Doppelgangers

And so it's time to wrap up another year of blogging. Once again I've managed to post every day, which for me is a matter of routine. Every morning I get up, empty the dishwasher, make coffee and blog -- without fail. Consistency may be the hobgoblin of little minds, and if that's the case my mind is the littlest of them all, but for me the routine is a source of comfort. Plus it helps me keep track of my life, marking the days and augmenting my otherwise terrible memory.

As I mentioned recently, I'm reading Naomi Klein's book "Doppelganger," about the public's tendency to confuse her with "the other Naomi," feminist writer and lately conspiracist Naomi Wolf. The book isn't just about the two Naomis, though. It examines all the ways that we all struggle with our own doppelgangers, a German word -- spelled in that language with an umlaut, doppelgänger -- that means an unrelated double (sometimes an evil double) of a living person. For example, do we create something of a doppelganger in our online lives? Is the person that we present to the world via the Internet a reflection of our authentic self, or a curated, idealized mirror image?

It's made me think about my blogging, of course, and how "real" I am in this space. I'm trained as a journalist and I'd like to think I more or less adhere to journalistic principles, not making things up or distorting events or my feelings about them. But I'm sure I don't always mention things that might reflect poorly on me (citrus tree theft notwithstanding), not even by design but somewhat subconsciously. We all want to make ourselves likable; it's human nature.

And to that extent, maybe we're our own doppelgangers even in daily life, out on the street or in the workplace. Maybe our public personas are always somewhat at odds with our inner selves.

When I was in high school there was another guy in my grade who looked somewhat like me. We weren't twins by any means, but we both had sort of long faces and big teeth and we liked preppy Izod shirts and we're both (as it turned out later) gay, and people used to confuse us all the time. I remember once standing in the commons watching a video of him performing a silly song or musical number for some school event, and a student in front of me turned around and said, "Now aren't you embarrassed?" And I said, "No -- that's not me!"

It was a very strange experience, being mistaken repeatedly for someone else. I wonder if it happened to him too. He had a higher profile in the school than I did, so maybe not.

Anyway, this book is food for thought, that's for sure.

How do you like my new hat? I ordered it online a few weeks ago and it came while we were at the beach. This is one example of an Internet marketing algorithm that hit just right. The ad popped up on Facebook or maybe in my e-mail and I didn't even stop to think how creepy it was that some techno-bot KNEW my husband's name is Dave. I just thought, "Oh, I have to have that!"

Speaking of Dave, he had an appointment with an ENT specialist yesterday because of the allergy-like inflammation he's been experiencing in his face and eyes. (You may remember this is what prompted him to hire the terrible cleaners.) He wasn't all that happy with the appointment overall -- and he's still slated to see a rheumatologist at some point -- but he got some corticosteroids to knock back the inflammation, which is a good temporary treatment. They did an exam that involved putting some sort of orange compound in his eyes, and when he got home I said, "Have you been sticking Cheetos in your eyes again?!"

As for New Year's Eve, we'll be staying home. We were going to go to a party but the host -- a guy we work with -- decided not to have it after all, which is frankly fine with me. After our week away I'm content to stay here.

Happy New Year, everyone! May 2024 bring us all a healthy, peaceful and more harmonious existence. (Unlikely in a presidential campaign year but let's be optimistic!)

(Top photo: A patio in Cricklewood, about a week ago.)