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.
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So I’m doing my surf thing. I’ve given up rating weblogs or looking at my own ratings entirely. I’ve been a good little blog exploder only saying something when I had something nice to say and quietly adding sites that said things I found offensive to my “do not view” list while trying to add the sites I do enjoy to my blogmarks page. And really making an effort to visit and maybe even say hello to the sites that have me blogmarked. I’m genuinely flattered that some of you have enjoyed my site enough to come back. So I hope this doesn’t offend you too much. But it must be said.

I just hit my maximum of 25 sites on my “do not view” list and came to an interesting snap decision: I would rather be subjected to obvious sales ploys and pyramid schemes than read one more pro-war pro-bush anti-everything I was raised to believe america to be weblog. I shocked myself but there it is.

Right now I just wish I could add banners to my “do not view” list because I’m staring at one with a fucking FETUS on the top of my BE browser tab.

Folks, if I wanted to watch partially mature human lifeforms suck their thumbs I’d watch our prez on the news mkay?

And Pro Life Blogs dot com? Fuck You. Not in a nice fun way but in a big nasty mean painful way that leaves scars like in the uterus of a woman who had to have a back alley abortion. You and your stupid banner suck.

The fact that there are enough people like you who feel the need to band together in their extreme insecurity of their god’s love to the point where they feel they have to earn it by becoming crusaders against women’s control of their own bodies bothers me enough. That there are enough weblog authors who buy this bullshit to form a group of possibly more than two (I’m sure as shit not going to give your site any additional hits to find out) is just unspeakably sad to me. But to have to face your nasty ugly fetus imagery while trying to digest my dinner makes me unbelievably angry.

Not towards the women who have to face one of the most difficult decisions they’ll ever have to make in their lives as your horrid little design intends - but towards YOU.

Fuck you, fuck your fetus imagery, and fuck the stupid cheap ass standard windows fonts you used on your stupid fucking banner.

Here are some random thoughts I’ve had about weblog doohickies today.

Why doesn’t blogrolling allow you to have more than ten blogrolls? I’d be willing to pay an extra buck or two for a few additional ones rather than have to set up a separate blogroll account and pay ten bucks again. Not to save the ten dollars but to avoid having to migrate between two blogroll accounts.

Why does the ‘find on page’ function in Firefox 1 not search within text boxes, like for example the text boxes for templates in movable type? I know it did with 0.9.

Why is blog explosion more worried about the voters than the votees in this rating game nonsense? Why couldn’t we have the option to choose whether or not we want to be rated (like we can with be comments) as Sam has suggested?

Why doesn’t the category selection drop-down menu reflect the categories and sub-categories in Movable Type? Is there any way to list posts alphabetically in a category archive in Movable Type (apparently there is, thanks Mr Payne!)

I love going to look at the sites of people who’ve given hedgeblog (or the egeltje group) a lowball (five stars or below) rating. Their sites are usually so badly designed there’s just no way it could be something like their lofty aethetic sense being bruised by the cuteness of my hedgehog. Or sheer adorableness of my punk rock fairy. It could only be jealousy. Possibly of my cute hedgehog ownership but more likely they’re just upset about my designs making their pages look like little nutty pieces of crap. We’re talking animated gif dogs and reindeer here, people. And not in an ironic way.

Oh I could link to them and let you point and giggle and say mean things right along with me. But I won’t. Because I’m kind. And I understand.

Drunk. Drunk with power they are. I was tipsy like that myself in the beginning. Wildly clicking “1″ on weblogs just because I didn’t agree with their Bush-votin ways. Yes, I was petty and sucked like that for about a day. Coincidentally the day Kerry conceded? No doubt heh. Until I got a 1 from someone who clearly just disagreed with me. Then I stopped voting at all for a few days in a big pout.

Now I only vote when I know I’m going to give them an 8 or more. No, it’s not honest but despite what some may say I don’t feel it’s my job to be everyone’s critic. I also try to leave really nice comments on the sites that I’ve truly enjoyed.

To the lowballers:

I’m not going to perpetuate the stupidity and vote your site low as well. I’m even going to start fighting the urge to look at who rated mine because I’d never change my site to just please semi-anonymous star-clickers.

I didn’t decide to start a weblog again after being offline four years to receive your approval. I did it to have a place where I could play with code. Learn CSS. Jot down my random thoughts. Share links with friends and family. And as a bonus meet new people and hear new stories.

Not to play some stupid junior high clique game. So put that in your pipe and shove it up your ass.

lalala I’m not watching tv lalala I’m not listening to the radio lalala I’m not looking at any news or political websites lalala unless it shows up on Blog Explosion then I go away after thirty seconds lalalalalala

Mmhmm. Yet another site touting blog explosion. I’ve found some really interesting sites out there. Yes, some were just awful, ugly, and pundit-y but for the most part I’ve found some wonderful new voices that I hope to hear more from.

As I’ve been touring around I’ve seen a lot of people blogging about the woes of being forced to read someone else’s poetry, political views, or lists of hates and angst while visiting other sites in order to promote their own. Here’s some news for you: Not everyone gives a shit about what you have to say either. Just wait the thirty seconds and move on please. It’s the nature of the web, baby, and people are suffering with yours just as much as you’re suffering someone else’s. Let’s just suck it up and try being polite, for once. Please.

And to set myself apart from a lot of those other posts about BE while conveniently distracting myself from all that stressful news stuff: I’m going to be positive and list the sites I’ve added to my ‘blogmarks’ which I’ll be adding to my blogroll as well. I think you’d enjoy them too.

Church of Steelle
Deenda
Educated beyond her Intelligence
Esoterically.net
Fictional Art
For F*ck’s Sake
Hammer and Nail
IddyBud
Insanely Inane Thoughts
JecklesGeekBlog
A Load of Bollocks
Michele Agnew
Miked up
Monkeyverb
The Montisci Papers
The Muttering Muse
Mystic Savage’s Trollchild papers
Pixel Tigris
Rants and Chants from WindReader
Rear Window Ethics
tlc: a public display of my affections
Youngfox Canada

Some are quirky, others outfright freakish, a few personal or cultural observations, some really nice photography, and even some deep thoughts.

(click extended entry for *yet another* surprise!)
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