Housekeeping & a few shoutouts
I'm experimenting with a few redesigns of this place. To me, using the Radio-default layout is like having a blog with training wheels. So, heads up... if things start to go haywire around here, it's because I have no clue what I'm doing with cascading style sheets. Or HTML/OPML coding. You know, some days, I can barely turn the computer on. But I do know I'd like a different look, so I'll be playing in the coming days.

My blogroll, in particular, could use an overhaul. A few of those guys I haven't read myself in months (Wil, raise yo' hand), and several seem to have gone dark. I'm on BlogRolling now, but I can't quite figure out how to import it here yet. I'm afraid if I screw with the templates too much, I won't be able to fix them. When did I become so timid??

Back before I was born (by only a couple of years, though), Dick Clark used to walk over to a map on the wall and stick flag pins in it to show all the new places where they could see American Bandstand. I have a picture of him doing it in a book, but can't bring that online, so try to imagine this picture as I welcome aboard three new "affiliates." Go see Taunia of Backstage Pass, Dave of .blogdaddy, and Eileen of Here In Springfield.

Taunia's a bandmate of Amy's in All About Buford, and in spite of all the hangin' around I've been doing with those guys lately I'm pleasantly surprised to learn she reads this, and thinks enough of me to make me a "Backstage VIP!" I'm also glad to see she's writing again. Keep it goin', T.

Dave's a fairly well-known blogger with a high-traffic site in Boston, but now that I've graduated to his "Who's Zoomin Who" category I'll give him a plug anyway. I've been reading him for a long time. He's funny and poignant in a near-perfect mix, and though I'm a divorced father of none, I can still identify with a lot of the stuff he toughs out in his life.

Eileen's a new addition to the stable of bloggers over on MassLive.com, and has a lot of important and thoughtful things to say about this "20th most dangerous city in the country" in which we both live. She's going to keep me honest and get me to write about my community more. The bloggers of Western Mass seem to be a pretty chummy group, mostly through MassLive's efforts, and being tagged by them is going to force me to pay more attention to my humble little effort over here. But I love it.

Meanwhile, I'm gonna switch off and go watch the rest of Christmas with Chanticleer over on PBS, if I can stand waiting through the pledge breaks. Did you know public television needs your support? I've done my bit for years, so why do I still have to listen to the begging? PBS should develop technology like one of those value-added Internet sites... once you pay your money you don't get any more popup ads. Hell, I work in television, and I'm broke too! Maybe I need to have a pledge drive.

Hmmm... 6:10:48 PM    comment []trackback []