It's Time for More Analytics!

Yes, you may wish to skip this post.  It's mostly a long list of keywords.  A few of them are mildly amusing, but that's it. 

It's been about half a year since my last analytics post (which was in June).  I don't plan to go into quite as much detail as I've sometimes done in the past, but I did check the keyword traffic between then and now.  I like to keep lists like these because they help me remember some of the things I've written about here... and I just find it amusing to see what people are looking for when they happen upon this blog.

The four most common keyword combos to bring people here involve rag quilting and rat snake eggs.  (So not much has changed since last time.)

Number five on the list:  "crusti croc".  Twenty-eight visits!  And nine more for "crusti croc chips".  Hilarious.

More keywords from the list:

• "outdoor oddities"
• "nightmares more causes_risk_factors"  (& similar for finger numbness, itchy palms, numb fingers, numb hands, birthmarks, and narcolepsy)
• "do hippies wear makeup"
• more people wondering how to pronounce St. John Rivers (Yes, it's truly pronounced "Sin-jin".)
• "i hope to hearing from you" & "hope to hear from you"
• "kitten filterui:photo-graphics"  (Huh?)
• "santa cruz city council meeting transcript 'new west coast'" (I hope you enjoyed it. ;o))
• and related: "'i mean, the food is free, so we should just sell it'", "'and i really believe that it can be a california thing, that it can'", "'santa cruz' 'make the things'", "'the machine can make it for us' 'perfect pesticides'", etc., etc., etc.
• "whoppers duds" & "candy whoppers that are chewy" & "dud whoppers" 
• "how do whoppers occur - 'milk duds'"
• "what are some whoppers candy chewy"
  
• "chewy raspberry swedish candy" & "swedish raspberry candies"
  
• "being told you're awesome is a wonderful mood-lifter!"
• "'compassionate enough' doctor"
• "'delayed due to accommodating passengers'"
• "'eggs' 'mulch' 'photos'"
• "'i'd rather be quilting' license plate"
• "'so articulately'"
• "'vintage kitten'" & "cartoon kitten"
• "cartoon mere dada and dadi" (???)
  
• "words * describe cold weather"
• "50th wedding odds" (Kind of sad.  Must've been wondering what the odds are for a couple to make it to that anniversary...)
• "a recent poll that found record-low levels of public trust of the mainstream media"
• "aarp who is behind"
• "am i a hippie?" & "am I a hippy"
• "am i a waste"
• "articles that mention 'premo brand' sandwiches"
• "balloon hiding spots in island flyover"
  
• "buy snake eggs eggs" & "buy snake eggs online" & "how to buy snake eggs on internet"
  
• "can you unblurr something in an internet video that was purposely blurred"  (Um.  Creeeeepy...)
• Also: "how to unblur a purposely blurred picture"  (Why?)
  
• "crochet music"  (???) & "crochet music pattern"  (Oh, I think I get it now...)
• "crochet snake"
• "crunch sounds jaw"  (Ow.)
• "do snakes have lips"  (lol!)
• "do snakes like mulch" 
• "grey skin american eskimo dog"  (Sounds bad...)
• "hippie facial hair"
• "hope to hear from you, shorty."
• "glaskogen pronounced" & "husqvarna pronunciation"
  
• "i found mini eggs in my yardd what are they"
• about four more variations of "i hope to hear from you"
• "resume 'i hope to hear from you'"
  
• "i wish i could"
• "killing weeds with electricity"
• "little cocoons in my mulch" 
• "long hippie name for a woman"
• something vaguely creepy about "granny vids"...
• "lots of snake eggs in my yard"
• "norway village photos"
• "plot, character, setting, summary og mandino novel"
• "queasiness eased with pepto bismol"
•  "ridiculous lat names"
• "round cold cocoon found in mulch" (I don't think that's a cocoon...)
• "roundup herbicide in my eyes"  (Ouch!)
• more people looking for that particular type of hand lotion I mentioned by name...
• "skymall bug vacuum review"
• every possible search variation for snake eggs
• every possible search variation for rag quilting
• "sniblet"
• "sniblet artificial turf"
• "talkin bout your generation"
• "taste of autumn"
• "think i'm obnoxious get me out of here la da da da da da da da da ah ah ah"
• "trix pix" & "trixpix"
• "victorandcarrie"
• "vintage cute illustration" 
• "vintage odd photos collection"
• "vintage photos of adrigole road signs"  (awfully specific...)
• "vintage vacuum cleaner advertisements" 
  
