Site

Y’know, I think that maybe fifteen per cent of this site could be considered to be even vaguely sexuality-related. Yet in some circles Planet SOMA has the reputation of being this naughty site about nothing but sex clubs and backrooms and (non-existent) dirty pictures. I’m always listed with the “gay culture” sites, the “sexuality” sites or (inexplicably) the “leather/fetish” sites. I imagine many of the poor souls who stumble in here are quite disappointed to find it’s pretty damned tame around these parts lately.

For the record:

• I don’t go to sex clubs and I haven’t in years. They’re listed here for informational purposes only. I rarely even go out to bars anymore, mainly because I’m sick of them.
• There has been no street cruising scene South of Market in several years, thanks in large part to our new upscale residential population.
• Yer humble host is teetering precariously on the brink of celibacy, due mostly to a general laziness and lack of interest. Yer humble host is quite comfortable with this situation, thanks.
• Planet SOMA is now more about journals, road trips and miscellaneous urban culture than anything else. There may even be the occasional trip to the supermarket.
• Planet SOMA is not now, nor was it ever, a leather site, a kiddie porn site, a site about dance clubs or the Castro, nor a site about the joys of gay culture.
• If someone offered me the right job in the right place, I’d leave San Francisco as fast as you can say “Mocha Frappucino Latte”.

I hope I haven’t disappointed anyone, although I’m pretty sure that I have…

Just in time for my fourth anniversary (with eight days to spare, yet), I’ve compiled the official 1999 Planet SOMA statistics, giving an exciting (OK, maybe not exciting) look at which pages are most popular, where links are coming from, etc. This front page, for example, was accessed over 128,000 times.

It’s no big surprise that the San Francisco front page is number one, with 22,333 accesses. It is a bit odd that my sex club page, which hasn’t been updated since I stopped going to sex clubs about three years ago, came in fifth. Anyway, the top ten is follows:

• San Francisco (22,333 hits)
• SF Bars (11,260 hits)
• Loftomania (10,484 hits)
• Folsom Street in the 1970s (10,418 hits)
• SF Sex Clubs (10,136 hits)
• Links (9,865 hits)
• Cruising Planet SOMA (8,230 hits)
• About Yer Humble Host (7,840 hits)
• SF Baths in the 1970s (6,435 hits)

The strong showing in the 1970s section is largely due to a link on Suck.com a few weeks back (which actually shut down the site for a few hours), although the front page probably would have been in the top ten anyway. The loft boom is a result of this section’s being featured in a couple of Yahoo Full Coverage sections.

Yahoo was by far my largest traffic generator as a whole, along with several other search engines and “that interview” in Nightcharm.

Of course, all this can distract you from the fact that I still don’t have anything particularly exciting to write about. This weekend I brought in the New Year, solidified my good luck with black-eyed peas and collard greens, and drove upto Sacramento on Sunday (through the delta on Highway 160) just to get out of the house. And I worked.

It rained today. That was nice. And I had some really good pork chops for dinner. I almost threw a computer through a plate glass window at my evil and hateful part-time job today, which would have made an interesting story had I actually done it. And I won free stuff at the vending machine twice. But that’s about it.

Big damn deal, huh?

Why do I read the letters to the editor? It only causes me pain…

About the New Bloomingdale’s on Market Street:

It is true that the actual building will not be affected. But what about the people inside? During the next three years, the employees of the nonprofits and small businesses located in this building will have to deal with the constant sound, dust, vibration and stress caused by construction that will take place only 5 feet from our office windows — windows that are our only source of ventilation.

Boo fucking hoo. That’s what urban life is all about. Yes, it’s annoying. Yes, it bothers me when I have to deal with construction near my house. No, I don’t believe that it’s some giant conspiracy against “nonprofits and small businesses”, nor that it’s really worthy of a letter to the editor of the business section…

Bitch about it on a web journal instead; they’re designed for whining and complaining, dammit…

Or maybe we should just leave all vacant lots empty in perpetuity, lest the neighbors be incovenienced…

About the Patriot Act:

Personally, I do not care if someone knows what books I have checked out from the library, or what sites I have visited on the Internet. If collecting this information will save even one American life, it is well worth the so-called infringement of civil rights and liberties.

America is at war, and at times of war people must give up certain liberties to ensure the security of this great nation. As Americans, we need to stand up against those who wish to weaken our defense and let the enemy in.

Is it me, or is the collective IQ of this country declining on a daily basis? Think what you will about the Patriot Act, but this moron clearly misses the point all the way ’round and shows his ignorance both of the concept of rights and liberties (which are not “gifts” of the government to be rescinded at will) and of critical thinking…

It was Benjamin Franklin, I think, who said something to the effect that anyone who willingly gives up his freedom in exchange for a sense of security is worthy of neither…