Friday, April 18, 2008
(12:00 AM) | Adam Kotsko:
Friday Afternoon Confessional: But I Am a Real Worm
I confess that, contrary to all common sense, having the Internet on my phone seems to have improved my quality of life. When I'm in Hyde Park, for instance, the ability to verify that I have no urgent e-mail has already saved me several trips to the library -- trips during which, upon seeing no urgent e-mail, I would then cast about on the Internet looking for something to do that would justify my trip. It's too slow to be very useful, and I can't imagine actually replying to an e-mail using the text-messaging typing method, but so far, it seems to be having a calming effect.I confess that I feel like I am getting less e-mail now than I used to. I'm not sure whether this feeling is based in reality, nor am I sure that I would want to return to the supposedly higher volume of yesteryear.
I confess that I hardly ever check The Weblog's traffic anymore. It seems to have plateaued -- somewhere between 300 to 350 "visits" per day, according to SiteMeter's count. The weekly running average rarely dips below 300, as far as I can tell. Establishing that kind of steady traffic was a major step in my master plan. The next step would be to start charging my readers a nickel per "visit." It's really a bargain -- at a low flat rate, you'd get unlimited pageviews for a half hour after the first click.
I confess that with the Pennsylvania primary coming up, I've returned to my old habits of neurotically checking polls.
I confess that while reading Lenin on the CTA, it occurred to me that I far preferred being viewed as a Leninist instead of a religious nutjob (as I sometimes fear my usual reading material leads people to believe I am). I confess that I'm paranoid that my field of study will scare women away, though there has only been one instance where that even arguably seemed to be the case. I confess that I shouldn't blame poor old God for my problems like that.
I confess that I just went to Chipotle Mexican Grill's website to suggest that they put a restaurant in Hyde Park. As I said in that e-mail, every student I've talked to agrees they would do a brisk business. After causing a fast food restaurant to shut down (i.e., ratting out the unsanitary KFC next to my old place), I feel the need to give something back to the community.
