This was my mistake -- had miscopied a canonical redirect such that all non-www requests were sent to the ether

http://wiki.apache.org/httpd/CanonicalHostNames

Where are you doing the WHOIS lookup from? Here's what I get:

root@tron:~# dig +short sierradescents.com A
173.255.251.9

root@tron:~# dig +trace sierradescents.com

; <<>> DiG 9.9.1-P2 <<>> +trace sierradescents.com
;; global options: +cmd
.         22618   IN   NS   a.root-servers.net.
.         22618   IN   NS   b.root-servers.net.
.         22618   IN   NS   c.root-servers.net.
.         22618   IN   NS   d.root-servers.net.
.         22618   IN   NS   e.root-servers.net.
.         22618   IN   NS   f.root-servers.net.
.         22618   IN   NS   g.root-servers.net.
.         22618   IN   NS   h.root-servers.net.
.         22618   IN   NS   i.root-servers.net.
.         22618   IN   NS   j.root-servers.net.
.         22618   IN   NS   k.root-servers.net.
.         22618   IN   NS   l.root-servers.net.
.         22618   IN   NS   m.root-servers.net.
.         22618   IN   RRSIG   NS 8 0 518400 20120903000000 20120826230000 50398 . mrQPPOk5E0ubbNpMzMpifOAWmmsjisbaPJ/nK66DVIj52MAT/eMxJTMW ld0DJ8Gue5siLi0sfiirLdEJP9erIgPeNvRioJxRYauVDyBscuOgGVPu 3Y+3i3n5CzVIMHUp349IpFUObnIhF/AAFSxZvwd6aGra4Q8K4WtBJtfJ usk=
;; Received 397 bytes from 8.8.8.8#53(8.8.8.8) in 136 ms

com.         172800   IN   NS   a.gtld-servers.net.
com.         172800   IN   NS   b.gtld-servers.net.
com.         172800   IN   NS   c.gtld-servers.net.
com.         172800   IN   NS   d.gtld-servers.net.
com.         172800   IN   NS   e.gtld-servers.net.
com.         172800   IN   NS   f.gtld-servers.net.
com.         172800   IN   NS   g.gtld-servers.net.
com.         172800   IN   NS   h.gtld-servers.net.
com.         172800   IN   NS   i.gtld-servers.net.
com.         172800   IN   NS   j.gtld-servers.net.
com.         172800   IN   NS   k.gtld-servers.net.
com.         172800   IN   NS   l.gtld-servers.net.
com.         172800   IN   NS   m.gtld-servers.net.
com.         86400   IN   DS   30909 8 2 E2D3C916F6DEEAC73294E8268FB5885044A833FC5459588F4A9184CF C41A5766
com.         86400   IN   RRSIG   DS 8 1 86400 20120903000000 20120826230000 50398 . N+mSS/SvbTFjNxxy9e8yUXTIK7C0GtHJB54Ui1zvbP8Fp6vZmaNzWQ1f 79bNOYhl1wkr1aGCytlRkQ65hAzrw+DYJhlr+Q29ohbT6Pu5PfgCKoc1 dbj0JKmlPfB58f8XmJebLfPGRGzuWOvMvIPvGKn5H0pVm24PcHmJw7FX gsE=
;; Received 742 bytes from 2001:7fd::1#53(2001:7fd::1) in 180 ms

