Good Good Good

Clustrmaps

I am still not really sure why YOU all look at this blog, but I know that one reason that I look at it is the little map you see in the column on the left. It's called a "clustrmap," and it basically puts dots on a world map based on how many visitors come to your site. You can click there and it'll take you to a larger map, along with a list of countries and the number of visitors from each of those countries (scroll down a bit).

The thing is, it only keeps your stats for a year and then it resets them. That's supposed to happen on October 8th or so, so the map may look blank when you read this. As of now, though, it looks something like this:

You can also click on "Map with smaller clustrs" and it'll show you something like this, where it's not as consolidated:

Now, maybe this is just the geography nerd in me, but I think this is really cool! And interesting; for example, I can obviously account for the big dot in Central America and for the huge one around Colorado (hi, mom!). Plus, that huge blank swath running north-south through the whole continent of North America pretty much confirms my suspicions that the states there are pretty worthless, anyhow. But what's harder to understand is how I'm getting visitors from all these other places.

According to the stats, in the last year I've had 3,147 visitors from the U.S. and 534 from Costa Rica. Fair enough. But 292 from India? I don't even know anyone in India! I also enjoy scrolling down that list and checking out the "one hit wonder" countries, like Iran, Montenegro, and the Faroe Islands.

In any case, it's food for thought. If you're ever checking out this page, have a click on the map on the left (and while you're at it, feel free to do a Google search in the box a bit higher or check out any of the ads). Especially feel free to check out the site if you're somewhere in the global boondocks, so I can get a cool dot from a place like Antarctica or Chad.

Pictures of the Day, September 27 - October 3, 2010

Here are some Pictures of the Day for ya:

September 26: Some eggs in our fridge. The egg trays are pretty strange, since they don't really fit into the fridge door like they're supposed to, and because they only hold 10 eggs. But I guess that's the sort of quality we've come to expect from our Salvadoran refrigerator.

We usually buy our eggs from our neighbor, which I guess makes them "farm fresh." Nice.

September 27: Cats like milk. Over here, we're not in any hurry to break through stereotypes.

September 28: Angela built another candy train, this time for her nephew Maikol. She got the idea from my cousin Brian, apparently. And I have a feeling I already know what I'll be getting for my birthday.

September 29: I always think it's weird to see cacti in a country as ridiculously humid as Costa Rica, but they're here, ridiculous or not.
In fact, the other day I saw a three-story cactus in downtown Palmares!

September 30: At the "Taiwan-Costa Rica Friendship Bridge" over the Tempisque River. I know I've talked about it before, but it's always nice to mention, since it really was a pretty stab-in-the-back move on Costa Rica's part to abandon Taiwan for China, once they'd used up Taiwan's generosity.

I don't read Chinese, but I hope this sign says, "Thanks for nothing!"

October 1: It's been raining a lot, so it's good mat� weather. I started drinking it out of the wood mortar and pestle thing we had, and it's worked quite well. Good Argentinean fun.

October 2: This is a view of the altar area of the church in Zarcero. Pretty elaborate. Angela and I went to a wedding there. A girl from Berlin (this one, not the real one) was marrying a guy from Spain. It was a good time. It was actually the only wedding I've been to in Costa Rica, besides my own.

October 3: We have an Australian flag towel, although I've never been to Australia. I took it from my folks' house because it was in a closet and my mom said I could take whatever towels I needed from there. I only saw the Union Jack part and thought it was a British flag, actually, since my sister had been to England a few times. But when I got the towel here, I discovered it was an Australian flag, not a British one. And I know my brother spent a year in Australia, and I think my sister may have spent some time there, too.
So, if this is your towel, sorry, I took it.

Well, that's it for today! Hope there was something interesting there for you. Until next time, thanks for reading, and have a good day!

The Picture of the Day From Yesterday...

...because this is Blogtoberfest, after all! And there are only a few minutes left in the day!

Lesley's Nature Watch. A SINGLE ROOK'S A CROW.........

.......and a flock of Crows is Rooks. So goes the old country saying, & now is the season for flocking amongst many birds. Most evident are the huge flocks of Starlings, Rooks, Mallards, Gulls & Pigeons, but take a look at the flocks of smaller birds. There are flocks of Linnets & Wagtails, Charms of Goldfinches & Gangs of Greenfinches. (I call them 'Gangs' because of their loutish behaviour on the bird table) and many more. Of course this flocking is in preparation for the colder months ahead as roosting in numbers creates warmth & also when food becomes scarce, the more pairs of eyes there are searching for it, the better for all.
Yesterday, I had a long journey through Brittany & saw several Swallow & Martin 'stragglers'. They were sparce & in tiny groups, the largest of which was just 5.
We'll have to wait until spring to welcome the return of those huge flocks of Swallows again! Meanwhile, we shall soon be welcoming the many flocks of Waders & Wild Geese who will come down from the Arctic to spend the winter with us.
What more cheerful sound could there be on a cold winter's day than a 'Gaggle' of Geese?
Photo: Gulls on Alfred Hitchcock's Statue, Dinard

Wedding

I barely got home in time to get in an October 2nd post, but here we are. Today we went to a wedding. I'll tell more about it later, but here's a picture from the reception:

That's the Wall of Sound, mariachi-style. You can't stop it; you can only allow yourself to be serenaded by it.

By the way, if you noticed that the third mariachi from the camera is my old taxi driver Mario, then you've got a good eye!

Blogtoberfest continues!!

Aber Hallo! It's Time For Blogtoberfest!

I'm not sure how I could have almost forgotten it, but it's now officially October, which means it's time for Blogtoberfest!

Let's see if I can get a post per day, just like a few years ago.* In any case, my post for today is to share with you the German Language Learning Page from Deutsche Welle. It's pretty cool, and I didn't even know it existed until I saw it mentioned on Deutsche Welle when I was in a hotel the other day. It's pretty cool if you want to freshen up your Deutsch!

So, that's it for now. I'll try to get back to you soon with more Pictures of the Day and other things I've been meaning to put up on the blog for a while.

*Alright, I admit I didn't get a post a day that year, either. But "Blogtoberfest" is still a great word.