One of the interesting things about having a blog is looking at the things people type into their search engines in their web wandering. It's like watching conceptual bloats float by your little boat dock in the data stream, except that they aren't exactly drifting. What they have typed has brought them to your page because at some point in the history of your blog you've written something involving their keywords so google has put you on their map.

I thought today's list was sort of funny.

drill down 2 7.41% “kansas city to st. louis” allen ginsberg
drill down 2 7.41% embarrassing stimulation during wrestling match
drill down 2 7.41% killer gourami
drill down 1 3.70% temperature and humidity in taiwan
drill down 1 3.70% diagnose front vibration highway speed jetta
drill down 1 3.70% promotional work for bacardi in milwaukee area
drill down 1 3.70% fay ray massage
drill down 1 3.70% double whirligig pattern in plastic canvas
drill down 1 3.70% if i were a millionare
drill down 1 3.70% bastille day festival soulard
drill down 1 3.70% shanghais diet olive oil
drill down 1 3.70% feng shui shish mouths open and close
drill down 1 3.70% chicken wings recipe bj's brewery
drill down 1 3.70% the secret of golden flower
drill down 1 3.70% i need a washer and dryer pickup to be donated i am in phi
drill down 1 3.70% sebastian, say my name!
drill down 1 3.70% essay,if i were a millionare
drill down 1 3.70% goo crows concert review 2006
drill down 1 3.70% otis woodard
drill down 1 3.70% muddy mettle
drill down 1 3.70% buy boodles gin wisconsin
drill down 1 3.70% spanish casey furniture wisconsin translate or translation or translated or translator jen or jenn
drill down 1 3.70% cut away from myself lyrics
drill down 1 3.70% vanessa wolverine shoes


My statcounter also tracks where people come from, how long they stay at the page, etc. Most people just click through, but some stay.

Also, so come from very far away:

drill down 71 84.52% United States United States
drill down 2 2.38% Canada Canada
drill down 2 2.38% Unknown -
drill down 2 2.38% United Kingdom United Kingdom
drill down 2 2.38% United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates
drill down 2 2.38% India India
drill down 1 1.19% Taiwan Taiwan
drill down 1 1.19% Poland Poland
drill down 1 1.19% Viet Nam

It's cool to think about the international traffic. It makes the monkey globe graphic at the top of the blog seem a little more apt. It also makes me wish I was saying something a little more important than, "here's what I did today". I suppose there's the Modernist argument that we only get to the universal through the personal, but that's always seemed to me to be more of a rationalization than an effective philosophy of composition.

While I did originally get involved with blogging to work on my writing, I've come to use the blog more as a tool to stay connected to family and friends. The statcounter works for knowing who is in the know about what you've posted. I can look at the ISP addresses and mostly I can tell from familiarity who of my friends has been by to visit. Here's Michell de Seattle:

VISITOR ANALYSIS

Referring Link No referring link
Host Name c-24-18-214-125.hsd1.wa.comcast.net
IP Address 24.18.214.125
Country United States
Region Washington
City Seattle
ISP Comcast Cable Communications
Returning Visits 22
Visit Length Multiple visits spread over more than one day
VISITOR SYSTEM SPECS
Browser Firefox 1.5.0
Operating System Windows XP
Resolution 1024x768
Javascript Enabled

I don't pay extra for data storage (I don't pay at all) so my info is limited to the last hundred visitors and only includes information for one week. It also involves some guess work on my part - it took a bit to figure out that BJ's work browser shows up as Plano Texas. There are odd phone company widgets like that occasionally.

If you're a lurker and don't like the idea of being counter-lurked you shouldn't get too flustered. I get at least seventy hits a day from St. Louis and have no real way of sorting out who is who. If we're strangers then I have nothing to base my guess work on and your secret is safe. The same is true for the K-ville hits or any other city that has multiple readers in it.

At the same time, I really don't have that many regular readers outside of St. Louis, so that if I see Chicago on the list, chances are that it's Justin. The Canada hits are probably from Jen or one of Jen's new work friends. The Florida hits are Kelly.

There are a few mysterious readers. The recurring “Land o' Lakes Corporate Headquarters in Minnesota” visitor intrigues me. Hello oh buttery reader. Your enigmatic Indian princess has told no tales of either your sweet cream or salty demeanor.

Well, the time has come for me to go golfing with Brad. See you later world-wide-web; it’s been nice chatting. Oh, Jes and I bought a house this morning. More on that later (it's called a teaser).