sierradescents.com.   172800   IN   NS   ns1.linode.com.
sierradescents.com.   172800   IN   NS   ns2.linode.com.
sierradescents.com.   172800   IN   NS   ns3.linode.com.
sierradescents.com.   172800   IN   NS   ns4.linode.com.
sierradescents.com.   172800   IN   NS   ns5.linode.com.
CK0POJMG874LJREF7EFN8430QVIT8BSM.com. 86400 IN NSEC3 1 1 0 - CK0RFQAOES8CTVNVNH4G6Q85NOQAQ8I9 NS SOA RRSIG DNSKEY NSEC3PARAM
CK0POJMG874LJREF7EFN8430QVIT8BSM.com. 86400 IN RRSIG NSEC3 8 2 86400 20120831042736 20120824031736 47783 com. eTUtyJDJrSbQ3leM8BQeP6gPJM2UDe79RWjSvZZqGOqx0D9VvJLlsIRp 1mM2/wVWhoxo/23OWTSS+ocgj5F164YTU5xiRPAcPU7YMmj9Q2uJoMHh ARVNf3tMl9WsAP0nVGMrFnz69YyDC79NcaNfNBYSB/6yuvKpt/6AlOA1 eTM=
87P5KRLIONOEKDM5HAA5D4A1E5174R0U.com. 86400 IN NSEC3 1 1 0 - 87PNC7C77O2A703N8JTMIL4IJ2QK252G NS DS RRSIG
87P5KRLIONOEKDM5HAA5D4A1E5174R0U.com. 86400 IN RRSIG NSEC3 8 2 86400 20120901042256 20120825031256 47783 com. Mf4RJFa7AbPsxJxJ/4kFTgPx58JtWj5tm/vNRe6ZxePaEBrwu/rPe8Tx wKu+QwJJCPRLrM9OsG4bRcgY+WQEJJGqfBTLeHHpEA+KQMAdIX6C/xar /Ra7qyyKqcnLjcxc+lfLZEzGSbjj/acnNoMv/IBTwkJMO05c+XPho1wu 1Bg=
;; Received 849 bytes from 192.43.172.30#53(192.43.172.30) in 145 ms

sierradescents.com.   86400   IN   A   173.255.251.9
sierradescents.com.   86400   IN   NS   ns3.linode.com.
sierradescents.com.   86400   IN   NS   ns2.linode.com.
sierradescents.com.   86400   IN   NS   ns4.linode.com.
sierradescents.com.   86400   IN   NS   ns1.linode.com.
sierradescents.com.   86400   IN   NS   ns5.linode.com.
;; Received 380 bytes from 2600:3c01::a#53(2600:3c01::a) in 73 ms

root@tron:~# whois sierradescents.com

Whois Server Version 2.0

Domain names in the .com and .net domains can now be registered
with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net
for detailed information.

   Domain Name: SIERRADESCENTS.COM
   Registrar: GODADDY.COM, LLC
   Whois Server: whois.godaddy.com
   Referral URL: http://registrar.godaddy.com
   Name Server: NS1.LINODE.COM
   Name Server: NS2.LINODE.COM
   Name Server: NS3.LINODE.COM
   Name Server: NS4.LINODE.COM
   Name Server: NS5.LINODE.COM
   Status: clientDeleteProhibited
   Status: clientRenewProhibited
   Status: clientTransferProhibited
   Status: clientUpdateProhibited
   Updated Date: 27-aug-2012
   Creation Date: 23-may-2005
   Expiration Date: 23-may-2014

>>> Last update of whois database: Mon, 27 Aug 2012 18:57:15 UTC <<<

Registrant:
   [redacted on request of xenox]
   
   Registered through: GoDaddy.com, LLC (http://www.godaddy.com)
   Domain Name: SIERRADESCENTS.COM
      Created on: 23-May-05
      Expires on: 23-May-14
      Last Updated on: 27-Aug-12

   Administrative Contact:
   [redacted on request of xenox]

   Technical Contact:
   [redacted on request of xenox]

   Domain servers in listed order:
      NS1.LINODE.COM
      NS2.LINODE.COM
      NS3.LINODE.COM
      NS4.LINODE.COM
      NS5.LINODE.COM

_________________
'If debugging is the process of removing bugs, then programming must be the process of putting them in.' //Edsger Dijkstra
'Nothing is withheld from us which we have conceived to do.' | 'Do things that have never been done.' //Russell Kirsch

I'm using this:

http://whois.domaintools.com/sierradescents.com

Note how the (browser) title bar shows 'Site Temporarily Unavailable'

All the other data looks normal. If I run a different site, the title bar shows the webpage title, so I'm guessing something on my site isn't configured correctly, but I don't know what it could be.

I suspect it cached the <title> at some point in the past, when the site was indeed temporarily unavailable. Seems like an excessively fancy tool; I would ignore it.

You can inquire further about why Google can't crawl you (if indeed they can't) by using Google's webmaster tools.

_________________

/* TODO: need to add signature to posts */