Because I am not devoid of pride, and because I always want to know whether I’m being talked about and what people are saying if I am, I periodically look myself up online or, as they say, “google” myself. (Perhaps “Google” should be capitalized, since it is a trademark.) The only other Reginald Shepherd who comes up is an aged and very Caucasian Canadian painter, a self-described “poetic realist” who seems well-known in his native Newfoundland and in neighboring Nova Scotia, but nowhere else as far as I can tell, even in Canada. I think of myself as a kind of poetic realist as well, in life and in my poetry, so perhaps our kinship is more than name deep.
Years ago, when I lived in Chicago, another, decidedly less savory Reginald Shepherd popped up when I searched myself. An apparent career criminal (all that came up were his various arrests), he was something of an evil doppelganger. I once was almost denied an apartment because there was a record of my arrest for “criminal shoplifting” (I always wondered what legal shoplifting was) in 1991, two years before I moved to Chicago. And once I received a letter from a social service agency that some woman had named me as the father of her child. I had to call and explain that the last time I had been in the vicinity of a woman’s vagina was the morning I was born. One of the other Reginald Shepherd’s old addresses even appeared on my credit report, an error (among others) I had to call and write in order to rectify. My criminal double has either settled down into legal respectability or died (either is equally likely), as he hasn’t shown up in my web searches for several years. I would like to think that he has seen the error of his ways and now become a law-abiding citizen, but I have no great desire to inquire further.
When I look up the most common misspelling of my name, Reginald Shepard, which people sometimes insist upon even when they’re publishing or paying me, no matter how many times I sign and print the correct spelling of my name, besides finding various references to my misspelled self (I try to correct them when I can), I also find references to a death row inmate in Florida by that name. I don’t know what his crime was, but I imagine that it was probably murder. I find it a little disturbing to once again have a criminal doppelganger living (though who knows for how long) in the same state. At least there are two crucial letters separating my name from his, his fate from mine. But still…
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
16 comments:
Extending sympathy as another someone with a last name that ought to be easy to spell, yet someone always messes it up. Stumpo becomes Stump, Stumps, Stumpy (I know of no language where "ee" and "oh" sound anything alike).
When refereeing one winter for an indoor soccer facility in Bloomington, IL, I was asked by the manager how to spell my last name. Stumpo, I said, like a tree stump with an "o" at the end. My first check? Made out to Jeff Atreestumpo. He wasn't being a wiseguy, either.
Wouldn't you expect people to default to the, well, real word in spelling your last name? After all, there is such a thing as a shepherd.
Interesting post Reginald. I am used to people misspelling or mispronouncing my own surname, Granier, though it doesn't bother me. So far as I know, I and my mother (and now my son) are the only Graniers in Ireland. In school, where the convention was for teachers and pupils to address one another by their surnames, they called me Granny. If I'm in a hurry when booking a film or taxi I often just say 'Granger' so that I won't be asked to spell it.
Jeff, that is one hilarious anecdote, 'Atreestumpo'. I laughed out loud (no offence intended).
@Mark - no offense taken. The anecdote was intended to cause laughter.
The better story, though one not understood by many people my age, is that of my great-grandfather (or so the story goes). This particular great-grandfather was of Irish descent, and his wife was pregnant. On the day she goes into labor, he picks up a phone and asks the operator for the cab company so that he can get her to the hospital in a timely manner. The cab company answers.
My wife's in labor, he says. Send a cab!
Where do you want us to send it, they ask.
Such and such a place, says he.
What's your name, they ask.
Charlie McCarthy, he says. Click. They hang up on him.
He picks up and asks the operator for the cab company again. Again they ask for his name. Again they hang up on him.
The third time, when they ask for his name, he tells them Joe Smith. They send the cab.
For those of you too young to remember (which technically includes me), Charlie McCarthy was the name of ventriloquist/comedian Edgar Bergen's most popular dummy. The folks on the other line figured he was making a crank call :-)
I google myself sometimes as well, and find that though my name is uncommon, I also have a doppleganger. The other version of Seana Graham is younger and apparently makes the news mainly for her athletics, at least so far. I can google only myself if I eliminate all reference to scores, sports and athletics. In the end, though, this makes me feel like a real couch potato.
Very interesting. Four years ago I googled my name and found that I was the target of a lewd joke at a pornographic website. I was still an Episcopal priest then so it was shocking, but not surprising. After that I googled myself about once a month to see what my enemies were saying about me. Now I don't care.
Hey, at least your name has a standard spelling. Guess how many people spell my first name correctly their first try.
People commonly insert an "n" into my last name (writing "Hutchinson" instead of "Hutchison"). But my most peculiar experience of the mystery of names involved another "Hutchison": See http://www.jhwriter.com/poetry.html#AnthologizedPoems
Regarding your experience, Joseph, timeshifting doppleganger is almost as creepy as criminal doppleganger. But on a practical note, did you ever contact Harper about anthologizing your poem without your permission?