• "wanted posters"
• "what are hop-and-go-fetch-its"
• "what do modern hippies wear" & "what do present day modern hippies wear?"  (LOL)
• "what to wear to a hippie party blog"
  
• "what looks like eggs in my mulch bed"  (Probably eggs. . .)
• "whats wrong with unbiased media"  (Nothing.)
• "when to plant owari satsuma trees in south alabama"  (Probably best to avoid summer, if possible.)
• "whopper snaps... sew on"
• So many, many people who also wonder why their hands get itchy after mowing the lawn...
• "why lawnmower hands itch"  (I didn't even know they had hands! ;o))
  
• "why doesn't anybody love me" x2  (Maybe someone does & you just don't know it...)
• "why i am a christian hippie"
• "wild man of chickasabogue" (What?? You're telling me there's a wild man out there?!  Thank goodness we didn't run into him... (g))

...The End

"The Loony Left"-- Vintage 60 Minutes

(This won't be for everyone, but here it is, anyway. . .)

Here's a little something I saw linked to on Twitter this morning:

The following YouTube videos present a circa-1987 story from 60 Minutes titled "The Loony Left".  Some of the issues are very familiar.  I suppose the point of posting it in the first place was to highlight those similarities between Britain at that point in history and the US today.  The sad thing is that for many of us-- those my age and younger-- it's difficult (and for some, impossible) to remember a time when we weren't always being bombarded with such sickening political correctness and the politicization of everything.  (Math can be racist, for example.  What?  Didn't you know that?  Those wicked numbers and formulas-- you can't trust 'em for a minute!) 

Part 1 of 2:


Part 2 of 2:


If it weren't so dangerous, parts of it would be funny.

For instance, take the bit in the first video where the committee of book-banners explains how bad that one book is. The horse that behaves badly just happens to be black.  "It's not a white horse," the annoying woman feels compelled to point out-- not that there appear to be any white horses in the book... (Coincidence? I think not!) And then he's "tamed" by a little white girl. (White, I tell you! How can you not see the blatant racism when it's there before your very eyes?!) 

And it's not just racist-- it's sexist, too, because the little girl tames it using sugar instead of force to overcome it, as a little boy might have done.  But isn't that using her brains?, Mr. Interviewer asks.  Isn't that preferable to her beating the horse into submission?  Would you rather she hit it instead?  One woman answers, "I'd rather she had the choice."

. . .Had the choice?  What on earth do you mean?  This isn't a choose-your-own-adventure book, lady.  The author has to make the choice for the character in his/her book. 

And then there's math (as I mentioned before). 
Direct quote from some guy (who, forgive me, doesn't look like someone I'd instinctively trust, what with his hippie hair and humongous messy beard) interviewed in the story:  "Math isn't neutral, and it isn't culture-free, but is a product of the society in which it exists.  It transmits the messages of that society-- the political ideas of that society."  Apparently this man was commissioned by someone-or-other to help them in their goal toward "non-racist mathematics".  *gag*

Interviewer (whose name I ought to know, because I recognize his face):  "In teaching percentages, the questions are phrased in terms of exploitation of the workers."

Mr. Scruffy Non-Racist Mathematics Dude:  "There are people who gain from profit and people who lose from profit in society.  You can't understand profit without actually centering it in a particular form of society."

Interviewer:  "So beyond learning how percentages work, there is a social message..."

Mr. Scruffy:  "Yes."

Interviewer: "Or a political message..."

Mr. Scruffy:  "Yes.  Yes.  Yes. . . Yes." 

Then there's a charming example of a math exam where one question compared the spending on arms in the Soviet Union and the United States, "showing an enormous increase in expenditure by the United States".  You can't afford to waste a single opportunity to cram in a little more indoctrination.  Not even in the traditionally (comparatively) sterile environment of the mathematics test.

