What do you Google?

I have a very curious mind. I get it from my Dad. My curiosity is like an itch that I have to scratch and if I can't scratch it I will go out of my mind with anxiety. Or perhaps a lighter version of that.

Now, I've been online for quite a while so I've been "Googling" things before Google even existed. I would do searches on Altavista, Lycos but mostly Yahoo!. Today, I almost exclusively Google but do occasionally visit Bing or Yahoo!. If I'm not looking up something for my job, for my blogs or hobbies, I'm Googling questions, things I heard, new information I learned and want to know more about, trends and topics, etc. I Google a lot of things and while I'm not the best Googler out there, I feel like I'm pretty competent.

What do I Google?

Here is a list of things that I Google on a regular basis:

1) Symptoms - Confession: I'm a bit of a Hypochondriac. If there is anything amiss with my body, I will Google the symptoms and research the ailment trying to self-diagnose. I remember one month I was getting some cramps in my chest, I think I Googled "breast cancer" almost every single day. Last Thursday, I was pretty sick and had to lie down for most of the day. This caused me some acid reflux that has been affecting me ever since. So I Googled those symptoms. Some months ago, I had a really large and painful cyst (don't ask). While I was waiting for Carlos to pick me up to bring me to the Emergency Room, I spent the time Googling symptoms on my iPhone. Now, while I know health resources online are valuable, I would never self-medicate myself with anything other than the recommended dosage of an OTC drug. However, it is a comfort to know what I have or to know something is normal and treatable.

2) Quiverfull, Prairie Muffins, Polygamy, Helpmeet - I'm fascinated with Quiverfull and FLDS Polygamist lifestyles. Several times a month, I plop these keywords into Google and I read blog entries, Facebook pages, news articles, etc. Something I'm starting to do more these days is to search keywords through YouTube (not through Google's Video search though, which I don't care for).  I found this very interesting clip about a Quiverfull family over the weekend. Why do I Google these terms? I just find these lifestyles very interesting and at the same time very scary. There is a dehumanizing of the female that happens in sacrifice of family that fascinates me endlessly. Especially since I see the same thing in mainstream culture but for other reasons.

3) Pushba - Once in a while, I'll declare "It's Pushba time!". Pushba is a young Russian woman who is some sort of alternative model. She shaves her hairline, wears numerous piercings, has various tattoos, uses crazy make-up and wears a strange array of clothes. I found her when I was reading the funny website Tacky Weddings and they did a post about her Russian Goth Wedding. I did some research on her and found she keeps a Livejournal (NSFW), which I can't read because it's all in Russian, and a Gallery (NFSW) of her modeling. Her photos are so captivating. I can look at them for hours! I never bookmark her sites, instead I just like to Google her. Why? I'm not sure. Maybe searching for her is part of what I like about Pushba time.

4) Questions - If I have a question about anything, I'll Google it. No really. I'll Google the actual question because chances are the question contains all the necessary keywords needed for the search. Maybe this is me being conditioned from the AskJeeves.com days. Most of the time, these questions are personal and relate to sex and romance. But I ask all sorts of other types of questions too.

So what do you Google?