Sunday, August 20, 2006

400,000 hits on my site counter!

400,000 visits! Far out.

The cats are all very thrilled for me. Here's Elvis:














And Reddy:














Tucker:













And Pete:













As you can see, these guys couldn't be more excited.

Nice to have a four followed by five zeros, but the zero in "0 Comments" has me wondering if I suddenly lost any following. It makes for a puzzling contrast, the five zeros versus one. So, I'm a bit down, frankly. Which is a sign I need to take a vacation. I'll be back. Many thanks to those who have commented, but I need to figure out if these high numbers ultimately mean very much....

Later,

Lee

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Lee,

I love your site and I love your cats. Thanks for being such a great blogger!

Anonymous said...

Hello Lee--

I actually was going to comment, though I've been downloading from your blog for a couple months now. My girlfriend had been looking for a long time for Paul Whiteman's version of "Thais," and was really tickled when I could play it for her! We are both musicians, and play much straighter versions for string quartet etc. Oh, and I have done a quartet arrangement of "Midnight Fire Alarm"! I think we have similar interests. Anyway, I always look forward to checking in once or twice a week. Please keep it up as long as it isn't a drag on you.

later,
John Tenney

Lee Hartsfeld said...

Big Fan,

Thanks! I needed that. (<: I'll let my cats see your comment, too. (When they're done with their naps....)

Anon.,

A quartet version of MFA!! Cool! How did that come about? Thanks for the encouragement. I'll keep going--it's in my blood. I'd be lost without this place. I just needed to get some air or something. For want of a better analogy!


Lee

Evelyn said...

I'd leave a long comment, but I'm on my way to see Bucky Pizzarelli perform in a local park's summer concert series. For free.

(I don't even think my site has a counter....got a get me one someday...)

Lee Hartsfeld said...

Evelyn,

Free concerts--the best kind!

Yes, site counters have to be downloaded. They're free. They come, of course, in the form of HTML script, or whatever the term is. You simply copy and paste, and... instant basis for neurotic obsession!

But it's free!

Hopefully, you were about to give me advice on how to curb my angst. (<: Is "angst" the word? Hm. Maybe that's something I had as a teen.

And I sure looked angsted-out as a teen. It was "the" look back then.

Hope it's a memorable concert,


Lee

Evelyn said...

Lee:

When I get angst, I wash a lot of dishes and fold laundry. And I got to dollar stores and buy all sorts of wierd stuff just because I can, and, heck, if shopping for cheap bathroom cleaner and little pottery cows with wings and violin playing cats and dog toys (I have three dogs AND two cats) can't get you out of a funk, just be grateful you aren't any of the other poor souls shuffling around in there....

The concert was awesome. I wish I am in that kind of shape when I am 80. His son Martin played bass, Lou Monte's son Ray played drums and a third guy played guitar and sang (and I can't remember his name at the moment). They did "Tangerine" and "Moonglow" and "Sing, Sing, Sing" and seemed to be having a blast. My husband used to be a professional musician, and most of his long-time friends are, and there is this way that they look at each other - sort of "Show me what you got" - when they are into the music and having at good time - and Bucky was watching his son solo with that same look. Very cool. We wanted to go and shake his hand, but there was quite a crowd, so we had to leave.

And I only got about 65 million mosquito bites, too......

Lee Hartsfeld said...

65 million? Maybe there were a thousand or so VERY busy mosquitos biting like crazy!

(Lee's odd observations, c. 2006)

Glad to hear the concert was a great one. I often thrift to get over (or cope with) anxiety. When I lived in the Big City, it was my MAIN coping relief valve. Dollar stores are fun, too. And the "Family Dolllar" types of places--good sources for refrigerator magnets. But, otherwise, I never buy "serious" items at those joints, because the savings are deceptive--as in, nonexistent. As I'm sure you know. For brand items, at least, a shopper spends less at Giant Eagle or Kroger. What a con.

Someday, you or I will walk into a "dollar store" and behold rows of dollar bills on the walls. "Er, how much are your dollars?" Clerk: "$1.20."


Lee

Anonymous said...

So, yeah, the quartet of Midnight Fire Alarm came about because I used to have a "Salon Orchestra" (strings and piano mostly) using original charts from old pit bands etc. from the 1890s to the 1940s. There's a huge collection in the area (Oakland CA) housed in the old Paramount Theater, and I've been a volunteer curator/cataloger for many years. I formed the core repertoire of this group that way. We don't play much anymore (not that we ever did) 'cause there's just not much demand for a really classy group like that, so we have to put most of our efforts into string quartets. Though we're trying to stretch other boundaries. I've been writing a lot of pop charts for quartet, including, I kid you not, "Play That Funky Music White Boy." I swear to you, it works.

later,
John

Caroline said...

Orang Cats AND Christmas Music!?!?!

No wonder I've always liked your blog so much!

I've been following along for a few years & I really enjoy the music you share - thanks for all of it!!!

& we have 3 orange cats, too - just the sweetest cats ever!!

Lee Hartsfeld said...

Cats are the coolest creatures around! My post, by the way, is an old one (2006!), and our cat family has changed since then. We've got 20 of them, and only two in the current herd are orange, though we have several creams, including Savio, Calvin, and.... hmm. Actually, maybe we only have two creams. So hard to keep track!

Sad to say, Reddy (one of my all-time best cat buddies) vanished a year or so after we got her--we suspect coyotes (bright cats, unfortunately, especially attract predators), and Tucker passed away a while back after a long life. Ditto for Pete. He was an old guy when I took the photo.

My blog is going through a major revamp--you'll notice that very few posts remain out of the 2000+ that were here. I'm changing the format, but I'll continue showcasing the cats. Cyberspace without cat images just isn't cyberspace, I say.