Write Back Weekend "Blog Unto Others, As You'd Have Them Blog Unto You"
This past week I asked what might be seen by some as a cop out question. I asked for some brand new blog suggestions. How it was perceived I simply cannot control, but further clarification I can surely give.
A few weekends ago I finally made the time to update my links accordingly. It's probably the longest time I've let my links go unattended. At any rate, that's how I discovered that a good many of them were defunct. I swear I had to delete at least 20. I wish I could say the purge was comforting, but in reality it was actually more discomforting. This is because all of those people in somehow, someway had a small part in my AOGB life. Now without explanation they are gone from the blogosphere. Some are still around and like I said, decided I was no longer worth linking to. That's painful on a different level, but it's the blogging life and it happens. Thanks to Lightning Bug's Butt for once again deeming me worthy enough to grace his blog's presence. I don't know what I did wrong last time, but hopefully this time around you'll see fit to have me stay. By the way, he was never gone from my sidebar links. Just because someone doesn't link to me, doesn't mean I always don't link back and vice versa. Janet don't play like that.
The second part is where YOU came in. Since I forcibly had to drop many of my links, I decided I was in the market for a few good blogs. Unfortunately from the responses I did get, it seems that all of you are in the same boat that I'm in. Needless to say, my desire to write a post about all the great blogs I discovered here kinda went bust. And this in a sense connects to the bigger problem I've been having. Most of my old blogging friends are out of the game and I find the new breed of bloggers that I run into to be somewhat of a snobby bunch. There I said it. I say this because when I didn't get many blog recommendations from y'all, I took matters into my own hands and decided to visit some of your blogrolls on my own. I don't know how many blogs I visited and commented on, but as of today, not ONE of those people visited and commented back. Nice, right? Whatever happened to blogging etiquette not to mention curiosity or wanting to meet like minded bloggers. I tell ya. Bloggers these days. Not sure what they're in it for exactly.
But a promise is a promise and as a result, I intend to highlight what I did find, no matter how few and far between my travels took me.
Lindsay of Blood, Guts & Melodies has been coming here awhile now with thoughtful comments and frequent TITMT participation. Since I'm a teacher, certainly the TITMT points would serve as extra credit, and yet I was sadly remiss in adding her link to my life. It's not that I didn't visit Lindsay's blog and like what it had to offer, I just had been lazy in terms of linking, a process I once was so diligent about. So, when it came time to recommend a blogger Lindsay recommended herself, and with good reason. She's a blogger after my own heart because she doesn't write about any one thing. While themed blogs are nice from time to time, I also like the unpredictability of clicking through and not knowing what you're going to get. This is the kind of blog Blood, Guts & Melodies is. But don't take my word for it. Go over and tell Lindsay AOGB sent ya!
Loyal AOGB visitor Sharkbait recommended Metafilter.com. I knew I had heard of this site before, but when I visited I found you couldn't leave a comment without registering. Me don't likey that. So I went back over to Sharkbait's place where she informed that they charge a one time $5 dollar fee but that it's worth it. While I'm sure it is, I'm slightly squeamish about registering to read ANY blog. Plus what I'm looking for is to make a blogging connection, not unlike Chuck Woolery did with love back in the eighties. Buying into a big conglomerate of a blog makes me feel like I'm no longer supporting the indies. I do appreciate her exuberance though, especially since she turned around and asked her readers to recommend blogs to her. I'm going to do that right here, right now. Sharkbait, meet Lindsay above. Lindsay, meet Sharkbait.:)
Life of Marty's Marty threw a recommendation into the ring that I'm not going to repeat here (not that you can't do the slightest detective work and find out on your own, but still). A lot of people have endorsed this blog before and as a result, I have visited this blog before. But this blog is only one blog that serves as an example of one of my blogging pet peeves. I don't want to single said blog out though because by no means is it this blog's problem. It's more like a growing epidemic. Like I said earlier, a blog need not link to me for me to link to them and vice versa. But, and this is a big BUT, I do like to know that me and/or my blog matters to them in somehow, someway at some point. There are exceptions for instance like say I visit a writer's blog or someone famous. I know they don't have time for little ol' me.
Yet a lot of times, bloggers get around visiting other bloggers by commenting to them only back via their blog. I do that sometimes, but I always visit their blog, too. Not only do I see it as blogging common courtesy, I think that it's rather presumptuous to think that every person who comments on my blog is going to come back and read every comment I make. If you have the time for all that, God bless ya, but for the most part, I don't. I refer to this as half assed reciprocation. If I have to be Angela Lansbury to find out an answer to my question or create a conversation about a topic, for the most part, I'll pass.
Finally, frequent TITMT contributer Sid Faiwu reposted the question on his blog. His recommendation was AOGB which was nice. Again though, he only got one response given to him and it looked like it was from somebody who already visited there. The attempt was an admirable one, but it looks like one we all made in vain, apparently.
So there you have it. Unfortunately it was a rather dismal turnout to the TITMT this weekend, but I think this is a larger issue that deserves deeper exploration. I also feel that while like minded bloggers seem to be fewer and farther between, that doesn't mean bloggers should give up fighting the good fight completely. If you have any thoughts on the matter (or last minute recommendations) feel free to leave them in the comments.
