Burnerblog

I go through my list to the right daily (or almost daily) and found that one of the blogs I followed (that hasn’t been updated in a few months) is now officially gone. It’s giving the ol’ 404 when you follow the link. Three others haven’t had updates in months.

This makes me sad.

I will put them on the reserves list: not deleted, but not displayed either. When they start posting again, I’ll put ‘em back on the list. Two of those were friends of mine, and one was my inspiration to begin blogging. I’m saddest about seeing her “go.” I hope she comes back and blogs again in the future. She and her husband are neat people, and I like reading about their lives.

I know I should use a news reader for the blogs I follow, but I don’t. I can’t. I kind of like the whole presentation thing of blogs. People put in the time to make their snazzy layouts and to post pictures and other goodies in a way that compliments the post and fits into the scheme of their site, and I think I should view it the way it was intended to be viewed.

With that said, I do have a news reader, and most blogs are on it… but I use it mostly to let me know when there’s an update, or when something has changed. Namely, when a new post has been written (I was going to say posted, but that would be too much).

I’ve been thinking about blogs, and how they were a big thing a few years back and now, most folks have moved on to facebook or myspace with the exception of those of us who prefer the control and the freedom of having our own site with the script of our choosing, etc. For the masses, myspace and facebook (et al) are a great solution for being entangled in the tubes of the interwebs.  For those of us who have been here a while longer, or are more adept at doing things like configuring data strings and debugging html, there are good old fashioned blogs.

This place is a journal-type blog, and most of the blogs I follow are journal blogs. They keep me up-to-date with what my friends are doing, whether they are real-life friends here locally, or people I’ve met online that I like to think of as my friends (whether they think of me that way or not is irrelevant; what’s in my mind is what’s important to me). There are a few other blogs I read from time to time, my favorite being Engadget, but I love reading about the lives of people. It’s sort of the ultimate reality show for those with a brain.

Then, there’s twitter. It’s the ultimate in TMI (too much information). You can keep track of what people are doing based on their updates, which can be done moment by moment. I’ve started using it, and I’ve found it’s fun and addictive. It gives you something to do when you’re bored or in places you’d rather not be. But, for example, I went to a coffee shop last night and had a nice time and forgot to twitter it for that very reason; I wasn’t bored. It seems twitter is best suited to boredom, although I am trying to keep it up and twitter the good as well as the bad. I enjoy it… it’s the amalgamation of myspace and blogging with text messaging and bulletin boards thrown in for good measure. As fun as it is, it doesn’t take the place of the good old fashioned blog (but it definitely adds to the whole “connected” experience!).

So, I guess not only do I like clicking down my entire blogroll to look for myself if there have been any updates, but I also like to read blogs about folks and their lives. I’m thinking that makes me old fashioned, but if there’s anything I’ve learned since turning 30, it’s that I don’t care what labels people ascribe to me. It’s the labels I use for myself that matter.

I’ve added a few faces to my blogroll from my past. Nina is a writer in LA whose defunct site “The Slack” I used to update and maintain for her. Chris is a former Marine I served with for a few years. He was a dog handler, and a really nice guy. Jericho is a new find with an interesting view on life. The rest of the blogroll survives v4.0 Burnerblog. There are a few (literally FEW) blogs I may take off the ol’ blogroll due to inactivity, but I may have them linked some other way because I like the people behind the sites.

Anyway…  that’s what’s new in Burnerblog Blogroll Land (say that fast five times).

My friend of over 25 years, Kate, has started her own blog tonight. She felt it was finally time for her to have a place where she can speak her mind, vent, or just write about what’s going on in her life. She’s also on WordPress (which is a good thing), and I’ve added her to my Blogroll on the right.

The small picture of her in this post was taken at the party this past weekend where she was Dorothy from “The Wizard of Oz.” Kind of a stretch for a Sci-Fi themed party, but she was able to make sense of the premise, so we let it slide.

Once upon a time, my daughter had a blog. She was one of the youngest bloggers I knew of, and probably one of the first of her generation. She was nine when she started at her blog called “Gellifish,” but she let it lapse and didn’t update it for years. Eventually, when I switched servers from Pmachine to DNN and then to WordPress, she didn’t ask for me to keep it going. Now, she’s back at it. She’s finally found some motivation to write about her life, and it’s a neat window into her life, experiences, etc. I’m also pleased to say that her writing skills have improved greatly since her earlier blogging days. Go on and visit her blog. I’m sure she’d be happy to see some comments there!