Missed Anniversary (And Blegging)

Somehow I completely missed this blog's fifth anniversary, back on Jan. 28th. Which proves that I'm not very good at blogging. Still, five years is a long time for a blog, and at least a few of the posts have been worth reading (I hope).
Which brings me to the 'blegging': I'm asking for help. After having almost no work in January, I haven't gotten any work in February (even through the temp agencies), and I'm now desperate. A new month brings a fresh set of rent and bills, but I'm broke. So I'm hoping someone would be able to drop something on the Paypal button on the right.
I last asked my readers for help about four years ago, and several of you were able to make small donations, which was huge at the time. I realize that most of my readers are struggling, too, so I'm not expecting much. Over the past four years, I've had a few times where I was able to drop a few coins on other poor bloggers as a way of repaying the help I received, and I'm really hoping to be back in that position soon. But right now, I'm desperate. If you can help me, anything you can drop in my Paypal account would be greatly appreciated.
Also, if any of you are looking for an inflatable kayak, I have my Saturn for sale on Craigslist: 13' Inflatable Whitewater Kayak. It's a great little duckie that I didn't get to paddle very much.
Thank you for reading me, and I hope to keep this blog going for many years to come.

Blogroll Amnesty Day

A tradition begun by skippy the bush kangaroo and the late, much missed, jon swift, blogroll amnesty day is a great time to link to blogs that deserve more attention. Or, in my case, to update a blogroll that hadn't been touched in quite a while. I deleted a few blogs that have gone 'dark' but left some who just haven't posted for a while. And I've added blogs that might interest you, because they interest me. The logic is something like: hey, if you're 'here', you might also like it 'there'. So here are some places you might want to check out:

Critter's Crap: Jerry Critter shares a lot of my political attitudes and sense of humor.

Disaffected and it Feels So Good: more politics, both liberal and cynical.

HISTORIES OF THINGS TO COME: Very cool reads, odd and historical.

Infidel753: Finds all kinds of news that you'd otherwise miss.

Jaybird's Jottings: He's a Giants fan. Also, Washington DC history.

of mule dung and ash: I can't believe I didn't have mulebreath on the blogroll before now! Oversight corrected.

Owl Farm Blog: Anita Thompson's blog. That should be enough reason to check it out.

Poison Your Mind: Wrong ideas that appeal to you.

PoliticusUSA: More politics.

the burned over district: Montag is another who should have been on the blogroll long ago.

Wonders & Marvels: Yes, they are.

Zen Comix: The source for the cartoon above, and a great cartoonist in general.

Backwaterlinks: Another good read.

And the rest of the blogroll are all really smart, cool people who you should check out. Also, if you have a blog you'd like to share, leave a link in the comments and I'll be happy to add it. No commercial sites, please (unless they're paying me a very large bribe).

Housekeeping and the Stupor Bowl

Just to let you know that I'm still participating in blogroll amnesty day, but I'll be...well...just a little late. I spent most of yesterday engaging in "non-internet related activities" and will be spending a lot of today watching some obscure sporting event. So the blogroll update, while still coming, won't be done today. Again, if you'd like me to add your blog to the 'roll, leave me a comment.
Yeah, I'm a traditional American male, so I'll be watching the Super Bowl. My favorite pub is having a potluck party, and I'm in a couple of betting pools too. Although this years contest features two teams, the Steelers and the Packers, that I dislike but don't despise. So I'm just rooting for a good, close game. One highlight that we won't be seeing this year:

Blogroll Amnesty Day(s)

Via our old friend skippy, I see that it's time again for the annual blogroll amnesty day, and I'm again happy to participate. I'd been planning to update the blogroll anyway, and this weekend seems like a good time to do it. I'll be adding some blogs that entertain me, and dropping a few who've gone dark.

So here's an open invitation: if you'd like me to add your blog to my blogroll, let me know in the comments. I really don't care about how much "traffic" a blog has (this one doesn't get much), but I do value "interesting" most. Link to me, and I'll link to you. Only one exception: I don't link to blogs that are strictly commercial.

Four Years

Wow, I'm actually two days late in noticing it, but my little blog is at its fourth anniversary (or blogiversary if you prefer). This is the 1,828th post, which means that I'm not exactly prolific.