What history will be made today?

ABC Empathizes with White House:  Coakley Loss 'Shakespearan,' 'Tradedy of Greek Proportions'

Stephanopoulos conveyed on Monday’s World News how “Democrats in the White House and Capitol Hill are braced for a shattering loss. And it's really hard for them to wrap their head around it, the idea that...health care reform may be in peril because Democrats can't hold the seat that Teddy Kennedy held for nearly half a century. You know, one White House official summed it up in a single word: ‘Shakespearean.’”
 
During the roundtable on the January 10 This Week, CNN and NBC veteran Woodruff despaired: “I was just going to say, quoting somebody in the White House, a tragedy of Greek proportions if Ted Kennedy's successor is the one, is the one who was responsible for the death of health care.”

Well, boo hoo for you.  

I have to admit, I haven't always had a lot of respect for Massachusetts' politics in the past (and considering that I'm a conservative from/in/of Alabama, I suspected the feeling was mutual).  The obsession with the Dynasty and so on-- I found it sickening.  But if they actually elect a Republican today, it will go a long way towards changing my perspective.

You conservative, moderate, and/or independent people of Massachusetts-- if you weren't already aware of it (and assuming any of you ever see this, which is not likely)-- please know that those of us in the other forty-nine states are watching and cheering you on, today.  (And if you find you simply can't succeed, we still applaud every one of you who's tried to make a difference.)

Obama-- the Musical!

Obama Musical Thrills Audiences in Germany. 

• An actor portraying Obama is "thrilling audiences with a rousing chorus of 'Yes We Can' in a country still charmed by his message of hope." 
•  The producers hope to take the show to the US, someday.  (Cross your fingers!)
• The actor who portrays Obama said that "the qualities he admired most in Obama were his eloquence, strength and vision, adding that it was amazing how 'he moved a world'."
•  "John McCain" and "Sarah Palin" "did numbers of their own, the latter singing 'Ich bin ein Pitbull' (I'm a Pitbull)."  (Well, isn't that charming?)
• "Set in Chicago, where Obama worked as a community organizer, the plot portrays how his message helps reconcile residents of a multi-cultural neighbourhood and propels a young black politician to the White House in 2008."
• "Two other shows have already put the US president on stage meanwhile, 'Obama On My Mind' in London, and 'Obama: The Musical' in Nairobi." 
•  A 21-year-old in the audience "thought an early scene where women go to a spa to relieve the tension of daily life was 'pretty confusing'.  Having visited the United States, he said: 'What's up with that? I don't think they go to the spa that often.'"  (Only the fancy Americans do that, young man.  Only the fancy ones. . .)
  

 (Ok, maybe that last bullet point was unnecessary, from a news standpoint, but it was the best part of the whole article.)

"We're Blaming Poor Obama"!

After Obama Rally, Dems Pin Blame on Bush.   (Well, duh!)

As audience members streamed out of Pres. Obama's rally on behalf of AG Martha Coakley(D) here tonight, the consensus was that the fault for Coakley's now-floundering MA SEN bid lies with one person -- George W. Bush.

"People are upset because there's so many problems," Rosemary Kverek, 70, a retired Charleston schoolteacher said as tonight's rally wrapped up. "But the problems came from the previous administration. So we're blaming poor Obama, who's working 36 hours a day ... to solve these problems that he inherited."

Yeah, they're just heaping all the blame on "poor Obama", even though he's somehow managing to pull 36-hour days in an effort to clean up Bush's mess.  Well, that's gratitude for you!

Yes, Bush made his share of poor choices, but how long before the new president starts to take a little responsibility for his own bad ideas?  (I'd say we shouldn't hold our breath.) 

Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI), speaking with a gaggle of reporters after the event, said that while state Sen. Scott Brown (R) offers voters a quick fix, in reality, the problems created by "George Bush and his cronies" are not so easily solved.

"If you think there's magic out there and things can be turned around overnight, then you would vote for someone who could promise you that, like Scott Brown," Kennedy said. "If you don't, if you know that it takes eight years for George Bush and his cronies to put our country into this hole ... then you know we have a lot of digging to do, but some work needs to be done and this president's in the process of doing it and we need to get Marcia Coakley to help him to do that."

