Like many keepers of weblogs and web journals, I often am amused by some of the Google searches that bring readers to The Rittenhouse Review, and I occasionally share some of the more unusual inquiries with readers.

Several themes recur in these searches, some of which come from other sources, including MSN, Excite, Yahoo, and America Online. Two of the most common themes returned to the fore this week, both of which fall under a wide umbrella that might be characterized under the broader category of: “Is he or isn’t he?”

This week’s trigger was the misdemeanor guilty plea of Douglas Faneuil, a former broker’s assistant at Merrill Lynch & Co., in the ongoing investigation into insider trading in shares of ImClone Systems Inc.

That probe extends, at the very least, to: Sam Wacksal, the former chief executive officer of ImClone, and presumably, his daughter and father; Martha Stewart, chairman and chief executive officer of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Ltd., who today resigned from her position as a director of the New York Stock Exchange; and Peter Bacanovic, Stewart’s stockbroker at Merrill Lynch, who along with Faneuil, was fired by the firm yesterday.

So what is it that searchers at Google et al. are looking for? Well, the most frequent inquiries go something like this: Douglas + Faneuil + gay; or, Douglas + Faneuil + gay+ photo; or, Peter + Bacanovic+ gay; or, Peter + Bacanovic + gay + photo.

Now, let me state for the record at this point that it doesn’t exactly require “gaydar” to arrive at the conclusion, heretofore not mentioned at this site, that both Bacanovic and Faneuil are, indeed, gay. After all, have you seen a photograph of Peter Bacanovic? If not, look here. (There are two photographs on the linked page.) He’s plainly too good-looking to be straight. (Sorry, ladies.) As for Faneuil, well, I think this photo pretty much speaks for itself.

No, Faneuil is not my type, but Mr. Bacanovic should feel free to dial (###) ###-#### at any time, day or night. [JMC: What’s with the blackout? Editors are a pain, aren’t they?]

Moreover, a recent piece published by MSNBC.com referred to Bacanovic as an “urbane bachelor,” code words that even my great-grandparents in the old country would have understood. I wonder, is that what I am? An “urbane bachelor”? God, I hope so. It sounds like a great life. Well, except for that whole might have to go to jail thing.