Hoping to Find a New Owner for BLOG VILLAGE

Dear Villagers,

I have reached a point in my life where I cannot give the time to BLOG VILLAGE that this community of friends deserves. Rather than just delete the whole TopList, I am hoping that one of you would like to pick up where I leave off and take over the administration of the Village.

I would hope that whoever might become the "owner" would maintain the Family Friendly status of our group. But I do not expect another person to do things just the way I have done them. I will leave the Village, so that the new owner can proceed as they see fit. Those of you who keep up with my own blogs will still be able to find me.

If you would be interested in taking over this TopList, please email me.

If I cannot find someone willing to take the TopList over, I will delete it at the end of March.

Regretfully,

Rosemary

At least ONE HIT IN is a REQUIREMENT for ACTIVE MEMBERSHIP

This is a copy of the email I sent to all Villagers who do not have at least one HIT IN at this time.

You get a HIT IN when you click on the voting link on your own blog. That takes you to the Gateway Page. Click the ENTER BLOG VILLAGE button at the bottom of the Gateway Page to get ONE HIT IN.

Those of you with an * on your blog title have 30 days from when you joined to put the voting link on your blog and vote for yourself.

Those with x's have been members long enough to know that active participation is required. Vote for yourself, or your blog may be deleted at the end of the month.

I will NOT be writing to each of you individually, but I will put a copy of this email on the BLOG VILLAGE Community News Blog, if you care to comment there, or on the Forum.

If you want me to delete your membership, please email me.

Regretfully,

Rosemary

If you have your membership control page set to NOT accept mass emails from our TopList, please change it to accept them. I will not abuse the priviledge and I cannot write to each person individually.


Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE? Start HERE.

If you are interested in being the Featured Villager on our BLOG VILLAGE News blog, please contact Janey Loree, Kilroy, the Gatekeeper, or Marsha - the members of our Village Interview Team.

MUCH ADO about MONEY BLOG VILLAGE Carnival ONLINE NOW!

We know you will enjoy our Family Blog Carnival - MUCH ADO about MONEY. Whether we earn it, spend it, save it, invest it, or even lose it, we all deal with money issues in our daily lives. Here's your chance to read and comment on our Villager's posts.

I've tentatively set up the April BLOG VILLAGE Carnival Host as my own Yesterday's Memories blog, since the Theme of this one will be FAMILY MEMORIES. But if some other Villager would like to host it, instead, please let me know!

Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE? Start HERE.

If you are interested in being the Featured Villager on our BLOG VILLAGE News blog, please contact Janey Loree, Kilroy, the Gatekeeper, or Marsha - the members of our Village Interview Team.

Our Featured BLOG VILLAGER – Meredith Gould

It's been awhile since we have had a Featured Villager interview, so I was very pleased when the Gatekeeper sent in her interview with one of our newer Villagers, Meredith Gould.

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

These days, I characterize myself as a "working writer", because most of my paltry annual income comes from providing editorial services in some form. But since writing is also something I feel deeply called to do, it's as much vocation as occupation. In fact, it was occupation before it was vocation.

My work history includes stints as a graphic production artist, waitress, secretary and bartender after dropping out of college. I dropped back in at age twenty-three and earned a doctorate in Sociology by age thirty. I taught college for a decade, then worked in state government and at an ad agency, before going freelance in 1989. In addition to copy writing and editing, I regularly published essays and features in regional and national magazines. I loved magazine work enough to edit a bi-monthly for a while.

Book writing? Not interested back then. That required piling up way too many words. I certainly never imagined writing books about spiritual and faith formation from a Catholic Christian perspective, especially since I was raised Jewish.

Why did you decide to blog?

My decision to launch More Meredith Gould was the result of several realizations about publishing. First, the print outlets for "inspirational humor" have basically disappeared. I finally realized that most of this writing was happening in e-zines and the blogosphere.

I also developed a low-to-no tolerance for the time lag between writing and publication. I finally realized that the blogosphere would allow me to reach existing readers more quickly and find new ones more quickly, while giving me creative control over content and design. Yes, I'm a creative control freak.

Still, I resisted blogging because of internal blah blah about what I thought I was supposed to be doing at this point in my writing career. I made a slew of snobby assumptions about who was blogging and why. But then, after getting into the habit of reading a couple of blogs, I developed some much-needed humility. Surprise! Surprise! The blogosphere was not, in fact, dominated by hacks and dilettantes. I was reading some terrific, provocative, smart, creative writing. Clearly, other working writers and book authors were blogging. It was time for me to get involved with what everyone is calling the "new media." The definitive shove came from Ruth Harrigan, who blogs at Wheelie Catholic. She persuaded me to futz around with the Blogger templates one night, and I quickly became smitten with the entire enterprise.

Describe what your blog is about.

