I received an email the other day from this guy, whose blog I always enjoy reading. He sent me a picture of me saying, "This sure looks like you, doesn't it?" He had found it on a m4m (that's man for man) personal ad on Craigslist in Las Vegas. It's a picture from this blog some past winter ago. So I guess somebody is using my picture instead of their own. See, now I don't really understand this. If you end up meeting the person in real life, which I would think the goal of the personal ad is, then you're not going to look like the picture, you know, because it's NOT YOU. What's the point? Anyway I can't decide if I'm flattered or grossed out by the whole thing. Flattered feels better, I think I'll go with that. We've been showing the apartment. One girl applied for it, her credit is clean, but both of us got a "trouble" vibe, like she's the kind of girl who could really get on your nerves. She went from "oh it's much smaller than it looked in the pictures" to "it's so cute, I love it" in ten minutes time. Still, psycho is fine as long as she pays. It looks like we'll have to go to court now if we want to get Jimmy's father to pay the $700 ($40 for june, 600 for july, 60 for the missing stuff) because he's now playing games, never available to come to the phone, etc. etc. I have a feeling the hassle is not gonna be worth recovering the money, though we will send the registered letter and then a lawyer letter to see if scare tactics work. Look at it this way, I tell myself, in 6 months you'll make that money up in not smoking. Not worth stressing about.
21 comments:
Interesting photographs!! As for the image being hijacked in Las Vegas...I think it's a compliment to you. Someone thinks you're so hot they want to look like you in the eyes of others. However, no one else can ever be you, nor as hot as you, so you're safe!
Good luck with the collection efforts...one more reason I hate rental properties.
Have a great one!
-C
That sounds like an opportunity to go to Vegas and meet the person pretending to be you. Then you could act all disappointed and pretend that you just wanted to have sex with someone who looked just like you explaining a twin fantasy in incredible detail making the person using your pic totally freak out. The possibilities are endless for amusement with this.
Good attitude about the apt and the smoking money! - and avoiding stressing.
As closeted as I am, I've never even considered stealing another's picture to post with my profiles on social networking sites for exactly the reasons you note. If someone wants to meet me, I want them to meet me because of who I am not on the basis of false advertising.
Congrat's on your non-smoking progress.
As to the rent owned: take an ad out in your local paper warning folks not to rent to the asshats. Or, maybe Missing fliers in the neighborhood; copy reading: MISSING: Rent due from these asshats. (Add their photo.)
Perhaps by the time the person realizes the guy doesn't look like the handsome Torn, it may be too late.
Go with the bad credit rating to the father and he may come around.
The pictures of Torn are delightful. Like Lon Chaney a man of a thousand faces. Ed
hell, don't be offended....I mean, I'd use your picture too for my personal pleasure and gain. Well, and then the fact that I'd respond to an ad with your picture in it as well. That's what happens when you're talented, hot, sexy, and sassy.
I'm going to look for you in Portland today, I've decided.
It will be fun to see if some of these photos end up on someone's profile now. Ha...great shots.
Good luck with the asshats!
The lower right photo made me laugh the hardest.
What Just David said about the picture made me laugh too. That would be such a lark, and you *are* going to be in town. You could get L to take pictures or video of it. I would adore it.
Of course, it's possible that the person is one of your readers and it wouldn't work. Maybe if he is he could write in and explain how it works when you Totally End Up Not Being The Guy In The Picture.
Go with flattered.
As long as spouse knows it's not you, because that's where the trouble comes when some friend of spouse feels they need to be all secret agent and report on your "secret life" of infidelity. Otherwise, as long as they don't have any personal ID info, who cares?
Good luck with the deadbeat.
There are people who post ads on craigslist solely to collect pictures of the guys who respond. I'm not sure what the point of that is given the ready availability of pictures of all types of men on the Internet, but you'll sometimes see CL ads complaining about "pic collectors."
Another possibility is that the guy bears a reasonable resemblance to you but doesn't want to use his own picture.
And then there are guys who post on CL and who want to hook up but won't because they're not quite ready yet. Those guys use fake pictures in part to ensure that they don't follow through. Accepting one's sexuality is a long and torturous process for some people.
I think that you can be both flattered and grossed out. I have always wondered the same thing about people who use photos that are not their own. Do they think that whoever responds will simply be too horny to care about the lie when they actually meet?
Having someone using your picture is very strange. It sounds to me like they never plan on meeting anyone but just get-off doing the internet thing.
Definitely, take this cretin to court, I have the feeling he's been down this path before and the thought of someone taking him to court may get him to the phone when he knows you are serious.
When I was a kid, my mom and I used to stand in front of the bathroom mirror together, making faces. She said it was good for the facial muscles!
She said that only facial contortions counted; "DO NOT USE YOUR FINGERS to help make a face!" she always reminded me.
The registered letter and lawyer letter scare tactic might work. I hope so. We used that tactic many years ago on an asshat doctor in Atlanta who owed us money. I can't remember why he owed us, but that's what happened.
That picture (the one in the link, not the montage on the post) shows a very gorgeous hunk-o-man. The guy misusing it on CL probably wishes he looked that good.
Congrats on one more tobacco-free day! Keep it up, darlin'!
So as long as a girl has money, it's okay for her to be nuts?!
I like how you think!
Oh and the picture thing? Totally creepy. Totally!
-Rox
I figured the pic they stole of you would have been one of your half naked ones. Duh! Maybe they were too afraid that they'd get more responses with that one. Be flattered, definitely, be flattered. The only thing anyone might swipe my picture for would be an ad for helping retarded people.
Are you kidding? I'd be totally flattered beyond belief if someone used my photo as their own. But since I can count the number of readers of my blog on 1 hand, that's not very likely.
Sorry about the problem with Jimmy's dad. Sounds like you're doing the right thing with the letters though.
Congrats on another day smoke-free!
Mark :-)
Keep it up with the non-smoking!
I came across a quote: "It is often better to lose your vineyard than to go to law about it." Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592, Essais)
Hope the letters idea works, though.
-- Mike
I can see why someone would use it. Quite the handsome guy. But you're right, why use someone else's pic. Did you ever see the movie, The Truth About Cats and Dogs? A good rental along these lines.
When I was a kid and made funny faces, my rather stern English grandmother would invariably ask, "young man, what would ou do if your face locked n that position?"
You've got nice teeth!
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