Diane Girdles the Globe(PART 2 OF 3)
Subj:Summer is here
with us!
Enjoy the sunshine!
From: diane03760@vancouver.ca
To: barclay1720@aol.com
Date: Tue, Jul 26, 2011 4:35 pm.
Pacific Daylight Saving Time
Thanks my truly skinny Socrates, Kato.
■"Madame Riviera and Burger"
(July 26, 2011)
I've read the above article.
Your article is excellent as usual.
I did remember that you lived in Yellowknife some years ago.
Many years ago, I too lived for six months or so in the north, Whitehorse, Yukon Territory.
Actually, I worked for a mining company in a small town called Faro (Anvil Mines at the time) as secretary to the President.
I was given my own apartment (most of the staff had to live in bunk houses) and a huge salary compared with what I would receive in Vancouver.
So I was thrilled about that.
I didn't want to feel totally isolated, though, so I asked whether I could eat with the others in the cookhouse and they obliged.
Thank God.
It was fun and much easier than doing my own cooking and making do with the limited selection in the local store.
The cook took a special liking to me and every day he would give me extra rations of cookies and cakes.
Pretty soon I realized that if I took advantage of these favours I would end up being a roly-poly.
so I would take them and then give them away.
Lotsa fun.
I do remember a really cute Japanese gal who worked up there telling me she had already gained 25 lbs in one year, and it showed.
It was all the lesson I needed, thankfully.
SOURCE: "Biker Babe"
(Thur. April 12, 2012)
But, Kato, I wonder how they could possibly find the article that includes my story.
It's quite easy. By now, so many Net surfers know your name. They simply search on GOOGLE, entering your name like this:
(gog20415di.gif)
Wow!...amazing!...249,000,000 hits and my name appears in the third as well as fourth article.
So I told you. You're really getting popular among Net surfers.
I doubt... but how come your articles show up in the first page?
Well... as I told you, I've got many sites.
(hg20324ce.gif)
You see... The number of visitors is increasing month by month since I'm working as hard as possible to write interesting stories. Besides, Diane, you're helping me a great deal, writing me many pieces of interesting mail and giving me tons of inspiration. This is such a lovely collaboration, I'd say.
I'm glad to hear that, but since your readers are mostly Japanese, I don't think they appreciate my stories.
Oh yes, they do. They're really looking forward to reading your stories.
What makes you think so, Kato?
Look at the following chart.
(ame20413be.gif)
From 8 to 9 o'clock in the morning, 40 visitors read "Biker Babe."
How do you know?
Look at the following snap shot of the article at http://ameblo.jp/barclay/.
(ame20413.gif)
■"Biker Babe" at ameblo.jp
Although I posted it in Vancouver at 4:27 p.m. on April 12, this article was published at 8:27 a.m. on April 13 in Tokyo because Japan is 16 hours ahead of us.
So what?
Diane, look at the peak time of the above chart.
Suddenly 40 people read the above article from 8 to 9.
Yes, yes, yes, ... they did because they were waiting for something exciting. They knew that an article about Diane was about to come at any moment. As soon as their RSS reader received the notice of the arrival of "Biker Babe", they clicked its title and started reading eargerly.
I don't believe that.
Why not?
There is no way for them to know that an article about me is coming along.
Well...the Japanese are quite ingenious, you know. They're very keen to use a gadget like a RSS reader so that they could read whatever they want.
But they will never know what's in store.
Those 40 people were quite eager to read an article about you.
But not many Japanese speak English in the first place.
No, not many. That's absolutely true, but they can read books in English or any written materials in English. Believe me, the Japanese have been learning English since grade 7. They don't want to speak English, but they can read the language.
Kato, are you saying that they are particularly intersted in "Biker Babe"?
Yes, I am.
Why is that?
...'Cause your story is interesting and Himiko's monologue is quite funny. So, word of mouth spread like a wild fire in the dried-up forest.
Show me some proof.
If you say so, please take a look at the following list.
(ame20415en.gif)
This is the list of page views ranking on April 15, two days after the posting of "Biker Babe." Except for RSS feed (rss20.xml), "Biker Babe" is still the top of the ranking.
I see...
You see, Diane, you're quite popular among the Net surfers in Japan. So, go to Tokyo, instead of London.
Why?
...'Cause you could easily expect a red-carper reception, and they would treat you as if the late Princess Di came into life. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ...
(2004fx.png)
(To be followed)