Large seats

''Posted on the Squeetus Blog August 23, 2006 09:03 AM PST. ''

(warning: the following entry contains a word that may be offensive to UK readers)

I'm sitting in my car, taking a pregnant lady rest from packing while husband and movers empty our condo into a moving van. It seems an appropriate moment to share with you something totally bizarre.

I can look at the stats for my website, such as how many unique visitors look at it each day (about 300), how long they stay (a few minutes), and the keyword phrases people used on search engines to find it. Most often it's "shannon hale" followed by "princess academy" and "squeetus". But recently, four different individuals found my site by searching for the phrase, I kid you not, "big fannys."

In the US, "fanny" is a fairly harmless, somewhat humorous word for rear end, but in the UK, I've been told that it's highly vulgar (which makes me wonder how any teacher in a UK school could teach Austen's  Persuasion  with a straight face [EDIT: I mean,  Mansfield Park ]). But no matter where you are, I find this extremely odd. How many people are out there searching for a site about big fannys? And how do they end up here?

I was afraid to do the obvious and do a google search on the phrase. I don't want to see any kind of nastiness that might pop up. But too curious, I did google "big fannys squeetus" and found the culprit text. On my book recommendations page, I list the fabulous picture book "Fanny's Dream" near the phrase "a big hit with our 1-year old." Ah-ha. But I have a feeling that those poor saps searching for big fannys and instead ended up at a YA lit writer's site were a bit disappointed. Or who knows? Maybe they took interest in my book list. Maybe they've changed their ways and are even at this moment checking out  A Wrinkle in Time  or  Possession  at their local library. Perhaps accidentally finding squeetus will change their lives for the better!

But the backlash? By writing this blog I'll forever be a prime target for anyone searching sites on big fannys. Such is my fate.

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