My blog operates under certain conventions, the likes of which perhaps ought to be revealed now:
1. I do my best to post every day.
2. I likewise enjoy blogs that post every day.
3. I hold out my “The Usual Suspects” list to those whom I read frequently and who post regularly;
4. I don’t add to my “The Usual Suspects” list in order to increase readership. I actually possess some ethics. I only add you if I read you, or if I think you have a Voice. Capital V. Blogs that have hundreds of links bore me. Yeah. Like you read all those blogs every day. Yadda yadda yadda.
5. If you post frequently, you ascend; if you post infrequently you descend — or I delete you.
6. I used to make announcements for every addition or deletion. I don’t do that any more. Should I bring these announcements back?
Further:
1. I try to post daily. Occasionally I will make two posts daily. If I leave for a period of time, I make an announcement.
2. My masthead rarely changes. I am an HTML idiot. TF was my first HTML guru; now it is Robert at American & Proud who is my guru. I’ve figured out a few things; changing my masthead frequently isn’t one of them.
3. I like links. I will make a link whenever possible, in order to ‘justify” whatever point I’m attempting to make at the time.
4. I very much dislike minimalist obscure posts. Make your point. Make it soon. Don’t just provide links to other sites with a word or two. They’ve done the work. You haven’t. If you constantly refer me to another site to make your point, then why am I reading YOU? You are not Instapundit or Powerline.
5. Why do I read most blogs? Easy: to acquire a taste and a sense of who you are. Aggregator blogs are gone from my The Usual Suspects list. I want you to editorialize. That’s why Common Cents is gone. Anyone can puke out a bunch of links. And, no matter what you might think, you are most definitely not Drudge.
6. I may like you. I may agree 100% with your philosophy. But if you don’t work at your posts, you’re gone. Be active.
7. Blogger offers to “monetize” my blog. Bullshit. I’m not “monetizing” anything. I’ve not made ONE CENT from this blog. I may enjoy politically-related ads on a blog, but I can certainly and easily tell the DIFFERENCE between a blog displaying random ads and one that focuses on Conservative issues.
8. Pay attention to your posts. Pay attention to your spelling. Pay attention to your paragraphs. Pay attention to how your post looks upon publication. If you’re on Blogger, before you publish a post you’ll need to click back and forth between “COMPOSE” and “PREVIEW” in order to determine if your paragraphs are full.
9. Make it simple. Make it cogent. Make it entertaining.
10. If you make your blog confusing or obdurate, I’m done with you. Life is too short for you, clearly. If you are nothing but an example for TechnoWhizBang, u b gone.
One of my favorite blogs in terms of layout? TexasFred. I wish he’d use more photos and graphics, but that’s a minimal observation. His HEADLINES are clear, short, concise. I may occasionally disagree with his points or philosophies. He makes his reference quotes and then gets right to the meat of the matter. You can CLEARLY delineate between his resources and his editorialization. He is brilliant in terms of making and then backing-up his point. I submit that’s why he’s read so much. You may hate him. You may love him. But his blog is CLEAR, it is SIMPLE, it is OBVIOUS, it is CONCISE, it is plain. He is NUMBER ONE in my TUS blogroll because he pulls no punches and he embraces these two very important points:
He is FIRM and he is CONSISTENT. You can depend upon, at minimum, a new post every day.
One of my favorite blogs in terms of background, depth, breadth, massive content, knowledge, is A Jacksonian. I’ll write this up front: YOU don’t have the hours in the day to do the investigation that HE does on EVERY post. I’ve written to him and I’ll write to you: the entire federal STATE DEPARTMENT pales in comparison to his insight, training, education and experience. You think I’m kidding? Read his blog.
In terms of other Blog Conventions:
I enjoy posting, at the minimum, one photo per post. I’ve finally learned how to import photos and then drag and drop them into specific points on a given post. I’ve learned that the top photo can be clicked-on, and then enlarged. I’ve learned, through Blogger, that if you want to make ALL of your photos enlargeable, you must pre-load every photo and only THEN add your words, comments, links.
So many bloggers I’ve embraced over the past few years have left the realm. People start by thinking that blogging is child’s play. As you all know, it is not. I cannot tell you how many blogs I’ve found that I’ve enjoyed yet — they published two or three good posts then simply disappeared. To those not involved this seems silly but I realize it to be true: blogging is hard work. Consistent blogging is even more difficult. It can damned near take over your life. But, on the other hand, people enjoy visiting a blog that’s current and hasn’t let a post sit for a month. I sense the Blogosphere is in a vast upheaval right now. If you have a voice — and you can keep it — please let it be heard. We need as many Conservatives in the choir as possible.
My priority in my blogroll: it isn’t because I don’t necessarily disagree with you. It’s because you don’t predominatly post, at minimum, a number of times per week.
After all, honestly — don’t you enjoy reading an active blog?
BZ
I’ll be damned…
Today I haven’t made so much as one post…
Nothing tweaked my beak, Pervert Hilton got bitch slapped and lived, Iran is Iran, N Korea needs a NUKE dropped on em, Odumba is still POTUS, Nancy Peeloosly is still ugly and Barney Fag is still a fag..
We need a better news cycle, I’ll try harder tomorrow… I promise…
You don’t DIG it, obviously, TF:
It is on whom YOU I can rely for consistent posting.
How many others??
BZ
Hey, I’m going to borrow your rules and post them on the bulletin board by my computer.
