Blog-Off

I'm hesitant to post this.


I've been, it seems, invited (challenged? entangled?) to a blog-off.

What's a blog-off, you ask? That's a reasonable question. In fact, it's the first one I had, as well. The original format was going to be a topic decided by a third party, with the challenger and I each having 20 minutes to write and publish a post on it, to then be judged by another person. That concept seems to have passed, however, and now I'm not entirely sure if it's based on quality, quantity, readership, or some other factor that I've failed to identify.

But every time I talk to Katie, she reminds me about it. So, whatever it is, it seems to be on.

Katie's blog is babygotbrit. And I've put a link here, but I'm not sure I can encourage you to read it, in case this is being decided by number of hits. I'm also not sure what the prize is for winning.

It's been a while since I've had a good bit of public self-analysis, though, so I may as well continue on in that direction. There are, I think, only two things that really, really make me competitive.

First is going to a concert. I kind of like to be at the front. And when I go, I get pretty... uh, focused. I have a routine I go through that's pretty established, and has gotten me a good spot at a lot of shows. I'm not ruthless, not aggressive, but I have a goal and I go for it.

The only other thing that I've really been able to identify is doing something with someone who really, really wants to win. I remember playing foosball with my friend Fred. I love the guy... he's quiet, friendly, warm... and LOVES to win, HATES to lose. Anyway, I had been playing for a while with a bunch of people and just relaxing, enjoying it, laughing. Fred joined up on the other side of the table, and he got his game face on pretty quickly. Well, I'll tell you... I couldn't care who won or lost, but every time I scored on him (which was, happily for me, pretty frequently) I could see him getting more and more desperate to win. I'm not usually cruel, but there's something about that situation... someone wanting with their whole heart to beat me in something completely trivial... that just seems like an invitation to play with them that's just a little too good to pass up.

So, if you have any suggestion of how I may be able to take the lead in the blog-off, I'm all ears. Wish me luck!

Yes, That's Me

Every once in a while I take a look at some of the search terms that were used when people did searches that led them to TYC. Sometimes they seem rather intentional ("the yellow couch") and sometimes a little less so ("yellow couch church" is one I see often from the UK).

In any case, there was an interesting one this week:

"champagne delamont"


I wonder if they found what they were looking for?

Hey There

Well, I'm in France with friends,and have been internetless; which is why it's been a while since an update.

The French also use a crazy keyboard. It's taken me 18 minutes to type this much correctly, so this will be short. But when I get home, I'll fill you in.

Interesting points so far:

• Another slight timing/date confusion
• Some magnificent cigars
• My first... uh, exposure... to topless beaches
• Sleeping in a tent again - it's been a while
• Being in the French Riviera and feeling vaguely like it's actually Holland

More to come, when I get to a keyboard where you don't need to use "shift" to get to the period. I don' know who thought this one was a good idea...

10,000

Well, it appears that last night we hit 5 digits for TYC visitors. Thanks for reading - I wish that as a kind of thank-you I could make some popcorn and you could sit in the tent and watch a movie with the little chick and I. Of course, she has fairly particular taste, so this would only feel rewarding if you like Veggie Tales or if you are really, really hungry for popcorn. Still, might be nice.

9,000

Hey, we just passed 9,000 visitors. Thanks for reading, everyone. I think that when we get to 10,000, I'd like to have an ice-cream party.

Read It/Spring Is Here!

One of Sydney's comments about reading sporadically made me realize that I do that, too. Actually, "sporadic" would be generous. I'm really bad at remembering.

I have good intentions; I also have about 800 bookmarks.

Anonymous seems to have picked up on this early on and figured out a way to automatically generate email feeds from her blog when there are new posts. So, I see those. But for those of you who do this kind of thing, what do you suggest? How do you read mine?

I would prefer a format that collects them all in one page, rather than loading each blog in another tab or something. Full text (with pictures, if there are any) would be good.

Ideas?


And, in other news, it was snowing yesterday, but it's definitely spring. The new shoes are out, and it's looking good... the kind of inverted pyramid-shaped heels from fall are gone. Skinny heels are back, baby! Now we just need to get rid of this rain/snow/cold...