More Meredith Gould is an extension of my other work, because, as I note in the tag-line, "I always have more to say." I offer quirky observations in posts about the challenges of communicating for and about faith; practical spirituality; Catholic Christian-Jewish interfaith weirdness; and the agonies and ecstasies of writing for a so-called living. I welcome reader questions and anchor my answers in experience and scholarship without being stuffy or boring. I'm very proud of the fact that reviewers have characterized my humor as "gentle" and "surprisingly unprudish."

How many books have you written? Can you pick one of your books, and tell us why it’s your favorite?

I have five published books, and one forthcoming in July 2008. Like every other author, I have a couple of completed manuscripts that will never be published – and the world will be a better place for that.

You want me to choose a favorite among my children?!? I can't do that! Each book has served a special purpose. Each seems to build on the previous one. I love my first book, Tips for Your Home Office (Storey) because it was my first, plus easy and fun to write. Staying Sober: Tips for Working a Twelve Step Program of Recovery (Hazelden) will always occupy a special place in my heart and not just because it earns royalties! That book allowed me to make an edgy, funny contribution to the generally grim recovery literature. Like most middle children, Deliberate Acts of Kindness: Service as a Spiritual Practice (Doubleday) has gotten somewhat lost. The shelving designation ("Social Science") killed it in bricks-n-mortar stores. People who discover it find it useful and inspiring. I sometimes forget I wrote it until readers contact me. I love how The Catholic Home: Celebrations and Traditions (Doubleday) helped me define and develop my voice as a Catholic author. It is purchased a lot as a gift for newlyweds and young families, and by catechists. Come to the Table: A Catholic Passover Seder (Plowshares Publishing), written over a period of seven years, was a labor of love and religious conviction. I'm thrilled that it has been adopted by a number of parishes for their annual Passover seder. I'm still too close to the experience of writing my latest, Our Words Made Fresh: Communicating Church and Faith Today (Morehouse), to do anything but whimper about the process.

What's your advice for other writers who are still trying to get into print.

Keep at it, but get real about your goal. If it's to make money, then forget about getting a byline, and go land a copywriting job in either the private or public sector. You'll be writing- you'll get into print - you'll have fun.

If you write for self-expression, don't expect to get either published or paid. But that shouldn't matter, because real writers feel compelled to write, with or without publication. Everything – heart, mind, and spirit – atrophies when we don't write. Garrison Keillor, in a recent edition of the Authors Guild Bulletin (Summer 2007), is quoted as saying, "It's like a major illness having a book in the works. Good days and bad days, but you keep going…" He's right. If you're a real writer, you'll keep at it no matter what. If you're determined to get into print, then as a practical matter, you're going to have to become very savvy about the publishing business. You'll need to pay attention to trends and market demands, because print publishing is a business first and foremost.

Which other blogs do you read?

Regularly, thanks to Google Reader: Anti-Itch Meditation, Ask Sister Mary Martha, A Third Way, Dirty Catholic, Happy Catholic, The Ironic Catholic, Kingdom Come, spiritually delicious!, Sweetness and Light, Wheelie Catholic, and Whispers in the Loggia. In addition to Blog Village, I belong to St. Blog's Parish and subscribe to BlogRush, which I wander through regularly to see what other folks are writing. I'm noticing how visiting blogs and websites has significantly reduced my need to subscribe to a zillion print magazines, so I shouldn't be complaining about the dwindling number of print outlets. Mea maxima culpa.

Please suggest someone else's blog at Blog Village so we can do a feature on them.

Barbara's Tchatzkahs is a very smart, sassy blog, although it takes way too long to load.

DMD Scratchboard Gallery is a visually beautiful blog.

When Meredith first emailed me I could already tell she was quite a wonderful character. She's funny, witty and very gracious. Her blog has been a pleasure to read. Meredith will make you laugh, or at least chuckle, and has a canny way of sprinkling a little bit of wisdom throughout her writing. Visit her at More Meredith Gould (because she always has more to say), check out her books and tell us what you think. Enjoy Meredith's blog . . . I did.

The Gatekeeper

A Hulabaloo Carnival for OOOPS! I Goofed - for EVERYBODY!

Anthony's Jan. 11 Carnival is open to BLOG VILLAGERS ONLY!

NO, I misunderstood Anthony's post. He does this Surfer's Paradise post from time to time where he features certain blogs and links to them in his post. This is very good for the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for the blog he links to. SEO determines your Page Rank on the Internet. The higher the number, the closer to the front page of results of an Internet Search your site will be. Obviously, being on the FIRST Page is Fantastic!

Well, it is the Surfer's Paradise recognition for this week that will feature ONLY BLOG VILLAGE BLOGS. His Carnival is open to anyone, Villager or not.
Sorry for the mixup! It was entirely my fault.

But that shouldn't change anything, really.
Let's support Anthony, and have a good turnout of Villagers in the next

Surfer's Paradise Hullabaloo, !

We'll see you over the rainbow... (enter)



Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE? Start HERE.

If you are interested in being the Featured Villager on our BLOG VILLAGE News blog, please contact Janey Loree, Kilroy, the Gatekeeper, or Marsha - the members of our Village Interview Team.

