Opinion : Me and Google

I owe part of my success in researching stories to a silly movie.

In the 2002 comedy "Maid in Manhattan," the mother, played by Jennifer Lopez, responds to a question from her daughter by saying "Google it at school."

I was fairly new to the Internet world at that time (and so was Google.) One of my exasperations was trying to find accurate information by searching the web. I may have heard of Google before the movie, but after seeing it, I became a googler. Now, I google just about everything first.

One day, out of curiosity, I Googled myself.

Turns out, Google has a high opinion of Dean Close.

"Making a difference is central to the Dean Close ethos. Carpe Diem is more than just a motto. We do not believe that happiness and well-being can simply betaught through time-tabled lessons," said my computer after I type my name into the search engine.

Dean Close, of course, in the paragraph above, does not refer to the oddball who writes these articles on Vinton Today, but rather a boarding school in Chelterham, England. I am one of the very few Americans who can honestly claim that I have a school in another country named before me, if not after me.

(Also, of course, Google is a machine that does not have opinions of its own; it simply directs you to other web sites that use whatever words you type into the little box.)

"Dean" refers not to a first name, but a title; Dean Close School is named after Robert Close, who was a dean somewhere. Close is an English surname, so it's possible that my ancestors were related to that dean. I might know more but my great-aunt Jesse abandoned her search of our family tree when she came across a horse thief in the close genealogy.

Someday, maybe, you can google Close Family horse thieves and find one of my ancestors.

Google is also an indicator of the success we have enjoyed here at Vinton Today. When we first started the web site in March of 2010, I would often Google Vinton, Iowa, under Google News. That led me to some of the "Where are they now?" stories we ran in the past year.

But now, when I Google Vinton, Iowa, under "News," all I get are stories we already wrote on Vinton Today.

So Google yourself, see what you learn -- and see what the rest of the world might know about you.