Piecing Together an Alternate Identity

Another woman has an email address that is extremely similar to mine. Almost once a day I receive a mis-directed piece of correspondence to my alternative email ego. Some examples:

• Welcome to Kula Yoga Studio!
• A personal essay describing the writer's experience in a Southwest plane crash
• Receipts for merchandise (I think it's jewelry)
• Info on a new line of clothing and an offer to meet up at a trade show to go over the line
• An update on our English project due soon and directions to a coffee shop to meet up
• Can you believe Jenn is dating Tim??
• Life coaching service (this person still tried to sell me even when I told her she had the wrong email address)
• A note of encouragement from Dad

Looking at my bits of information, I'm left with a few scenarios:

#1: Alternative email doppelganger owns her own clothing store and likes Yoga. She's also still in school, and may be going through a hard time.

#2: It's two separate women. One still in college/High School and the other a successful business owner. One of them likes Yoga.

#3: Why not 3 different people? A writer, a student and a fashion buyer. One (or all of them) may be going through a hard time/life transition.


In any case, I wonder if the other owner of a similar email address ever gets anything that should have been directed to me. How do I appear in her life? Does she think I'm a snobby Berkeley grad who works in Silicon valley and signed up for Oprah's Book Club recently (ay!). Perhaps she's received my travel itineraries or receipts from my Target.com orders.....

American Independent Bummer

Wow. I messed up! Thinking I had signed up as a strictly independent voter when I recently moved, I was surprised today to realize that I'd signed up for the American Independent Party. Such a rookie mistake! Only by checking 'decline to state' was I a member of an independent party. Not, 'the' independent party. I (hopefully) worked it out today at the polling place. But, I had to go home and do some research on the so called American Independent Party. They call themselves the fastest growing party. And, they may be- by simply tricking voters into joining their party instead of simply remaining an independent voter.

Anyway, here are the tenets of the American Independent Party, of which I'm currently a mistaken member until I can finish my online change application and sign it.

America and California need the leadership of the American Independent Party (California affiliate of the Constitution Party). We pledge to:

Reduce immigration, and stop all government subsidies to illegal aliens; no driver's licenses for illegals;

Immediately terminate international trade agreements such as NAFTA, WTO, CAFTA and the proposed FTAA, and stop sending high paying American jobs to foreign countries;

Stop the undeclared wars which are daily costing American lives and billions of tax dollars;

Protect the right to life of the innocent unborn;

Uphold traditional marriage and family values;

Defend America's moral values; keep God in the pledge of allegiance;

Defend Second Amendment rights;

Get rid of the Federal income tax, and restore a tariff based revenue system;

Stop reckless spending, including foreign aid, and take care of America's domestic needs;

End debt financing of both Federal and State governments;

Restore a debt free, interest free money system;

Support high standards in education, including encouragement of private schools and home schooling;

Stop the pillage of consumers and taxpayers by the energy/utility monopolies;

Wow. These are not my views at all. But, because of a semantic issue on a registration form, it's possible to accidentally join this party.

Go vote!

Obvious to anyone who has a TV, radio or newspaper, it's Super Tuesday, so go vote!

A favorite breakfast recipe

Today, after my walk, I decided to skip the usual steel cut oats and opt for a real Breakfast with a capital B. I made a yummy egg dish that I thought I'd share.


Scrambled eggs with corn, shallots, and goat cheese.

1/2 shallot
1/4 cup corn (can be frozen or fresh)
2 eggs
1 TBS milk
1 TBS goat cheese
1 pat of butter


Dice the shallot up, heat your pan on medium and add butter. Add shallot and corn to pan, sautee for a minute or so. Scramble eggs in a bowl with milk. Add egg mixture to corn and shallots. While eggs are cooking, add goat cheese. Keep stirring and cooking.

Voila! Creamy, sweet, and savory at the same time.

Random Walks

Lately, I've been getting up most mornings early and taking walks around my neighborhood and surrounds. I enjoy the quiet of the streets, the gray light, and the misty (or sometimes fierce) rain and watching the city wake up. There's something so cozy about seeing people in their apartments shuffle around in their bathrobes, sip coffee and nestle in for some morning news in the warm light of their apartment. I can't help but feel cozy myself and excited for the day.

I always come home from my walks feeling connected with my community. I feel like my parents when I give a hearty "Good morning!" to a neighbor walking their dog. I nod at fellow walkers or those with more stamina running. I see people walking by with warm cups of coffee planning for their day. I've gotten to know some regulars too. I make up little nicknames for them like: "Ms. Sheepdog" (she has a large sheepdog...creative, I know) or "sweet gay man with coffee" (also pretty self-explanatory).

I've also gotten to know my neighborhood better and come up with a unique appreciation for it that I don't get in the harsh daylight hours.

My Fascination with Author Photos

Since I can remember, I've had a problem reading a book if the photo of the author on the dustjacket of the book, or in the back of the book was bad. I have seriously stopped reading a book if the photo of the author is bad.

What makes a bad author photo, you may ask....

Seems like these qualities stand out to me. But, feel free to add your own.

* Author coyly looking askance
* Author staring into camera with a "hard-hitting" journalist face
* Bad hats (think along the lines of a beret or cowboy hat)
* Props
* Fuzzy, Barbara-Walters-esque lighting
* Leather jackets
* Pets (file under props)
* Swarthy mustaches
* Obviously exotic locations (look at me! I'm so successful I can travel a lot. Read my book!)
* Sexy, low-cut tops: I'm cute, and I can write.
* Turtleneck sweaters
* Pipes
* Profile-only shots
* High-school graduation portrait set-up