Looking Back on 2007 and Forward to 2008

This email was sent out to all BLOG VILLAGERS. Some of you did not receive it, however, because you have your settings marked not to receive anything but individual emails from the TopList.

This has been a busy year for me, and from the looks of your blogs, it has been for you, too. I've made some changes here that I hope you have found helpful, such as adding the forum and chat, and expanding the Gateway page.

I have also tried to encourage more Villager interaction by requiring at least one HIT IN each month. All you need to do is click the voting link on your blog one time each month to remain an Active member of our community. And you can vote for any Villager's blog you like during the month, so they can stay on the TopList, too.

In an effort to make the list more useful, I have added a Search function to the TopList pages, and I have deleted several hundred bloggers who were not participating.

We have gone Carnival Crazy this year, thanks to several Villagers who are really into this great way of getting to know different bloggers. I'm looking for a Villager now who would like to host the Jan. 28 Carnival on MONEY, who has not hosted one of our BLOG VILLAGE Carnivals before. If you are interested, please let me know as soon as possible. And by all means, send in your post for this carnival. You will find the link to our BLOG VILLAGE sponsored Carnivals in the Blog Carnival widget on the Community News and the Gateway Page.

We haven't had any new Villager Interviews for quite awhile, as our folks have been so busy with other tasks, but if you would like to be interviewed, or like to be the interviewer, please let me know.

I look forward to 2008 and getting to spend time with each of you on your blogs. Now that I don't need to spend as much time being the voting link police, I expect to enjoy reading and commenting a lot more this year, and I encourage each of you to find some Villagers that you can get to know better, too.

May you all have a safe and enjoyable New Year's celebration,

Rosemary


Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE? Start HERE.

If you are interested in being the Featured Villager on our BLOG VILLAGE News blog, please contact Janey Loree, Kilroy, or the Gatekeeper, the members of our Village Interview Team. And now we have another Villager who has volunteered to join our Interview Team: Marsha!

I Feel Like Grinch!!

Over the last few days I have deleted a large number of blogs from the Village, for not participating on the TopList. They have been warned repeatedly to click on the voting link on their blogs at least once a month, which takes them to the Gateway page, where the forum, chat and carnival links are displayed. By clicking at the bottom of that page, they see ALL the Villager's blogs. The idea is to visit these Villagers sometime during the month. If they don't care to share in the community, then there is no point in them being on the list.

I am sure that I have deleted some that I probably will regret losing, but they can apply again, if they really want to belong. Most of them are never even going to realize they are no longer a member, as they don't ever go to the TopList page, anyway.

I started to email each of them as I deleted them, but decided I did not have the time, energy, or desire to get into an argument with any of them.

So, for those of you who really participate, I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas. And for those that I am deleting? Bah Humbug!



Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE? Start HERE.

If you are interested in being the Featured Villager on our BLOG VILLAGE News blog, please contact Janey Loree, Kilroy, or the Gatekeeper, the members of our Village Interview Team.

Freud Plays a Hand

Well, for the second month in a row, I have not deleted the blogs that I had warned I would. Last month, I was really too sick to be dealing with this, and this month, I just let the time get by and the month ended before I thought about it. Nobody's fault but mine. I did think about deleting all of them a couple of days before the end of the month, but I wanted to give everyone as much time as possible to click on their voting links. It really pains me to think of losing close to 200 blogs in one fell swoop. Maybe the whole episode has been a Freudian slip. I don't know.

Anyway, I still have my list of who was warned to vote for themselves or lose membership, so I will be deleting these blogs during this month, without warning, IF they do not have at least one HIT IN.

And, why, do you ask, am I so determined to get rid of these blogs that do not vote for themselves? There are two main reasons. One - it means they are probably not ever looking at the TopList, which means they will not be reading any other Villager's blogs. Two - it means I would have to keep checking on all these blogs each month to see if they still have the BLOG VILLAGE voting link on the site. And that's just too hard to manage with so many people to check on. I'd rather be spending my time READING and COMMENTING on fellow Villager's blogs - not being the "banner police"!!

So, again I remind you that you are required to vote for yourself ONE TIME Each MONTH to keep your membership in our Community. Vote for yourself FROM YOUR BLOG, and then go vote for those Villagers you would hate to see deleted. Seems easy enough to me.

Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE? Start HERE.

If you are interested in being the Featured Villager on our BLOG VILLAGE News blog, please contact Janey Loree, Kilroy, or the Gatekeeper, the members of our Village Interview Team.

GONZO "Thank You" Carnival Dec. 10th

I don't know how they have time to have so many Carnivals, but For Your Success has a GONZO Carnival scheduled for Dec. 10th. It should be noted that this is not a "Blog Village Carnival". This is a Gonzo Carnival staged to recognize and express appreciation to Blog Villagers who have supported their series.

I'm doing good to find time to have one once a quarter, and I really don't have to do too much when another Villager hosts it!

