Write Back Weekend "Pass Go And Collect Your 200 Bloggers"
When I asked everyone to lead me to a few good blogs I got a mixed bag of results. Oh sure, there was a slew of new reading material, and a few repeat offenders.
But more than anything, a lot of bloggers thought I was just a little bit crazy.
This can best be described by the now immortal words of a confused new visitor, Old Lady of the Hills who said, "Forgive me, but looking at your blogroll, which is extremely exstensive I'm not sure what you might be looking for or missing..."
After I explained a bit what my intentions were to her she came back and said: "...Thank you for answering my question, and YES, I think I get it now....It is really pretty extrordinary how many blogs there are 'out there' and it is such fun to discover new ones that 'sing' to you."
The reason I make a point of Old Lady's comments is because I know a lot of you were thinking the same thing. Why would a blogger, who already has 150 blogs on her roll, be looking for more reading material? Is she insane? High? Bored? Greedy? Pathetic, or some combination of the above?
I'm sure on some level all of those words have applied to me at one time or another. But the real reason for my motivation is a very easy explanation.
As I've talked about before, my blogroll is a bit like a garden, overgrown and untended. The problem is while I link to many people, I don't read many of those blogs daily, if at all. The problem I have is this. If someone asks me to link to them or if I discover someone has linked to me, I often follow the "do unto others" rule and link back to them.
The problem with doing this though is that readers like you get the mistaken impression that I have the time to keep up with 150 + lives on a daily basis. The truth of the matter is blog linking is my drug; I just can't say NO. My only saving grace is I have finally stopped linking to everyone I find who just happens to link to me. But this does not stop me from trying to find like-minded bloggers to add to the garden.
In all honesty I don't know how many blogs I keep up with on a regular basis. If you want to know the blogs I follow faithfully the better indication would be the comments I leave and receive rather than the blogroll I display. To me, linking is one level of blog appreciation, but commenting and conversing is a whole other, and one I respect much, much more. It's not a prerequisite for linkage by any means, but reciprocation and apprecation makes any relationship, even blogging ones, feel like a two-way street. The most frustrating blogs might be the ones that only comment back to you on THEIR blog and the only way you know that is if you go back and check. This is why clicking through is the thing, I believe, to do.
So that being said, I took the time to check out each and every blog that was recommended to me and I found what some of you might be surprised by, and others of you might know already. There are always MORE good bloggers to find. As I told Old Lady Of the Hills: "I think blogs are like music. There's a lot of good stuff out there, but there is also a lot that has gone undiscovered."
Now all that's left to do is to highlight a few blogs I would like to add to the roll and maybe when I'm done, you'll feel the same way. As for the rest, I have kept them under lock and key to continue to read and probably add over time. Everything in moderation.
1. Lisa recommended Annie from Smart At Love. I like Annie because her site boasts the tagline, "For The Woman Who Wonders If I'm So Smart...How Can I Be So Dumb About Love?"
What I like about Smart At Love is that it lives up to its title. It's like a Dear Abby for the blogging set, only without the lovelorn letters and old-fashioned advice. It's hip, irreverent and open to commenting. I had almost blogrolled it before, but forgot all about it. Thanks to Lisa, I've fallen in love all over again.
2 and 3. Dawn suggested quite a few good blogs that I will definitely revisit. I decided to add two of them immediately though. One is Taste The World. I've always liked Taste The World and we have a lot of blog friends in common. I rented from her a few weeks ago too. "Moving in" just seems like the logical next step.
The other link Dawn suggested that I added is Lightning Bugg's Butt. I love the rapid fire way LBB's mind works. Within one blog post he opens the door to million others and to me it takes a brave blogger to use all of that good material in one post as if to say "Oh yea. And there's more where that came from."
4 and 5. Becky gave her stamp of approval to Outwit, Outblog, Outsnark. I "met" snark wife on a day she happened to be talking about the return of Grey's Anatomy and how hard it is to wait for it's return and any friend of Grey's is a friend of mine. It looks like a relatively new blog, but I love new blogs with a lot of promise.
