The Trends of Our Friends: A Special Fishbowl Investigative Report

Our suntanned, pool-dwelling brother at FishbowlLA has really outdone himself, delving deep into the world of New York Times Styles writers and the trusty friends that crop up in their trend pieces. Turns out a wee Friendster search is all that’s necessary to crack the code of last Thursday’s gripping tale of couples therapy on the way to the altar by a certain Zoe Wolff. As FishbowlLA reports:

Let’s turn to Friendster, the craigslist of our generation. Zoe Wolff’s Friendster page is linked to someone named ‘Erica‘. Now, granted, this Erica claims to be a 28-year-old Angeleno, and the Erica in the article is identified as a 30-year-old New Yorker. But what’s a couple years and forty-something flyover states in the scheme of things?

Fishbowl decided to test the hypothesis that these two Ericas are one and the same. The results? Very interesting. Our Friendster trail almost leads to the White House. Seriously. Details after the jump.

We’re putting our details after the jump, too, because when we say “jump” we like it when you do it.

From FishbowlLA:

Here’s the thing. Both Zoe Wolff and the mysterious Erica are linked on Friendster to someone named ‘Scarlet.’ This ‘Scarlet’ is a thirty-one year old ‘directress and some such’ from Boston. One of Scarlet’s friends is ‘Andre‘, who, judging from his photo and information, appears to be Andre Heinz, step-son of John Kerry.

Wait! John Kerry? Why does that name sound familiar? Go back to the ‘Styles’ piece that began this line of inquiry (our bold):

Erica, 30, a screenwriter in Manhattan, who, like others interviewed for this article, asked not to have her full name published out of concern for her privacy, has been in therapy with her fiance since last fall, only a year after they met at a fund-raiser for Senator John Kerry and six months after they became engaged. She credits therapy with breaking what had become a fighting cycle.

Interesting. Now compare the biographical information about ‘Scarlet’ (31 year-old director from Boston) with Alexandra Kerry’s bio. Could ‘Scarlet’ in fact be Alexandra Kerry?

Again, let’s see where this hypothesis takes us. Does Alexandra Kerry have a screenwriter friend named Erica? Why yes, according to this Elle profile.

Of course, we can’t prove anything. But all of this is kind of interesting if you read the NYT Styles section or browse Friendster looking for pseudonymous bold-face names. (Which we get paid to do– what’s your excuse?) And remember, if you read about a trend in the Styles section that sounds a little un-trend-like, it may not actually exist beyond the author’s coterie of pals.

You know, I went to several Kerry fundraisers and I didn’t meet anyone. I’m just sayin’. In any case, I hope Erica and her fiance find much happiness together. Next on the Styles-writer Friendster-trolling checklist: Alex Kuczynski. Update: Whoops, Alex only has five friends. Never mind, less work for us!

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