(Curiously, Kennedy mentioned Coakley repeatedly during his remarks to reporters, each time referring to her as "Marcia," not "Martha.")

More Kennedy: "One thing the Democrats have done wrong? We haven't kept the focus on this disaster on the Republicans who brought it upon us. We've tried too hard to do that right thing, and that's to fix it, as opposed to spend more of our time and energy pointing the finger at who got us [here] in the first place."

Yeah (again)!  What have the Dems done wrong?  Nothing-- except for caring too much!  And trying to do the right thing!  They really are the martyrs of the world, aren't they?  The idea that they haven't spent enough time "pointing the finger" is. . . laughable doesn't begin to cover it. 

P.S.  Isn't it sad that Kennedy couldn't even get Martha Cloakley's name right?  I mean, really?!  You want people to vote for her presumably because you know her so well-- know she's the right one for the job-- and yet you can't even remember the woman's first name?  

New Video: Molly "Sneaks"

Molly the Spaniel-dog has the starring role in this epic masterpiece of the sneak! ;o)

(For the uninitiated:)
To "sneak" means to semi-crawl along the trail of a treat, maintaining a low profile so as not to spook said treat, usually across a space of at least three feet. This is an ancient treat-hunting technique used by Spaniel-dogs from time immemorial.
 

Updates in General

I haven't been blogging regularly for a while (as you may have noticed).  Now that I'm here to write, I'm not sure how much there is to say, but at least I can write brief catch-up summaries of the few things that do come to mind.

The Holidays--
Our holidays were happy and fairly busy.  We visited my father's side of the family about a week before Christmas, this year, and spent the actual Christmas Day with my mother's side.  (Generally, we alternate years, but it varies, depending on when visiting family are able to make the trip.)

We stayed up until midnight on New Year's Eve, though I must admit that for the last half-hour or so I would just as soon have been asleep.  I guess I'm old enough now to not really see much point in staying up until midnight.  (So sad. (g))  Maybe if there were something exciting happening at midnight, but when there's nothing much more than saying "Happy New Year!" and hearing some distant fireworks. . . (shrug)

We wound up spending New Year's Day at my maternal grandparents' house.  I think everyone on that side of the family made it, so it was a full house again.  After a tasty meal (complete with black-eyed peas and turnip greens for those who wanted to ensure good fortune and propsperity for the year to come ;o)) and some conversation, many of us went out for walks.  Donald and I ended up going with my parents to look again at the future site of their new home.

(I think I mentioned before that it's been definitely decided that they're building, now?  The location is within a short walk of our house and my grandparents' house.  We'll none of us ever have to worry about inconveniencing someone to check on our dogs during our vacations. (g))

Resolutions for the New Year--
I hardly know whether it's more customary these days to make (and post to your blog) resolutions or to mention that you don't bother with resolutions at all.  I fall more in the latter category, but if I did, most of them would be the usual-- exercise more regularly, eat more healthily, prune back distractions to focus on what's truly important to me, and so on.  But since I really don't do the whole resolution thing, I won't.  (Oh wait, I just did. . .)

The Weather--
(This is one of those things that feel silly to write about now, because it's been in the news so much that people are probably sick of it-- but someday it might be nice to remember that, oh yeah, this was the year we had that cold snap.)

So, we've been having this cold snap. . .  ;o)  Though our weather hasn't been record-breakingly cold, it's been very cold (with hard freeze warnings) for quite a few days in close proximity.  (And if you ask me, lows in the teens and highs that don't hit 40 are plenty cold, even if they don't break any records.) 

For someone who complains about how miserable it is most of the summer and makes grand plans for doing all sorts of yard work, come winter, I don't seem able to handle cold weather very cheerfully, either.  Well, ok, that's not completely true.  I'm fine as long as I don't have to stay outside too long, and bundling up properly really does make a world of difference.  The heater helps, too (though I can't help but keep a subconscious reckoning of how much it's running).  Still, I'd be happier if we could just stretch out autumn and spring for most of the year and forget this nonsense about summer and winter.  (If that didn't mean the end of life as we know it, that is.)