When I created this blog, I had a simple modest plan: a place where I could throw up whatever crossed my little mind, and then receive accolades from millions of readers around the world. Well, OK, maybe not millions. But the blog has gotten over 51,000 views, which is flattering, to say the least. Most have come in search of Boobies, which I'm only too happy to show them.

One thing I've never been certain of in my own mind is whether this blog serves any actual purpose. While I sometimes put up a "serious" (or at least 'semi-serious') post, most of the content has been trivialities that I found entertaining and, of course, Boobies. Luckily for me, there are no quality standards for blogs. Blogger doesn't care whether a post is meaningful or pure mindless drivel. And I expect that I'll continue to adhere to those standards.

So, to anybody and everybody who's stopped by: a hearty "thank you". I really appreciate your attention, and especially all the comments.

A Couple More Blogroll Additions

OK, it's a day late (I had something like a real life for parts of yesterday), but here are a couple more additions:
Frieddogleg
and
Hemmingford Dog Blog (Sweaterman should enjoy this one).

Go say "hi!"

And while "blogroll amnesty day" may be over, I'm always open to welcoming others to my 'roll.

Amnesty in Action

To kick off "blogroll amnesty day", I've made some additions. While it's not strictly in keeping with Skippy's goal of linking to smaller blogs (hey, we're pretty small ourselves), they're all blogs I find well worth reading. So, go say "hello" to:

Anosognosia

Bildungblog

Cheyanne's Campsite

GINANDTACOS

Just An Earth-Bound Misfit

Salmon Alley

Slobber And Spittle

TwoTonGreenBlog

unrepentant old hippie

Zandar Versus The Stupid

And if you have a blog that you'd like me to include, either leave a link in the comment or email me. Link to me, and I'll link to you (caveat: except strictly commercial spam blogs. I don't play that game), it's really that simple.

Added: and please feel free to visit the rest of the fine folks on the 'roll. Mustn't forget all the old friends.

Blog-O-Versary

Three years ago today, I started this humble little blog. I'd been reading, and commenting on, other blogs for several years prior, and I decided that I wanted one of my own. Nothing major, but a small soapbox where I could espouse my opinions, and share assorted things that amused or interested me. And Boobies. The internet needed more Boobies.
Three years, and 1,575 posts, aren't all that much, but according to "sitemeter" they've led to almost 35,000 "views", which is a lot more than I ever would have expected.

One of the major motivating factors was politics. The gross criminality of the shrub administration kept me in perpetual outrage, and I needed to vent sometimes. Not that I expected my little screeds to have any real impact. Let's face it; nobody in power cares what small, liberal blogs have to say. But, like screaming "theater" at a crowded fire, it feels good to have your viewpoint validated by its mere existence in the ether.

While the shrub administration is gone (thank chosen deity), the reasons for complaining and ranting are not. We still have a dysfunctional government that is failing its citizens, and there's plenty of causes for outrage to feed the blogging fever. So I have every intention of continuing the expression my 'very important' opinions here. And I'm sure that they'll continue to make not a damned bit of difference. Which is probably as it should be.

More importantly, I really want to thank you, my readers, for stopping by to read and sometimes comment on my little piece of the intertubes. Thanks to my co-bloggers (who I really do wish would post more), and to all the wonderful blogs who link to here. If I could, I'd love to have a beer with all of you! Consider this a virtual toast of thanks to you all!

Adding to the Blogroll

Thanks to "Blogroll Amnesty Day", I've made additions to the blogroll. And fine and worthy blogs they are! Check out:
Jon Swift
Buck Naked Politics
The Impolitic
Ornery Bastard
PhysioProf
Moue Magazine
Watergate Summer
Outta the cornfield
Man Eegee
Just for starters. This amnesty thing has given me a whole new list of blogs to read. Now I just need a few more hours added to the day.

