Yesterday, I got an e-mail from Kulturnett, asking me for three favourite Web sites, or "strawberry places" as the text stated. Such requests make me nervous. My bookmark lists have hundreds of Web sites, but the only ones I really visit often are Google and Yahoo! It is hard to whittle down any list of favourites. I have at least 20 candidates for my favourite film, more for top book, and for music, I refuse to answer the question in any way. But for the Web, very few Web sites are good enough in themselves. The great thing with the Web is the Web. The whole, "deeply intertwingled" everything of it.
"Strawberry place", "jordbærsted" in Norwegian is just that: a place where nice, wild strawberries grow. A secret place. Norwegians are cheap, and wild strawberries are rare. If you know a good place for strawberries, multer (cloudberries) , kantareller (popular mushroom, don't know its English name) or simply fishing, you never tell anyone, except for your oldest child on your deathbed.
I need three sites that I can stamp with my name. They must be good, of course, and not something everyone knows, like Google or NYtimes. And they can't be password protected, like Heavy, Britannica or beautiful Women Writers Project. They should project the right image of me, as smart, funny, cool, and really knowing all Web pages there is.
While thinking, I asked Google. I Searched for "Strawberry place" and hit "I feel lucky". There it was: Strawberry's Place. It's beautiful. Charming. Cute. She even lives in Idaho, a fact I sensed even before I found the picture of her view. I have been to Moscow, Idaho, and met nice people there. And I like Huckleberries too.
Google is great.