I'm very interested in who's reading my blog (since the only comment on the actual blog I have gotten is from my hubby). I have enlisted the help of Google Analytics--HEY, HOLD THE PHONE!

I just read an email from my friend (and former roommate--poor girl) Dawn, who informed me that she has tried to comment, but got a message saying she wasn't able to. So, I checked my settings and lo and behold--I had the fort locked down! Apparently, I had it set so that only owners could comment--what sense does that make? Anyway, you are all free to comment away! Please comment...did I ask you to comment? By the way, leave a comment!

Back to Google Analytics--it tracks all of the traffic from my blog. I haven't put my blog out there all that much, but am considering branching out. Before I do, I wanted to see who is currently (if anyone) reading. According to my recent statistics (ha), I have had 2 visits from Texas, 5 from North Carolina, 2 from Pennsylvania, and 14 from New York. There are also 2 visits from Canada. One of which read 12 pages for 13 minutes! Now that's a reader! I really have to make a point of being more interesting...or at least try to say something funny. Now, I don't know by name who is reading, but from the location I know if they are family or friends. I can even drill down to the town. I can also see where people have linked from--how they arrived at my blog.

Here's the thing about this--it's interesting to me to see what people are reading and what interests them. It also may--or may not--help me to think about this in a global sense. I teach internet safety--it's my job. I talk about (and use) Myspace and Facebook. Although I am trying to just talk about my life, I have to remember that some things are better left unsaid. It's so easy to casually mention my last name, the town that we moved to, or where I work. Those are all normal things that I have talked about and deal with daily, but have to consciously think to not mention by name.

The other thing is, he he, that I have this program on my Windows side (I am using Parallels, and therefore am Mac and PC) that blocks Google Analytics unless I manually allow it. So, all of this information that I am gathering and analyzing just for fun--I have blocked others from seeing. Mostly people just use this info for marketing purposes, so it's harmless. It's just a default setting to block it so I don't usually change that.

So, what's the moral of the story? I'll be checking my reports to see how long you took to read this post, how you got here, where else you visited on the blog, and where you are reading. Every move you make, every step you take, I'll be watching you :)

PS Apparently, the accidental self portrait (seriously, who would take such a pic on purpose) posted yesterday, didn't go over as well as the previous one. I thought mouth slightly open (so as to breathe) was sexy...no? Red nose? Pale face? Huh, and I thought I was hot.