Hide and seek.
Something many people know about me, but that you may not, is that I am very good at finding things.
Since a very young age, I have delighted in searching, un-earthing and discovering things – sometimes to the benefit of others, and sometimes to the annoyance of others. Another thing many people know about me, but that you – reader as you are - may not know about me, is that I am a talker. A fast-speaking, word-spilling, would-you-please-just-shut-up, Grade A talking machine.
When I was young, I would constantly follow my father around the house while we (he) fixed whatever needed it (and oftentimes what didn’t need it at all), yapping my little brain out and telling my daddy anything and everything that happened to pop into my head. One day, dad got (understandably) sick of his noisy little shadow, and devised a cunning plan that would keep me entertained and out of ear-shot for a good while – long enough for him to concentrate on the task at hand, and maybe even long enough for him to have a coffee and a break from moi. So, with me chatting away beside him, my father picked up a teeny, tiny screw, and dropped it between the slats of the deck, onto the garden below. He then asked if i would do him the ultimate favour, and go look for said screw – which I was all too happy to do. I ran off noisily, and dad relaxed… until I popped back onto the deck a full four minutes later, screw in hand - fetched from behind a pot plant in the corner of the garden.
Dad was gob-smacked, and dare I say – a little upset. As my talking started up again, I wouldn’t have been surprised to have seen tears of frustatration pricking his eyes. Manly tears, of course. This was the first indication that not only was I annoying as all get-out, but good at finding things, as well.
As I got older, the items I found got stranger. At the age of ten, I unearthed a porcelain donkey from behind our garbage bin, on the side of our driveway. To this day I have no idea what I was doing there, or why there was a porcelain donkey hidden under the dirt and concrete, but I dug it up, nonetheless. I was extremely impressed with my archeolgy-type skills, and showed mum and dad my ‘treasure’. They weren’t quite so enthralled with my discovery; maybe because i’d dug up a large chunk of dirt in the process. Also, “porcelain donkey” probably brings to mind an item far grander than what I actually unearthed – in actual fact, it was probably more like half a porcelain ass. The poor thing was missing one or two legs -which, at the time, I thought only added to its ‘rustic’ charm.
Now that I’m older, my investigative skills have benefited from the rapid advance of technology. At the age of 17, Yahoo! and I were close aquaintances. At the age of 19, MSNsearch and I were good buddies. But now that I am 25, Google is my bitch.
Give me something to look for, and I will come up with the perfect keywords with which to comb the web. Want a random picture? I will piece together a combination of words the likes of which will have Google Image shakily offering up its relevant wares in a matter of seconds. I can Google anything, anywhere, anytime (just provide me with a computer and some net-type cable, and I’m good to go).
I have to admit to performing a sneaky “self search” on more than a few occasions - surprising even myself at some of the things that have come up. Once I found stories and poems that I thought had floated to the bottom of the interweb many moons ago. Then, I found an advertistment featuring a photograph I had taken – credited to me and all - which I hadn’t even known was in existence. Finally I found a website I created years and years ago, and shuddered a little at the e-self-obsession that marred the pages.
So yes, I love a good Google search. There’s a certain feeling of satisfaction that comes from entering the perfect search terms and finding exactly what you want in the shortest level of time humanly (or, in this case, I guess robotically) possible. It makes the Internet a little more understandable and mappable - the e-equivalent of a GPS.
But despite the conveniance and comparable ease of a Google search to a full bedroom shake-down, nothing will ever be as satisfying as finding that ‘lost’ pair of favourite earrings behind the headboard of your bed – or a random porcelain donkey underneath the concrete driveway.
So I’ll keep combing the net – but I’ll also keep my eyes peeled for that dropped screw. Who knows – one day I might need it to fix the back of my computer.
Note: Porcelain Donkey image courtesy of Google image search.
