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In Memoriam
Red Laptop, January 2009-June 2009
Dear Red Laptop,
I did not know you long. I would have liked to have gotten to know you better. To be honest, in our short acquaintance I didn’t figure out enough about what makes you tick to ensure that our relationship went smoothly. And now you are gone. I am filled with regrets.
Mostly I regret that I wasn’t able to teach the one who runs not to run in the room where running isn’t allowed. It was manslaughter not murder, but you are gone just the same. Your DNA may survive [I hope, cross your fingers everyone], but we will never compose blog posts together again.
I miss you already. Your loss changes everything. My freedom is gone. And spontaneity–blogging here, there, everywhere–is just a memory.
Please don’t be offended to learn that I’m already thinking about dating other computers. I know it’s soon, but I have needs. Honestly, what I need is to make a substantial commitment and soon [whether we can afford it--that's a different question]. I don’t know which model would be my best match. Someone thinner? Someone smarter? Someone faster or cheaper? I’m not sure, but I’ve learned this: sturdier is better than handsome. I’m eyeing your brothers and cousins, and I’m dreaming of strangers [different brands] as well. But I really wish I didn’t have to replace you at all.
Goodbye.
Pmom
I’m excited to announce a new feature here at Chocolate & Garlic: Stuff Worth Buying.
This will be an eclectic review feature: A look at everything from the Spotbot to the Colgate 360 Toothbrush to Alpaca farms and yarn. The theme that ties these diverse items together is that they are stuff worth buying, a favorite of the person who reviews them. Any product will be fair game for review so long as it is tasteful, really enjoyed by the reviewer, and the reviewer has no financial interest in/or possibility of benefiting from reviewing the product.
If you know of stuff worth buying, please contact me at ChocolateandGarlic [at] gmail.com — I’d love to feature your review!
Most of my traffic is not from search engines. But Google Analytics shows that I have had 93 visits on the basis of 53 keywords. Woo-hoo! I am sure it is obvious that I am still a little overeager about the whole blogging thing-(despite my inconsistent posting habits)—vague daydreams of thousands of subscribers and all that (thank you, you loyal 19, my inaugural readers). I am sure all blogging empires begin with a small subscriber base and a tiny trickle of search engine visitors (or maybe not).
Anyway, today I want to pretend to be like one of the grand bloggers, like Rocks in My Dryer, by responding to the searches that have landed random strangers on my blog. So here it is: my first edition of Google questions and answers (answers not guaranteed):
GARDENING
1. When to prune garlic?
I don’t know. I haven’t grown it. But I would think it would be like growing onions. Why do you need to prune it anyway?
2. My gaura plant looks dead.
Mine too. I’ve been meaning to do a post just on this. I’m beginning to suspect that my pink gaura (appleblossom grass) were not as cold hardy as I’d hoped.
3. Mint varieties for sale.
Limitless.
4. Mint that tolerates full sun
Don’t they all? Or most of them? Mint is a sunlover. You shouldn’t have any problems.
5. Is Catmint and Hummingbird Mint the same?
No. Catmint is Nepeta and Hummingbird Mint is a type of Agastache. They are related, because they are both members of the Lamiaceae (mint) family, which is why they both have fragrant leaves. My catmint is the “Walker’s Low” cultivar. It is shorter than the hummingbird mint (Agastache) and it gets going in the spring while the hummingbird mint is still asleep–it blooms in late summer. Catmint is a gorgeous purpley blue, where the hummingbird mint is dark hot pink. I have seen Walker’s Low Catmint recommended as a companion plant for agastache (of which Hummingbird Mint is one type).
6. Ava Hummingbird mint seeds.
Do not exist. Ava is only available from High Country Gardens and it is cutting propagated.
MISCELLANEA
7. Who am I to be brilliant?/ Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?
8. What to say to someone when they win a spelling bee
There are numerous possibilities, but I think all good answers probably start with “Congratulations!” Other ideas: You did great! What poise under pressure. You must have really studied. Did you know all of those words, or did you have to guess on some of them? How did you study? What kind of books do you like to read? You really had me on pins and needles, I could barely stand the suspense. I was rooting for you.
9. What household products can I use in my Spotbot?
There are only two I can vouch for with certainty: a) hot water (works great for almost everything) and then b) the expensive proprietary Bissell products designed for compact cleaners. c) Wait! Pdad informs me that he has had good success through spraying the carpet with Spotshot (a product not made by Bissell and not designed for use with the Spotbot) and then using the Spotbot filled with warm water on that same spot.
