lookin

Just noticed one of our 'guests' crawling around a two-year-old post on Les Paul's passing. I am gratified that we host content congenial to even such finely tuned enthusiasms. (Just checked back and, as MsGuy predicted, our visitor is gone.)

Probably so, and I just never noticed it. No wonder I was the only one getting excited when we set new records for viewers. Had I known they were spyders, I'd have made a beeline to the sandbox and stayed there! Talk about a world-wide web!

Very moving. Thanks for posting. Even though I'm a decade or so older than this guy, I can relate to the changes he's seen. Especially how relatively quickly they came to pass. The memory, however, of what is was like before these changes, stays with me and keeps me aware that what can be done quickly might also be undone quickly. I wonder if those who have only heard about the bad times, and not actually experienced them, are aware of this. Or maybe I'm the one who's unaware, and the dark ages really are gone for good. Again, a thought-provoking piece and many thanks for sharing.

I guess anything's possible. There have always been lots of guests at MER. It's just that this is the first time I recall that we had a link that showed us what they were looking at. I always figured a few were lurking and reading posts, and that many were reading reviews, but it now seems that they're just crawling into all the site's nooks and crannies. It doesn't seem that there's necessarily an intelligent being behind it. So maybe your theory is the one to beat. Still leaves the question, though, of why so many at a time, all the time?

Well, I can see how Ping Pong Pussy could bring in a few eyeballs. But riddle me this: Right now there are 130 'guests' and many of them are checking out Member Profiles. And not just profiles of active members, but also members who first signed up in 2006 and never even posted. Not once. Why would someone be scouring the MER site for member profiles? And not just someone, but lots of someones? Some of these Member Profiles have been visited dozens of times, but why? And by whom? And why are so many of them being visited right this very minute by 130 simultaneous 'guests'? (These are in addition to Google, whom we already know is nosy.) I'm sure there's an easy answer as to who all finds us so interesting but, at the moment, it eludes me.

Bravo! Even Henry Ford ran his Sociological Department's surprise home visits for only a short while, and that was nearly a century ago. If an employer wants to spend time peeking up my ass, he better be ready with a marriage proposal.

OK, this is weird. At the bottom of the Forums page is a summary of who's on-line. If you're signed in, your name appears. If you're not, it just says 'guest'. There's a (see full list) link that I hadn't noticed before and I just clicked it. It shows what threads our (currently) 95 'guests' are viewing. What a hodgepodge of threads they're looking at! It seems incredible that 2 'guests' would currently be viewing OZ's Happy Holidays thread from December and another 'guest' is viewing a Bad News from McDonald's thread from September, 2010. (They may not be there by the time you read this post, but they were there as I was writing it.) So what gives? Are they all bots crawling and indexing the MER website? Google is usually here and Bing used to crawl the site. But are there really 95 anonymous web-crawling bots here at one time? Did OZ sign up for some kind of traffic-building service? Are we being invaded by Russian hackers? Or do we just have a boundlessly curious assortment of visitors to the MER site? And should we be ordering in some munchies in case they decide to stick around?

The penis houses of Bhutan are nothing to sneeze at either.

This question titillates me and frustrates me every time it comes up. (Not unlike the erection on a college wrestler. ) Titillates because I love trying to figure out ways to achieve objectives and frustrating because the objectives are never clearly stated. I get the idea of 'more', but more what? And how many more? And what are you willing to spend to get more? Not that there's anything wrong with not having your goals clearly stated but it is, in my experience, unlikely that anybody can tell you how to get where you're going if you haven't told them where you want to go. In the meantime, here's an idea that I think will bring you in some new eyeballs, encourage relevant posts and reviews, and help return the site to its roots; it will also cost you a few thousand dollars: Sponsor An Evening with ShaunRoss (and other escorts as time goes by), in which the winner is selected by the escort himself based on either a review that the winner has submitted (can be for any escort but must be from the past 30 days) and/or a post that the winner has made on why he wants an evening with ShaunRoss. The escort gets to pick the winner and can give his reasons if he wants to. The site pays all expenses for the escort to travel to the client anywhere in the U. S. and spend an evening. The escort puts a blurb on his website that he's been chosen for the "Evening With" contest and links to MER. After the ball is over, the winner writes a review. Everybody goes home happy. If it works, do it again, with flourishes like letting posters vote for the escort who's going to be the 'prize' in the next contest. If it doesn't, let me know, and I'll keep working on it.

He must have included this one. I never get tired of hearing it. . . . . . . . . . . I'm glad the family will have more time together. It sounds like there's lots of love there.

