“In the matter of ideas the public prefer the cheap and nasty.” Charles Sanders Peirce
I’m looking at gray skies, gray buildings, brown-gray-black-filthy snow everywhere, and ice-coated trees that look like glass. It looks like every post-apocalyptic movie I’ve ever seen outside; I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to see Viggo Mortensen and Boy walking down the road. Yuck it’s ugly out there. Before my Union Square appointment this afternoon, I’m having sushi with a friend in midtown, which means a several-block walk and I don’t like ice. But I’m not grumpy! I don’t know why, this eternally bleak weather seems like it ought to be wearing on me. I don’t like it, but it’s not getting me down. Too much. Yet.
I was dashing through my Google Reader this morning before getting down to work, and I started wondering how y’all feel about something. I know I wrote a blogrump post, where I complained about multi-step commenting and way too many pictures a la Pioneer Woman, so this complaint may not make sense but who cares — consistency, hobgoblin, small minds, etc. What’s your preference for how a blog shows up in your reader? The options are post titles only, titles and excerpts, or full content. I have an opinion but I want to know what you think. I already know what I think. 
keep those dogies movin. and clean up your blogroll, for goodness’ sake! here, i’ll show you how.
Gee, I may be the only one here old enough to get the reference of the post title. Or maybe I’m the only one western enough to get it. Here – I’ll start the morning with a bit of cultural education for you, before moving on to the Public Service Announcement of the post:
Rawhide! A blast from my mid-century childhood, which also included a lot of Bonanza (i love you Hoss) and Gunsmoke.
ANYWAY. Rolling. Blogrolling. I got a really nice note from Sara over at Wool Durham, about my blogroll widget. If you don’t know her site, click over and subscribe now! I’ll wait. I don’t know what y’all do with your blogrolls, or with others’ blogrolls. When I visit someone’s blog, if I really like it I’ll check out their blogroll because I figure I might find another one I like a lot. Usually like follows like – if your aesthetic is spare and minimal I figure you tend to like spare and minimal aesthetics (me too, believe it or not), so I just may find a new delight.
Well! I think most people don’t pay any attention to their blogrolls. Maybe when they set up their blog, way back in aught-7, they put together a blogroll because it’s what you do, and then they haven’t looked at it since. Usually, I find a large number of abandoned blogs and some that have been deleted. When there hasn’t been a post made in 2 years, I know that blogger hasn’t looked at her blogroll in a while! I get kind of small-potatoes irritated.
Enter the google reader thing that I use; it’s just a feed from my blogroll, so new posts come up. You don’t see the ginormous list of blogs I subscribe to, only new posts. Blogger must give you a similar option (no surprise there, since they’re Google, and all), as you see on Tammy’s blogroll.
If you have a WordPress blog (or other….) and want to get rid of your straight list of blogs — btw, what a pain to maintain! — it’s very simple. Well, it’s very simple, assuming you use Google Reader to manage the blogs you subscribe to. Just go to the bottom of your blog lists, where it says Manage Your Subscriptions. Click that, and you’ll see:
I made folders for the different kind of blogs I read, so I just made my knitting set public, then clicked “add a clip to your site.” You can fiddle with the design, then just copy a little bit of html and paste it in a text widget in your sidebar. Presto. And changeo.
And thus concludes our public service announcement. Don’t feel bad if you’re one of those with a dusty old blogroll, I still love ya.
Rawhide.
not-doing is so much harder than doing, but doing is pretty hard, too.
Stopping all at once – from following 435 blogs to not reading any blogs at all – that is tough. Since Google Reader doesn’t provide a suspend option, I just eliminated the gadget from my iGoogle home page. The choices are either to quit following, or see all the posts. I wish they’d provide a vacation option or something, but they don’t. So I know they’re all there, accumulating, showing up in the Reader that’s there but just not on my home page. They taunt me, the posts. I know there is beautiful knitting, gorgeous quilting, interesting thoughts, amazing design, fun and happy and curious and melancholy, all there just behind my screen.
But I am not reading. It’s hard. I wonder what you’re up to. Not reading hasn’t yet transformed my mornings, although I have done more knitting. I’ve also done a bit more writing. I think I have to overcome the thing underneath, the thing that made sitting and reading all the blogs so appealing, such a good alternative to doing. Inertia, laziness, general procrastination, fear. And that last one is such a funny thing – fear. I’m afraid to try toe-up socks. WHAT? Afraid to try toe-up socks? What is there to be afraid of? Afraid I’ll sit at my table and start writing and … what? It won’t be good? Does it all have to be good, and perfect, and finished, with my first effort?
Of course the answer is no, and of course the answer is yes.
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