Google Helps Me to Relive My Modeling Career

I’ve been an absentee blogger lately as I’ve switched into full-on nesting mode lately. (Fall TV? Emmys? Who cares! I’ve got a hundred onesies to wash and fold . . .oh, that’s bad priorities, I know). But I had to post in honor of Google’s 10^th Anniversary. Really, what would the internet be if you couldn’t waste a solid hour googling yourself? In celebration of their big day, Google unveiled their oldest available index. Yeah, you can google ipods and Sarah Palin and a whole bunch of other stuff that didn’t exist yet. I, keeping with tradition, googled myself, only to find I did not exist online in 2001 (I barely exist now, so I’m not surprised). I did remember one place I would be, however. In 2001, I had just gotten laid off from my stint at startup Smarterkids.com. They were an educational online toy store. Their story seemed ripped from the script of startup.com (including an IPO that opened at a price way higher than it would ever be again which equals Kiki loses a good chunk o’ change). Somehow, I became the face of Customer Support for Smarterkids. One day, I was minding my own business in my office (yeah, I was important. Important enough to share an office) when one of the marketing folks came around and said they were taking pictures. I agreed to have a mugshot taking, thinking it would never be used. I even donned a headset to look more official. To my surprise, I later appeared on the actual web site. What’s even crazier is that they left it up for years, even placing a santa hat on me around the holidays. It was my one stint at modeling and boy did it last. Sadly, I never got paid. So, when I was booted from my job unceremoniously when they moved operations to California, I considered pointing out to them they were using my likeness, but I knew they’d just yank it down, so I might as well enjoy my 15 minutes. Years later, the site was redesigned and then eliminated entirely. But, I am lucky to have this wonderful memento from google. So, please enjoy! And don't judge. I was into dark lipsticks then. And long, flat hair.