A few weekends ago I finally made the time to update my links accordingly. It's probably the longest time I've let my links go unattended. At any rate, that's how I discovered that a good many of them were defunct. I swear I had to delete at least 20. I wish I could say the purge was comforting, but in reality it was actually more discomforting. This is because all of those people in somehow, someway had a small part in my AOGB life. Now without explanation they are gone from the blogosphere. Some are still around and like I said, decided I was no longer worth linking to. That's painful on a different level, but it's the blogging life and it happens. Thanks to Lightning Bug's Butt for once again deeming me worthy enough to grace his blog's presence. I don't know what I did wrong last time, but hopefully this time around you'll see fit to have me stay. By the way, he was never gone from my sidebar links. Just because someone doesn't link to me, doesn't mean I always don't link back and vice versa. Janet don't play like that.
The second part is where YOU came in. Since I forcibly had to drop many of my links, I decided I was in the market for a few good blogs. Unfortunately from the responses I did get, it seems that all of you are in the same boat that I'm in. Needless to say, my desire to write a post about all the great blogs I discovered here kinda went bust. And this in a sense connects to the bigger problem I've been having. Most of my old blogging friends are out of the game and I find the new breed of bloggers that I run into to be somewhat of a snobby bunch. There I said it. I say this because when I didn't get many blog recommendations from y'all, I took matters into my own hands and decided to visit some of your blogrolls on my own. I don't know how many blogs I visited and commented on, but as of today, not ONE of those people visited and commented back. Nice, right? Whatever happened to blogging etiquette not to mention curiosity or wanting to meet like minded bloggers. I tell ya. Bloggers these days. Not sure what they're in it for exactly.
But a promise is a promise and as a result, I intend to highlight what I did find, no matter how few and far between my travels took me.
Lindsay of Blood, Guts & Melodies has been coming here awhile now with thoughtful comments and frequent TITMT participation. Since I'm a teacher, certainly the TITMT points would serve as extra credit, and yet I was sadly remiss in adding her link to my life. It's not that I didn't visit Lindsay's blog and like what it had to offer, I just had been lazy in terms of linking, a process I once was so diligent about. So, when it came time to recommend a blogger Lindsay recommended herself, and with good reason. She's a blogger after my own heart because she doesn't write about any one thing. While themed blogs are nice from time to time, I also like the unpredictability of clicking through and not knowing what you're going to get. This is the kind of blog Blood, Guts & Melodies is. But don't take my word for it. Go over and tell Lindsay AOGB sent ya!
Loyal AOGB visitor Sharkbait recommended Metafilter.com. I knew I had heard of this site before, but when I visited I found you couldn't leave a comment without registering. Me don't likey that. So I went back over to Sharkbait's place where she informed that they charge a one time $5 dollar fee but that it's worth it. While I'm sure it is, I'm slightly squeamish about registering to read ANY blog. Plus what I'm looking for is to make a blogging connection, not unlike Chuck Woolery did with love back in the eighties. Buying into a big conglomerate of a blog makes me feel like I'm no longer supporting the indies. I do appreciate her exuberance though, especially since she turned around and asked her readers to recommend blogs to her. I'm going to do that right here, right now. Sharkbait, meet Lindsay above. Lindsay, meet Sharkbait.:)
Life of Marty's Marty threw a recommendation into the ring that I'm not going to repeat here (not that you can't do the slightest detective work and find out on your own, but still). A lot of people have endorsed this blog before and as a result, I have visited this blog before. But this blog is only one blog that serves as an example of one of my blogging pet peeves. I don't want to single said blog out though because by no means is it this blog's problem. It's more like a growing epidemic. Like I said earlier, a blog need not link to me for me to link to them and vice versa. But, and this is a big BUT, I do like to know that me and/or my blog matters to them in somehow, someway at some point. There are exceptions for instance like say I visit a writer's blog or someone famous. I know they don't have time for little ol' me.
Yet a lot of times, bloggers get around visiting other bloggers by commenting to them only back via their blog. I do that sometimes, but I always visit their blog, too. Not only do I see it as blogging common courtesy, I think that it's rather presumptuous to think that every person who comments on my blog is going to come back and read every comment I make. If you have the time for all that, God bless ya, but for the most part, I don't. I refer to this as half assed reciprocation. If I have to be Angela Lansbury to find out an answer to my question or create a conversation about a topic, for the most part, I'll pass.
Finally, frequent TITMT contributer Sid Faiwu reposted the question on his blog. His recommendation was AOGB which was nice. Again though, he only got one response given to him and it looked like it was from somebody who already visited there. The attempt was an admirable one, but it looks like one we all made in vain, apparently.
So there you have it. Unfortunately it was a rather dismal turnout to the TITMT this weekend, but I think this is a larger issue that deserves deeper exploration. I also feel that while like minded bloggers seem to be fewer and farther between, that doesn't mean bloggers should give up fighting the good fight completely. If you have any thoughts on the matter (or last minute recommendations) feel free to leave them in the comments.
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