Amy and I haven’t killed each other yet. In fact, we haven’t even had a real fight yet. (It’s more remarkable when you consider that it only took us three days to get into a bitchfest the last time she visited.) She’s been here two weeks and she seems to have settled in well. She’s got a secretarial job working at the Psychiatric Department of Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. (Nerdy Sims joke: When Snookums heard about her job, he asked, “How many family friends do we need before she gets to be a Test Subject?”) She’s in the process of moving her blog to a new host, so she hasn’t been updating it lately. It’s good that she’s here, because it forces me to stop taking my time in London for granted. Last weekend she dragged me off to Portobello Road where I fulfilled one of my lifetime shopping ambitions and purchased a pair of white ladies rollerskates (the old-fashioned kind). Now all I need are some pink wheels and shoelaces and I’m set.

Whoa! I know I’m breaking my own rule about not linking to them, but this Bransonshows.com site is really pissing me off. When I went to verify that no bloggers had taken the “link” bait, I refreshed my browser window and was astonished to see that the entire list of “Our Friends” changed. It’s completely dynamic. I don’t remember that being in the proposal. So I was supposed to put a static link on my site in return for maybe getting seen on theirs? Ugh. It’s a bit childish, but I had some fun filling out their stupid little survey with negative answers. Oh, and check out one of their “Friends”: The Ultimate Deception. I wonder if that webmaster even realizes who he’s sending out his spam to.

I just received another “let’s trade links” e-mail. Unlike the obnoxious “Branson Spam” (which, by the way, looks like it was entirely unsuccessful, seeing as how there aren’t any bloggers listed on their site), this one seemed to be a genuine request. I wrote back and explained that while I don’t “trade” links, I do publicize sites that I visit. I mean, I don’t like the idea that blogging is all about advertising yourself and getting a lot of traffic. Those links on the left are sites that I visit every day for their content. Some of them are written by people that I’ve come to consider as friends. I’d rather have a good discussion going with Brigita and Bill and John than have lots of anonymous visitors. That said, I know how hard those first few months of blogging are, when your IP address is the only one showing up in the logs. It seems like everybody else has their own little groups and cliques and it’s hard to find a place for yourself. Here are my tips for publicizing your site (without being annoying) and getting to know some of the people behind the blogs:

• When you find a blog you like, bookmark it on your site (without asking to “trade links”). Check out the blogs that that person recommends. Always use the links on your own site to check your favorite blogs. Most bloggers are obsessive about checking their site logs, and your address will catch their eye sooner or later. I discovered Angie’s site that way.
• Leave comments if possible. When someone takes the time to contribute to a discussion, I immediately check out their site. That’s how I discovered several of the blogs I check daily. I’ve also left comments on nearly all those sites as well. Blogging isn’t just a one-way street. (Oh, but never leave a comment simply to plug your own site. Very tacky.)
• Update often. As I’ve said before, I’ve got a serious addiction to content. If your site languishes for months, you’ll get deleted from my bookmarks.
• Contribute to a community site, like MetaFilter or Plastic or Disturbing Search Requests. If you leave interesting comments, people will follow your link to find out more about you. For the month that I was on Plastic, I got lots of hits. (It helps if you let slip that you’re a girl, I admit.)

Above all, the key is not to actively *appear* to be doing anything to promote your site. If you have something to say, people will find it. If you’re just trying to drum up meaningless traffic numbers, people will resent you. (Yes, Bransonshows.com, I’m looking at you.) Do my fellow bloggers have any other tips for newbies?

I once knew a guy named Dave Park that named his baby son “Fenway.” True story. Check out the Institute for Naming Children Humanely. (Link courtesy of Danelope.)

Depressing. According to this, I am “histrionic, avoidant, narcissistic, and obsessive-compulsive.” What a wonderful way to start the week.

Getting married on the Titanic has to be the tackiest, most morbid thing I’ve ever heard.

Dammit. I was all excited about the new Breeders album until I realized it’s practically a completely different band. I always liked that drummer guy. (Thanks to Max for the heads-up.)

I hereby rescind my congratulations to Goran Ivanisevic for winning Wimbledon. The guy’s an asshole.

Alice Randall, while visiting the Margaret Mitchell Museum in Atlanta: “I think traditional fans of ‘Gone With The Wind’ are angry and irritated by ‘The Wind Done Gone’ but I didn’t write ‘The Wind Done Gone’ for fans of ‘Gone With The Wind,’ she said. “I wrote ‘The Wind Done Gone’ for black women who have been damaged by ‘Gone With The Wind’ and for white men who can take a critical look at themselves. Oh, and also to really piss off Kris Howard.”
 
Okay, so I made that last bit up.

Damn. Amazon are good. They send me spam that it’s impossible for me to delete. Just now I got one from them that said, “We’ve noticed that many of our customers who have purchased Army of Darkness also enjoy books by Bruce Campbell.” Of course they do! And then they include a link to his new autobiography, If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor. How cool is that?