Blogroll Amnesty Day

Back when this blog was started, there was a purge of the small blogs off the blogrolls of the big blogs. The reaction was led by skippy the bush kangaroo and Jon Swift, who opened their blogrolls to all. Skippy and monkeyfister were amongst the first to welcome Pygalgia onto their rolls, and have continued to be very supportive of our humble efforts.
In "Blogtopia" (y!sctp), there is a wide gulf between the largest and smallest, with many thousand good blogs flying under the radar. I think there is a good analogy in the world of music: everybody knows who The Rolling Stones and Led Zepplin are (i.e. orange and blue), while thousands of great bands are known only to a small audience. The smaller blogs are like the local and niche bands that entertain there audience for little more reward than the joy of "the doing of the thing" (river runner phrase). We're one of those blogs that will never fill a stadium, but hopes to entertain our audience, like the local band. Blogroll Amnesty Day is a chance to recognize and share the contributions of the unique voices of smaller blogs.
When I was building my own blogroll, I chose to include blogs that I enjoy reading. I left the big names off, because I assumed that anyone who cared already knew them. So my initial blogroll included blogs such as Bark Bark Woof Woof, blue meme, hairy fish nuts, If I Ran the Zoo, monkeyfister, swerve left, and the peoples republic of seabrook among others. And I've been expanding it ever since.
While we're supposed to use this day to recognize "smaller" blogs, Pygalgia is pretty small itself. So I'd like to take this opportunity to recognize some of the wonderful blogs that have welcomed us into an ever expanding community.
DCup at PoliTits, Ellroon at Rants From The Rookery, Fixer and Gordon at the alternate brain, Suzy at Luminiferous Ether, Fran at FranIAm, Michael (Whig) at cannablog, and demeur and distributorcap are just some of the fine folks that I consider friends and neighbors. They send me love, and I try to send it back. Check 'em out, along with all the other fine folks on the blogroll.
I'm constantly finding new blogs, and they me. Just in yesterday's comments, I've met the ornery bastard and enigma4ever, both of whom I'll be adding to the blogroll.
So here's an open invitation: My blogroll welcomes small, new, or just interesting blogs. Let me know who you are in the comments or by email, and I'll add you to the 'roll (unless I find you offensive, which rarely happens).

One Year of Pygalgia

One year ago today I started this humble blog. In that year, we've had over 1000 posts, 15,000 visitors, and made a whole bunch of new friends. While a year isn't very long, it's a nice start. This next year should be an interesting one to be a blogger, and I plan to give you readers the benefit of my opinion on the years events. SweaterMan, gandhisxmas, and zymurgian will continue (I certainly hope) to add their unique perspective. In short, Pygalgia will continue to be, well, Pygalgic.

Thanks to everybody for a most interesting year.

A Milestone

This is the 1,000th post on Pygalgia, less than a full year after I started blogging. When I began, I had no idea where this thing would go. I still have no idea where it's going, but it's been an interesting little forum along the way, and we even have awards for making the journey. Thanks to Gandhisxmas, Sweaterman, and Zymurgian for your contributions. And a VERY BIG thanks to readers and commentors; you make it feel worthwhile.

A Milestone

Sometime today, while I was out giving away free resumes, we had our 10,000th visit. Looks like it was from Beacon, New York. Thanks. I know it's a small milestone, but it does give me a warm feeling.

Suggested Reading

I seldom make referrals to the folks on the blogroll (I should-they're all great), but a post today at Pollywog's Pollyblog gave me a really good laugh. I know this lady, so I'm sure that she's really doing what she says.

Be Our 5,000th Visitor

If the ol' sitemeter is telling the truth, we're about to hit 5,ooo visits. While that makes us a tiny fish among the ocean o' blogs, it's more than I ever expected when I started. So, be our 5,000th! I'll try to come up with fabulous prizes!

Update: Looks like our winner is from St. Louis, and came here via a google search for "artillery math". That found them this post:http://pygalgia.blog...8/math-and-iraq.html. Hope it was what you were looking for. For your prize, I'm setting off fireworks:

and releasing a gorilla:

Thanks!

Bigger than I thought

I thought this was a humble little blog with only a few readers. Then I was reading Bill Scher at The Huffington Post, and I saw this:

When you're Senate Majority Leader, everyone's fighting for your ear. Today, the netroots have Harry Reid's ear, instead of the punditocracy.

