no.45 - The Ungoogleable

I went to school with Leslie Nielsen. She was neither a star of goofball police comedies, nor was she a man. She was small, tough and unbelievably fast.

I knew her, but not well. I have no recollection of spending time with her outside of school, but the photo left shows that, at least once, I did. (she's the one on the right making a kissy face)

The other girl in the photo (left), is Amy, my good friend for many, many years. Somehow, after college, we fell out of touch. From time to time I would think about her, and wonder where she was and how she was doing. I tried to Google her a few times, but never with any luck.

Then, one day, Google's links seemed to reach further into the ether. Through some Googley detective work, I was able to locate a band she had been in, contact one of its current members, and get Amy's e-mail.

It was gratifying to learn she is well, happy and still involved in music. I was lucky there was only one musically inclined Amy Mackey on the internet.

Leslie Nielson
Originally uploaded by blinkofaneye

As for Leslie Nielsen, I have no idea what became of her and, if I wanted to find out, she is completely unGoogleable, obscured in cyberspace by the star of Naked Gun and Forbidden Planet.

She is not alone. The world is full of unGoogleable people whose identity is obscured by the famous or the infamous; who can't be found because their accomplishments are not listed online, or because their name is so common that they are buried in an avalanche of others. The googleSphere is a mixed up place.

Take Elizabeth Mitchell, singer in the band Ida, whose album You are my Little Bird my daughter adores. We were once briefly friends, too. She shares a Google search with the perpetually smirking actress on Lost, another singer who was part of a European disco cult band of the 70's and 80's, one of New Zealand's leading clothes designers and a fascinating paper and book artist. It's a good thing she has a picture on her site, and is one of the top five Elizabeth Mitchells in the world, or she too would be unGoogleable.

But of all the unGoogleable people in the world, the one I would most like to find is Mosley. (pictured right)

My wife and I are - or were - once her good friends. She helped my wife get her first job in Boston, and then disappeared to London. There were rumors and stories about the things she was doing there, including affecting an English accent, but as someone who starts to drawl after three minutes of thinking about Barbeque, I can tell you that such criticisms were both unfair, and unfounded.

Somehow on our honeymoon a few years later, (when the internet was but a digital embryo) we were able to find her again, have tea and reconnect.

She hosted us on our next trip to London and seeing her again was easy, comfortable and great fun. Then, without a word, she disappeared from our lives again, perhaps forever.

She was not, and is not missing, but I think she does not wish to be found. I don't know why this would be. Maybe she changed in some way that embarrassed her, like becoming a staunch conservative, or maybe she decided I'm only half as smart as I think I am. I am begining doubt we will ever know.

She is unGoogleable, cloaked between the inventor of Quality Circle Time, and a fictional character on a tween oriented Nickelodeon show that was canceled last year. She is unGoogleable, no matter how you spell or mispell her name, or what you know about her father and Tron or her Cafe, Aurora.

Perhaps she likes it this way.

Jennifer DeSola Mosely is unGoogleable, no matter how you spell it, but I am not. If you Google Greg Katsoulis, I am easy to find.

So, to take a page from Lynda Barry's book, 100 Demons: Jennifer Desola Moseley, if you're reading this, "Hello, it's me."