Recent news round-up, Part 1

Good News

• NYC's WiFi-equipped buses will debut in Queens this year
• Second Wachowski sibling comes out as transgender
• Missouri Democrats filibuster religious objections measure
• IS commander 'likely killed' in Syria air strike: US official

Bad News

• Under attack, Indonesian LGBT groups set up safehouses, live in fear
• DIY Abortions Are on the Rise, According to These Chilling Google Searches

Today's news round-up

Good News

• The Unsung Tax Agent Who Put a Face on the Silk Road
• Good news for woe-plagued Pompeii: 6 restored sites now open

Bad News

• Sinai road bomb kills Egyptian police captain

Today's news round-up

Good News

• Asteroid will not destroy Earth next month: NASA
• White House: Islamic State second-in-command killed in U.S. air strike
• Appeals court reinstates wage rules for home care workers
• Nashville hotel cancels reservations for hate group CCC, cited by Dylann Roof

Bad News

• IS destroys ancient monastery in central Syria
• Test of Islamic State mortar fragments shows chemical arms traces: U.S. general
• Google ordered to remove news links by UK authority
• Two Nigerian soldiers killed by Boko Haram land mine
• Tens of thousands displaced by Boko Haram in two weeks in Chad

My record is smashed

The record of 61 visitors to my glob in a single day lasted all of 8 days. Yesterday there were 70.

Again, the main reason was all the people searching for information on Mary Carillo's sexuality. Yesterday was the final match in men's singles at Roland Garros, so lots of people saw her commentating.

The biggest day ever for my glob

Yesterday was the biggest day ever from my glob. 61 visitors. I've gone over 50 two or three times before--I think the previous record was 53. This was a major leap.

It came after seven consecutive days over 35 visitors (one over 40). To what do I owe this sudden interest? The French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros. How could that be--since I didn't post a single word about it? The reason: the broadcasts feature commentator Mary Carillo--I've gotten dozens of people searching to find out something about her. Most want to know if she's lesbian.

So they do their websearches and reach my post from last fall.

I'm still don't think there's enough evidence to judge her sexuality. Besides, it's none of my business--or any business of any other television viewer. I like her as a sports commentator, and I really don't care who she sleeps with--I don't think it has affected her commentary in any way.

Semi-random thoughts

● They certainly are targeting ads on the internet. For a while now I've noticed that a lot of the ads I see seem to be aimed directly at me. I get a lot for a couple of companies I do buy from: Newport News and Staples. But what really brought this home was when I was looking at an article on The Times of London site, and there was an ad for American car insurance that even knew I live in New York.

● My wife and I were e-mailing were each other last night, forwarding e-mails back and forth about things we might want to do this weekend. This was despite the fact that we were sitting twelve feet apart--she in her office, I in mine. It's rather silly. After all, we do have an intercom.

● Gee, I sure wonder who at the New York State Assembly Googled me a little while ago.

Weird websearch of the day

how do you compare the word caprice in a women situation?
Huh?

Websearch of the day

the best lesbian lover i've ever had caprice lists my glob first.

This wasn't my wife. It was someone at the University of Cambridge in the UK. So I guess they weren't really looking for me.

A strange websearch

Someone in Japan found my glob Googling my name. Why would anyone in Japan be interested in me? I know no one there, and I don't remember having any contact with anyone there.

The only thing that makes this slightly understandable is that the ISP belongs to Temple University's branch there. So it was probably an American in Japan who did this search.

Another interesting websearch

This morning someone at the Wal-Mart headquarters found my glob by Googling ga walmart shooting. Damage control time, I guess, though it does seem rather late.

An interesting websearch

Well, I assume it was a websearch (which wasn't recorded on my log). Someone using the Information Systems, U.S. House of Representatives ISP visited my recent post on Rep. Weiner.

Semi-random thoughts

● I wonder if my post last August had anything to do with Dell's change of marketing strategy. I noted that I would not buy another printer from them, because I could buy ink cartridges only directly from them. Now I can buy them at Staples (along with other Dell products).

● Someone from Bahrain Googled something and found my blog. I did the search also, and noticed they would translate my site into Arabic. I wondered what that would look like, so I clicked on it. What was interesting was they couldn't translate any form of the words "crossdress," or "transgender." And they had nothing for "misogynistic." Why am I not surprised.

● My brother saw my little post about the recent disappearance of spam e-mails. He has noticed the same thing. But he said he kind of missed them. He called them "sort of an electronic Walmart for the perverse."

Weird websearch of the day

pat paulsen for president blogspot "password ="

Weird websearch of the day

Yesterday, actually. Someone in Spain found my blog searching for ear birth john coghlan. Perhaps they meant "year" instead of "ear." That would make more sense. But it still wouldn't help that there are a zillion John Coghlans.

Books on Transgender

Someone reached my blog doing a search for read any good crossdressing books lately. By coincidence, my friend Helen Boyd has just posted a list of her top 10 books on transgender on her blog. I will certainly bow to her expertise--she has been teaching college courses on transgender since last fall, and she is far better-read on the subject than I am. Her list:

• Butch Is A Noun - S. Bear Bergman
  
  
• Gender Outlaw - Kate Bornstein
  
  
• Crossdressing, Sex and Gender - Bullough & Bullough
  
  
• Sex Changes: The Politics of Transgenderism - Patrick Califia
  
  
• Head Over Heels: Wives Who Stay with Crossdressers and Transsexuals - Virginia Erhardt
  
  
• Transgender Warriors: Making History from Joan of Arc to Dennis Rodman - Leslie Feinberg
  
  
• Becoming a Visible Man - Jamison Green
  
  
• Mom, I Need to Be a Girl - Just Evelyn
  
  
• Whipping Girl - Julia Serano
  
  
• Transition & Beyond - Reid Vanderbergh
  

She is too modest to include either of her own books, but I can't imagine a top ten list by an objective observer that didn't include My Husband Betty.

Her blog post also lists some additional books that she recommends.

Weird websearch of the day

lolita nude beach illegal

The return of an old weird websearch

madison square garden stagehands is back, after a lapse of 18 months. It's still from Arizona. This is the only site Google has for that exact phrase.

Weird websearch of the day

Somebody found my blog doing a websearch for "the awe and dread with which the untutored savage contemplates his mother-in-law are amongst the most familiar facts of anthropology." Somebody in Korea.

How in the world is that going to get someone to this blog, I wondered. It turns out that it was the title of some spam that I made my Spam of the Day a couple years ago.

BTW, it was a quote by the British anthropologist Sir James George Frazer.

Weird websearch of the day

blue glob in ohio at gas station
Someone came here doing this search, which lists my blog first. Apparently they were looking for information on this news story: Ghost-Like Blue Cloud Haunts Parma Gas Station.

When I lived in Cleveland, Parma was the suburb we all made fun of. Except the Parmasans, or whatever they call themselves, of course.

Weird websearch of the day

Someone came to my glob looking for crossdresser nude pictures. If you're nude, you can't be crossdressed, can you?

It reminds me of the joke about the nudist camp for crossdressers. It went bankrupt.