The Campaign for America Future's blog -- where I also post -- has long been calling for Senate leaders to fight for bold, popular legislation and stand up to those blocking its passage -- instead of flinching at filibusters, chasing unprincipled compromises and accommodating the conservative minority.

We launched the petition last month urging Reid to do just that.

And many other bloggers -- including Digby, Taylor Marsh, Open Left, Booman
Tribune, ThinkProgress, Miles Mogulescu, FireDogLake, Leisure Guy, The
Next Hurrah, The Carpetbagger Report, Tangled Webs, Billy Creek, Politits, Talking Points Memo, South Georgia Liberal, Pygalgia, The Newshoggers, The Sideshow, Seeing The Forest and Blue Jersey -- have rallied around the effort.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-scher/reids-bold-move_b_56519.html

Wow, look who we're listed with...I mean Digby, FDL, and TPM get more visitors in one hour than we've gotton over our entire history. I don't know if I can take the pressure. I mean some of the other blogs listed are serious scholars with many thousand readers. We have Friday Boobies and Zymurgian's philosophy eating dinosaur. But it is nice to be noticed.
And good job, Sen. Reid!
Added: This is still a vanity blog, where we throw stuff out because we want to. Tattoo'd pigs? We got 'im. Woman with a Cockatoo? Got it. We're Pygalgia, and we don't need no stinkin' rules.

Things I learn by reading blogs

I had thought about writing a blog post about a question I had, but today I read the answer. Here's the story: There's a graffiti tag that's been showing up around town, especially in my neighborhood, that reads "D.C. 12/21/2012". I had no clue what it meant, but http://blondesense.blogspot.com/ just explained it for me:

The Final Days (according the the Mayan calendar -- 12/21/2012)

This is a fascinating read that appeared in the July 1 issue of the NYTimes Magazine. It is written By BENJAMIN ANASTAS and provides an excellent insight into this ancient civilization and how the Maya looked into the stars and predicted catastrophic changes to the earth, all pegged to the end date of an historical cycle on one of their calendars, Dec. 21, 2012:

See what you can learn from blogs! Now I'll be looking for a graffiti artist with a Mayan calendar.

Joining a Blogswarm

I'll join in on Blog Against Theocracy, which is having a blogswarm through the 4th. To my mind, freedom of religion includes freedom FROM religion.
I'm not religious in any way, but I have studied all the major religions from a perspective of history and philosophy (hey, I'm only a thesis away from a master's degree in philosophy, which would open up some great career opportunities). Historically, theocracies have repressed freedoms in order to maintain power, and dissenters punished to varying degrees. Religions begin as a way to pass on certain "social rules" (i.e. 10 commandments) but evolve into "us vs. them"-isms. Think catholic vs. protestant, shia vs. sunni, etc. In our more tribal history this was a means to control behavior, for the good of the whole tribe, but now is used to judge "morality". One simple example would be the area of sexuality. All major religions have a set of sexual rules which were intended to promote the tribal/family unit for the future. So all religions condemn sexual behavior that is outside their rules. Because the human animal is a sexual animal, there are always some people for the religion to condemn. How dare someone enjoy something other than what is allowed? In truth, the sexual rules were broken all the time, but were kept secret to avoid shaming the tribe/family.
Now, we have "laws" that are the means to maintain social order. Surprise, laws get broken. Just like the rules of religions.
I know many people (including my own family members) who find great comfort in religion. Believing helps them make more sense of their role in society. And I support their right to believe. But I sure as hell don't want their beliefs forced on me (especially the sexual rules). I do like my freedoms.
There was a poll a while back (can't seem to find it now) that said people would be less likely to elect an atheist president than a minority, woman, or gay. I found that astonishing, in that us atheists are a relatively quiet bunch. While our current crop of presidential candidates represent a variety of religious sects, all claim to be religious and some form of christian. None would dare appear as "non-religious". And that's a sad, scary situation.


Your thoughts?

Informed Comment: Global Affairs

Juan Cole has started a new group blog called Informed Comment: Global Affairs. I know, given the quality of Prof. Cole's own work, that it's going to be a daily read.

Welcome to Ghandisxmas

Glad to see a post from Ghandisxmas, as I've been asking him to join us since our humble start. He's a very smart guy, with strong opinions, so I hope he'll post frequently.