Google Yourself

So I'm sitting at home on a Friday night totally bored. Sad, I know. After a particularly LOOOOONG stressful week at work, I don't feel much like going out, and I'm too wound up to go to bed. Normally I would read or write, but that takes too much energy and I feel very veg right now. Nothing left to do but Google random shit.

On a whim, I type my name in Google images and the first few snapshots are my profile pics from Facebook and MySpace! I haven't been on MySpace in like, years! Thank goodness it was only a random picture from before my wedding where I'm dressing up in my veil acting silly (but not too silly) with the siblings. Nothing embarrassing. Makes a person wonder just how they're presenting themselves on the web, though. Think about it, your employer, co-workers, friends and family can simply type your name in one of a dozen search engines and something is bound to pop up-not all of it necessarily good.

With this in mind, I stopped worrying about my own web image and thought about who else I could find. I decided to start with old friends. Unfortunately, that search yielded nothing too exciting (you'll never guess who's gay now, who's divorced and who looks fabulous after 3 kids)! Then, the inevitable....the great EX search. Gotta pull up all the guys you dated, crushed on, stalked from afar-and hope your winning at life-not the Charlie Sheen kind. Nothing is more depressing than realizing someone is better off without you. =(

My epic investigations were stonewalled by sites that want money to see who's searching for you, and locked profiles with no pictures or bio. Don't get me wrong, I found the people I wanted, but couldn't get any information without "friending" them of some sort first. And that's just bad business. I admit though, I am tempted. It's just  so interesting to see how people have changed-and how some have stayed exactly the same. You get the "Ah, now I remember why we didn't work out" epiphany and the "Aww, I wish you were this person X years ago" syndrome.

Alas, I resisted the urge to connect with the old BF's and browsed through my current friends photos instead. Interesting to learn something new about someone you thought you knew. And a photo is worth a thousand words. Which is why you really need to Google yourself.