TO THE CREEPY IMPOSTER
Dear Facebook and Flickr user Makena Becker. you are not me. those photos are not yours. and those children certainly aren't yours either. your creepiness has me reeling. you have five hours to remove all my photos, all my words, and all your really skeevy claims to be someone you are not before i take legal action. you have infringed on my copyright. and i am pretty freakin' ticked off and grossed out by it.
thank you to reader paola for letting me know about this.
i would have loved to keep this a lot more vague and focused more on the idea of creating your own life, how figuring out who you are, little by little, and being true to that potential and the people you love is what makes life really great. and i think the higher road is to maybe leave names off.. but i can't. this is just too weird and violating and there is no possible explanation i can think of where someone would do this "innocently." if you have an idea, i'd love to hear it. i'd love to have something to wet the fury burning in my chest.
until then, i've got a birthday party to prepare for.
also: i have operated this blog the same way i try to live my life- based in faith and happiness and expecting the good rather than fearing and expecting the worst. this is not the worst, but it is really really weird. and i may need to adjust things around here for awhile until i figure this out..
ADDED: dear people (the non creepy ones), i love you. i sincerely do. i wish you were all here in person. i would hug you and thank you, wipe away my angry tears and take you to the park for a big picnic. we'd eat fruit, watch kids run around, soak up the sun and celebrate life (and the fact that the pictures were all taken down! hooray!!). after getting in our fill of spring at the park, you'd help me try to foster a little bit of sympathy and a little understanding for those who do things that aren't right, but then we'd let it go and move on... and after all that i'd try to sucker you into helping me make cupcakes and clean and decorate for tomorrow's party.. i've got a lot to do and am suddenly sooo very tired.
thank you again. truly.
xoxoxo
Friday, March 19, 2010 at 11:02AM
Reader Comments (537)
Oh no! Please don't be deterred by the creeper. I'm a secretly adoring fan and fellow Brooklynite. I'm a few years younger and have bouts of crippling anxiety about reaching 30 and starting a family. But when I read your blog, I feel like I can do it. Please don't stop blogging! You're my touchstone!
i am SO late to the party on this one, but wow...
i hope everything got worked out.
I'm sorry I had to look, and yey it seems she is gone. I too hope you still post! This would be such a gross invasion of privacy. I could only imagine how livid you must be feeling. best of luck fighting this thing. hope it is behind you soon.
Really? Wow, what a bummer... no worse than that, that just plain sucks.
I really enjoy checking your blog out. You have some great ideas -- your April Fool's Day ideas inspired me to do some "tricks" on my girls this year and they loved it! Thank you!
I am so sorry.
Anna
I ditto all the above - if you need me to scream at anyone, just say!
I'm sorry this happened to you. Your blog has been a huge inspiration to me. Good luck with this mess. It'll be ok.
Sorry to have to offer yet another layer of creepiness:
Who's to say Makena Becker is a woman? A good reason for stealing your pictures and assume your identity is to enable this person to befriend other mothers with children online. Possibly then having access to their information, photos, calendars, etc.
To me, it sounds like it is more likely a man, possibly with bad intentions, and should be taken very very seriously. If you can report it to the authorities, I would do so, and also, somehow alert his friend/contact list, that they have been sharing their digital lives with a potential predator.
When it comes to facebook and Flikr it's a good rule of thumb to never add anyone on your friend/contact list unless you know them already in person, and know them well.
If something like this happens again, I would alert the authorities first, so they have a chance to trace the culprit, before he/she vanish into thin digital air.
Now you know how I felt all those years ago!!! Aaaaahhhhhh! I just wanted to take a baseball bat to the creep. Love ya!
holy cow that's ridiculously creepy and WRONG. what makes people think that's ok??? hopefully this has since been resolved as I do love reading your blog & I'd hate to see you stop due to the bad apples of the world.
p.s. I think it's totally fair to use her name. I mean, seriously, if she's using photos of your LIFE, her name needs to be aired.
how awful! really bugs me how a small minority of crazy people can ruin so many things for everyone else, create fear, doubt and problems with trust... i've gone backwards and forwards on my decision to post images of my children in all the years i've been blogging. i think it was all fine and good with a small readership, but as it grows, I get more and more wary of the invisible readers who log on to my blog. and now this happens to you... your trust and faith in people in a scary virtual world that let you be so open and free on your blog inspired me to do the same, and as much as i don't want to change my content - or for you to change yours either - i have a feeling it's back to minimum info for me... and that makes me sad and angry that i'm having to change again for "just in case"....
i hope the party was tops and that you're back to your vibrant happy self x
This is disgusting I can't believe there are people out there who actually do this! I love your blog and your pictures and hope this does not discourage you!!
I came to see if this sad story was indeed ended, I hope sincerely .
In late, wish your big baby a happy fun and lovely birthday.
Best to you.
Barbara (from France)
What an icky thing to do to someone. I hope you are finding something more positive and inspiring to focus your attentions on and moving past it soon. Thanks for sharing your fabulous ideas, creations, pictures, stories.
Oh I am just sick about this. I am so sorry this creepo did this to you. I just read about this on another blog. Different person. Same creepiness. I guess I need to start watermarking like a maniac. Great.
Can't you continue to blog without featuring your lovely children? Lots of people do it. I hope this horrible and unnerving event will not keep you from continuing to post inspiring and refreshing things for your very appreciative audience. Creeps are out there. There's no doubt. But don't let them win by taking something you love and ruining it.
don't give up postings! my daughter and I love your blog ! all the best
Are you going to continue to blog?? We miss you!
I know you posted this awhile ago. But I seeing your "To the Creepy Impostor" post on my blog roll (is that what's called?) and it makes me sad! It's so awful that the creepiness happen. I understand if you don't post any more just I just wanted to say that your blog is one of my faves! Reading about your family adventures, seeing your beautiful creations and laughing at your silly little girls makes me happy.
gosh, that is really disgusting.
You are stronger than the creepy "person", don't let her put you down. I have two girls too and I love to learn and get inspiration from you :)
oh, how awful and violating! i'm so sorry you had to experience that. what a lovely person you are for trying to find some way to give that person the benefit of the doubt, but you're right... just weird and uncomfortable and no decent explanation when it comes down to it - probably just somebody struggling with identity and stability and feeling lonely, but whatever it was you were right to offer the ultimatum you did, and right to feel angry about it. I'm glad the pictures are gone, and hope you're feeling better. Sunshine to you this weekend!
Can you just do invites to your blog now--make it private? Please don't stop. We love reading your stories on mothering and life in Brooklyn. This post comes from your salt lake city family fan club....
This is outrageous!
Oly, Oly, Oxenfay!
Come out,
Come out
wherever you are!
:)