Red Cactus Margaritas

I'm in the high desert, in Bend, Oregon. I love it here, it is beautiful, and I appreciate that my job periodically demands I travel here. I love even better that I can spend the night in Bend and commute via a rubber-band and chewing gum express airplane, and still get to work faster than I can on the train from home.

Man, that sentence was WAY too long.

Bend has fabulous restaurants and breweries. Tonight we stopped at "Hola" after work. I highly recommend the red cactus margaritas.

Anyway, I'm exhausted, overwhelmed, I've had two days of near constant panic.

I want to go home.

I'm sorry, can't find my funny bone tonight.

Dear PetNet

While Jenn And The City is usually an honest, forthright, tell it like it is sort, she is not above pandering and bribery. For example, I'm not above trading chocolate or alcohol for votes, and I can pretend to like cats and arachnids if it makes me more interesting. Of course, what really makes me fun is my predilection to hang windchimes from my ceiling fans, and I speak to my dogs in complete sentences. They understand.

J

You Tube?

Thanks to "Pam In The Frozen North" for sending today's totally awesome link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42E2fAWM6rA

Sex, Lies, and Duct Tape

The supreme power that is Google represents the superhighway of blog traffic. One has ones friends and followers that visit regularly, via direct cyber roads. It is a well-known concept in blogland that certain key words and phrases will drastically increase the traffic on the Google freeway exit for your page.

Jenn And The City rarely pays attention to this aspect of blog marketing. I write for my own amusement first and foremost, and anyone who wants to tag along in my narcissistic adventure is always welcome to hop on the magic carpet. It’s definitely a “travel at your own risk” sort of trip. You never know when I’m going to turn at the second star on the left and go straight on til morning.

But I was fascinated to see the amount of traffic that the “Surviving the Duct Tape Wars” post generated. One intuitively recognizes that certain words, like “sex” or “Britney” will up your site visitor count, but “duct tape”? That’s.So.Messed.Up. There’s way too many people out there Googling “duct tape”. I know it’s popular in home and vehicle repair, and also an alternative gift wrap option, but really, why would you Google it?

Maybe I should mention that I once managed to Super Glue my finger to the weather stripping on my dog door. Does Super Glue have the universal appeal in the cyber-world that duct tape does? The even better Super Glue story is the tube that Travis-whippet got hold of and started to chew up. Those who know the story of Travis and his teeth probably think I should have let him keep the glue.

What happens to my visitor count if I tell the story of the WD-40 fiasco? Will that cause the counter number to whirl cheerfully skyward? In my experience, locating duct-tape in the hardware store, and inserting the straw into the can of WD-40 require Y-chromosomes. You don’t want to know about the reaction of the Y-chromosome at the hardware store when you try to return the defective uhh, lubricating product because you're having difficulties making the, err, tube delivering the viscous oil fit in the opening provided.

Additional fun fact about WD-40, it can be used to clean crayon and ink from computer monitors. Do Not Ask Me How I Know This. Remember I’m a recovering blonde.

Stay tuned next time when we will explore the Google results for hardware choices such as cordless screwdrivers, channel locks, and needle-nose pliers.

For Patience-Please

It's come to my attention that my friend Patience at Patience-please might be having a tough day. I think this because her blog today says"Be warned - not my usual post". Patience's posts are often funny and always meaningful. "Poignant" someone described them to me once.

So, loyal follower that I am, I read her blog. Expecting something decidedly un-Patiencey, like mindless drivel or something insensitive about animals and small children. This is not the case.

Patience rewound the video of her life and tried to decide if she's made good choices. She's taking a moment to reflect on missed opportunities. And she's feeling selfish and guilty and unentertaining for blogging about it. Huh? "Selfish" and "unentertaining" aren't even allowed in the same zip code with Patience.

First, she wrote an excellent blog, everyone should take a moment to ponder the lessons of the past. They guide the path of the future. Second, if she hadn't traveled the road of Patience, she wouldn't have been able to write that blog. Or her first and second books. And I'm willing to bet that Patience wouldn't be nearly as entertaining to us all if she kept a cattery, or showed poodles. Nothing against poodles, I'm just sayin'. And heaven help us if she'd learned to knit.

It is, I think, the hallmark of a really good writer to be able to look backward and be able to use that energy and those lessons to push forward. I know it drives me. Drives me crazy and up a wall and bonkers sometimes, but drive it does.

Patience is going back to full-time nursing. She's not exactly thrilled about the occupational adventure, but I am. There are going to be some totally awesome and funny stories. (THAT, my friend, is me being selfish.)

And they will be poignant.