The Time Has Come, the Walrus said ...

... to talk of many things...
And I have a bunch of stuff to lay on y'all today!

The FABULOUS LaPhlegm entered her first haiku at Sparrow's. She graciously gave me permission to republish it here so those of you who didn't go to All Atwitter yesterday or today might have a chance to read it. As I said in my comments at Sparrow's house, I hope this is just the first we see of LaP's talents in this arena.

Life goes so swiftly.
Oh crap! Why didn't I screw
That whole rugby team?

I thought it was superb! Neither she nor I made the finals this week, however. My ego takes comfort in the statement Sparrow made about wishing she could have added two more entries to the list of 10 finalists. Sadly the voting "thingy" she uses only allows 10 choices. But it was a lovely thing for her to say for those of us who didn't make the cut, wasn't it?

I faced a dilemma when it came to the voting. There were several entries I liked. William the Coroner, in his dry [think desert] wit way, wrote about Egrets, when the topic was Regrets. I know I have several readers who adore puns and I can visualize y'all walking around with no tushies today because you just laughed them off. There were a lot of writers who most definitely got into the whole regreting part of the theme. Others were at the other end of the spectrum and refused to waste their time on regrets.

My personal favorites, and what made it difficult to choose, were the entry about the Hildebeast and the haiku dealing with the tribulations of cleaning up after a big dog.

If y'all still think haiku are some kind of stilted, boring, Japanese poetry to which you could never relate... just go back up, read PhlegmFatale's again, then click on the link for All Atwitter and find Lin's and Troll's entries in the comments on Wednesday. If you're not convinced after that... you must need a brain transplant.

OK, no more haiku harangue, for today.

I was lookin' at my Site Meter traffic last night. BTW, I no longer do that obsessively. When I first installed it, I'd check it 2, 3 times a DAY to see how many peeps had come by to read my scribblings. I was sick. Now, I get a weekly report and I see what my average daily hits are and I just file the reports away after a "look/see".

But it had been a while since I'd strolled through, and I was bored, so I went through my last 100 hits by location, referral, search terms, and outclicks. It's amazing the things you learn from your Site Meter.

For instance, I wrote, in January,2007 a blog entitled "I Hate Sears". I am still getting hits on that blog. Another post that gathers a number of hits, though not as many as the Sears haterz, is from history students or buffs who use the search words "Treaty of Velasco". They get directed to the San Jacinto Day post written by The Dearly Beloved in 2001 for The High Road.

Ambulance Driver, I still get more referrals from you than anybody else. Thanks a ton! Farm Girl, I noticed a bunch from you, including a recurring one from Canada...you know some Calgary Cowboy, Darlin'? And Peter, thanks for the referrals from your site, too. You are a true friend and gentleman. Thanks, also for your generosity in helping AD get back online. Phlegmmy, I get referrals from you, too sweetheart.

It's always nice to see where my reader's go when they leave my page. So when I posted the links to Rachel Lucas' blog, her dog Sunny's Presidential Campaign, and the blog containing the machinations of EVIL Kitteh, it was great to see how many of y'all went to check them out. GBro, I KNOW that you were one of them and now you are in Kitteh's thrall. I can only hope your work takes you abroad, soon and Kitteh's powers will not reach beyond the broad expanse of the Atlantic.

To my reader in Metropolis, IL : is your city named after Superman's Metropolis? That's such a cool name for a city!

Birmingham, Alabama : gee, everytime I see your city on the site meter I hear Jimmy Buffett singing, "...Birmingham, Alabama, my Home Town." And the way he emphasizes the words, you just know they are capitalized.

All you folks up in the Frozen North, thanks for visitin'! I know some of y'all came from AD. Dahm! that man had friends and reader all over the place. But where did the rest of y'all come from. Well, except for the one who came from FarmGirl.

Harrison, AR: CBL, what are you doing up at 2 am? Git back in bed and git some sleep, Woman!

Llano, how was deer season this year? I was raised in Killeen, you know. I love your part of the state.

My little Teasipper: when are you gonna come to your senses and transfer to College Station? I kid. UT is ok, I guess, if you couldn't get in anywhere else. ;D~ I don't know if you've read any of the blogs where I've talked about my BabyBro, the Rehab Coordinator at TAMU...but his undergrad and MS degrees are from TU. When he first got to A & M, he'd be taping up football players with a TU ring on one hand and a TU Cotton Bowl ring on the other hand. Then he got married, to an Aggie. So now he switches his right hand rings out, depending on his mood. AS a cruel twist of fate... The daughters of these two Aggies... one wants to go to Tech[hawk,spit] and the other wants to go to Austin [which please our Middle Bro, no end. But the rest of us are saddened by her unfortunate choice. She still has a couple of years to wise up, though] But, as long as you're at a Texas school, you're ahead of the rest of the Nation!

As I mentioned a couple of days ago, I've been writing up a storm. Sold something I forgotten I'd written it had been so long ago since I'd submitted it! That was a nice little surprise. I've been polishing off some old pieces to post on other sites for pay-per-view, instead of pay-for-publish. It's not as much money, but something is better than nothing. If my posts fall off here, don't be alarmed, I'm just typing my little fingers to the bone, trying to earn enough to buy some more Fluevogs.

The Road to Hell Is Paved...

with good intentions, and so are my intentions to post here e/o day. But I got busy posting on the Other Blog. Then I was writing a practice piece just to limber up my mind for some pieces I'm writing on spec for publication. After that, I was just too pooped to pop over here and post anything. I'll try to make it up by posting my practice piece here for your comments.

This isn't the exact format they wanted. I wrote this on a subject and in a manner that would loosen up my mind and get those creative juices flowing. Let me know what you think, be honest, brutal if you must. I appreciate constructive criticism, but don't rag on me just b/c you can.


This list of “The Ten Favorite Southern Pies” was easy to write. I've lived in the South all my life, so this was like breathin'.
Let's count 'em down like David Letterman does, OK?
10. Sweet Potato Pie : the favorite of farm folk or the grandchildren of farm folk all over the South.
9. Any Kind of Chocolate Pie: Chiffon, Silk, Meringue, Icebox... we don't care. As long as that pie has chocolate, we're happy campers.
8. Any Pie with the name of a Southern State in it: Kentucky Derby Pie; Texas Tipsy Pie [with Kahlua], y'all get the picture?
7.Chess Pie: My Aunt FayeBelle loved this type of custard pie. I don't know if it was the cornmeal in the filling or the cake flour she used to make the crust.
6. Strawberry Pie: because eatin' this pie with whipped cream just makes you feel cooler durin' the Summer!
5. Peach Pie: it's a rite of Summah, Dahlin'.
4. Pecan Pie: it's pronounced pa' cahn, y'all, not pee-can.
3. Jeff Davis Pie: DUH! It's named for the President of the Confederacy!
2. Any Fried Pie: I'm not talking about the store bought kind with that inch thick crust. No, I mean the kind your Mama or Great Aunt fries up in her kitchen out of homemade pie crust dough that's rolled out to within a quarter inch of its very life. Then she fills it with homemade preserves, my favorite is Apricot. Then she fries it just until it's golden brown. OH, now that is HEAVEN!
1. Every TRUE Southerner will tell you, that without a doubt, their favorite Pie is: Cobbler. AS long as it has a “pie crust” crust and not that abomination of cake batter that some cooks try to pass off as Cobbler Crust. But that's another article.
These are the favorite pies of a True Southerner.