Showing posts with label Statcounter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Statcounter. Show all posts

Thursday, June 14, 2007

THE BIG 200

I have reached my 200th post. In a way I am really surprised. I started blogging simply because I was bored and couldn’t log into my myspace account. I had very low expectations for the whole blogging thing. I thought I would get bored. I thought I had “Nothing Interesting to Say” rather than being “Almost Interesting”. I thought blogs were kind of stupid. I kind of understood why people wrote them but I had no idea why people read them. I thought my friends and family might occasionally read mine but was utterly mystified by my first comment that wasn’t from Monica. The comment was left on my third post, Let’s Talk About Stupids, dated 8/2/06 and was about the Mel Gibson rant. The commenter was Wobbly*Bits and I just sat there mouth open wondering how she possibly found me and why she would have though to leave a comment. As surprised as I was, it made me smile.

When I hit 100 posts I made a big deal. I took sentences from all hundred posts to create some crazy mega post that almost kind of made sense. It was a blast to do. However, as I came to 200 I thought about it and decided I didn’t need to do all that mess. Post 100 was like a 21st birthday. I wanted to party and have a grand old time. 200 is more like 28. I’m glad I made it. I am happy with where my blog has gone and, while it may not have a lot of direction, it is a happy blog.

I feel really glad that people read and enjoy what I have to say but, unlike at post 100, I think I would be ok if as many people weren’t reading. I would still be happy with what I produced and just knowing that I bring a smile here and there would be enough. 100 posts ago I would have wondered why people weren’t reading and thought about what might want to do differently. I thought about if my posts were too long or too short. I thought about if they only would appeal to a select group of people or have a wider audience. I cared a lot about my statcounter. Now I only go there to read hilarious google searches and get excited when I find out things like my blog is the #1link when you search for “hilarious racism”. I find that to be incredibly rewarding. I do think about the types of people who search for hilarious racism and hope they are the types that want to hear funny stories about racist moments and not funny racist jokes. I like to think they are the former.

I’m not saying I don’t want readers, of course I do. Readers are part of what makes blogging fun and exciting. I’m just more secure in the fact that if I feel like writing about something and others don’t really care that it is ok. I realize the blog is about me and what I feel like saying, not what people want to read. It’s just an extra bonus when what is on your mind jives with those around you. I look forward to seeing where I go from here and how the blog changes. It seems it has almost developed a mind of its own.

It’s time for the three random songs; a segment that has been with me from day one. Random lyrics, although a later addition, is cooler.

The House Song, The Beta Band- “Put in you pocket for a rainy day,” what an applicable lyric for a blog that started as a rainy day activity. As the song gets funkier, so does the blog. Or so I would like to think.

Lost In A Crowd, Rusted Root- This band will always remind me of this guy Adrian who I met my freshmen year of college. He was the quintessential Rusted Root listener. You can picture him. He had drums, long hair, a beard, and was an all around nice guy. I haven’t thought of him in ages. It’s strange what music can do.

I Was Made To Love Her, Stevie Wonder- Is it possible for this guy to make a bad song? Of course it is. This isn’t one of them. I will say that I really dislike Ribbon in the Sky, which is almost forbidden in Stevie World. Oh well, if it sounded more like this I would like it.

Thursday, April 19, 2007

JOHNNY YEN'S MUSIC MEME

Johnny Yen had a music meme where you are supposed to talk about seven songs that you have been into lately. I thought this would not only be incredibly fun but also incredibly easy since I love to talk about music, obviously. However, I have found that it is rather difficult. I listen to so much music that it is very hard to choose seven songs that properly represent me at this point in time. No matter, I will give it a try.

1. Absolutely Cuckoo, Magnetic Fields
69 Love Songs Vol. 1 has been my best friend this week. Much of that is because of this, the first song. It is an adorable ditty about the dangers of falling for someone before they have the chance to see you go completely loony. One of my favorite lines is “I’m easy to get rid of but not if you fall in love” truer words have never been spoken. It also reminded me of my insane mix tape making days when I made one for my best friend Jenna called “the relationship” I chose songs that chronicled two people meeting, falling in love, breaking up and eventually getting back together (I think). My favorite inclusion on the mix was “One More Minute” by Weird Al. This song would have fit in well with that mix.

