Of Guilt and The Google

I've said before that when I look at the search terms that brought people to my little curio shop here, I sometimes feel a pang of guilt for their wasted effort, for the sense of deception and loss they must feel. Like the person who googled the phrase "Jetsons porn," for instance—I have none to offer, alas. Just not my forté, I'm afraid.

It's the same way with one I saw a couple of days ago. Years ago I was talking with a friend, and we were discussing various troubles people were having. I mentioned the part in Hamlet where the bad-guy king, Claudius, is having some problems of his own and tells the queen, "O Gertrude, Gertrude, when sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions."

The friend I was talking to is a little like me—always ready for a joke, an upbeat person generally, but with a wistful, sigh-heaving side to her nature. She agreed that this is how things sometimes are. "We should call it 'Gertude's Law,'" she said. And at some point I mentioned it in the blog.

That's why I felt the aforementioned pang when I saw the search phrase "Gertrude S. Law." So close! So near, and yet so far! I hate to disappoint people, but we have no information about Ms. Law and don't plan to soon. But look around, feel free. Maybe there's something else you'll like?