Yesterday, 68 fun-loving women from Madrid hopped on a bus and travelled more than a hundred miles to meet the lonely men of Candeleda, Spain. According to this article, Candeleda, like many rural Spanish towns, is in danger of disappearing altogether if the population continues to decline. So a Spanish dating service, taking its cue from a 1951 American film, Westward the Women, is bussing scores of ladies to these rural outposts to give love a chance to blossom in the boondocks. Of course, a lot has changed since the middle of the last century when the film was made, and there are surely now plenty of lonely gay and bi-curious gentlemen in the world's hinterlands. While some may have already set out for the bright lights of the big city, what will become of those who choose to remain in their ancestral homes? Surely, they'll be destined to lives of dreariness and despair. Unless, that is, folks like us heed the call of these loveless lugs and board a bus of our own to bring balm, succor and, dare I say, a touch of flair to the remote towns and villages whose very existence may depend on our little band of merry MER-men. So how about it? Would you hop a bus to bring hope to a deserving rural romantic who's been longing for someone just like you? Would you go as far as Candeleda? How about Comăneşti? Or maybe even Çapar? This being a worldly and caring bunch, there's probably no shortage of amorous ambassadors, eager to spread our fair share of fun and frolic, among other things. So all aboard, please no shoving, and the line forms at the rear.

If you sleep for 24 hours straight, will you wake up bi?

OMG! I didn't even notice there was a guy in the bed. Better go have a peep under my covers.

Does it ever!! One of the key reasons for helping tidy up other peoples' messes is to avoid cleaning up my own.

ROFLMAO!!! Make room!

Every year our little community dons orange vests, grabs grabbers and trash bags, and picks up litter along the side of our roads. It looks absolutely pristine when we're done. Not even a bottle cap. It lasts for a few weeks and then someone passing through will toss a can or bottle. I've 'adopted' one road that I travel most days and try to keep it looking nice year-round. I believe others do the same as our roads usually look pretty clean.

I thought of 'high' but according to this article it's a shorter rhyming word. Around 1960, a young psychologist named Sarnoff Mednick thought he had identified the essence of creativity. His idea was as simple as it was powerful: creativity is associative memory that works exceptionally well. He made up a test, called the Remove Association Test, which is still often used in studies of creativity. For an easy example, consider the following three words: cottage Swiss cake Can you think of a word that is associated with all three? You probably worked out that the answer is cheese. Now try this: dive light rocket This problem is much harder, but it has a unique correct answer, which every speaker of the English language recognizes, although less than 20% of a sample of students found it within 15 seconds. The answer is sky*. —Daniel Kahneman (Thinking, Fast and Slow, Doubleday Canada, 2011) * mouse-over to see word

Thanks, guys, for the thoughtful responses. Seems like my impression that Brazil might be leading the way is a bit premature. In the meantime, I'm going to keep hoping for many more ethnic 'blends' throughout the world not only so that 'they' eventually becomes 'we', but also so that we see many more hotties like Booboo Stewart from the other thread and Shamar Moore from my dreams. /highjack

I thought that too, but I worry some of my moves might be a little rusty.

You don't suppose Dominique Strauss-Kahn set them up do you? . . . . . . .

I expect OZ has developed other ways of dealing with troublemakers.

TY, I'm always surprised by how often I say Exactly! after reading one of your posts. JKane's too. It does seem strange that folks don't give Obama at least some props for steering us away from a depression, leading us and the Russians to reduce nukes, getting insurers to cover pre-existing conditions, making us less of a Lone Ranger in international relations, helping gays get a fairer shake, and being the one voice you can count on to at least try getting everyone under the same tent. I was in a small East Coast town recently where anti-Obama sentiment runs high. My nephew hears it at his job all the time. He says it's almost always coming from older clients, fairly well-off, and not at all shy about expressing their distaste for having a black man in the White House. I find it hard to believe that there could be so many who think like that but, like TY, I'm running out of alternative reasons to explain the level of dislike some folks have for him. PS: I am once again grateful for the respectful tone of discussion here. There's much more to learn when insights are exchanged instead of insults.

I did fine on my math SAT test, but when I entered my freshman Calculus class, I was behind from day one. Many in my class had already had a year of calculus but my high school didn't even offer it. I passed the course by the skin of my teeth, but then came Advanced Calculus, which I eventually flunked. I had never flunked anything in my life and it was a real poke in the eye. I had to repeat the course, and finally 'got it', as TY says. From then on, I was even with my classmates. So my suggestion would be to get your 'remedial' class under your belt before you start college and avoid trying to play catch up while you're there. I think there's a real advantage to feeling that you're even with - or even a little ahead of - your classmates. If there's an evening adult class you can take at either a local college or high school, I'd say go for it. Even one of those 'Quadratic Equations for Dummies' books would give you a leg up. The idea is to not feel like you're struggling in class, but are actually well above average. Who knows, maybe you can even do a little 'tutoring' on the side.

Go ahead, rub it in. . .

Well, at my bank, that would just about cover the $1.00 for the soda.