“You look just like…” unless that sentence ends with Angelina Jolie, George Clooney or better still, a well-liked relatives you’re treading on dangerous ground. I don’t look like anyone, I look a little like my Dad and a smidge like my Mom but no one is ever going to see me walking down the street and think, “I KNOW her! Wasn’t she in that movie…” The closest I’ll get is, “weren’t you on that PBS pledge drive answering phones?” and even then that would take a sharp eye and someone really dedicated to stalking phone volunteers.

Believe it or not, even though I don’t look like anyone there’s always someone trying to compare me to some star. In Junior High, my best-friend’s mom went running around looking for an album, because I looked like Carlie Simon. I’m sure my facial expression was priceless when she found the album cover and presented it to me. In high school a small portion of my family decided I reminded them of Molly Ringwald. My cousin finally said, “it’s not that you look like her, you have similar mannerisms.” My Mom has said, “you look like you could be the sister of Robert Sean Leonard.” (See http://www.imdb.com/ if you’re not familiar with that actor.) A co-worker wanted to see what I looked like in high school and he busted out with, “you look like Nancy McKeon!” She was Jo on Facts of Life. Of course, he also said of my Halloween picture, “you look like Bette Midler”.

Now I’m excited you feel like you’ve had some grand epiphany about my looks, but unless you’re 100% certain I feel the same way, I’d keep the little revelation to myself. Maybe I am Carla from Cheers’ twin, but unless I’ve announced that, it’s probably a good idea that you keep that little thought to yourself.