451. If you burn books, what will people read? By extension, who is reading this blog?

Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 was written in the early 1950s. I read it in college and it wasn't as easy a read as I had thought it would be. I read it the same year I read George Orwell's 1984, which relates a related but totally different take on how governments might [or have] come to control our thoughts.

While both books deal with thought control in different ways, Fahrenheit 451 has as its central theme book burning. This entry isn't going to be about book burning, an abhorrent thought to a bibliophile such as myself. Rather, I want to visit a subject I haven't in some time - my five faithful readers. Truth be told, my readersip has dropped off considerably in the last eight weeks for a variety of reasons, the main one I suppose being my lack of posts.

As for the five faithful readers, I know who some of you are and I'm surprised now and then by others who out themselves as a regular visitor here along the Left Bank of the Ohio River near Milepost 606. That has happened in some odd places - at a church dinner, at a party at Bowman Field (a Republican no less), and at my late Uncle Paul's funeral visitation in Clarksville. There are cities other than Louisville that regularly pop up in the list of visitors and I've come to expect them when I check my statistics.

But there are always others and I wonder about them. Some come for only a moment - literally one or two seconds, others for a page or two, and a few for extended periods. I've listed below some of the different cities listed in my visitors log of the last 100 visitors. I've eliminated the regulars. If you are a first time visitor, make a comment - I'm curious as to who you are and how you got here. The comments can be very short or lengthy. I do not promise a reply - I rarely reply to comments, but then again I rarely get commments. The entry with the most comments is, oddly enough, not about politics or travel or history or the weather - categories which constitute most of my entries.

So, below are some of the cities listed. If one of these is yours, and you feel like leaving a few words, please do so. If any of the five faithful readers have any comments on these towns, cities, villages, and burgs, feel free to tell me about it.

Here is the list of cities, followed by their approximate distance from Louisville, distances which are usually about 20 to 40 miles shy of the actual distance:

Perryville, Missouri 229 - this one is getting to be regular visitor.
Bloomington, Indiana 75
Nashville, Tennessee 156
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 500
Hastings, Minnesota 577
Raleigh, North Carolina 426
Jamestown, New York 434
Alpharetta, Georgia 300
Round Rock, Texas 865
United Kingdom Belfast 3,742
Chambersburg, Pennsylvania 446
West Liberty, Kentucky 140
Glouster, Ohio 215
United Kingdom Brighton, East Sussex 4,060
United Kingdom Burnley, Lancashire 3,901
Birmingham, Alabama 333
Saint Charles, Illinois 289
Charlotte, North Carolina 344
United Kingdom Norwich, Norfolk 4,067
Indonesia Surabaya, Jawa Timur 9,997
Italy Gioia Tauro, Calabria 5,172
San Francisco, California 1,982
Detroit, Michigan 316
Northport, New York 686
Asheville, North Carolina 255
Orlando, Florida 720
Salem, South Carolina 276
Georgetown, Indiana 13* - this one is within the local calling zone, but a newcomer nonetheless.
Holland, Michigan 310
Sacramento, California 1,919
Mount Sterling, Kentucky 100
Canada Waterloo, Ontario 451
Rockport, Kentucky 93 - since I know someone in Rockport, I probably know who this is.
New Castle, Indiana


Thanks for reading.