The Consequences of the Weather--
We took what we thought were all the necessary precautions to prevent cold-related catastrophes, yet on Sunday morning (after we'd both had our showers, fortunately), we noticed a drop in water pressure.  After a little investigation, we discovered that the water spigot at the site of our future garage had a burst pipe.  (I guess we hadn't done quite a good enough job protecting that one.)  We had to go buy a few supplies, but Donald was able to replace the cracked pipe, and he seems to have done it well, because so far, it's holding up.  It wasn't a difficult repair, but figuring out the problem and fetching the supplies still turned out to take a big chunk out of our day.  Frustrating-- but thank goodness it was something we could fix ourselves!

Other People Dealt with Worse--
Donald's family had some trouble with their electricity and telephone service (and maybe Internet, too?), at different times, recently.  No electricity in a Swedish winter can't be comfortable, so all things considered, I shouldn't complain too loudly about our little troubles.  (Everything's working again, now, as far as I know.)

Project 365--
It's still going.  I haven't given up on it, yet, and I'm unlikely to, at this point.  Of course, I'm fully capable of forgetting to take a photo, one of these days, but even if I do, I'll just take two the next day.  So far, though, I've taken at least one photograph every day for eighty-nine days.  (I haven't always uploaded one per day, but I'm giving myself a pass on that issue.)

My project photos are sometimes-- alright, often repetitive.  (There have been lots of photos of dogs-- one in particular-- for instance.)  Since it's mainly for my own entertainment, I'm declaring it "OK".  Why shouldn't it be repetitive, after all?  Life itself is pretty repetitive-- or at least mine is.  (Well, maybe that's a weak excuse. . .)

Part of me is a little (teeny-tiny bit) jealous of people who waited to start similar projects (or goals, challenges, whatever you want to call it) until the first of the year.  I'm not sure why.  I guess it just makes more sense to start this sort of thing at the beginning of the year.  Of course, there's nothing stopping me from keeping it going past photo 365/365. . . (We'll see. . .)

Other Projects--
There are many that need attention, some of them very interesting and others less so.  It's just a matter of kicking into gear on some of them (and trying not to ignore the less interesting ones too long). . .

The Dangers of Shopping Online

You probably think this is going to be about identity theft or an unscrupulous business selling damaged goods, don't you?  Not so. (...Though I did once receive the wrong book in the mail.  I'd ordered a volume of the journals of L.M. Montgomery, but was instead sent a large guide to the birds of Mexico and northern Central America...)

Found on Amazon:
"Albanese 12 Flavor Assorted Gummi Bears". . .

See that?  They're gummi bears (in twelve flavors!). . .

One of the "product features" is that you get 27 baby rattlesnakes to a pound:

 

Be careful what you buy online.  Always make sure you read the fine print!  ;o)

I Don't Know What to Say. . .

A link on Twitter sent me to this odd news story.

Doesn't that ad (the huge one on the right) in juxtaposition with the article seem a little. . .

(And that's all I'm gonna say about that. . .)

"We Know Where You Live", Etc.

(I do intend to eventually write here, again-- and about more than the occasional ad, too.  Just not this weekend, probably...)

First, the less funny of the two ads. 

I'm still not sure how I feel about these ads and things that like to throw around (what they think is) your location.  Like you're going to see the name of the town where you live (only in this case, they're off by a bit) and be overcome by the urge to (cue flat, hypnotized voice) click the ad. . .Must. . .click. . .the ad. . . I guess it's an eye-catcher, but do they have to rub it in my face that The Internet knows everything about me, including my present location?  I don't think I like it. 

Also, apparently people in F---y live in houses of matches.  (?) 

But this gem is the real reason I decided to log in to the old blog this morning.  Someone had to blog about it. 

What's the deeper meaning here?  Is the implication that only weirdos with ugly glasses, piggish noses, and really unfortunate smiles would be fool enough to fail to take advantage of Obama's refinance plan?

Yeah, that must be it.

Well, enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend!  Sorry I haven't written since last year (ha ha); I'll try to do better.