If my blog readers are representative of the world as whole, life on Earth isn’t so bad right now.

I have a traffic counting service here that shows me some information about everyone, including the Google searches that sometimes bring visitors. I share these from time to time (August 2010, October 2009), usually because they feature ridiculous queries of people who are going to be really disappointed with the lack of answers they find here.

Apparently making your own ping pong paddle is a major concern these days. Since March, some version of “homemade ping pong paddle” has by far been most-searched term among people who came here from Google. Maybe I should start selling my collection?

One oddly persistent search string is something like “snl your not tall midget” which refers to a Saturday Night Live skit I posted a link to in September 2009. Sure, it’s a funny segment, but for this one I really have Google to thank. For some reason, my post is the #3 result for that grammatically dubious search, even ahead of the actual Hulu link that’s included in my post.

We did have one new addition this month thanks to the realization of a lifelong dream for me. Last week someone came here after searching “declares nba draft.” It’s likely they were actually trying a more specific search like “Harrison Barnes declares nba draft” but I hope they enjoyed my story about becoming an official NBA free agent.

Within the blog, I recently added “labels” below each post that allow you to search for similar content with a simple click. People seem to be slowly catching on to this system, which I think brings a lot of good context with the archives and lessens the need for me to explain who certain people are or recap events I’ve already written about.

Most of you get here following links I post on Facebook and Twitter, and not surprisingly the vast majority of hits are from the United States. There were hits in the past month from Brazil, Australia, Colombia, Canada, Spain and Chile, though I know some of those people.

I actually try to use all the info I can see (which also includes your city and Internet service provider) to figure who my readers are. Sometimes it’s very easy — I only know so many people in Denver or in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.

But I do have one problematic reader. That is, I have one reader for whom I have what I think should be enough information to figure out who they are, but for some reason I just can’t.

So if we are Facebook friends, and you work at the State Department, please send me a note. Your anonymity is making my head hurt.

[Update: We have a winner! Just goes to show sometimes all you need to do is ask.]