But anyway, I know a lot of our Villagers have participated in quite of few of the GONZO Carnivals, so mosey on over to For Your Success, check out the rules, and send in an entry.

Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE? Start HERE.

If you are interested in being the Featured Villager on our BLOG VILLAGE News blog, please contact Janey Loree, Kilroy, or the Gatekeeper, the members of our Village Interview Team.

Why????

It's the middle of the month, and out of the 384 Villagers who are on the TopList right now, almost 250 of them have not clicked on the voting link banner on their own blog, which registers as a HIT IN. I've asked repeatedly that everyone click on their own, or that you click on the voting link on Villager's blogs that you like, so I do not have to check out all these blogs, hunting for the BLOG VILLAGE link each month.

So, it's looking like our Village is going to be losing well over half its members pretty soon, unless a lot of people get busy. I just don't understand why this has been such a problem.

Bummer!!

Carnivals & BLOG VILLAGE

Sometimes it's hard to anticipate all the situations we find ourselves in. When something unexpected is encountered, a person tries to deal with it in a way that is consistent with their own belief system.

With that in mind, I'd like to lay down some guidelines for Carnivals hosted on BLOG VILLAGE member's blogs. But first, a quick review of the belief system that is the distinctive quality of our Village.

Overall and above all other considerations, our TopList must remain Family Friendly.

As I have said many times before, and will continue to emphasize, I never intended to be a censor of topics or language on anyone's blog. But, I do expect all Villagers to adhere to the policy of no objectionable language in large print, and no sexually explicit or inappropriate photos, unless the reader must intentionally link to it to see it. There should not be anything on any BLOG VILLAGE blog that "hits you in the face" with something you don't want to see when you open a Villager's blog.

So, how does that apply to Carnivals?

If you host anyone's carnival on your blog, please be sure that there is nothing on YOUR blog that would not follow our rules concerning language or photos. You should mark any carnival entries that do not meet the criteria of BLOG VILLAGE membership as Not Family Friendly, so that our Villagers can make an informed choice about viewing that entry.

Hopefully, these guidelines will help you enjoy carnivals that you host, or carnivals that you read, as members of BLOG VILLAGE.

Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE? Start HERE.

If you are interested in being the Featured Villager on our BLOG VILLAGE News blog, please contact Janey Loree, Kilroy, or the Gatekeeper, the members of our Village Interview Team.

BLOG VILLAGE emails PLEASE HELP

Some time ago, the gotop admin added an option on the member control panel to opt out of receiving mass mailings. Many of you joined so long ago, that you probably didn't even know such an option was available to you. I do understand why the gotop people did this, as they had some TopList admins emailing sales promotions and other such SPAM to their members. I have never used the BLOG VILLAGE email list for my own personal gain, and don't intend to in the future.

I do send out emails from time to time, in an effort to make members aware of what they need to do to maintain membership in our Village, and to announce community activities, such as upcoming Carnivals and the new Forum and Chat. I hope I have not made a pest of myself ;).

It is very inconvenient for me, when I do need to contact a group of members with the same problem, if I have to email each one separately, because they have opted out of mass mailings. Right now there are about 50 members that I cannot reach with a mass mailing.

So, this morning, I sent an individual email to each of those Villagers who had opted out, asking them to please change that option, so they can receive the mass emails. If they decide that they do not want to be bothered with the mass emails at a later date, they can always opt out at that time. I am hoping that the vast majority of those who are currently opting out will understand my situation, and make the change in their preferences.



Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE? Start HERE.

If you are interested in being the Featured Villager on our BLOG VILLAGE News blog, please contact Janey Loree, Kilroy, or the Gatekeeper, the members of our Village Interview Team.

BLOG VILLAGE Halloween Carnival is Coming HERE!!

Our Fall Fest is ONLINE NOW!!!

Share your Halloween posts about your easiest homemade costumes, funniest Halloween ever, or best homemade treats. Tell us a good spooky story, or a tale of haunted houses --- you name it.

Or maybe you'd rather tell us about what your family does, rather than go trick or treating.

You don't celebrate Halloween?? Not a problem... Just share your favorite thoughts about Autumn ... Fall color, Fall traditions, Fall crafts, family reunions, harvest recipes, handmade gifts, etc.

Come join us at Advertising for Success for a Fantastic Fall Festival.

DEADLINE for Submissions HAS BEEN EXTENDED SUNDAY, Oct. 28th

Submit HERE.

Please include your member ID. As always, our BLOG VILLAGE Carnivals are open to GUESTS, as long as they have a link on their blog to a Villager's blog. So, help us out, and encourage your readers to link to you, by inviting them to enter our Carnival, too.

PS. Some of you have already submitted entries to the MONEY Carnival that was originally planned for this month. I still have your entries, but I have postponed that one until December. If you are interested in hosting it, please email me.

Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE? Start HERE.

If you are interested in being the Featured Villager on our BLOG VILLAGE News blog, please contact Janey Loree, Kilroy, or the Gatekeeper, the members of our Village Interview Team.

