Kathy Riordan has put up an open call about who you would be if you were a member of the opposite sex.
     And I'm having trouble with that.
     See, I'd most like to be The Redhead, but none of you knows her, and I could spend an eon trying to explain all the reasons why I think that. Or maybe it'd be my boss in Vancouver, easily the smartest person I ever worked for, and another woman whom I admire greatly.
     But those two are aspirational, not the reality of who or what I am, which is what Kathy wants.
     Then I thought of Kate Hepburn (what a surprise -- another redhead).   But no, I'm not talented or pithy or intelligent enough. Ditto any number of well-known women. I'm just not that good.
     Hmmmmmm. 
     How about women on OS?
     I'm not as witty as O'Really? and LC Neal. Or as charming as Scarlett Sumac and Linda Seccaspina. Or as truthful as BuffyW and Cartouche and Lea Lane. Or as compassionate as OwlSaysWho and SafeBetsAmy. And so on down my favourites list.
     OK, let's try looking at it from the vantage point of what I did for a living. I spent years -- decades -- as a dispassionate observer, taking notes and names, writing stories and meeting deadlines.
     So maybe it should be someone who is or has been or was engaged in the same kind of work. Nora Ephron? Pfffft. I could only wish I had her style. Katharine Graham, publisher of The Washington Post during the Watergate era? Naw, never had such gumption.
     Sometimes, I kind of think I'm like Lillian Hellman, who famously flew all the way across the country to trash Dashiell Hammett's apartment. But then again, I'm sort of lazy, and my anger usually dissipates within seconds of detonation. So, cross Lillian off the list, too. She had a stick-to-it-ness that I lack.
     Right. Another direction is required.
     Some of you may know I was a hardcore motorcycle rider for years, any kind of weather, any time of day or night. Loved the thrill of two wheels, the wind in my face, the whole ethos.
     So maybe that's the answer: I'm the biker chick with greasy hair, wearing a sleeveless denim jacket with an eagle on the back, a half helmet and dirty jeans, who fell off the back of a Triumph once too often.
     It pretty much works for me.