Howdy, Latvia!

As I've said several times, we try to stay as transparent as possible here at The Man Rules. I also say I will someday have rock-hard abs and a charming yet roguish personality, too, so you have to take what I say with a grain of salt sometimes.

Anyway, a few months back I was tickled to death when some visitors from Ghana stopped by. To date, they haven't been back, so obviously my sense of humor doesn't resonate well in Ghana. Which is an important fact for me to know, should I ever travel there. I'd hate to think I was being terribly witty and side-splittingly funny to my Ghanish hosts, only to learn I was actually being horribly insulting and insensitive. Which, according to my wife, happens a lot already in my personal life here in the U.S., so maybe the problem isn't the Ghanese sense of humor after all.

The point of this - and I promise I do have a point - is that I'm frequently amazed at the folks who stop by this little blog from all corners of the earth. I mean, I joke about this being a "world-famous blog" and all, but in reality I tend to think I'm writing this for about 14 people in Eastaboga, Alabama.

But lo and behold (a Ghanian term meaning "would you look at THAT!"), sometimes the little map-tracker on the blog software picks up something weird, and I just have to share it with you. This week, for example, we've had 90 people from Latvia read some stuff here.

Yes! Latvia! I know what you're thinking: "Isn't Latvia the place Dr. Doom rules with an iron fist in the Marvel comics?" And you're close - that's actually LatvERia. Which doesn't really exist. But wouldn't it be cool if Dr. Doom read my blog?

So I'm amazed all over again that folks from Latvia are visiting The Man Rules. In an effort to avoid whatever faux pas I committed with the nice folks from Ghana, I will attempt to avoid saying anything that could be construed as insulting to Latvians, such as the fact that the letters in the name of their currency, the lati, can be rearranged to spell the word "tail," which is appropriate because it's the only currency I've ever seen that features a jumping fish on it.

Anyway. Fellow Man-Rules blog readers, please join me in extending a hearty and non-insulting welcome to our friends from Latvia! Also, for you Latvians, please note that my new book, The Man Rules, can be purchased with lati. Or probably even fish, if we don't start selling more copies.

(c) 2013 John Puckett