Then Becky was so nice as to point me towards Sprigs. Right now, Springs seems like the popular cheerleader in high school. Her smiling face has been prominently featured on
25 Peeps (an exclusive group I have yet to crack) for sometime now. Plus, her latest post alone has a whopping 42 comments. In other words, she has a lot of friends and 42 endorsers can't be wrong.
6. Tim gave a shout out to Heather Anne that was well deserved. I don't know Heather Anne that well, but when I read her Savvy post I could instantly relate. First time bonds are usually good gut instincts and thus I deem thee read worthy.
7. In a refreshing turn of events, newer AOGB reader and commenter Apricoco recommended, herself. Her latest post talks about the incomptenence lurking on college campuses everywhere. I can relate to her and when I can relate that usually means a beautiful blog relationship is born.
8 and 9. Long time AOGB reader MCF also gave a stamp of approval to a number of his own blogging buddies. One suggestion, Rey was interesting because Rey had made suggestions of his own that did not include his own blog. But Rey had been here before and so I felt adding Rey, before adding Rey's suggestions, was only fitting.
The other recommendation MCF made was for Sarcasmo @ Sarcasmo's Corner. I know I have been to Sarcasmo's site before and obviously she has been here before as AOGB is already blogrolled. This was not the reason for the add. The reason was the sarcasm. The blogroll was just an added, unexpected perk.
10. Finally David mentioned checking out Rocky Road Scholar. David writes thought provoking posts about interesting topics so it only makes sense that he would suggest reading blogs that follow the same formula. Rocky's blog is full of random references too, everything from Carrot Top to Alice, Brady Bunch and the self-titled, Linda Lavin version.
Incidentally if you haven't read any of the blogs who did the recommending, they're good eggs, too. If you get the chance, go visit some of them. And feel free to say Janet sent you. It makes my job of blog networking a lot easier.
For now I am happy with the blogroll, but have no fear if you're not there. It's contents are always change. In fact, if there was one thing I could change, I would have multiple blogrolls with differing levels of activity. Of course I have no idea how to make this happen.
Until then, I'm stuck between a blog and a hard place.
But more than anything, a lot of bloggers thought I was just a little bit crazy.
This can best be described by the now immortal words of a confused new visitor, Old Lady of the Hills who said, "Forgive me, but looking at your blogroll, which is extremely exstensive I'm not sure what you might be looking for or missing..."
After I explained a bit what my intentions were to her she came back and said: "...Thank you for answering my question, and YES, I think I get it now....It is really pretty extrordinary how many blogs there are 'out there' and it is such fun to discover new ones that 'sing' to you."
The reason I make a point of Old Lady's comments is because I know a lot of you were thinking the same thing. Why would a blogger, who already has 150 blogs on her roll, be looking for more reading material? Is she insane? High? Bored? Greedy? Pathetic, or some combination of the above?
I'm sure on some level all of those words have applied to me at one time or another. But the real reason for my motivation is a very easy explanation.
As I've talked about before, my blogroll is a bit like a garden, overgrown and untended. The problem is while I link to many people, I don't read many of those blogs daily, if at all. The problem I have is this. If someone asks me to link to them or if I discover someone has linked to me, I often follow the "do unto others" rule and link back to them.
The problem with doing this though is that readers like you get the mistaken impression that I have the time to keep up with 150 + lives on a daily basis. The truth of the matter is blog linking is my drug; I just can't say NO. My only saving grace is I have finally stopped linking to everyone I find who just happens to link to me. But this does not stop me from trying to find like-minded bloggers to add to the garden.
In all honesty I don't know how many blogs I keep up with on a regular basis. If you want to know the blogs I follow faithfully the better indication would be the comments I leave and receive rather than the blogroll I display. To me, linking is one level of blog appreciation, but commenting and conversing is a whole other, and one I respect much, much more. It's not a prerequisite for linkage by any means, but reciprocation and apprecation makes any relationship, even blogging ones, feel like a two-way street. The most frustrating blogs might be the ones that only comment back to you on THEIR blog and the only way you know that is if you go back and check. This is why clicking through is the thing, I believe, to do.
