Some Housekeeping Chores, The Next Post is Yours, But No Strippers or Whores

I. Housekeeping

Few items on the ol' cleanup agenda:  First of all, I am just flat-out sick and tired of spending my whole day in either discomfort or pain.  One wrong move, as they say, and the ouchies come tumbling out of my ribcage.  If any of you are doctors, I could use an explanation as to exactly what is causing that pain.  Either way, I'll be happy to see it in my rear-view mirror.

Secondly, I owe an apology to...Very Josie.  Actually two apologies.  The first is for stealing the cushion of her work chair, though I will say that the rumors that I was found sniffing all the delicious out of it are completely unfounded. The second apology is that I just today found a comment she left me about ten days ago in Blogger's spam file.  It has since been published. Check it out: it's about, er, some damn thing or another.

The final housekeeping item is this: The realm of the Crafty Southpaw has been extended to 20 followers.  As always, my followers seem to sign up in bunches.  For almost a year I had 8; then within maybe two weeks I grew to 16.  There it sat for months until someone else signed up about two weeks ago,  and then last week I got three more in rapid succession.  So: welcome aboard, NumbBono (whom I remember from the BDR days), M. Prosk, Stump, and most recently Vegas Linda Lou, whose book Bastard Husband: A Love Story is the most recent addition to my Kindle Fire.  The book is funny and poignant in perfect proportion, and her blog is a fun read too.  Linda, thanks for your email, it was very gracious of you.

All you new types, feel free to comment on my posts and thanks for reading me.  It is (obviously) because of y'all that my blog is increasing in popularity. In fact, the page hits I've gotten in the last 30 days represent 1/6th of all the page hits I've ever had, despite the fact that my blog has been up and running since 2007.

II. Pick the Next Post

Once again I am suffering a touch of blog post logjam, so I'm giving the subject of the next post to you.  Here are your choices:

1. My adventures in umpire school, which was on the last list
2. Part I of a new feature: Shit I Find Fascinating.  Some topics to consider:
   * Shortwave "numbers stations;"
   * A brilliant bit of World War II deception called "Operation Mincemeat;"
   * The Army that Never Was: The Story of FUSAG, the First US Army Group; or
   * Genius, Catcher, Spy: the Moe Berg Story (teaser: he was a backup catcher for the Boston Red Sox; his manager, noting his brilliance, quipped "he can speak five languages, and he can't hit in any of 'em")
3. A video of me playing "Norwegian Wood" on my guitar
4. My brush with greatness: I sit next to an LPGA champion on an airplane

You'll notice that there's no smut of any kind on this list.  Apologies to our friend Rob, who is so breast-obsessed that his motto is "I'm thirsty."

Also, if one of you sends me a particularly passionate plea to write whatever post you advocate, I will deliver props by the carload. And if you don't want me publishing your choice, just say so in the comment and anonymity is guaranteed.

Finally, and by way of closing this post, I had ice cream today for the first time this calendar year.  It was, I must admit, yummy. Let's hope I've retained the ability to process dairy, or nobody is going to have a pleasant night's sleep here tonight.