I would be leery of using any other chemical or cleaner, especially one that might foam up too much. I used my Spotbot on a friend’s carpet once, and she’d already sprayed something on it. The machine was soon overwhelmed by lather. I was afraid the motor would burn out and the foam made it much harder to use.
10. How much money are hummingbirds?
Wow, can you buy them? How would you keep them? A small cage seems inhumane.
11. Licorice gelato recipe
I have been searching the earth for this for the past fifteen years. My ice cream/gelato cookbook collection is in two digits and I have seen only a couple of possible recipes. Nothing like the ebony nirvana taste sensation of my memories. My pledge: Someday I will visit Austria and eat it again.
12. hp dv5t trackpad, i like pmom 
I like Pdad. A man who designs search queries just to send surprise messages via google analytics is a man indeed.
I have a favicon now! Favicon is short for “favorites icon.” It is the tiny little picture that shows up above the address bar in your browser–like the red outlined envelope for Google or the W for Wikipedia. Yea! Thanks Pdad!
(This photo of Duncan is not recent, but it captures something that seemed relevant).
Pdad was out of town again. . .
I have no time to post, but:
a) I think my blog is finally working properly for the first time in a week! Hooray!
b) Did you notice that the header, button, navbar and title fonts all match for the first time in the existence of this blog? Hallelujah! The previous close-yet not matching-ness was very disturbing. Many, many, many thanks to Pdad without whom this feat would not have been possible. He fixed what my paid helpers did not. Perhaps I should put credits for him at the bottom of the page!
My blog just hit a milestone! The spend it on fruits and vegetables post was number 100. Happy 100 posts day to me, Happy 100 posts day to me. Happy 100 po-ost day to-oo me, Happy 100 posts day to me.
To help celebrate, I’m asking every reader of this blog to browse through my archives.* I’d love to hear which post you found most interesting/funny/worth reading/controversial/surprising etc.
*I’m using an awesome archives plug-in called Clean Archives Reloaded. Click around the archive to see how it works. I like how this archive shows the title of each post, not just the day it was published.
*This is a sticky post. I plan to leave it up for a week or two. Scroll down to see the most recent posts!
I have already discussed here how a Feedreader Changed My Life. But there are lots of people for whom using a feedreader doesn’t make sense. If you don’t read blogs regularly, or don’t read many blogs but do want to read this blog regularly, an e-mail subscription is probably the way to go. All you have to do is enter your e-mail address in the box at the left on the sidebar (underneath the search button). Naturally, I will not sell or distribute your address to anyone and you are free to unsubscribe at any time.
Don’t miss any new content on Chocolate & Garlic! Please subscribe today.
Less than a week left to enter my contest! This contest is open to everyone except Pmom and Pdad. So far the official entrants are:
1. Robin (comment)
2. Robin (subscription)
3. Julie P (comment)
4. Kacy (comment)
5. Rebecca (comment)
6. Christian F (comment)
7. zstitches (link)
8. Rachel (comment)
9. Jim F. (comment)
10. lis (comment)
11. dayna (comment)
12. liz [distinct from lis #10] (comment)
This means your chances of winning the $20 Amazon giftcard are really good! If you still wish to enter, it is possible to have up to two chances to win.
1. Make a comment on any post recent or older on this blog. The comment should not be about the contest and must be relevant to the post you are responding to. Multiple comments still earn you just one chance.
and/or
2. Subscribe to this blog in a feedreader and notify me that you have done so. E-mail me at ChocolateandGarlicatgeemail.com (do the @ and the gmail in the conventional way)
and/or
3. Link to me and notify me that you have done so.
I will use Random.org to choose the winner, January 12, 2009.
I like blogs. I like blogs a lot. But I have three children . . . and responsibilies. A husband . . . and responsibilities. A house . . . and responsibilities . . . or at least desires for how it should be kept up. But I still like blogs.
My problem: I have no time!
There is a solution. Well, if not a solution, then an amelioration. [Ameliorate: to make better or more tolerable.]
The feedreader.
Click to add C&G to a feedreader
The feedreader ameliorates my problem by allowing me to read more blogs in less time. It does this by pulling all my feeds into one place. A feed is the new content that a website (often a blog or a news site) makes available. On a blog, this is the new posts or the summary/teaser for those new posts (the owner of the blog chooses which). So, instead of using links, bookmarks, or favorites (or even worse, typing in the address) to go check Rarely Home Mom and then Everyday I Write the Book and then Robin’s Song and then Visual Anarchy, to see if any of them have new posts, I can check all of my favorite blogs at once.