Murderers on MySpace
Monday, September 25th, 2006
Slate’s Dahlia Lithwick has an interesting piece on murder and blogs today; I think what I like best about it is that it’s actually a think-piece, not an alarmist screed about the crazy people lurking about waiting to kill you, which so much of journalism about MySpace is.
Dahlia Lithwick is just plain good. Even if I call her Manohla Dargis by accident sometimes. Sigh…I’ll never be a writer with a name like Rachel. Maybe I’ll try Rhachel.
Interesting that the corrective piece on MySpace hysteria and the murderous impulses sparked by the Web is written by someone who might be described as the Blog Dahlia.
Ooooh, good one, John. (Though I don’t know that it’s accurate to term Lithwick’s piece “corrective” as much as it is a think-piece about what’s real on the Web and how that comes into play when looking at murder-related things on the Web - a real corrective would call out all the bullshit scare-pieces about MySpace, I think.)
And Rachel - have you considered Rachael? Or Raquel?
I think it helps to have a name that can easily become a buzzword, like “MoDowd.” This is why so many Jewish writers have Anglicized their names… or just played up their already-Anglicized name. (That’s right, Larry - I’m looking at you. What are you gonna do about it?) I know my name always looks weird to me in print.
When I was back home in the ‘burbs a few weeks ago and the MySpace hysteria was runnning wild. My older sister and cousin (five kids between them) were both: a) scared of the Internet; b) in a shockingly little rush to spend time online and get the lay of the land. Their attitude was that they’ll keep their kids away from these evil sites. This is an attitude that is both laughable (you can’t keep kids away from much, certainly not the Net) and backassed (the Net is here, might as well get a grasp of it). Oh, and when I took a photo of my 2.5-year-old niece in the new SMITH tee shirt and mentioned I might put it on the site, my sister actively wondered if that really was a good idea. (And the tee was quite large on her, not in the least bit provocative…)
Btw, my name was Smith-icized years ago, though I have toyed with a new byline notion: Laurence Myth.
Back when I was at the WSJ, I was having lunch with a bunch of friends, many of whom were Jewish, and they started talking about how they’d have to think up new bylines if they ever moved to the Times. Larry Reibstein, for instance, said he was going to become Lars Reibenhowell. He was undecided about whether he needed a roman numeral after it.
And Laurence Myth? It’s nice, but you’d be pretty much confined to filing dispatches from Burning Man and writing profiles of Daniel Pinchbeck.
Step aside, Smith and House, you puny monosyllabics. Fershleiser here. Also known as fertilizer, and then –when I began working with authors– Goldschlager, Budweiser, and breathalizer.
At 22, I worked briefly in a Broadway press agent’s office, and I swear at least half the time I answered the phone with my full name, the response was “Oy Gawd, honey, you’s gotta get married already!!”
P.S. Why would Lars need a Roman numeral when Jennifer 8. Lee is doing just fine with a plain old Arabic?
Fershleiser? During my junior year abroad in France, I had a German 101 teacher who would have made your name sound like an endearment spoken between Hugo Weaving and Liv Tyler in LOTR.
But then again, I once had a colleague named Elissa Klotz, who had to take nominal refuge in the world of Renaissance Faires, which allow you to choose something more melodic — at least when you’re in costume.
And while you’ll notice that Arabic-digit middle names are pretty thin on the ground at the Times (and elsewhere in MSM), IIs and IIIs are a sort of badge of courage. Or if not courage, then competence. Or something else.
And Alex? Yo, down here.
Yes, you’re right that it’s not really a corrective. I should read before I comment.
I see you, John, but it’s so far down… don’t worry, I still love you.
Rachel, John has a point - if you just tack an IV at the end of your name, you should be fine.
I never made it to the NYTimes and, while you’ll find Kaufmans and Rosenthals and Stolbergs gracing bylines, I’m sure my undistinguished and much-mispronounced and misspelled Jewishy name was a factor! (And to think what my poor daughter Sarah will face when she enters the workplace.)
Now, John House, that was the strong, two-syllable name I secretly coveted while at the WSJ. On the other hand, I know a guy named Bill Rome who inexplicably to him is often called Bill Rom.
Lars
Lars! How great to see you again, especially in the “pages” of SMITH. (I hope I remembered the story correctly.)
And if you can believe it, I had a high-school gym teacher who once asked me how to pronounce my name. We used to call him Rex, because his tiny hands were so out of proportion to the rest of his (probably steroidal) body.