2. If I Ever Fall In Love, Shai
I have an unnatural obsession with this song. I don’t know why. Something about the insane harmonies and fantastic 90s feel really gets me going. At the same time I really don’t understand the story within the song. He said she was more than just a friend but is all set on falling in love with a friend if he ever falls in love again. Does he want only a friend and nothing more? I don’t get it. Or is is that she wasn't enough of a friend to begin with? Help.

3. Brick, Ben Folds Five
So I am completely aware that this song was overplayed and grew into some kind of Ben Folds Five monster that you couldn’t get away from. When I saw him in concert he played it but said that he hadn’t in ages because he grew so tired of it. That being said, I never tire of it. I don’t know why but I find it so tragically beautiful and there is something about the loneliness in the words that pull me in. “For the moment we’re alone. She’s alone, and I’m alone, and now I know it”

4. Let’s Get Out Of This Country, Camera Obscura
While this is not the best song on the album it does have the same title as the album and has just stuck to me like glue. Maybe because it has a nice escapist theme to it. I really need a nice long vacation away from anywhere familiar. One of the sad things about having friends all over is that when you take vacation it often ends up being so that you can see them. Not that seeing them is bad but sometimes you need to take vacation just for you. However, I would like to take Tony and get out of the country. “Let’s get out of this country, I’ll admit I’m bored of me”

5. Passing Afternoon, Iron & Wine
Even though I have only heard one album of this band (I need to download more stat) they have become one of my favorites. This album (Our Endless Numbered Days) reminds me of an updated version of something that would have been birthed if you married the Harold and Maude Soundtrack by Cat Stevens with Astral Weeks by Van Morrison. Every song on this album is pretty great but this song has the ability to wrap its arms around me, squeeze tight and rock me like a baby.

6. Way To Your Heart, Persephone’s Bees
I don’t know how to describe this song. It is just wonderful. It makes me tap my feet and bop my head and it is perfect walking home music. It’s nothing particularly groundbreaking. It just works perfectly and, since there are few words you can learn them very quickly and sing along. I can’t be mad when I can sing along to a peppy tune.

7. Regulators, Warren G and Nate Dogg
Ok, this is a bit embarrassing but in all honestly I have been rocking out to Regulators lately. Don’t laugh; you know you love it too. I don’t have anything great to say about this song because it isn’t great. I just know that it makes me think of hanging out on summer vacation with Shoshana and watching MTV and The Box all day long. Remember when MTV had legitimate videos on it? I don’t think even MTV2 still shows videos all day. Boo. “The next stop is the East Side Motel”

To redeem myself after admitting I have been really excited to listen to not only Shai but also Warren G and Nate Dogg I want to share a few awesome searches that have brought people to my page. “The Insult Sit By Me Train,” is a place that I would never want to go. However, someone seemed to want to ride it all night long. Someone else has some kind of fascination with Mandingos and was looking for “confessions of interracial affairs,” they will find none of that smut here. Another individual seemed to be making a statement but apparently “I went to a fundraiser black tie,” is a legitimate thing to google. My personal favorite, however, comes from some poor parent who has “black strings in my baby’s poop”. Maybe one of the parent blogs would be a better place for them to look. Who knows.

1. Let me tell ya’ll what it’s like/ Being male middle class and white/ It’s a bitch if you don’t believe/ Listen up to my new Cd/ Shamon. Deadspot said "The first song in your list at the bottom is that song by Ben Folds where he rips on musicians that he thinks he's cooler than. You know... that one with the title. " He is right, the title is Rockin The Suburbs.

2. She set your goldfish free/ And now she's sighing/ Blew out your pilot light/ And made a wish. This one happens to be Twisting By They Might Be Giants.

