Tag! I'm It!

JenX of Memoirs of a Dutiful Xer tagged me with the meme "7 Links," which I will now attempt to produce something concerning.

Most Beautiful Post -- Jen often posts photos of neat stuff, many of which are lovely to look at. About the only pics I ever post are book or album cover scans; I think I have to treat this one like a 3-0 pitch and just watch it.

My Most Popular Post -- Traffic-wise, it's this one, hands down. Second is this one. Both, I think, get visits because of search-engine queries. The first because I use the old story attributed to Winston Churchill, Groucho Marx or someone with a similar style of wit about a lewd proposal to a female dinner companion about the possibility of purchasing her company for a large amount of money. She jokingly agrees, and the witty fellow asks again, only he names a much lower figure. She demurs, insulted: "What kind of a woman do you think I am!" "We've already established what kind of woman you are," comes the reply. "Now we're just haggling over the price." The point of the post was to lament a young Italian woman who wanted to auction off her virginity and I doubt many people arrive at it to learn that, as you may note in the comments. You may also note in the comments that I decided to channel my inner Mike Royko and smart off to someone who wondered why a minister might be opposed to that kind of auction.

The second is the well-known picture of Texas Ranger pitcher Nolan Ryan punching the White Sox's Robin Ventura in the head when Ventura charged the mound after a Ryan brushback pitch. Again, I think the traffic is much more the result of that being a well-known picture than any widespread desire to learn what I might say about that incident.

My friends who talk to me about my blog mostly refer to my humorous (to me) recaps of Northwestern University football games.

My Most Controversial Post -- Based on negative comments, I'd imagine it's the haggling over the price post listed above. But it might also be my 2008 "Crystal Ball" post in which I detail what I thought might happen politically following the election of President Obama and the Democratic landslide that accompanied it. I turned out to be right about the president's dismal performance and the likelihood that the Congressional Democratic leadership would take a hit, and soon. I turned out to be wrong about the Republican party getting its act together quickly and going to work, since former GOP Chairman Michael Steele was more interested in promoting Michael Steele than the party paying his salary. I also turned out to be wrong about Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin being a viable potential presidential candidate; the combination of a maliciously endoscopic press and Palin's own choices to build her brand rather than her political resume push that possibility back until at least 2016 if she changes course soon.

My Most Helpful Post -- Well, I guess I'm not sure. I think it would depend on the reader. The most helpful posts for me have been an occasional series where I congratulate the president on things he did that I liked, like here, here, here, here and especially here. These are helpful to me because when I look for the good things the guy does I train myself away from the idea that his insufficiency for the office he holds merits me actually hating or wishing ill on him personally. So I don't hate him, and aside for hoping he's out of work come January 2013 I wish him no ill. Such a viewpoint eases and gives peace to my spirit.


A Post I Didn't Think Got the Attention It Deserved -- All of 'em. I have an over-developed sense of my own importance.

The Post I'm Most Proud Of -- I kind of like these couple, about the ridiculous shallowness of stupid crap like the "Boobquake" protest in light of those same protesters' lack of attention or energy when it comes to trying to make real differences in the endangered lives of real women.

A Post Whose Success Surprised Me -- I heard a lot from friends about this one, which was a surprise because I thought snarking on "I Voted" stickers would get me some flack. And I am always surprised when I see a search-engine query for this one, about some of the Chinese "curses" used in the science fiction TV show Firefly. What, I wonder, is someone searching for when they type in the phrase "Motherless goats of all motherless goats?"