Where Are You?

It's interesting seeing how some of the demographics of people visiting TYC changes over time. For a while, Mac users were almost half of the visitors. Lately, they're down to 15%. Directly related to me not posting enough pictures? You be the judge.

Anyways, Canada and Switzerland have usually been about equal in terms of their percentage, but that seems to be shifting:



I'm not sure how to take this. Am I losing my Swiss appeal? Gaining momentum before my move back to the Great White North? Not talking enough about cheese?

Oh, and if you're reading from Italy - can I come and visit you?

8,000

Oh, a couple of days ago we passed the 8,000 mark - thanks, everybody.

I'm a little embarrassed to admit that it was a mac user.



Thanks for reading, for commenting, and for caring. I love you guys.

New Look

What do you think? I don't know if anyone else had this happen, but the link to get back to the main page from any one of the posts or archives seemed to have disappeared in the old template. So, I switched it. Function, never fashion.

I don't mind it, but I'm open to ideas. Let me know if you hate it and I'll see what else they have...

7,000

On January 2nd, to mark the start of a new year, TYC had its 7,000th visitor. Not counting, of course, you guys who use a subscription service to read instead of actually logging on. I mean, you don't count as far as the number I know about, but as far as I'm concerned you still count just as much in a metaphysical kind of sense.

You know, just so you're not worried or anything.

Thanks for reading, everybody. And you too, Mom.

Slowing

...to a crawl, in terms of posting. I've been busy - time with friends, time with family, and even managed to get in some hockey and wings. But have a good Christmas, everybody. Consider this a big hug from me.

Not Gonna Make It

I was really hoping to have, on average, a post a day for my first year.

I think it may have been a little ambitious.

I started on January 13, and, as of this entry, I have 323 posts. That leaves me just over a month to add 42 more, and, with Christmas in there, I don't think I'm going to make it. I considered taking drastic steps.

You know, like posting this one in three parts. Or writing about Yngvie Malmsteen. Or even just putting up posts with nothing but pictures. But I decided that I won't stoop to those levels.

So it looks like I'll be a little short. Maybe next year.

It Makes Me Happy

One of the frequent visitors to TYC mentioned to me a week or two ago that she feels like I hold back here.

It's true. I post some of what's happening with me and the little chick, but certainly not all. I allude, sometimes, to some of the deeper or more challenging things I'm dealing with personally, but I don't (and won't) go into the specifics of the situations. I don't feel like this is much of a forum at all for what is (or isn't) happening for me romantically.

But, at the same time, I can honestly explore how any of these things are affecting me. I talk about what I'm not sure of, what I am learning. I can post about what Christmas really means to me right after I post about listening to an old AC/DC tune; I can put on pictures or words, be funny or serious, self-absorbed or thinking about things much bigger than me.

It makes me happy to be able to have this venue to write, think, and explore. And I deeply appreciate you being willing to join me in it; those of you who subscribe or check in regularly to read, and those of you who click on that little "comment" button. Thanks.

Humo(u)r

I've realized that I've become afraid to use the "humor" label on my posts. Part of it may be that, in retrospect, I'm ashamed of using the American spelling (no offense, Americans). But I think that most of is that I'm a little concerned someone will get onto my blog and do a search on it.

Then they'll sit back, cross their arms, and read.

Unimpressed.

"I don't see what's so funny about that," they'll say, reaching for some more lemon rind. "Hurrumph."

On the other hand, if they're not expecting anything to be really very clever, even just a little bit of wit can be rather impressive.

So, if you've searched and just found this, I'm sorry. But if you keep digging, you never know what you may find.

5,000

We've had 5,000 visitors now on the yellow couch. Thanks. And I mean that, even for those of you viewing on macs.

;-)

My Eyes!

Sorry about the lack of updates lately - I've been busy with a friend staying at my place, and I also seem to have acquired an eye infection from somewhere. It feels kind of stupid - 5 year-olds are supposed to get these things, not adults. But yesterday, it was certainly there - red and swollen to the point that I couldn't really focus with my right eye.