NEW - The FIRST BLOG VILLAGE WEBRING

Janey Loree has been busy setting up our FIRST BLOG VILLAGE WEBRING! Here's part of her announcement post:

I am pleased to announce that the new BLOG VILLAGE Equine Webring is ready for you to join! I need you to follow this link:

http://www.pjscorner.net/BV.equine.webring.htm

and click on the [join] button. If you have any questions just email me.

Tell your equine friends and family about this new service in BLOG VILLAGE! The more the merrier and with a Webring … we don’t have to worry about the pecking order…do we!

There are three different sizes to the Webring banner, and I just added the coding to the BLOG VILLAGE Equine Webring homepage for your convenience. The html code for each banner or button is set up to link to the BVEW homepage. And I posted an article about the Webring over at Mustang ‘n’ Cowboys. Once you join the Webring then I will send you a member code that you will need to add to your blog.

There still may be a few bugs to work out, so please bear with me as we get this BLOG VILLAGE Equine Webring up and running.

Thanks for your interest in the BLOG VILLAGE Equine Webring,

Janey Loree

Congrats, Janey Loree, and Best Wishes for an ACTIVE Webring!


Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE? Start HERE.

If you are interested in being the Featured Villager on our BLOG VILLAGE News blog, please contact Janey Loree, Kilroy, or the Gatekeeper, the members of our Village Interview Team.

An Apology

Ordinarily I wouldn't bring up anything personal on this site, but I feel I need to offer a brief explanation about something, as I don't believe in giving idle threats to people.

I have been warning over a hundred bloggers for the last few months that they were about to be deleted from our TopList, if they did not show the minimum participation of at least voting for themselves once each month. My intention was to delete all but the newer members who did not have at least 1 HIT IN by the end of September.

It didn't work out that way, as I was in the ER yesterday, after a very scary, for me, Parkinson's weekend. They've added some more medicine for now, until I can get in to see my Neurologist, so I'm better. But, it meant I didn't feel like doing anything with the list. So, all of those old members who had been given their "last warning" have a one month reprieve. I will not be contacting them again, but I will wait until October 31 to delete those old members who still don't have a HIT IN.

New members are given a month to get the voting link in place and vote for themselves, and I write each of them, remind them, and offer help if they need it.

Thank you for your understanding,

Rosemary


Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE? Start HERE.

If you are interested in being the Featured Villager on our BLOG VILLAGE News blog, please contact Janey Loree, Kilroy, or the Gatekeeper, the members of our Village Interview Team.

Stop Abuse!!

Thousands of bloggers from around the world are joining together this Thursday, September 27th with a single message: Stop Abuse!

We would love for our Villagers to be very vocal on this important issue, whether your personal concern is child abuse, animal abuse, elder abuse, or any other form of abuse that is an issue to you!

On Thursday, September 27th, post about any abuse topic you care about - child abuse, domestic abuse, animal abuse, drug abuse, emotional abuse, verbal abuse, political abuse - and let the world know you stand united with thousands of bloggers as part of the Bloggers Unite "Blog Against Abuse" campaign. Depending on your topic, you can even link to local, regional, national, or international organizations that you care about or support. Every post will count!

There are dozens of badges you can add to your post (or make your own):
http://www.blogcatalog.com/group/bloggers-unite/discuss/entry/ badges-for-blogging-against-abuse-place-them-on-your-blog


And there are several places where you are invited to add a link, like here:
http://www.blogcatalog.com/group/bloggers-unite/discuss/entry/ three-great-places-to-leave-your-post-link

As well as http://www.topix.com/forum/topstories/T4EUFS0AVNJ08ASPT

You can e-mail your link to blogforhope@yahoo.com by Oct. 10 with any results (traffic, comments, etc.) By doing so, you will automatically be be entered in to win $250 for charity (from Copywrite, Ink.) six months of premium services (from BlogCatalog) and gain more recognition for your blog and the topic you post about. (More details can be found at
Copywrite, Ink.)

This is shaping up to be the biggest Bloggers Unite campaign in BlogCatalog history! Please join us on September 27th and blog against abuse. Every post will count!

Thanks, Jackie, for bringing this cause to our attention! I hope we have a lot of BLOG VILLAGERS participating.


Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE? Start HERE.

If you are interested in being the Featured Villager on our BLOG VILLAGE News blog, please contact Janey Loree, Kilroy, or the Gatekeeper, the members of our Village Interview Team.

A Sad Ending for Some, but a New Beginning for Us

Today was not a fun day for me, as I just finished deleting over 100 blogs from BLOG VILLAGE. But, we continue to gain new members each day, so our Village is still alive and well. I also emailed all the Villagers who have not voted FROM their blog yet this month, and I wrote to a small number of newer Villagers who have not put the voting link on their blog yet (those blogs are now marked with the asterisk).


Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE? Start HERE.

