Alert Readers

I don't get many tipoffs from readers, mainly because I don't have that many readers. (I am excluding the vast throngs who seem to find me via google, read my Snakes on a Plane trailer, and then wander off, never to return, leaving me feeling used and lonely.)

In any case, when I post something a link that somebody else e-mailed me, I have generally described my benefactors as "alert readers." Alert they certainly are, but I always feel a slight pang of guilt when I use the phrase, since I so closely associate it with Dave Barry.

Henceforth, when readers are kind enough to send me a tipoff, I will use a different adjective for them each time, steadily working my way through the alphabet until I reach Z. Then I'll start over again.