Of Stats, and OPBP*, and Quizzes, and Stuff

(*OPBP = Other People's Blog Posts) Stats I've had several people ask how I found the keywords people used to find my blog - the ones I talked about in this post. I answered in the comments for that post, but because I know a lot of people don't go back and read the comments (or never read them in the first place!) I'll talk about it here too. I would think if you're using a pay service (like Typepad) to host your blog it should include access to your stats, but if you're using a freebie like Blogger, you won't find your stats there. (Ya gets what ya pay for!) You have to add a little bit of code to your blog template to collect the information. I use Stat Counter. I know several other people who have had good luck with SiteMeter. Both are free for the basic no-frills service and both are pretty simple to install into your template and give you insight into lots of interesting information about where people are coming from and what they're looking for when they find your blog or website. And don't we all need something new to obsess over? Ahem. OPBP I wanted to share a couple (ok, THREE, if you want to be picky about it) things that caught my eye on other blogs the past couple of days because some of you might find them interesting too. If you want to read a really good rant you can go HERE, where The Zero Boss talks about NBC refusing to air a commercial for a documentary about free speech. Yep, I know...the mind boggles. If you check it out, be SURE to read the comments too, where commenter Francesca (Stuntmother) writes the best curse I've ever seen - EVER. It should be put on a t-shirt or coffee mug or something. Or, in the category of silly-but-fun, you can go HERE where the writer has put a great deal of thought into analyzing who would win in a space fight between Serenity and the Millennium Falcon from Star Wars. I have to say, I agree with most of it. (And yes, I realize that the fact that I think this is worthy of thought proves that I'm a big ol' dorky GEEK. Heh.) Or, for still kind of silly, but fascinating (at least to me) reading, you can go HERE, (a site I found courtesy of Smart Bitches, Trashy Books), and read the results of a challenge issued by Wired Magazine for writers to write a 6-word story. Yep, you read that correctly - six words. They had submissions by several writers including Margaret Atwood, Joss Whedon, Gregory Maguire, Neil Gaimon, Kevin Smith, and many more. My personal favorite was by Margaret Atwood: "Longed for him. Got him. Shit." Are any of you up for writing a whole story in six words? Here's mine: "Flew to Mars. Spaceship crashed. Oops." Quiz of the Week I should probably skip this part, but it's Sunday and Sunday is Quiz Day. It's a tradition, dammit!

You Are From Neptune

You are dreamy and mystical, with a natural psychic ability. You love music, poetry, dance, and (most of all) the open sea. Your soul is filled with possibilities, and your heart overflows with compassion. You can be in a room full of friendly people and feel all alone. If you don't get carried away with one idea, your spiritual nature will see you through anything.

What Planet Are You From?

Stuff Stuff, in this case, being today's DAT, a photo I took of my dog Riley while I was partway up a tree and she was looking at me like I was nuts: "Please Don't Let That Woman Fall On Me" (clickable if you want to see it larger in a new window) I'm off to Fall Back into bed now. See you on the other side!