I try to post daily and make it relevant and original, but once in a while I miss a day or two.
You have given me the kick in the butt I needed.
I’m following your lead, BZ!
Heck, I got into a fight with Perez (His real name is Mario Lavandeira) back in my old NYU days. Fat bastard was a freak then and still is now. Just relax TF and know that he is in pain since his Main food group, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough has been pulled from store shelves!!
I do try to post every day BZ, but sometimes life in Dutch gets in the way! Thanks for keeping me up there!
PCC: hey, there ya go! Outstanding!
BZ
I wish that I COULD post every day.
Well, actually, I typically post SOMEWHERE every day. Having blogging privileges at multiple sites (a few of which I also administrate) and co-hosting a weekly radio show, as well as working and my disability (which confines me to the bed once in a while), sometimes prevent my posting at my primary blog every day.
Blogging is serious business and hard work. No financial gain, either.
AOW: you got that right. It IS very hard work, which is why so many blogs are left unattended after a week or a month.
BZ
BZ, I DO dig it.. And AOW is right, this is a lot of work, and other than personal satisfaction, there are few rewards…
At least for the *little guys*…
I guess we could play on our SEX if we posed as women, it’s worked for a couple of very prominent female bloggers…
Or we could do like some and post the most ridiculous bullshit imaginable, that’s worked for some too…
If those are the things I have to do to gain HUGE national recognition, I won’t get there, but if honest opinion and commentary make it happen, I’ll have a radio show like Michael Savage soon…
Michael Savage… Get it Cat Box??
BZ,
Rules to live by. I don’t post enough, although I do find myself bored with a lot of the same news day after day. Your point, however, is well taken. My time seems to be posting comments and that I do everyday, most of the day. I pledge to spend more time trying to say something worthwhile.
bz, I can’t cut it down to 2 a day, mostly! I try……..I need a 12 step program. Maybe I’m too fluff or something…they’re SURE not Jacksonian-type posts but I think I get a point across and SURE do love the comments.
What wearies me is bloggers who don’t comment to the commenters…I completely lose interest when there’s no response at all to what we say at their blog.
I like CONVERSATION, not just post/comment. I want riotous discourse, it’s why I keep the loathsome Ducky around!(which is NOT easy, trust me)
I’m proud to be on your blogroll!
Mr. Z – My thanks!
I am horrifically distracted with home care… basically socking in before we hit the nasty bout of inflation coming up. I’ve been stocking up on food, ammo, emergency supplies and getting as much as I can at a low cost. Basically haunting Sportsmans Guide for milsurp. That, getting my M-Ns into order, my Vz. 61 to final build (just the barrel retaining pin! grumble, grumble), medical visits, cell phones (must have for the reasons we see in Iran video and picture), shifting over to a new medication for one of my conditions (I vote NO on socialized medicine as I want to survive)…. basically too busy to post much.
I do have some help in getting my non-fiction The Modern Jacksonian edited, but that is a spare time help project. Also my ST story… probably do both on-line through a print-on-demand group (currently looking at Lulu). When my stuff is done you can either get the free text or print it for cost of materials…. I want no profit, so that is what you pay for, paper and ink.
The storm is here and its time to batten down. I don’t want to be where I am, but survive I will.
Blogging is irregular at best, now once/twice a month at the party site and a bit more often at DLSF. Its ‘kitchen table blogging’ as I’m shopping online the rest of the time… soon that will be done…
Still my archive works don’t age much: they are not particularly topical to current events. You can be bored silly reading about terrorism, the Red Mafia, politicians and all three together! Or about the Anti-Federalists, of whom I now put down in the ‘prescient’ category… stop reading de Tocqueville and read AMERICANS who talked about the problems we have now.
We were warned.
We didn’t listen.
TF: my point was, you’ve worked long a hard and consistently in order to stake out your portion of the Blogosphere and you’ve not only got the editorializing chops but, and I envy this, the HTML and blog-building chops as well.
LOT: heck, that’s worthy of another post all by itself. For those with big jobs, how do you find time to post and work a personal life and a business into it all?
Z: and that begs a question: how do you manage to make a minimum of two posts a day? And thanks for the kudos!
AJ: wow. You’re not much positive about the state of our civilization and what it bodes for survival.
BZ
Well Crap, I am honored and insulted all at the same time.. That’s the mark of a truly great writer.. LOL
Yeah My grammatical errors are legendary, and my mundane verbosity is epic, but I say what I mean and you need to figure out what the hell that is! it’s called a partnership blog man. LOL
Ok I’m duly chastized for not posting everyday like I used to, I will try harder.. Life has been less forgiving lately and I’ve been taking up a new passion. Bow Hunting! I can’t feed my family in times of hardship with a blog, so I need to get my country boy card back. I’ve almost reached graduation time bro, bare with me I’ll get some more posts out there….
Now I feel REALLY bad for taking a week to spend with TMBWitW.
I will second your reasons, and the bloggers you mentioned. Your list is comprehensive. Mine needs weeded out.
I’ll try to get back up to speed.
A blog post just for bloggers, great idea. I have to agree with most of it. Sorry, I can’t spend quite as much time as I used to at the computer. A post or two a week is about max these days. Someday I’ll get back to being more prolific.
BZ, I really am glad to still be a member in good standing of “the usual suspects.” I’ll try harder, but no promises. Actually, I have one post almost ready to go up, maybe tomorrow/later today.