So that being said, I took the time to check out each and every blog that was recommended to me and I found what some of you might be surprised by, and others of you might know already. There are always MORE good bloggers to find. As I told Old Lady Of the Hills: "I think blogs are like music. There's a lot of good stuff out there, but there is also a lot that has gone undiscovered."
Now all that's left to do is to highlight a few blogs I would like to add to the roll and maybe when I'm done, you'll feel the same way. As for the rest, I have kept them under lock and key to continue to read and probably add over time. Everything in moderation.
1. Lisa recommended Annie from Smart At Love. I like Annie because her site boasts the tagline, "For The Woman Who Wonders If I'm So Smart...How Can I Be So Dumb About Love?"
What I like about Smart At Love is that it lives up to its title. It's like a Dear Abby for the blogging set, only without the lovelorn letters and old-fashioned advice. It's hip, irreverent and open to commenting. I had almost blogrolled it before, but forgot all about it. Thanks to Lisa, I've fallen in love all over again.
2 and 3. Dawn suggested quite a few good blogs that I will definitely revisit. I decided to add two of them immediately though. One is Taste The World. I've always liked Taste The World and we have a lot of blog friends in common. I rented from her a few weeks ago too. "Moving in" just seems like the logical next step.
The other link Dawn suggested that I added is Lightning Bugg's Butt. I love the rapid fire way LBB's mind works. Within one blog post he opens the door to million others and to me it takes a brave blogger to use all of that good material in one post as if to say "Oh yea. And there's more where that came from."
4 and 5. Becky gave her stamp of approval to Outwit, Outblog, Outsnark. I "met" snark wife on a day she happened to be talking about the return of Grey's Anatomy and how hard it is to wait for it's return and any friend of Grey's is a friend of mine. It looks like a relatively new blog, but I love new blogs with a lot of promise.
Then Becky was so nice as to point me towards Sprigs. Right now, Springs seems like the popular cheerleader in high school. Her smiling face has been prominently featured on
25 Peeps (an exclusive group I have yet to crack) for sometime now. Plus, her latest post alone has a whopping 42 comments. In other words, she has a lot of friends and 42 endorsers can't be wrong.
6. Tim gave a shout out to Heather Anne that was well deserved. I don't know Heather Anne that well, but when I read her Savvy post I could instantly relate. First time bonds are usually good gut instincts and thus I deem thee read worthy.
7. In a refreshing turn of events, newer AOGB reader and commenter Apricoco recommended, herself. Her latest post talks about the incomptenence lurking on college campuses everywhere. I can relate to her and when I can relate that usually means a beautiful blog relationship is born.
8 and 9. Long time AOGB reader MCF also gave a stamp of approval to a number of his own blogging buddies. One suggestion, Rey was interesting because Rey had made suggestions of his own that did not include his own blog. But Rey had been here before and so I felt adding Rey, before adding Rey's suggestions, was only fitting.
The other recommendation MCF made was for Sarcasmo @ Sarcasmo's Corner. I know I have been to Sarcasmo's site before and obviously she has been here before as AOGB is already blogrolled. This was not the reason for the add. The reason was the sarcasm. The blogroll was just an added, unexpected perk.
10. Finally David mentioned checking out Rocky Road Scholar. David writes thought provoking posts about interesting topics so it only makes sense that he would suggest reading blogs that follow the same formula. Rocky's blog is full of random references too, everything from Carrot Top to Alice, Brady Bunch and the self-titled, Linda Lavin version.
Incidentally if you haven't read any of the blogs who did the recommending, they're good eggs, too. If you get the chance, go visit some of them. And feel free to say Janet sent you. It makes my job of blog networking a lot easier.
For now I am happy with the blogroll, but have no fear if you're not there. It's contents are always change. In fact, if there was one thing I could change, I would have multiple blogrolls with differing levels of activity. Of course I have no idea how to make this happen.
Until then, I'm stuck between a blog and a hard place.
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