Just so you're not alarmed, I went to the doctor, got some medicine, and am well on my way to being recovered.

But I wasn't able to work... looking at the computer (which is mostly what I do while I'm working) was really messing me up. I couldn't focus with both eyes, but it turns out that using my PC while sitting with one eye closed is not that practical, either. I left midway through the afternoon, soon realized that my eyes tend to play a pretty central role in my away-from work activities.

Maybe I'll write on my blog. Maybe I'll edit some pictures. Maybe catch up on facebook. Maybe work on mixing some music. Maybe try to find out what Scott Baio has been up to lately. You know, just the usual stuff. But those all use the computer and all (except maybe the last one) work best with two eyes. I couldn't read. I couldn't watch TV. So I limited myself to checking my work email at most every 15 minutes, strapped on my bass and spent the rest of the afternoon singing.

And something I've been thinking about lately... what really moves me? What are the compelling forces in my life? More to come on that...

Glad To Have Found Me

Well, I had a wonderful weekend. But now, to celebrate the weekly return to real life, I think I'd like to highlight some of the searches that have led various unsuspecting people to The Yellow Couch.

Google.com: is the sun always yellow? He got to me via the yellow from yellow couch and the title, "The Sun Always Shines In Lugano". I think this one may have been a disappointment, no matter how you slice it. I mean, fair enough, that's a second-grade-science kind of question, but this is a first-grade-science kind of site. Apparently, though, if you ask Google where to find the answer to this question, they figure my blog is your best bet. Sorry!

Google Images: Robert Palmer or Robert Palmer Girls (I've had both). I find this a bit strange... I didn't even re-save the image somewhere... I'm just displaying it on one of my posts, but I've had a few hits from it. Why not... I guess it will show up there as well as anywhere.

Google Blog Search: photojournalism compact cameras. This led to my May Day pictures, which, I'm sad to say, is actually a post about pictures without any pictures in it, since I was still figuring out how to best link to my hosting site. How's that for a let-down?

Google.com: light yellow leather couches low back yellow. Well, sorry. The yellow and couch turn out to be completely unrelated to the "low" and "back" in this post, in which I am discussing the pros and cons of various jean pockets. Once again, though, Google figures I'm the guy to talk to if you want help choosing your furniture. And while you could do worse, you could also do a whole lot better. But then, if you're the kind of person who puts the same word into a search twice, maybe you couldn't do a whole lot better.

Google.com: designing a room around yellow couch. See above.

AOL search: couch bags. Yeah, I'm not going to help you there.



I don't know... I'm hoping that maybe one or two of the Robert Palmer people will come back, but I don't think I've generated a whole lot of return traffic with these hits...

Have a good week, everybody.

Thank You For Talking

If we're ever at a movie together, it will go a lot better if you don't talk to me - or, I guess, to anyone - much while it's on. Unless I am really, really into you. That's not a value judgment, really... it's just something that bugs me. I say that to say this:

I couldn't be happier that a few of you are feeling comfortable enough here to be commenting. I don't care if you do it because I'm just so frightfully engaging, if you're hoping to - somehow - try to raise the overall standard by balancing my crap with something that actually makes sense, if, like me, you just can't stay away from a yellow couch (any yellow couch), or if you're my mom and you just feel like you probably should.

Just know you're welcome. I'm happy to see you whenever you choose to drop by, and I like to hear what you have to say. You know, as long as we're not in a theater.

4,000

Looks like TYC had it's 4000th visitor today. Or, alternately, someone is stalking me and figures this is the best way to keep track of where I am. In any case, thanks. I'm glad you've been here.

3,000

TYC just had it's 3000th visitor. I wish I could give everyone a chocolate when they visit, or at least a moist towelette or something. In any case, thanks. I appreciate it. And if anyone doubted that my mom was visiting before, now we have the comments to prove it. So - thanks, Mom.

I figure that with about 800 more the pen will finally be worn off...