3. Last night it was so good/ I felt like crying/ I felt crying/ Last night though you looked so cold/ I felt like smiling/ smiling while I'm dying. Needles In My Eyes, The Beta Band. Identified by Jaclyn

4. I’m a little pea/ I love the sky and the trees/ I’m a teeny tiny little ant/ checking out this and that. Monica said "4 Is that song by Flea from One Hot Minute... I can't remember what it is called. He goes "I'm a pacifist and I will fuck your shit up"" she is right, it is called Pea.

5. Summertime/ and the livin’s easy/ Bradley’s on the microphone with Ras M.G/ All the people in the dance will agree that we’re/ well qualified to represent the LB C D me and Louie/ Run to the party dance to the rhythm it gets harder. Doin' Time, Sublime. Identified by Ern.

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

I DREAM, YOU DREAM, WE ALL DREAM FOR ICE CREAM

Everyone rush out to the grocery store, it’s time to “support our president”! Ben and Jerry’s has released a new flavor entitled “Steven Colbert’s Americone Dream”. Not only will all proceeds be donated (although I wonder who they are being donated to), but the ice cream looks delicious. We have vanilla ice cream with fudge covered waffle cone bits and a caramel swirl. Sounds pretty good to me. However, I was hoping that in the spirit of patriotism they would go for a red white and blue flavor and instinctively reissue Kaberry Kaboom under a new name. For those of you who don’t remember, and many don’t because the flavor didn’t last too long, Kaberry Kaboom featured Strawberry and Blueberry ice creams, white fudge covered cracklin' candy (yes they mean pop rocks) and a blueberry swirl. The flavor was released in 2001 and was created with a company called KaBoom that built children’s playgrounds and, although it only was around until 2003, helped to fund eight playground developments. I had no idea that Kaberry Kaboom was for a good cause, I simply thought it was delicious. It came in second place in a discontinued flavor contest (I believe Wavy Gravy was the winner combining caramel and cashew brazil nut ice cream with a chocolate hazelnut fudge swirl and roasted almonds, not so bad I guess) and didn’t get reissued. I still have fond flavors of this ice cream kabooming in my mouth.

And now for something completely different.

I have been collecting my favorite Statcounter searches for the past week and now feel that I have a decent list to share with you, the reader. Now these searches didn’t always put my page at the top of the list, but they just tickled me pink and hope they do for you as well.

Someone in California apparently goggled something about their own history and wanted to see if anyone else shared their experiences so they looked up “I am thirty six and have been spanked all my life”. A concerned health nut from Oregon was looking for a way to “only eat brown rice and vegetables”. We have some poor soul in Louisiana who was curious about people “mispronouncing Barack Obama”. Maybe they just didn’t know how to say it? A dog owner feed up with poop in Ohio was looking for “the best way to pick up dog poop after snow melts”. Someone in Sweden was curious about “swimsuit shoulder pads you tube” and somehow ended up at my page. I admit I am pretty confused by that one. A Wilson lover in my own home state wanted to know “Owen Wilson nose number of times,” for the record, I don’t know how many times Owen Wilson nosed. Then we have a curious bloke from Bristol, England who wanted to know “Do black people love chicken?” followed directly by someone seeking friends in Massachusetts with a thoughtful plea “we all black people we all love chicken”. I’m really missing out with this Black vegetarian thing I suppose. At least I love some watermelon. Wait, that was inappropriate. Oh well. I do like watermelon.

It’s time for another installment of Guess That Song (thunderous applause)

1. For god’s sake/You got to give more power to the people/There’s some people up there hogging everything. For God's Sake, The Chi-Lites. Identified by Mom.

