My Theory of Blogrolls is this: My blogroll reflects what I'm reading. Other people have other theories. There are blogrolls that are networking devices; I'm amazed how blogs that just started a week ago have blogrolls a mile long. And there are blogrolls that are themed to match the theme of the blog itself, something I learned about when I wrote this Sex Day and every spanking blog in the world linked to it. Presumably, there are blogrolls that are made up of sites that meet some objective standard.
Mine is simply a list of what I'm reading now, the Digital Age equivalent of leafing down through a stack of magazines on a coffee table. There is no regard for quality or longevity or any kind of standard whatever. (You know me; you should know better than to expect standards.) It's a symptom of my multiple personality disorder: The writer part of me reporting on what the reader part of me is up to. It's also a reflection of my mood. A couple of weeks ago, when I was feeling crabby, I had a new blogroll ready to go that decimated my existing blogroll. No one survived except NewMexiKen, replaced without pity with a group of new blogs that I thought made me seem smart.
As my regular reader knows, neither my blogroll nor my blog has anything to do with smart, and at that dramatic post/don't post moment I remained true to my theory. I deleted the update. My blogroll is a report on what I'm really reading, and how often I'm really reading it, and I shouldn't pretend otherwise.
So I have a new update.
Moving to the "Every Day" list are:
- I Blame the Patriarchy. Sometimes, for me, reading is all about the sound of the author's voice. I love the sound of Twisty Faster's voice, though I suspect that's not her real name.
- Give Me the Booger. Don't take this wrong, but SJ The Mom who writes Give Me The Booger makes me want to be a woman. Not in the frilly-underthings-wearing sense, but in the just-us-gals, deep-into-the-second-bottle-of-wine sense. I don't think women talk this way when men are around, and I love women and how they talk. SJ's stuff about kids and friends and her husband reads incredibly true and intimate, if perhaps a tad loud. To keep it from being horrible, she's also hilarious.
- Bull Moose is the nom de blog of...oh, I've got his name here somewhere. Anyway, he's a Democratic Leadership Council guy and his blog is really smart. He writes once a day; I read once a day.
- Kevin Drum of the Washington Monthly, which I read in paper form and should have elevated a long time ago. I've been reading him daily for years.
Moving to weekly are Daniel Radosh, who is the writer I would want to be if I could be a writer and who answers my emails quickly and with thought as if I really mattered somehow. How do I repay him? By not reading as much, which I guess is good because it keeps me from sending stupid emails. Also The Minor Fall, The Major Lift, which I'm still not sure about but enjoy nonetheless, and YOCO College Basketball because it's not baseball season anymore and I have to do something to avoid hockey.
Paperwight's Fair Shot, Sarong party Girl, Thunder & Roses, and Engrish.com have been, of late, When I've Got a Moment reads. Usually, when I've got a moment they're a lot of fun.
There are retirees from the blogroll, too: Jack O'Toole has said goodby to his excellent blog, and while I've held out hope for a couple of months he seems to be serious about it. The Baseball Crank has been a little too much crank and not enough baseball. I've only got room in my life for one unreflective right-wing cackpot, and for now that's Pursuit of Happiness.
Then there's Wonkette. I used to have a serious thing about Wonkette. She's still really cute and smart and when I come across her on CSPAN I stop and listen for a while. I just don't read her blog anymore.
Finally, I'm keeping my ridiculous niece on the "We'll See..." list because she's my niece. She never updates, and if she weren't a relative I'd have tossed her out months ago. Plus, she writes me emails, and I like that. Still, she must be punished, so I have now linked to her site as "My Niece's Ridiculous Blog." The holidays are going to be hell around our house this year.
Also We'll See-ing is Tom McMahon, who has 4-Block World and the most brilliant new medium for social commentary I've seen in ages.
Not fair! I'm a very reflective right-wing crackpot! In fact, at the crackpot club I'm known as "the reflective one"......the David St. Hubbins of the group.
Plus, I'm damn funny.Thats why you read me.
Posted by: Pursuit | 11/13/2005 at 07:25 PM
I survived the extinction! Hope I can evolve to survive the next round in the future.
Posted by: TR | 11/13/2005 at 10:05 PM
You are so mean to your niece. I hope she spikes your eggnog this Christmas and you have the runs for days!
Posted by: michelle | 11/14/2005 at 01:06 AM
Being a woman's not all it's cracked up to be. There's the bloating and water retention. And don't forget the wide hips and the feeling of powerlessness (even after watching Oprah).
Posted by: SJ | 11/14/2005 at 09:43 AM
I forgot to add, wow, I moved up to daily. That fucking rocks.
Posted by: SJ | 11/14/2005 at 09:44 AM
Yes, please be nice to your niece. Although she doesn't update her blog nearly enough, this is only because she's busy saving the world and serving The Arts.
Posted by: Josh | 11/15/2005 at 12:11 AM
Did I just get a promotion? Funny how that seems to happen when I blog LESS than usual. Ah well. I'm glad you're enjoying it and quite frankly the fact that you lumped me in with Engrish truly delights me. Thanks, dude!
Posted by: zonker | 11/17/2005 at 10:45 PM