Monday, 8 September 2008

Kick Your Blogroll Up The Arse

I’ve set myself a little project. A project that I’m going to foist on you all.

Over the past few months quite a lot of the blogs I read regularly have upped and died. People I used to read regularly like Tired Dad, Peach, The Woman in Wellies, Joseph etc have just buggered off and stopped writing. Most upsettingly the first blog I ever blogrolled, American Scot the tattooed Atheist stopped blogging even though he promised he wouldn’t. How dare he have a life!



For a while we even lost that minx, Slutty McWhore
and jetsetting The Good Woman . Thankfully, the two of them have come to their senses, pulled their writing pants back on and got back to blogging regularly.


But I realise five things:

1. That I’ve become set in my ways in the blogs I read.

2. That I haven’t been actively looking for new good stuff so it’s all my fault.

3. That I pretty much ignore people’s blogrolls, which is a bit stupid.

4. That good blogs are bloody hard to find (there’s some right shite out there, isn’t there? If you don't believe me try Stumble Upon and you'll see...).

5. That you can’t rely on your old favourites to keep on keeping on, you’ve got to seek out new favourites once in a while.

6. That I can’t count.


So I’m going to start a bit of a meme to gee us all up. It’s called Kick your Blogroll up the Arse.


The Rules of Kick Your Blogroll Up the Arse

(Hint: This is the cut out bit for you to post)

What you do is you go to four of your favourite blogs and pick a blog from their blogroll that you’ve never visited or commented on. You then add them to your blogroll or feed, read them for at least a month (by which time there should be no turning back) and give them a chance to invade your life.

Then you duplicate the main part of this post with a note on whose blog you got it from. Stick the four new blogs you are going to read up , tell us briefly why you chose them and whose blogroll they came from. And if you want, coerce others mercilessly into joining in. Then start reading.


I have chosen these:

Mr Farty’s
blogroll I have chosen Giggles because she looks a bit of a laugh and I kind of like Australians on the whole. Mainly because I like the way they casually swear without a thought.

From Ms Robinson’s
blogroll I have chosen Bossy because I've noticed people rave about her and I’ve never read her, so I want to see what all the fuss is about.

From CatGirl’s blog I am going to give Planet Me a go
because I like the honesty of the title of the blog and Cat seems to have got excited that he’s “Back! Back! Back!”, so that looks like a good bet.

And from Mommy Has a Headache
I chose Annie Rhiannon I clicked her name randomly and went with it because there was a photo of a bloke with red hair and an apple on his head that somehow spoke to me. Then I read a post and realised that my gut feeling was right.

I am passing the meme onto ALL readers of the Misssives, all commenters on the Misssives, everyone in my current blogroll and even those pesky lurkers in the skirting boards. But I officially want to pass it onto everyone whose blog is linked in this post.


Oh and if you do decide to take on the challenge, let me know so that I can zip on over and have a peek.

Consider your autumn evenings filled.

You're welcome!



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36 comments:

Cat said...

I really should do this. I have my regular reads, and tend not to go any further. But I totally agree that it's very hard to find decent blogs - and being such a Nazi about written English, I tend to make snap judgements which is generally not a good thing.

Kate Lord Brown said...

Arse duly kicked Misssy. So disappointed the tatooed atheist is no longer in business ...

Misssy M said...

Cat:Do it! Do it! You're linked, you have to!

Misssy M said...

Kate; Well, Scot, the tattooed Atheist is still at large and probably still reading the Missives but has closed down his blog as he felt it was getting too bogged down in the atheist theme. He says he's starting another sometime though. Right, off to look at your list.

Ro said...

I'm aware that I need to broaden my horizons and find myself a wider range of blogs to keep myself interested.

I'm having enough trouble reading all my existing regulars at the moment though.

Tomorrow, perhaps ;^)

justme said...

Well this is the first time I have read your blog and its caught my interest....so....all good!
But I have not really been in blogland long enough to be bogged down exactly.......

Xbox4NappyRash said...

I think you should try to come up with something a little more confusing...

...mayo?

Misssy M said...

Ro: It's just I had a good look at my blogroll the other week and realised that half of them had given up. I blame the credit crunch. Why? Welleveryone's using that excuse aren't they?

Just me: Hello and welcome. Well then you are a primo candidate for the meme. Let me know if you do it!

Nappy Rash: Like the meme that did the rounds about the take a book, turn to page 34, find line 4, write an essay on how that sentence fits in with your life write it on a piece of paper and attach it to a balloon. Mine's much easier that that.

Yeah...the mayo. Hold the mayo...

Xbox4NappyRash said...

Your's is only easier because I don't have the lung capacity to inflate a balloon.

I eagerly await the results.

XUP said...

My blogroll is already massive and in constant flux --people come, people go. So I read way too many blogs and yet I'm always looking for more. Anyway, I wanted to say thank you so much for the nomination at POTW. It's an honour.

Giggle! said...

HAHAHAHA this is freaking genious!!!

I'll never be bored again with a challenge like this one!

I've got a post lined up about my crap nights sleep lastnight, but I shall get to doing this meme in the next one!

Cheers!

Oh and Aussies swearing without a thought? Not me mate!! :-) No F*ckin way! :-P xx

Misssy M said...

