The Great Googleganger

Certain superstitious souls believe in the existence of a doppelganger, a ghostly double who exists somewhere on earth to cause conflicts or just generally fill you with a terrible sense of foreboding.

Young adult author Maureen Johnson declares that there ought to, instead, be a name for the "phantom yous who share your name and whose exploits can be found all over the internet." She calls them Googlegangers.

In a simple type-and-click Google quest, I find that there are not only other Danielle Careys busy around the world wide web, but there are some who share my passions as well as my name.

Danielle Carey number one shares a freaky similarity to me in that we're both 5' 7", not short and not tall. That, however, is where the similarities end. I was never a cheerleader and, well, I can't say I will be one anytime soon.

This Danielle Carey is a record-breaking swimmer and lives in Napa Valley. I'm an Australian through and through and no athlete -- but we both seem to like butterflies quite a lot.

Another Danielle Carey is a Western Australian PhD student who is helping researchers track dingo DNA to see what impact feral dogs are having on our environment. While I don't have much interest in "determining the diet of wild dogs and dingoes through their scats," I did live in Western Australia for two years and when I lived in the Northern Territory I saw a lot of dingoes and their scats. Does that count?

Finally, Danielle Carey number four is a musicologist, writer, teacher, and musician. Get this: she's a freelance writer and a blogger. But, perhaps funniest of all, our lives mystically intersected a few years back in one of those strange conglomerations of events when we were both teaching music and the music board mistakenly sent one pile of student results to the wrong teacher. Very random moment.

For the record, I think I should mention here that I am in no way related to singer Mariah Carey, comedian Drew Carey, or actor Jim Carrey (note the two Rs?). I am however related to Wayne Carey, but not the infamous Australian rules football player whose scandals have overshadowed his sporting career.

Check it out. Who is your Googleganger?