2. Just as volcanoes erupt/Sometime human beings explode in your face

3. On my way up north/up on the Ventura I /pulled back the hood/and I was talking to you. A Sort of Fairytale, Tori Amos. Identified by Eve

4. Every time I look at you I don’t understand/ Why you let the things you did get so out of hand. Superstar, Andrew Lloyd Webber from Jesus Christ Superstar. Identified by Jaclyn

5. Don’t go changing/ to try and please me/ you never let me down before. Just The Way You Are, Billy Joel. Identified by Jeff Roberts

Friday, January 19, 2007

THE THINGS A COMPUTER CAN DO

A long time ago I decided not to put a stat counter on my blog because I didn’t believe I was technically capable enough to do it. Then I realized that I would have to be a complete idiot with no hands or feet not to be able to do it so I did. I love my stat counter. I am slightly obsessed. I think that it could become a huge problem for me. I have always liked graphs, facts, figures, useless information, and randomness. The stat counter combines them all. I wish I had done it a long long time ago.

Yesterday I found a friends computer and was able to deduce what she was doing on it by looking at the length of time she spent on the page and my deductions were confirmed. I felt real special, like a secret agent. I also realize that most people who end up on my blog don’t stay all that long, which is ok by me because I am sure that my almost interesting musings aren’t at all interesting to many people. I can deal with that, it makes sense. What I don’t understand is why some people spend over an hour on my page. I admit that I am happy about their interest. I just don’t understand it. At all. I’m only almost interesting.

The country breakdown is also interesting. I knew I had visitors from all over but I didn’t know how much all over. I’m talking about places like Brazil, Malaysia, and Ireland. I knew I had visitors from the UK but not Ireland, and there were a few.

As any of you people with a stat counter know, the search results that bring people to your page are always incredibly interesting and often hilarious. Surprisingly, about 75% of the searches that brought people to me were about figure skating. Granted, when I talk about figure skating I really talk about figure skating but I only did it twice. I’m sure more will come after Nationals this month and Worlds in March but it obviously isn’t my main thing. My favorite search was “Ironman racist lyrics”. Last I knew, Ironman didn’t have racist lyrics but apparently the site that comes up after mine talks about a sir-mix-a-lot song called Ironman that apparently has some racially stereotypical lyrics. Who knew? I thought it was funny that my page came up before the one that obviously answered their query but whatever. “Natalie, I love you, I love you, I love you” was also a nice search. I guess there are a few songs by Natalie’s that have those lyrics in them as well as my many posts about things that I love. Actually, a lot of things got to my page because of song titles or lyrics, which makes sense since I include them on every post. I was flattered to know that if you google the first line from “Little Red Corvette” my blog is the first page you will come upon. I am second in line for “King Herod’s Song” and, as a lover of musicals, which is also a big deal.

For the past two weeks we have been instructed to wear orange and blue on Fridays in support of our Chicago Bears. Most people wear their Bears gear or don’t wear any orange and blue at all. I have no Bears gear but still wanted to show my support. Last week I wore my Orange “Super Dad” shirt with blue lettering. Today I am wearing my Mets shirt, which is particularly hilarious to me. One other person found it funny so far but it is only 10:30. I truly hope that my awesome levels of “spirit” help the Bears get to the Super Bowl. It would be nice. Someone else just told me in a mean voice that I was wearing the wrong team. I explained it was the best I could do and she looked at me crazy. What?

Songs To Aging Children, Joni Mitchell- When I first started to really listen to Joni Mitchell I was in high school and I had a morbid fascination with this song as I felt I was certainly an aging child. I was far too dramatic for my own good. I think it applies more to me now than it did then. Not that I am anything but an adult (although occasionally that could be debated) I just think I understand it better now.

Rise, Public Image Limited- Oh how this song reminds me of “The Rules of Attraction,” the movie not the book. Monica and I watched this movie A LOT for a while. I never thought I would be such a fan of a movie staring Dawson but this movie is fantastic! If you haven’t seen it you should stop reading this silly blog and haul tail to the video store. There are so many priceless scenes in this film that I can’t even begin to think about them. THE NAME IS DICK!

Astro Boy, The Dwarves
- I don’t think this song has anything to do with the cartoon Astro Boy that my Mom loves so dearly. I think her face on Christmas when she opened Astro Boy was almost as adorable as my face when I opened Jabba The Hut after a good 15 years of wanting it.