The XX Factor: What women really think.

My Name Is Brandi, and I'm a Part-Time Mermaid ...

In college, I had a friend whose favorite thing was trying on different personas in bars, spinning all kinds of wild life stories just for the fun of it. (Excellent storyteller, that one.)

So one time when I went home with her for the weekend, she got me to try it too. (In my defense, keep in mind that this was Indianapolis we're talking about, so you can imagine how easy it was to get caught up in the whole anything-goes spirit.) Anyway, as a beginner, I decided to keep most of the bio I was born with but change one thing: In the Indy version, for reasons that have long since escaped me, I had a summer job in the water-ski show in Cypress Gardens. Or so I told the quite appealing guy I met that night—who, as it turned out, was from very near where I lived and soon thereafter called to invite me to come and hang out with him—of course, on his ski boat. And I couldn't go because I didn't want to have to fess up that I was not only a big fibber but actually quite a disaster on skis! So, lesson learned. But I suspect that my friend, who really should have gone into acting but became a stockbroker in Texas, might still change things up a little now and then, just to keep her skills up.