I have a very minor comment. I'd change
my $category = lc($musing_cats->{$ref_id}->{'ref_name'});
my $count = $comment_cnt->{$entry_id}->{'comment_cnt'} || 'no';
my $reader_stat = $musing_stats->{$entry_id}->{'stat'};
$entry_date = lc($entry_date);
to
my $category = lc($musing_cats->{$ref_id}->{'ref_name'});
my $count = $comment_cnt->{$entry_id}->{'comment_cnt'} || 'no
+';
my $reader_stat = $musing_stats->{$entry_id}->{'stat'};
$entry_date = lc($entry_date);
As a purely subjective observation, I think the second is more readable.