If you are interested in being the Featured Villager on our BLOG VILLAGE News blog, please contact Janey Loree, Kilroy, or the Gatekeeper, the members of our Village Interview Team.

Copy of Email to All Villagers Who Have Been Warned of the Sept. 15 Deadline

Please be sure YOU vote for YOUR blog FROM YOUR BLOG before the end of this month, and each month, which is a requirement of membership.

This is a copy of the email I sent out today to all the blogs that have the asterisk on their name on the TopList, just for your information.

The September 15th DEADLINE is almost here. I have emailed each of you, posted on the Community News, put warnings on the TopList itself, and done everything I could think of to warn you that you are about to be deleted from BLOG VILLAGE. Some of you have dormant blogs, with no new posts in a long time. Most of you have very active blogs, but you are not displaying the BLOG VILLAGE voting link on your blog.

After Sept. 15, I will be taking one last look at your blog. If I do not find current posts AND the BLOG VILLAGE voting banner or link, I will DELETE your blog from membership. You will not hear from me again.

If I do find current posts AND the voting link, I will vote for you myself this time, since any blog that does not have at least one vote FROM YOUR BLOG (HIT IN) by the end of September will also be deleted. You will need to continue to vote for yourself FROM YOUR BLOG each month to maintain Active Status on our Village.

I would love to find that you have decided to be an Active member, with current posts and the voting link displayed. I do, however, understand that some, if not all of you, did not realize that continued BLOG VILLAGE membership involved active participation. I hope we can part with good feelings, if you are one of the blogs I delete.

Regretfully,

Rosemary

http://blogvillage.gotop100.com

Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE? Start HERE.

If you are interested in being the Featured Villager on our BLOG VILLAGE News blog, please contact Janey Loree, Kilroy, or the Gatekeeper, the members of our Village Interview Team.

Trying to Find Ways to Make BLOG VILLAGE More Useful to YOU

I'm playing around with some ideas about making the front page of the TopList more like a PORTAL page. So, for the meantime, I've added a NEWS FEED and a WEATHER link. My thinking was that it might help you come up with something to blog about, or just be for your own personal reading pleasure. I'm trying to figure out some way to let each of you have an area where you could add favorite links, too. If someone knows how I could do that with script for HTML or CSS, please let me know.

Also, if you think this might be useful, or a waste of space and time, I'd appreciate your feedback. As I said, I'm just playing, and perfectly willing to delete it all and go back to the way it was. Or, continue to look for new Java scripts and such that will work.

For the time being, I've moved these changes to the Gateway page. That's what you see when you vote for a blog from the link on the blog. If you all like the portal idea, it would be simple enough to bookmark your link page, instead of the main TopList page. Or, I can move it back to the top or bottom of the main page. I'm completely open to suggestions on this one, as I'm just experimenting.

So, let me have it - positive or negative opinions welcomed!!



PS. You may have noticed that some of the Ratings have gone up on the Village. I am in the process of manually deleting ratings given by a certain person, whose IP has now been blocked. If you have one of these 0 or 1 ratings, without a comment to back it up, please let me know, and I will delete it for you.



Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE? Start HERE.

If you are interested in being the Featured Villager on our BLOG VILLAGE News blog, please contact Janey Loree, Kilroy, or the Gatekeeper, the members of our Village Interview Team.

VOTE FOR YOURSELF This Week

If you want to remain part of the BLOG VILLAGE community, then you must show your involvement by voting for your blog FROM THE VOTING LINK ON YOUR OWN BLOG in the first week of each month. So, it's time to click on your banner on your blog. Don't have the banner on your blog? Then add it from the code in the left hand column of your control panel. Can't find the code? Email me, and I'll send it to you.

Many Villagers have received an email warning that their blog would be deleted, if they did not make a new post or add the voting link to their blog. Those blogs are shown on the TopList with as asterisk at the beginning of their title. I have no desire to delete anyone, but I also have no desire to carry blogs who are not participating in our community. So, I have set a deadline of Sept. 15 before I delete any who have not complied.

If blogs you enjoy are in danger of being dropped from BLOG VILLAGE, please encourage your blog friends to fix the problem, vote for themselves this week, and once at the beginning of each month, and become an Active participant. And, of course, YOU can vote for any blog you like from the banner on their blog, too. It only takes ONE HIT IN to keep a blog showing on the Village.

Right now, all the blogs are showing to give these blogs in danger of being dropped extra time to fix their situation, but after Sept. 15, only those with a HIT IN will show.

I know some of you are getting dizzy with all the changes I seem to be making lately, but they are all done to accomplish one thing. And that is to get our Village down to a list of blogs who are genuinely interested in belonging and being involved. Those are the bloggers who will take the time to read and comment on what you have posted. Without participation, the others just don't belong here.

I do appreciate those expressions of thanks many of you have sent me, as this does take a good bit of my time. But I truly believe our Village is worth the effort, and I hope you agree.

Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE? Start HERE.

