150.000 hits. More favorite search terms.

Last night, I saw that Eye Bags has cracked the 150.000 mark. Thank you, dear readers and visitors!

That’s not bad for an eclectic little blog that puts a lesbian eye on opera, an occasional hungry eye on food, an incredulous eye stare at the never-ending Ph.D. process and an, unfortunately at the moment very occasional, eye at my fiction writings (I did start to edit “Small Steps” for publication, though).

A hits-triggered retrospective does, as always, invite a look at the most curious and most popular in search terms since the last summary – from “welcome home!” to “what on earth did bring you here?!” we’ve had everything this time.

…

In light of the approaching reemergence of “Terapia d’urgenza” on the Italian screens (June 26th, 9.05 p.m.), the TdU search terms are growing in numbers again.

I will ignore the entries that looked for nude images of a certain lead actress. We’ve all seen them already. Besides, I thing the white gown adds to the allure. So no nudes here. Others seem to think the same as there were various requests for a certain item of clothing:

Along with general interest in TdU, there were multiple inquires about Marina/Esther fan fiction, with queries in English, Spanish and Italian. Dear writers out there, there is an audience waiting for you if you’d like to try your hand at TdU. The search terms do already offer a very intriguing causal relation in that regard…

But Marina/Esther fan fiction wasn’t the only topic of literary interest this time:

If you’re looking for LGBT characters in the works of Donna Leon, I recommend the lesbian couple of opera singer Flavia Petrelli and archaeologist Brett Lynch in the “Commissario Brunetti” series – they feature as side characters in “Death at La Fenice” and, somewhat more prominently, in “Acqua Alta”.

As a fellow Handelian, Donna Leon gets extra points, anyway, for mixing opera and Venice and great food in every of her Brunetti books. Also, her stance on LGBT folks is something as it shines through in her books – as a non-issue where the only amazement is that people are still getting riled up about it.

It just goes to prove that years of Handel operas prevent narrow-minded viewpoints when it comes to queerness.

A more general inquiry was directed at storyboards for lesbian storylines…

The major reason for the last 50,000 hits, however, was the trinity made of one certain mezzo soprano and her arms:

This leads to the following lesbian equation:

Although, people – seriously…

…and here I thought *I* had an intense interest in “arm cleavage”. Well, at least I don’t seem to be the only one (and I’ve seen some, uh, interesting things thanks to the guys over at amaz0n.com, in the process of figuring out where all those hits came from…).

Meanwhile, another classic lesbian accessory made its way onto the list once more (and I always ask myself: what on these pages, while I very much share the appreciation for the accessory in question, triggers the search engine radar?):

This time around, I’ve learned that “lesbians with glasses”  warrants its own fan fiction category:

While I’ve not written any Alex/glasses, I’ve written two Alex-with-glasses/Olivia stories, which can be found here. But on the heels of the glorious news that Stephanie March just signed on to play ADA Cabot again, and for at least half a season, there may be waves of new A/O stories everywhere.

Also, with Ms. March’s recent statement that she’s NOT saying that Alex and Olivia are NOT in love, we may not even have to look for subtext anymore. Just for unacknowledged maintext. But wasn’t that the case all along…?

On the topic of classic f/f “subtext” pairings – I was delighted to find the following inquiry that brought back a whole lot of fond memories:

J/7 is a fandom that continues to strive despite the fact that it’s been off the screen  – reruns not counting – for a couple of years already. Anyone wanting to submerge themselves in the fan art, from images to wallpapers to loads of stories to videos should start at the current two big hubs: the Voyager Conspiracy Forum and the J/7 Faction (which has branched out a little to embrace “Devil Wears Prada” writing, too).

New stories and new authors keep appearing, and many of the old ones are still around for a nostalgic reread.

A note to the person who came by looking for J/7 ship videos: get thee over to Sazzy’s (the Borg Queen -and I mean that in a good way- of J/7 video art: assimilating every episode clip ever aired and “bringing order… into chaos”. You know what I mean). Countless videos, and some great classic fan fiction and Über, too.

…

From fan art back to opera: here’s one item that goes straight onto my DVD wishlist:

Then there are some classics that never get old:

Where do I sign?

Some opera inquiries were a little more specific:

…and that goes both for the Monteverdi Nerone (Incoronazione) and the Handel Nerone (Agrippina). Fine, I also enjoyed Jaroussky as the latter (and as pretty much everything), but in between Ernman and Bonitatibus, I stick with the mezzos.

And apropos mezzos:

Mezzo cleavage does of course pose an interesting question – does this only apply to Hot Mezzos In Skirts? Or also to Hot Mezzos In Pants, and in that case, what does constitute cleavage? The hotness factor in a white shirt? Is Arm Cleavage eligible?

One thing remains clear throughout: the love for mezzos and contraltos stands strong aming Eye Bags readers (occasional swooning over low chest notes notwithstanding).

I’m very happy to report that interest in Marijana Mijanovic keeps growing – just as the amount of videos available on YouTube:  from just one video a little over a year ago (unfathomable, I know!) to several pages already. And speaking of which, Purity has drawn my attention to this gem. *sigh*

Another remarkable thing among this time’s search terms is that NOBODY asked whether Mijanovic is gay (she’s not, btw). I’m pointing it out because it seems that “sexuality speculation” can go down as the big theme for the 150,000 edition -  other than Mijanovic, everyone’s orientation, of singers both past and present, got questioned (see below).

Though as long as someone sings well  and looks fantastic in a white shirt on stage, why would I care if they’re gay offstage?

On a side note: if any one can tell me what’s behind the query “oper bloedsinn” (and how it lead someone HERE?), please enlighten me. Meanwhile, pegging the Rosenkavalier as a lesbian thing always warms my heart, although my girlfriend and I seemed to be the only ones at the Munich Rosenkavalier “30th production anniversary” last weekend.  I haven’t gotten stared at like that in a while.

Also, dear anonymous inquirer whom it may concern: Malena Ernman is not a man, nor ever was. She’s not gay, either, even though she was the only one giving a shoutout to the gay community even before the Eurovision Song Contest finale. – Thanks, Ms. Ernman! (though my favorites are the follow ups here and here. Brawns AND brains, oh my.  Also, a very entertaining twitterer overall.)

As for the “Catherine Naglestad nude” inquiries, followed closely by “Catherine Naglestad see-through”: for the latter, buy the “Alcina” DVD, at the former: not deigning you an answer.

And finally, from the bottom of my stuck, frustrated, academic heart: you don’t get Ph.D.s for free online. No matter how much you keep asking. Speaking of which, I have to scuttle back under my rock where the script is waiting.

In the meantime, I’m looking forward to the next set of creative search terms… thank you all for visiting and for this edition’s contributions!

~ by Anik LaChev on June 15, 2009.