haha and um sister. The man was serious and wasn't my brother... Random conversations.

Maybe it's like Ernie and the phone conversation w/ the stranger. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vknw9Hsm94

Elizabeth Downie said...

Haha, Lizzie, that story is great! And the video is cracking me up. Thanks. :)

karajean said...

There used to be another Kara Durkin on myspace who was, like, a porn star. It was awful. Although now I guess I have to check my new name and make sure there aren't any of those grossing up the world.

karajean said...

I just checked. There are LOTS of Kara McDowells. One of them is a soroity girl in Mississippi. Meh.

D said...

Be careful what you click on when googling my name. Most of the hits are for a porn star with my name.

Liz Hughes said...

What?!?! I feel like I have been bamboozled. You're not that Elizabeth Downie. What other surprises do you want to throw in my face?