Dear Seanag—
I did not, in fact, contact Harper-Collins. I recently got hold of the editor's address, though, and plan to drop her a line. I'll contact H-C at the same time! I guess the whole thing gave off such a vibe of bad ju-ju that I never pursued it....
Just in the interest of accuracy, it seems worth sorting this out, bad ju-ju or not.
Sorry, I suppose I am wandering a bit far afield from the original theme here.
There must be some crazy zeitgeist thing going on -- I just wrote a post about auto-googling (I hadn't yet read this) that also involves an African-American poet, a Canadian artist, and a guy (me) who lived in your old neighborhood in Chicago.
So an African-American Poet, a Canadian artist, and a guy from Chicago all walk into a bar...
I'm done now. Really. Sorry.
Although I don't have the OED on new words available to check this, I would imagine that Google has a capital letter when used as a proper noun, i.e. in reference to the actual search engine, but a lower case 'g' when used as a verb, i.e. to google oneself.
I have several Jane Holland dopplegangers. One in Australia, whom I emailed about 12 years ago because she had the hotmail account I'd wanted! Another was the unfortunate Jane Holland, daughter of Lord Attenborough, who was drowned in the Boxing Day tsunami. There are several others around with websites: executives, business consultants, interior designers etc. But only one poet, to date.
And for this relief much thanks!
‧租辦公室‧租店面‧買辦公室‧店面租賃‧店面出租‧店面出售‧花茶‧花草茶‧養生茶‧招牌‧led招牌‧招牌製作‧美國月子中心‧保養‧美國月子中心‧OBU‧投審會‧會計師事務所‧會計師‧工商登記‧公司登記‧包子‧肉粽‧宅配美食‧四神湯‧搬家公司‧訂房‧訂房網‧花東旅遊‧桃園土地‧桃園房屋仲介‧桃園房屋‧桃園房屋網‧桃園房屋買賣‧漆彈‧搬家公司‧會場設計‧展場設計‧會場設計‧展場設計‧展覽設計‧消防設備‧消防設備‧機電‧崴立機電‧消防公司‧地板施工‧超耐磨地板‧店面出租‧乳癌‧全身健康檢查‧肝癌‧健康檢查‧身體檢查‧飛梭雷射‧雷射溶脂‧直航機票‧自由行‧三久‧太陽能‧三久太陽能‧太陽能熱水器‧別墅外觀設計‧環保袋‧別墅外觀設計‧室內裝修‧電波拉皮‧hand dryer‧電波拉皮‧雷射溶脂‧肉毒桿菌‧系統家具‧台中漆彈場‧漆彈‧團體服‧美國月子中心‧團體服
‧團體服‧團體服‧T恤‧圍裙‧POLO衫‧班服‧團體服創意‧熱轉印‧團體服訂做‧宜蘭民宿‧關鍵字廣告‧seo‧網路廣告‧網路行銷‧seo‧網站設計‧seo‧線上客服‧seo‧網頁設計‧seo‧網頁設計公司‧網路行銷 ‧網路行銷‧桃園室內設計‧室內設計作品‧室內裝潢‧裝潢‧室內設計‧室內設計公司‧裝潢設計‧豪宅空間設計‧店面設計‧豪宅設計 ‧桃園室內設計公司‧別墅外觀設計‧室內裝潢設計‧台北室內設計‧新竹室內設計‧法拍屋‧中古車‧二手車‧環保袋‧環保袋‧肉毒桿菌‧健檢‧醫學美容‧淨膚雷射‧汽車美容‧法拍屋‧水餃‧清潔公司‧實驗動物‧到府坐月子‧坐月子‧坐月子中心‧坐月子餐‧孕婦‧月子餐‧到府坐月子‧坐月子‧坐月子中心‧坐月子中心台中‧坐月子中心台北‧月子餐‧月子中心‧坐月子餐‧月子餐外送
‧月子餐食譜‧找工作‧統一發票7 8月‧求職‧1111求職人力銀行‧104求職人力銀行‧104人力銀行‧統一發票5 6月‧104人力銀行‧104求職人力銀行塑膠袋‧統一發票1 2月‧塑膠袋批發‧塑膠袋工廠‧金價‧黃金價格‧統一發票3 4月‧1111人力銀行‧1111人力銀行求職‧黃金價格查詢‧中古車買賣塑膠袋 ‧統一發票3 4月 ‧塑膠袋批發 ‧中古車 ‧中古車買賣‧台北人力銀行‧金價查詢‧sum中古車‧中古車‧貸款‧信用貸款‧房屋貸款剖腹生產 命理網 姓名學 姓名配對 星座 星座運勢 算命 開運印章 風水 外遇 徵信 徵信社 外遇 徵信 徵信社 外遇 徵信 徵信社 外遇 徵信 徵信社 外遇 徵信 徵信社 外遇 徵信 徵信社 搬家公司 搬家公司 台北搬家公司 新竹搬家公司
Post a Comment