Travel & Food Writer

I enjoy looking at the search terms people use on Google that lead them to my blog. It’s interesting, and it lets me know which tags are successful.

My blog, however, is unusual. The most commonly searched (successful) term is “nalgene lifetime warranty,” which takes them to a blog about my quest to obtain a new Nalgene bottle that I thought was rightfully mine. As I later learned after calling the company, there is no such thing as a lifetime warranty, but they did replace my bottle.

The other top hit is “square poems.” I attempted to write one once, as soon as I learned what a square poem was, because it seemed like a challenge, and it just occurred to me that high school students across the world might be turning in my questionable poem for credit.

(Maybe that’s why the person in Malaysia* was reading my blog!)

*I also like to look at the countries from which people are reading my blog. This excites me.

My FAVORITE search term, however, came up just last week, and it was this: “awkward moments with strangers.”

I’m not sure what blog post it took them to, but I’m unduly proud that they arrived at my site.

But this came up today, and I feel for the sake of the searcher I ought to address it:

“a show featuring her and i.” is this sentance correct?

My initial reaction was to guffaw and say, “No way is that ‘sentance’ correct!”

Because obviously it should be “a show featuring she and I,” like “The King and I.” It just sounds nice.

But then I realized that, too, is incorrect.

I think (and now I’ve confused myself) that the correct answer is “a show featuring her and me.”

[insert sound of nails on a chalkboard]

I know.

The way I remember the difference (besides knowing that “‘I’ is a subject”) is the we/us trick: If you can replace entire phrase (ex: Gerard and I/me) with the word “we,” then it should be I. If you could replace phrase with the word “us,” then it should be me.

Example: Gerard and (I / me) are eating grapes by the pool.

Would you say, “WE are eating grapes by the pool” or “US are eating grapes by the pool”?

(You would say WE are eating grapes by the pool.) We = I, therefore

Gerard and I are eating grapes by the pool.

Example 2: The King gave Gerard and (I / me) six pounds grapes, not knowing we’d eat them all.

Would you say, “The King gave WE six pounds of grapes” or “The King gave US six pounds grapes”?

(The King gave US six pounds grapes.) Us = me

The King gave Gerard and me six pounds of grapes, not knowing we’d eat them all.

So, back to the original questions. Would you say “a show featuring us” or “a show featuring we“?

I would say a show featuring us.

Therefore, the correct answer is “a show featuring her and me.” That, however, sounds grotesque, so my advice to this person is to use the name of whoever “her” is.

Example: “A show featuring Annabelle and me.”

That’s much better.

And what was meant to be a thirty second blog turned into a thirty minute blog.

(I hope whoever searched that was not a former student.)