More than a tweet, less than a blog

I'm just jumping on to distract myself from what I ought to be doing, which is finishing various writing tasks. Just to give some idea of what I'm up to, here's a couple of stats for you...

Word count on 5000 word essay due in about an hour's time that I've been working on for the last two weeks: 1931
Word count on day one NaNoWriMo novel-in-a-month-insanity: 1862
Phone calls from guy on Match that I swapped numbers with on Thursday: 2, plus a couple of texts.
Face to face meetings with guy from Match that I swapped numbers with on Thursday: 0, although that is likely to change on Wednesday
Level of worry that he may in fact turn out to be less the nice guy he seemed when he first called, more like annoyingly clingy stalker type: Excessively high
Hours of sleep last week, not counting this morning's accidental forget-to-set-alarm debacle: Approximately 14
Statistics I have left to offer: 0
Amount of life I've wasted playing Spider Solitaire instead of writing 5000 word essay due in about an hour: 1879354 hours. Or at least it seems that way when I look at how much work I still have to do.

So, what with the novel-writing insane plan I have running at the moment, and the fact that my life is about to shift into overdrive (yes, I'm allowed out of the house without feeling guilty next week AND I've just been paid...double whammy), I'm thinking the posts might be easing up over the next month. Maybe. Fair warning!

Geek by numbers

I am a self-confessed geek. Notice, I've even got those link things sorted now. Hell, I write a blog on a scarily regular basis. There's no denying it. But now, I'm a geek obsessed with numbers.

There's the stat counter that I run on this blog. I got very excited today, thinking that I'd had a load more visitors than normal. Turns out it was just 2 people discovering me for the first time - thanks for looking, folks. My handy little counter tells me where people have gone on my blog. It also tells me about something called page loads. It was the page load figure that had me excited. Whilst I love that there are people out there who've now read more than the most recent post - and yeah, I adore the idea of having an audience - I wasn't as excited when it turned out to only be two people.

And I'm still paying attention to the world of internet dating. I've hit a point where quantity far outstrips quality. I feel a thrill when I see how many people have read my profile. They haven't necessarily contacted me after they've looked, but the initial hook is enough.

The number of emails I get a day, the number of twitter followers I have...It's all about validation through numbers. And the internet, handy as it is, can tell me just how many people do - or don't, if you take a negative view - pay attention to little old me. I'm not exactly an extrovert in the real world (hell, I was voted person most likely to become a spy by my high school teachers, and that wasn't because of my athleticism or my skill with gadgets). But on the internet? Sure, I crave the attention in what could become a very unhealthy way. Notice, I'm even referencing myself here. 

I could blame the number of accountants I have in my life for the sudden fixation on numbers, but I know it's a lie. So instead, I'm just going to have to hope that the attention keeps up, or I don't know what I'll do. I might even have to make an effort in reality. And we all know that could end badly indeed.