If you are interested in being the Featured Villager on our BLOG VILLAGE News blog, please contact Janey Loree, Kilroy, or the Gatekeeper, the members of our Village Interview Team.

Where Did Everybody Go???

You may have noticed that there are not as many blogs on BLOG VILLAGE right now as there have been. Well, I've been busy checking out each Villager's blog, making sure they have posted in the last 3 months, and that they have the BLOG VILLAGE voting link on their blog. If not, I have been sending each one an email, letting them know that they needed to put on a new post or add the voting link, with a 2 week deadline before I would delete their blog from our TopList. I have deleted some blogs already, but most of the InActive bloggers are still members. They will stay InActive until they have fixed the problem, or until the deadline I told them in my email has passed.

You can, if you want to, SEARCH for any InActive member, as long as you know one of the words in the name of the blog, or a word in their description.

So if you are one of the Villagers who has not voted for themselves from the link on their blog - Go click on that link!! And if the link is not there, please put it there! You'll find the link code from the admin page of your blog, in the left hand column. Or, if you need help, email me.

And if you haven't posted anything new in a long time, either get busy and post something (and let me know you have posted), or let me know you want to be deleted.

I'm still working to make our TopList more of a community than a directory. This change in the quality of our membership is part of reaching that goal.


Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE? Start HERE.

If you are interested in being the Featured Villager on our BLOG VILLAGE News blog, please contact Janey Loree, Kilroy, or the Gatekeeper, the members of our Village Interview Team.

All Villagers Are Invited to Enter the Latest Gonzo Carnival

CyberCelt has asked that I remind all Villagers about the latest Gonzo Carnival, which she is hosting on August 29.

Submission DEADLINE is
11:59 PM TOMORROW, on August 27, 2007.

Round up your best post on blogs and blogging:

Some examples for topics:

• Why do you blog?
• What has been your best or worst blogging experience?
• What do you blog about and why?
• Share your 1st blog post?
• Share your 100th, 200th, 500th or 1000th blog post.
• Share your experiences with carnival hosting on your blog.
• . . . anything you want to share about blogging.
  

E-mail submissions NOW (with Gonzo Rodeo in subject line) to:
Rodeo Rules:

• One post per blog.
• Only English language posts will be accepted
• Family-safe content ONLY--no sexual or suggestive pictures, no profanity.

Cut and paste the following into your email for each submission:

Name or Nickname shown on post:
Blog Title:
Blog URL:
Post Title:
Post URL:

Please submit complete URLs and check them to make sure they lead to the post you submit.

Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE? Start HERE.

If you are interested in being the Featured Villager on our BLOG VILLAGE News blog, please contact Janey Loree, Kilroy, or the Gatekeeper, the members of our Village Interview Team.

The Broken Cup Publishes Her First Book of Poetry

One of our very own Villagers, Jillbeth, has just published her very first book of poetry on Lulu.com. Some of the poems were posted on her blog, The Broken Cup: Christian Poetry. We have a lot of very talented folks on BLOG VILLAGE, so she's probably not the only one who has self published some of their writings. I'd love to give you a plug, too, if you'll let me know about it, OK?

In the meantime, I'm sure Jillbeth would appreciate you taking the time to take a peek at her new book, and maybe even write a review of the two sample poems shown on Lulu.

Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE? Start HERE.

If you are interested in being the Featured Villager on our BLOG VILLAGE News blog, please contact Janey Loree, Kilroy, or the Gatekeeper, the members of our Village Interview Team.

Something NEW! - BLOG VILLAGE Equine Webring

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In an attempt to connect with bloggers who have the same interests and give blog readers a way to connect to all of the Villagers on their favorite subject, an internal webring sounded like just the ticket! Thanks to our BLOG VILLAGE Host, Rosemary, aka Dirty Butter, the BV Webring Banners will be centralized on the BLOG VILLAGE News page.

Since horses are a huge part of my life, I decided to start with an Equine Webring. I was tickled to find out that we have so many blogs in the VILLAGE that share their knowledge, stories, pictures and interest in horses. So far, with the help of the new search system and Rosemary, I have compiled the following list of “Equine” related blogs:

Brave New World

petArtistWithPeaches

MiKael's Mania - Arabian Horses

On the Shores of Carpenter Creek

Every Rider.com

Pony Tail Club

ClickonCowboy

Equine Spirit

A Laughing Gypsy

Simply Marvelous

S. Nicholas Originals

EQUUS

There Is A Season

Mustang Diaries

Mustang ‘n’ Cowboys


I would appreciate you letting me know if you have an equine related blog or know of a blog that I have inadvertently left off of this list. It goes without saying that these blogs need to be a part of BLOG VILLAGE. As the owner of one of these blogs, please contact me to let me know that you want to be a part of the BLOG VILLAGE Equine Webring.

Janey Loree

Let's Get Creative!!

I will add the banner to the right sidebar, as soon as the Equine Webring is active.

Create a banner, using the BLOG VILLAGE logo, as Janey did, write your invitation post, and email it to me, and I'll do what I can to help any Villager run their own Webring.

