A few weeks ago, I began blogging over at Threedonia, a site that seems like a good fit for me. We cover all the things that I’ve touched upon at Falling Awake, plus a healthy dose of pop culture.
I hope you’ll join me there.
I’ll continue to use Falling Awake for dart league updates.
Of all the reports I get from WordPress, my favorite is the one that tells me what brought people here. What search terms did they enter that led them to this place?
A few weeks ago I saw that I had been visited by someone who searched the term “neuterfest.” That was a head-scratcher. So I googled the term myself and lo and behold, Falling Awake was on the first page of Google results. I clicked on my site and the mystery was solved.
And then it struck me. There are topics–and even people–who are searched for almost every day, and what I have to say about them is among the first voices heard on the internet. Of course, since this is the internet, there’s also a lot of nonsense about which I have the first say. Witness “neuterfest.”
Anyway, more for my amusement than yours, I’ve assembled this list of search terms (all of which have actually been used by people to find this place) that bring up Falling Awake on the first page of Google results, together with links to the original posts.
1. neuterfest – “Neuterfest Cancelled.” (I really didn’t know this was a word. I thought it was coined by “Arrested Development.”)
2. paul zachary myers blog – “Professor Paul Zachary Myers, Bigot.” (This is satisfying.)
3. professor paul zachary myers – ditto (ditto.)
4. hero timothy gittins – “The People Who Shape Our World – Heroes and Pioneers.” (Proud of this one.)
5. charles pinning - “A Veteran Replies to Charles Pinning“ & “Revisiting Charles Pinning.” A two-fer! (Not as proud of this one, as “Revisiting” explains.)
6. help the drunk get home – “Help the Drunk Get Home.” (Duh.)
7. command economy idiocy – “The idiocy of a command economy.” (Think I was preaching to the choir, here?)
8. brutally honest personality test – “Brutally Honest Personality Test.” (Duh.)
9. steve martin saddam hussein – “Steve Martin on Saddam Hussein.” (I still find it hard to see those two names juxtaposed.)
10. “often does hatred hurt itself” – “The Voice of Saruman.” (I’m now associated with Tolkien. Far out!)
11. analysis of sicko – “Good Analysis of ‘Sicko’ from an Unlikely Source.” (This one’s got legs. Almost every day someone searches for this.)
12. how should christians treat homeless – “How Should Christians Treat Beggars?” (This keeps me humble. God knows how many people have read this not-so-proud moment.)
13. my buddy died today – “My buddy died today.” (About my cat.)
And finally, the monster. The one search term that brings many times more visitors than all the others combined. The post to end all posts.
14. swimsuit issue – “Swimsuit Issue Is Out!”
Can you believe that? Google “swimsuit issue” and my site is on page one! Although no one ever, ever visits the actual post. Follow along with me! They google “swimsuit issue.” Go ahead, click that highlighted “google.” See the second picture? Click on it and you end up here. Right there is the secret of my success. Thousands of hits because of that one picture.
And they never read a single word I wrote. But can you blame them?
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Update: I’m now also among the first results when you google “Connecticut homosexual.” (Not that there’s anything wrong with that.)
If you click on the “Dart League” button above you can keep current with the Social Lepers as we take the Stamford Dart League (Division B-2) by storm!
You can ooh and aah over my Excel-generated stats graphs if you like. I think they’re nifty!
It was inevitable, really.
That’s it. Game over. Obama is President.
I’d like you all to meditate on this:
“All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.” – Julian of Norwich.
That’s it. That’s it exactly. That’s why conservatives never threaten to move to another country if their guy loses. That’s why we stand up to the biggest bullies on the planet: faith.
“All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.”
We’ll get through this.
Yes, President Obama will appoint Supreme Court justices who will happily preside over millions more abortions. He should be ashamed.
Yes, President Obama would sit idly by while Israel was wiped off the face of the Earth by Iran. He should be ashamed.
Yes, President Obama will deepen this recession into a depression by punitive taxation upon the engine of the economy. He should be ashamed.
All I can say to my Christian friends–and I’m sorry I can’t say this to my Jewish friends, too–is this: the battle’s won already. We won 2,000 years ago. We do the best we can here and now to carry out God’s will, but He knows it’s not always possible. If you did everything you could to prevent this catastrophe, God bless you.
All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.
Let them do their worst. The battle’s already won.
Incontrovertible evidence.
I urge you to read the whole article.
An excerpt:
American and Iraqi forces are driving Al-Qaeda in Iraq out of its last redoubt in the north of the country in the culmination of one of the most spectacular victories of the war on terror.
After being forced from its strongholds in the west and centre of Iraq in the past two years, Al-Qaeda’s dwindling band of fighters has made a defiant “last stand” in the northern city of Mosul.
A huge operation to crush the 1,200 fighters who remained from a terrorist force once estimated at more than 12,000 began on May 10.
Operation Lion’s Roar, in which the Iraqi army combined forces with the Americans’ 3rd Armoured Cavalry Regiment, has already resulted in the death of Abu Khalaf, the Al-Qaeda leader, and the capture of more than 1,000 suspects.
I hope the suspects will be held by the Iraqis.
It’s tricky for me to scale these down to display here properly. Check out the full-size photos on Snopes (where they’ve been pronounced genuine).
Sled dog encounters a wild polar bear:
This bear could kill this dog in a second!
What’s going on here?
They’re friends now!
Don’t try this with your neighborhood polar bear.
I haven’t posted in a long time. My attention has been tied up in surviving day-to-day. It’s very hard when your boss hates you. It’s harder when he hates you more when you do a good job. For the last two months, I’ve been battling him, and I was never prepared for this kind of combat.
I get home, I eat, and I go to bed. The next day, same thing. Over and over. That’s been my life the last month or so.
I think things will be better in two weeks.
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UPDATED 5/6/07
I just wanted to tack on an addendum to this post, as it looks very bleak the way it stands. I’ve been getting more page views on this than anything I’ve posted in the last month, and I don’t want to leave anyone with the impression that I’m still in that stituation.
In a nutshell, I’m good. I am enjoying my job more than I have in years. I’m proud of the fact that I was able to continue to do a good job for no other reason than my own work ethic, but I have to say I’m ridiculously pleased at getting a pat on the back now and then.
Anyway, that’s it for now: I’m good.
I think the reason I’ve been thinking so much about money is because my future has been so uncertain. My store is closing, and I’ve been offered the same position for the same money in another location one town over. Translation: slight pay cut (no more walking to work!)
Before I go any further, I want to reassure my father that when I’m talking about money, I’m talking about income versus outflow, not my savings. I have a nest egg! I’ve been agonizing about the possibility that instead of adding to it little by little every month, the money will be–equally slowly–going the other way.
So, here were my options:
So, I’ve been thinking about income and the lack of it. And my thoughts went to the men I pass on the street every day with their hands out. (Because I’m so darn cheerful.) And I decided to take the severance. Read More »
Sorry I haven’t posted anything in a while, but then I haven’t done much of anything this past week except work, eat and sleep (poorly).
My friends and family have been great. Thanks for the e-mails, phone calls and cards–they helped.
I buried Grumble last week at my sister’s place. There was no ceremony, because I have no idea what faith he was. I suspect he was a Buddhist, and that he hopes he’ll come back as a housecat.
Afterwards, my other sister came over and we had an “Irish wake.” Or I did. But with scotch.
I wasn’t sure if I was going to play darts last Tuesday, but I decided it would be better for me to go out and see my friends, and I had a good time, even though I left right after the match. I think I had my best match of the year, actually. If we make it to the playoffs, my loved ones had better watch out. My team thinks grief sharpens my game…
