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Without education we are in a horrible and deadly danger of taking educated people seriously.
G.K. Chesterton
–Lifted from a friend’s Facebook status
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.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
What do you think? Do you agree?
I’m posting this quotation to go along with the recent competition related posts. I particularly like the last part about how by pursuing excellence ourselves we allow other people to be comfortable doing the same. This quotation was used in the Akeelah and the Bee movie which is for obvious reasons a favorite around here.