Now We Are One

It's hard to believe it's been a year. In some ways, it feels longer.

This lovely critter's name is Belle, and she lives somewhere in Australia at St. Bernard Kennel Ablenath. Or so the page said that I, ahem, borrowed this picture from. I hope they let me keep it up here, because if there's one thing that's hard to find on the Internet it's pictures of St. Bernards near birthday cakes. So if you ever need to board your St. Bernard in Australia, give these folks a look.

Here at SnS, we strive to be your one stop for information you'd never thought you'd need, whether it's boarding your St. Bernard in Australia, finding the right button on a DSL connection, or fixing a stuck fuel gauge on your space shuttle.

Usually, this is the time for some sort of retrospective and planning for the future. Unfortunately, I'm not all that good at either. This year started out being a year that I'd learn how to do this thing. Needless to say, not long after a job opportunity appeared that I couldn't pass up. So this has become a sort of second job and hobby. Even so, I've managed to write a bit.

I do check the Sitemeter pretty often though, because I'm interested in how people find their way here, and what they read when they do. Other than the obvious, which is my mentioning a post at some bigger blog like Firedoglake or someone linking to an article, there are a few themes that keep cropping up.

One, of course, is slobber and spittle. As I've mentioned before, I'm one of the Internet's foremost experts on the subject, at least according to my Google ranking. I've always regretted not making the effort to satisfy all those queries of the "what is slobber?" sort, so here goes:

If it hits you in the eye, it's spittle. If it hits the floor, it's slobber.

I'd like to thank this country's medical schools for enrolling such inquisitive students. Heaven knows there was a time I didn't know that stuff, either. I'd also like to thank Scott Adams for his wino spittle reference. That must have generated half the traffic here in October.

Another big draw has been my article about Washington and the Hessians, partly, I assume because there are lots of folks interested in whatever became of them. While I'm sorry there aren't many details about that in the story, at least they had a chance to think about how differently we're led these days.

Lots of people are also drawn to the Joker graphic in "Maverick" Folding His Cards, which was about Senator Hagel's decision to retire.

For a while, lots of people from France came by to read Street Corner Memorials On A Flat Earth. I have no idea why. Those French are so inscrutable.

Other than that, people just wander by for various reasons. Put enough keywords in your posts, and anyone could drop by. Even if they just want to read about turtle heads.

So, thanks for wandering by, and have a wonderful 2008.