I know an insane number of Elizabeths.

Well, maybe "insane" is not the right word– and as far as I know, most of the Elizabeths I know are not insane either. But definitely, the occurrence of this name within my circle of acquaintance is relatively high; not as high as the Christinas I know, but it's up there and it's more than five.

Plus I couldn't find any pictures of a Christinian Garden. So there.

Anyway, I'm not naming names, ironically so, but some Elizabeths in my garden are battier than others. So maybe there is something to the insanity here. But fear not, gentle reader –and especially gentle reader named Elizabeth: this post is not about you if you're named Elizabeth.

Or is it?

This post is about self-promotion.

I recently received a request on the Evil Feybook to please become a fan of someone with whom I've had very little contact since high school. The request was a thing of beauty. It read,

"[Name of friend]– You have been invited by [Name of friend]"

So delightfully circular.

I realize she's an actress and, as such, it is important to self-promote. A fan page is appropriate, really: it's how she gets her name out there.

But it's still funny: like the ultimate Valentine to one's ego, if you will, the self-promotion of one's own fan page is narcissism of the highest degree. And that is pretty funny.

Which brings me around to the question: how do people promote their talent and keep their integrity and their face, if you will, intact? How do you get past the awkwardness of heralding your particular brand of awesome, if you ever do?

How do you put yourself out there and avoid being someone's blog entry and instead get people to pay attention to you?

Any ideas, blogiverse?

_________

(Incidentally, after this post is written, I will become a fan of hers. And then I'm sending her an invite to become a fan of my blog. So there.)