When I solicited advice on which blog site to jump to (from MySpace, which has gotten even suckier since I left), Stephie warned me that a hit tracker, while amusing, would turn into a downward spiral of narcissism.  I knew she was right because she’s smart, but I also knew my own capacity for reading about people who read about me.  After looking around for approximately 3.5 minutes, I signed up for a monthlong free trial.

The logic was that I could accept my own narcissism if it was free, but paying for it would make me an asshole.

Man, IP addresses are the best.  So are region-specific telecommunications companies.  Thanks to them, I learned that I have continually returning readers from Wisconsin, Arkansas, Texas, Malaysia, and Australia.  I don’t technically know anyone in any of these places.  I say “technically” because I (thankfully) don’t know anyone in Texas anymore, but I’m not surprised that they’re still reading all my shit.  If exes and their…um…currents, I suppose, didn’t stalk, would the Internet need to exist?

My free trial ended today.  While I enjoyed the information and accompanying color-coded pie charts, I could definitely see the potential for spiraling downwards.  I was already getting a little too intense about the traffic alerts.  I can’t imagine paying to make myself crazier every month.  I can do just fine on my own for free.

Because I was off for the first time in ever yesterday, I invited some friends over for dinner.  What was going to be 7 people turned into 9, which then turned into 10, which eventually turned into 12, but by then all the food had been eaten.

I made a slightly-tweaked-by-me Martha Stewart pot roast, my first ever try at gravy that was highly successful, goat cheese mashed potatoes, roasted carrots, and Smitten Kitchen’s apple cake (“yay, Jews!”).  Oh, and wine.  Lots of wine.  Considering yesterday was Veteran’s Day, the only way it could have been better is if the roast had been shaped like this:

…ahem, please no howls of protest from anyone who wasn’t invited.  I only have so much and so much money.  You’ll get your turn if you haven’t already.