Congrats! You just became the mayor of...

I use this little app called Foursquare that follows me wherever I go (and I remember to update my location). It's a neat little thing, but then you become the mayor of someplace you've been to all of twice.

Like Pops in Arcadia, for example.

The first time I went to Pops, it was a few days after my birthday in February. It's where I wanted to go for the family party. I checked in with Foursquare and thought nothing more of it.

A couple of weeks later, Daniel (Number 1 Son) and I went after our respective classes, and again, I checked in with Foursquare. But this time, I found out I was now the "mayor" of Pops in Arcadia! And as far as I know, I'm still the mayor of Pops.

I haven't been back since that trip with Daniel, either.

If you check in at home, you become mayor of your house. Like "duh"? So I am the mayor of what I have called "Casa de Pera" (House of Pears). Of course you're going to be the mayor of where you live! I usually just check in, then "go off the grid" while I'm there. No one needs to know I named my apartment's location Casa de Pera.

So, I'm the mayor of quite a few places, and sometimes, someone checks in more often than I do and "steals" the title of mayor from me ("Sally B. has stolen the mayorship of IHOP from you" or something like that). Most of the time, I don't care. I don't go to IHOP that much.

I thought it was funny when I became the mayor of the Walmart Supercenter near where my friend Charles lives in NW OKC. I'd been there maybe three times. I soon lost the title to someone else. Charles has no clue about social networking, and could really care less about the internet in general, so he doesn't know why I thought becoming, then losing the title of, mayor of the Walmart he usually goes to was so freakin' hilarious!

BTW, I'm also the mayor of the Comm Bldg... but if you are on Foursquare and want to steal it from me, you're more than welcome to it!

What's in a name? Plenty if you have the same name as someone else...

I have this friend in Massachusetts named Jeff Comeau. He's probably the sweetest and coolest man you'd ever meet. I haven't seen him since right before I moved from Massachusetts in the winter of 2002. He's a musician and an artist...I wish I had half his talent in either one of those pursuits!

Turns out that he has the same first and last name of about 40 other people on Facebook alone! If I didn't know what he looked like, I wouldn't know which one to pick (or pick one from Mass. and hope he's the right Jeff).

These two pictures are 1) what he looks like now (or thereabouts); and 2) what he looked like around the time we met (or thereabouts).

Miss you Jeff! (I hope you don't mind that borrowed these from your Facebook page)

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My mother had the same problem before she married my father in 1962. Her birth name was Ruby Jean Phillips (she dropped Ruby as an adult). She was surprised that there was at least one other person named Ruby Phillips or Jean Phillips that she'd get mail for. Or mistaken for, or someone looking for a Jean Phillips that wasn't my mom.

She has gone by Jean Phillips Pera for the last 48 years. As far as she knows, she's the only one with that name. But you never know.

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I thought my name was unique, but guess what? There are other people named Stephanie Pera out there. At least five of them, besides me, on Facebook!!

Hate to break to them other Stephanie Peras out there, but I'm definitely unique...and you can take that to the bank!

I was too a kid once...

I had to post this picture. A friend from my childhood posted this on her Facebook page. It's from (I think) 1976.

From top, left to right:
Cynthia T., Cynthia F.,
my sister Tori,
a girl whose name I don't remember, Leila,
and me up front.

My how time flies.

Cynthia T., her husband and two young sons live outside of Dallas; my sister and her husband live here in Edmond with their kids; Leila lives with her family in Southern California;

Cynthia F., sadly, is no longer with us. She passed away two years ago at the end of this month from cancer. She is survived by her husband, her daugher, and her son.

I wish I could think of that other girl's name...

Sometimes, it bites to be a grown up.