X Box: Go on you know you want to try it- your blogroll is teeny.

XUP:I think the problem is that some people write blogs and then the people they write about get a bit tired about being subjects and they delete their blog for the sake of their relationship. Fortunately my husband is a supreme narcissist and loves the attention.

Giggle: Hello and welcome to the Misssives- Look! my first new blogroller everyone! Looking forward to reading your stuff, Misssy Giggle. There'd better be random swearing- don't crush that stereotype and disappoint me, now!

Xbox4NappyRash said...

that's not my blogroll...and anyway, it's cold okay?

Misssy M said...

Xbox: I set them up, you bat em away!

The IT Girl said...

Just subscribed! I love your blog; discovered it this morning via Very Hush Hush. Consider me a new fan.

Xbox4NappyRash said...

Immature knob jokes a sepciality.

That is, immature jokes about knobs, not jokes about immature knobs.

I'll shut up now...

Misssy M said...

IT Girl: Welcome to the Misssives, girly. You make good choice, no be disappointed. Certain conditions may apply and investments may go down as well as up, but stick around anyway...

Xbox: Are there any other kind of knob jokes?

Mr Farty said...

Ooerrr, I never visit new blogs, never ever. What if I find something I don't like? What if they don't like me? Can I just hide in a corner and pretend I never saw this post?

Oh hai Giggle!

Misssy M said...

Mr F: Go on, course they'll like you. Before you know it, you'll be fine and you'll wonder why you were even anxious. Now, off you go, and don't look back.

Annie said...

Ooh, hello. Thanks for the linky love. I too am stuck in a blog-roll trap. I find myself reading the same stuff over and over again. Have added yours to my feed now though.

With love from Ireland.

Slutty McWhore said...

Ooh, I don't know about this. I find it stressful enough to keep up with all the blogs I read already, and I don't think I have the mental energy to read too many more. I have recently been trying to "downsize" when it comes to internet surfing etc. I've also unsubscribed from loads of email lists because I'm just so sick of being bombarded with information.

I very rarely click on links in people's blogrolls. Generally, I find people if they leave an intelligent comment on the blogs I read already.

I would be interested in finding other Scottish bloggers, though

Mr Farty said...

Ok, I've found three, er four new blogs, read them a bit, put them on my reader. What was the next bit? Read them for how long? Jesus H.

Oh. Even if you don't like any of those ones, read Jenny the Bloggess. She.is.funny.

Misssy M said...

Annie: Hello and welcome to the Misssives (and my experiment.) I'm sucked in already...(and with the promise of US based adventure, doubly so- jealous)

Slutty: Scottish bloggers I can recommend would be Cat, Farty, Groanin' Jock, Ben Lomond Free Press, Andrew, Informationally Overloaded, Cammy, Mr Eugenides, Jaggy, and Inchy. In fact my blogroll is full of them. All offering different things.

Mark McDonald said...

I did it:

http://granitecapitalcity.blogspot.com/2008/09/misssy-ms-meme.html

I am trying not to be hurst that I am still not on your blogroll... ;-)

Misssy M said...

Mark: Good grief..neither you are. You are on my google reader...I sometimes do that. Oversight corrected immediately!

Mark McDonald said...

No worries.

And that should have read HURT not HURST.

I have no intention of scoring a hat-trick for England in a World Cup Final...

Mr Farty said...

Slutty - There are screeds and screeds of Scottish blogs referenced in Scottish Roundup. Mostly political, but meh, that may be what you're after.

nursemyra said...

i found you via gorilla bananas blogroll so it's appropriate that I comment on this post...

you like australians? come on down to the gimcrack. we like the scots

Misssy M said...

Nursey: Excellent- I will! Hello and Welcome to the Misssives by the way.

Kayessjaykay said...

This blog has quite possibly rekindled my enthusiasm for blogging, which was mysteriously lost some time ago...
Back soon.

Misssy M said...

Kayessjaykay: About flippin' time!

Pants said...

I'm very sorry but I'm not going to take you up on your challenge, because if I start reading one more blog I will either A: slip into a delerium caused by sleep deprivation, B: will officially have to change my occupation to hermit, or C: lose my job. However, I have started my very first blog in English and promise not to let it die. So if you are still looking for new stuff, feel free to check it out (it's going rather well, I've been called a c**t by a perfect stranger on my second day). Also, thank you for being a linguist AND funny, unfortunately that is a rare combination...

Misssy M said...

Pants: Hello and welcome to the Misssives. Listen, you've arrived. It took me two and a half years to finally be called a "prick" by someone. It was the other day and on a post called Roadside Cafe Rage which I wrote over a year ago! I can only assume it was the owner of the cafe I was badmouthing.

Still, nasty comments are a laugh. I hope you had fun with the "Cunt" deliverer. Thanks for you kind words by the way. I'll be over to check out your blog.

BT said...

Oh these comments are almost as good as your blog!! And nobody I know ever writes Cunt!! We use it a lot in my house. Hang on, I'll re-phrase that....

What was this about?

Misssy M said...

BT: Pants just had a wee rant about anial rights and someone threw the language equivalent of red paint over her fur coat.

Misssy M said...

Sorry that was "animal rights"- anyone who thought I meant to type "anal" should be ashamed of themselves!