Tuesday, 6/18

And now, the rest of the story.

As you may recall, yesterday I promised the tale of what seems to be the most popular blog I've written in the past year or so. It was discovered while I was going through the stats of the service that hosts these babblings, and it's so out of left field that it simultaneously shocked me and made me wonder if the counter was off, or if the world's just really, really strange.

These days, after all, you never know.

What is the most read blog on this site the past year and change? Well, you remember the one I wrote last September about all the food I bring to work on a weekly basis? I actually didn't, but you know what? It's that one--

How? Why? In what dimensional plane would that be the most popular thing I've written in the past year-plus? I don't know how, nor do I know why, but it is. It's still getting hits on a daily basis; in the past 24 hours, in fact, it's been viewed almost three dozen times. I know the internet is a strange place.

I just didn't know it was THAT strange.

Now, there are several explanations as to why it's been the most popular thing I've written. I suppose that people actually COULD be enthralled with all the broccoli and yogurt I bring to work on a weekly basis. However, I'm gonna assume that's not the case. Heck, I'M not even enthralled with all the food I bring to work on a weekly basis, and I actually eat it.

So I don't think it's that. What else could it be? Well, it could be the spiders and the bots I was talking about yesterday. Remember how I keep getting views from strange, strange countries? Well, maybe, for some reason, they've become fixated on that particular page. Maybe they've somehow linked to it, or keep visiting it over and over again. That certainly makes a whole lot more sense than people who are fascinated with my weekly consumption of chocolate, doesn't it?

Of course, if that is the case, it throws into question the entire purpose of having counters on these things. If the number of people you think are reading them isn't correct, what good is having a counter? If half the visitors you get are internet programs from strange countries, then why even keep track? And when you hear from someone that they have a blog with 10,000 readers every day (not this one, obviously), how many of those are actual readers and how many of those are virtual creepy-crawlies that may have originated in a Russian military building?

You gotta wonder.

So anyway, if you've been reading these and have ever wondered what the most popular entry's been over the past year (and change), now you know. It's not anything deep, or thought-provoking, or nostalgic. It's what I eat at work on a weekly basis.

Go figure.

(jim@wmqt.com)