Cellophane

I just spent the last ten minutes looking at the results of googling “Anthony Jackson”. I simply wanted to find out how easy it was to find some reference to myself in that big ole world wide web.

This innocent episode started when I searched the name Germanique Pickens. Why search that name? Because I went to lunch with one of my mentor’s from work, and he was like, ‘you need to meet Germanique’. But he said it in a manner that says ‘I wish I was twenty years younger so I could meet Germanique’ wink, wink. So I proceeded to look her up on our phone system. Unfortunately she did not pick up the phone, leaving my curiosity roaming free. So I googled her. It did not take much foresight to imagine she was probably the only Germanique Pickens in existence, and that there would probably be a pic of her somewhere (Facebook, myspace, etc.). Sure enough, there was a pic. My interest to meet her has gone down somewhat. BUT, the whole exercise made me want to look up my own name.

I knew my name was popular, and that many people such as bass guitarists, criminals, and authors shared my moniker. But I figured that if I filtered through all the clutter that they created, I would get to that diamond in the rough that is Me. Thirty google pages later, I gave up. If I am not google-worthy, what good is my existence? It really hurt when, on page 28 or so, I see GEM – Anthony Jackson. Thinking I had finally hit pay dirt, because I was indeed a GEM scholar (which there are not many), I click on the link to discover there was even another Anthony Jackson GEM scholar… that cheeky bastard, with his PhD and accomplishments. So it turns out I am an unoticable speck in the universe that is the internet.

All this has given me hope though, a new purpose even. I will be the most famous Anthony Jackson to ever hit the internet!!! I realize such an ambitious goal is not easily accomplishment. First I will become the most famous Anthony Jackson in Texas (evidently there are 50 of us according to White Pages), then I will become the most famous Anthony Jackson on Facebook (random friending, here I come), and finally I will take on the entire internet. I will need all your support in this most important of tasks.

I really need to be more productive at work.