No. But aren’t you glad I’m not talking about politics or turkey. (Please note my absolute restraint from making the obvious joke here)

In my pollyanna moments (they happen) I like to espouse the beauty of just ignoring those mean nasty star ratings (and the rators who rate them) and focusing on the Blogmarks. They’re the opposite of the Do Not View list and are basically a bookmark for pages you enjoyed and want to visit again. You can also see who has Blogmarked you which, I think, is a much better indicator of what people really think about your site. What’s interesting is you’re limited to only 25 Do Not View listings but can have unlimited Blogmarks - italicized nevermore.

I don’t think this is because the creators at Blog Explosion, or BlEx, thanks to Luka, are trying to eliminate weblog negativity in our times. No, they have prurient interest in you seeing as many blogs and banners as possible. If, say, the I (heart) Zell Miller page feels that it’s being added to so many Do Not View lists they won’t bother buying credits (which we’re all doing now just admit it) and there’s one less customer for BlEx. And it’s all about the volume of customers and the advertising dollars that follow them, we all know that.

My last post about Blog Explosion was admittedly vitriolic. Who doesn’t have their moments of sheer rage when they see something that truly offends them to the core? Some take issue with Janet Jackson’s metal-clad nipple or some random wife in a towel running around a football locker room or whatever that scandale du jour was which I’ve been pretty much ignoring. Others take offense at the pain and violence going on during the actual football game. I take issue with fetus imagery while web surfing. (No offense to proud new parents with sonograms intended) So sue me.

As the one critical commenter said, and I’m paraphrasing (or really just writing it in a much better way): “You liberals are all alike,” does anyone else think of Seth from Cold Comfort Farm when people say things like that? “It’s all about faldelals,” had to do it, “and free speech and press until something offends your precious sensibilities then you want it taken off the airwaves. Why don’t you heed your own advice and just change the channel?”

Actually, you’re quite wrong. It’s not like I was saying that the fcc should ban all fetal imagery without ten thousand disclaimer messages unless it’s shown after ten o’clock. I had every intention of changing the channel I just wanted the option to never have to watch that channel again. And without being able to add that banner to my Do Not View list odds are good I’ll have to see that channel again sometime.

But I’m off in tangent-land again. The actual intention of this post has been to talk about a major positive aspect of BlEx: meeting so many new people. Now while I’m limited to only twenty-five Do Not Views, at the moment I have seventy-five Blogmarks. I’ve already shared a few of them but I’ve been wishing for a way to share my Blogmarks with everyone. So today I created a special Blogroll just for weblogs I found on BlEx and enjoyed enough to want more than thirty seconds of my time with them.

The opinions vary, as do the design and writing skills, and locations, age, and life experiences. To me the variety of voices is the great aspect of looking at personal pages on the web. While I enjoy hearing different stories I still reserve the right to not have to hear Og the neanderthal spout the latest Savage Nation rhetoric and posting uninspired references to Clinton’s presidential library sharing a trailer with a sex toy store, ending every post with the “Four more years” chant. But those don’t really qualify as much of a variety to me anyway.

Anyway, look in the extended entry and enjoy.

Also, since I can’t seem to stop yammering about this subject I’m going to create its very own category.