March 28, 2005

Notes from the Weekend

  • In what I think fits the often-misunderstood definition of irony (or not, I could be guilty like everyone else), I have been working on a lengthy piece on the subject of insomnia for my magazine writing class while simultaneously suffering from a severe case of it myself. As many of you who check for and receive new entries here during the wee hours each morning already know, I am a "night owl." Actually, calling me a "night owl" is like calling Anna Benson "outspoken." When I am on what I would consider a good sleep routine (for me at least), I am a night owl. When my sleep routine is going badly, like it has been lately, I am definitely a pretty severe insomniac.

    In the past when I've fallen into a rut when it comes to getting sleep at normal hours and getting enough it, I have been able to crash for a couple days and get back to semi-normalcy. That's no longer the case, because I have what is for me a fairly strict daily schedule. I work six mornings a week for Rotoworld, produce an average of five entries per week here, and write anywhere from 2-5 columns per week over at The Hardball Times. That doesn't count school (which I'm sure will please my mom) or my job at Insider Baseball, which hasn't quite gotten into full swing yet.

    I'm not sure why I'm writing about this, since I'm confident that 99.9% of you don't really care or find it interesting, but it seemed like a reasonable thing to do while I sit here at 9:26 on a Sunday morning, having last slept ... well, to tell you the truth my internal clock is so screwed up right now that I'm honestly not even sure when. Wow, what a downer I am. Sorry.

  • On what is hopefully a much less depressing subject, here are some "interesting" search engine queries that landed people at this blog over the weekend:

    - "Sexy Pictures Jay Payton"
    - "Does Mark Bellhorn Have a Wife"
    - "Kevin Garnett and Wife"
    - "What Does Halle Berry's Sister Heidi Berry Look Like"
    - "Terrell Owens Homophobia"
    - "Gay Twins Free"
    - "Mr. Clutch"

    For a while, in the very early days of this blog, the #1 source for visitors was people searching for "Jennifer Aniston's Butt" on various search engines. It was worth like 50 new visitors every day, back when my mom represented about 10% of my total audience. Actually, I just did a Google search for that exact phrase and guess what? AaronGleeman.com is still the #2 search result. I have never been more proud of the work I've done here.

  • As if the Aniston's butt thing wasn't enough to convince me that I've really done something with my life, here's another search-engine related tidbit: Up until a little while ago, someone searching for "Aaron Gleeman" would be asked, "Did you mean Aaron Gellman." It was Google's not-so-subtle way of telling me that I wasn't really worth searching for. (Whereas Gellman, who is apparently a big deal in the world of "transportation," was.)

    Well, that has all changed. Not only are you no longer asked if you meant to search for someone else if you type in my name, a "Did you mean Aaron Gleeman" pops up if you accidentally leave off a letter and search for "Aaron Gleema." I discovered this because, along with questions about the wives of various athletes, someone found their way here over the weekend while searching for Mr. Gleema.

  • As a result of writing about music for two days last week, I got an enormous number of song and artist recommendations. The most surprising thing? That many of you are apparently big fans of Liz Phair. Seriously, who would have guessed that? Anyway, I listened to most of the suggestions and downloaded about 200 new songs since Friday (I had to do something while I was awake for so long, right?). I didn't stumble across any artists that I now love after never having heard of them before, but you guys did open my eyes to some lesser-known songs by people I already liked.

    By the way, a few e-mailers asked me who my favorite singer/group is, since I never really mentioned that last week. Do you want to take a guess? Go ahead, I'll give you a few seconds. Okay, ready? My all-time favorite musical artist is ... Al Green. And it's not particularly close, either. Any e-mails criticizing that selection will immediately be deleted. I'll stand by silently while you all bash John Mayer and James Taylor, but bashing Reverend Al is where I draw the line.

  • I've done my almost-monthly updating of the sidebar and links. Mostly I just added links to the three other sites I write for on a regular basis and deleted a few links to some other sites I don't typically visit on a daily basis. In light of the huge number of requests for links I get every week, I have decided (albeit for like the 50th time) to limit the links on this blog to sites I visit on an everyday basis. That way the "blogroll" isn't 300 links long (which I think is useless when I see it on other sites) and you know that if you see a site linked on here, it is one I genuinely frequent.

    As always, I apologize to anyone whose site I deleted, as well as those people who have asked me for links in the past without me giving them out. In my defense, I think this is a fair way to do things in that the links I do give out have some value or legitimacy, and I have been pretty good about linking to a ton of different sites each week in my "Link-O-Rama" entries. Don't let that stop you from holding a grudge though, because I certainly wouldn't.

  • Okay, that seems like more than enough minutiae and navel-gazing for one day, doesn't it? See ya tomorrow with some notes on the Twins (you know, because this is supposed to be a baseball site and all).

    • Today at The Hardball Times:
    - Five Questions: Chicago White Sox (by Studes)
    - Five Questions: New York Mets (by Jeremy Heit)
    - Five Questions: Philadelphia Phillies (by Bill Liming)

    No Comments

    No comments yet.

    Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.