Campfire Circle

When I made the big move to Typepad, I decided to do away with my old Blogroll.  This was largely to do with the fact that by that point, my blog-reading had transcended beyond that list, and it was becoming impossible for the blogroll to accurately reflect all the various sites I was visiting on any given day.  Plus for cosmetic reasons, I thought the link to the Big Two Blog Rolls of Infertility/Adoption/Parenthood (Julie and Milenka's respective lists) should just about cover it.  And, since then I have discovered the joys of Bloglines; which in some ways has rendered the practical need for a blogroll even less.

But. When I first started out in this ole blogging lark, I remember how much of a thrill I would get when I would visit someone's site and see they had linked to me.  Actually, who am I kidding, I still get a thrill (not to mention a large proportion of my daily hits) from such links.  So it seems a shame not to give a similar boost, and return the favour to others from time to time, especially to those new bloggers who are perhaps not yet as well known or trafficked.  Not that I myself am the most popular pumpkin in the pumpkin patch, but you know, every little bit helps.

So here's the deal. I have created a new Typelist: The Campfire. The purpose of this is to highlight a few recommended blogs which I have recently discovered (some new, some maybe not so new). In addition, I may occasionally add a link to other blogs if there is something interesting going on there- a hot debate, a hilarious post, or a particular need for support and wagon-circling.

If you are a brand new blogger and would like to be spotlighted, e-mail me and let me know. If you are a longstanding blogger with an unquenchable thirst for fame, power and site hits, then e-mail me too. It's an open opportunity campfire.  Conversely, if you find yourself centre stage, and for whatever reason find that uncomfortable or objectionable, please do let me know and I will do the necessary to remedy that at once. 

I should stress from the get-go that the Campfire list is, by its very nature, intended to be impermanent.  It will probably shuffle often.  In some ways that's the whole point of the exercise. Therefore, please do not be offended if your blog is there one day, and the next time has been replaced by another.  That does not mean that you are suddenly no longer interesting, or that anyone has been kicked out of the fire circle. It just means that like life, all is in a constant state of flux.*

*(Of course, if you are desperate to retain your campfirey status, I have been known to be swayed on occasion by bribes of cookies and other gift offerings. Just a thought.)

Comments

[reprogirl]

Omigod, you put me in your campfire! This is the coolest thing that's happened to me all day! Of course, I've been reviewing documents all day, so that really doesn't express the excitement adequately. Thank you thank you thank you. I am so flattered. And I like it in the campfire. I do not intend to get kicked out. What kinds of bribes do you like best? Would it help if I posted a lot of comments on your blog? (Oh and thank you too because by linking to me, you led me to you, and this blog is great. It's all so great-interconnected-oneness-of-creation-y!)

[reprogirl]

I mean "you put me in your campfire circle" and "I like it in the campfire circle" of course. Not in the campfire itself. That would be uncomfortable.

[Suz]

Oh, Mare, I love the fact that you're doing this! I'm always on the hunt for new blogs, but I've missed both of the ones that you've included. I've now added them to bloglines (I'm a fellow addict). Having an area for new blogs, interesting posts, and wagon-circling is a wonderful idea.

[Anna H.]

Thank you Mare for starting the campfire circle -- from now on, whenever I'm fighting the urge to click on Celebrity Baby Blog (it's like fucking crack), I'll head over there instead.

Much, much better.

xxoo

[Lala]

For similar reasons I moved my links to my about page when I moved to typepap. It looks cleaner and doesn't extend my page by half a mile. I also use bloglines but I love the thrill of seeing my blog linked on someone else site

[JJ]

You're just full of good ideas, aren't you?

Of course being that I'm addicted to Bloglines too this means I'm going to have to actually come to your blog instead of just reading the entries online, you stinker!

p.s. You know how I feel about new blogs.

Anna H - I'm with you CBB is like HEROIN!

[ManhattanAnne]

Mare, my dear, thank you so so much. Here I've been squatting alone on the shore--a damp, shivering, and miserable castaway on Infertility Island, propping my eyelids open with palm fronds and staying up all night to scan horizon for lifeboats--and you go and build me a campfire. You're sweeter than Skipper, sexier than Ginger, smarter than the Professor, and have enriched my world way more than the Millionaire or his wife ever could. I've been almost too blue to post; this gesture really makes my day.
-Anne

P.S. I would really like to link here and elsewhere on my blog, but I'm a techno-dolt and can't figure it out. According to Blogger's instructions, I'm supposed to be able to edit the code and add links in the template section, but I can't for the life of me find the dang code. Anyway, as soon as I work it out, I will add some useful links. And, in the meantime, I cannot possibly thank you enough for linking me.

[zarqa]

Yeah, I've yet to get the hang of managing my reading list. There are people I read and link to but there are so many more that I want to read. And of course, I want to be read. I went so far as to have mirror blogs, one on LiveJournal (my first home where I made some friends I didn't want to leave) and one on Blogger (where I came because all the infertility talk seemed to happen there). Vain, I know. So in the interest of my vanity, and if you don't find my writing too awful, feel free to add me to your campfire.(you're already a link on my blog :)

[-Blue]

Mare, Fab idea! I really need to get as co-ordinated as you since I, too, read tons more blogs than I have listed ON my blog. I cringe to think that folks might think that I can't be arsed to put up their names. The truth is ... I just suck *sob*.

Oh, Anne! Email me and I'll try to explain the Blogger template code.

-Blue

[Kinneret]

Hey Mare,
The heat of the campfire has been very nice this morning as it went below freezing ... and most likely all my newly planted lil plants are deceased. But I digress.

If you want to add me to your campfire, I'd be honoured.

[Susan/holdingpattern]

Wow! You are right - it does feel great to find another blog linked to mine! Thanks for adding me to your campfire circle. This has made my day.