Looking forward to seeing what you come up with!!

Dirty Butter

Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE? Start HERE.

If you are interested in being the Featured Villager on our BLOG VILLAGE News blog, please contact Janey Loree, Kilroy, or the Gatekeeper, the members of our Village Interview Team.

SEARCH Has Been IMPROVED!!!

The owners of the gotop100 service have been very responsive to suggestions I have made over the last year, and they have just installed another one of my ideas!

I feel like celebrating, because now you can search for blogs by the words in their descriptions, as well as by name, EVEN IF THEY ARE NOT SHOWING CURRENTLY ON THE LIST! Only blogs with at least one vote IN, from the voting link ON the blog, are showing at this time, while I weed out the inActive members. So, now you can find that favorite blog of yours, even if that person hasn't voted for themselves. Oh, and while you're on their site, how about voting FOR them, so their blog WILL show!?!

Now, here's why I'm so excited about this new feature. If you will take some time to think about what Categories your blog might fit in, you could add some keywords to your description, and more people of similar interests would be able to easily find you.

Here's a start on a list, but please add more via comments, as you think of them.

HEALTH, SPORTS, FAMILY, COMPUTERS, BUSINESS, FOOD .............


I just tried looking for all the blogs about horses, and up they popped!! I'm really excited about this, and I hope you take full advantage of it.

Speaking of horses, Janey Loree is in the process of putting together an Equine Webring for BLOG VILLAGERS, so if you would like to be included, by all means let her know. If someone wants to start a webring for some other group of Villagers, I'll be glad to post your banner and publicize yours, too.


Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE? Start HERE.

If you are interested in being the Featured Villager on our BLOG VILLAGE News blog, please contact Janey Loree, Kilroy, or the Gatekeeper, the members of our Village Interview Team.

How to Be an ACTIVE Member of BLOG VILLAGE

I really do appreciate those of you who took the time to vote on the two polls I listed, and particularly those who commented about them. I'm not seeing an overwhelming consensus, so, as administrator, I have decided how I will proceed with our Village.

Just so you will understand where I'm coming from, that word Village was chosen as part of our name for a very important reason. I did NOT want our TopList to become just another blog directory, but rather, a community of bloggers with similar ideas about what is appropriate for a Family Friendly blog, regardless of the topics discussed.

I am NOT going to put a limit of 500 members, but I AM going to set some criteria for continued membership.

I'm going to manually reset the list at the FIRST of AUGUST, so that it will reset at the beginning of each month. For the first week after the reset each month, all the blogs will show. I will give everyone ONE WEEK before I change the settings each month, and then only those blogs with at least 1 vote IN will show on the TopList.(This didn't turn out to be such a good idea, and I now leave all blogs showing, but delete any blogs that have not received at least 1 HIT IN by the end of the month.) If you really want to be part of our community, asking you to vote for your own blog once a month is reasonable. If that's too much trouble for you, then it's time for you to let me know, so I can delete your blog. Any member who does not have at least one HIT IN by the end of the month will be deleted.

I will, however, continue to RANK the list by HITS OUT, as it encourages interaction with the TopList itself. Ranking doesn't really seem to be that important to most of you, but the importance of community is a value that many of you share with me. Please continue to vote for blogs you appreciate and comment on the TopList about the blog, itself, as this is one of the ways you can encourage your fellow Villagers.

With a large membership, it will take me about 3 months to comfortably take a look at each blog. I will warn any member who has not posted in the last 3 months or who does not have the BLOG VILLAGE Banner or link prominently displayed. If the problem is not corrected within two weeks, I will delete that blog.

As always, if you see a post on any Villager's blog that you find objectionable, please email me as soon as possible, so I can deal with the situation as I see fit.

With your active participation, I am confident that we can maintain the community ethic no matter what size our VILLAGE is!

Looking forward to visiting each of you over the next few months.




Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE? Start HERE.

If you are interested in being the Featured Villager on our BLOG VILLAGE News blog, please contact Janey Loree, Kilroy, or the Gatekeeper, the members of our Village Interview Team.

BLOG VILLAGE'S First Annual RECREATION Carnival

Whether your idea of recreation is to sweat or meditate, travel or read, this carnival is bound to be one you have already posted about at some point, or one you could easily write just to enter our newest carnival.

Our own BLOG VILLAGER, Texas RV Travel Blog, is going to host this one on Monday, July 30th, so how about taking a little time to find that suitable post for this event. You must submit your entry to BlogCarnival by Midnight, Friday, July 27.

Help us promote the Carnival by using the banner on your own blog, if you like.


Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE? Start HERE.

If you are interested in being the Featured Villager on our BLOG VILLAGE News blog, please contact Janey Loree, Kilroy, or the Gatekeeper, the members of our Village Interview Team.

Meet LYNDA - Our Newest FEATURED VILLAGER

It’s about time I introduced you to another BLOG VILLAGER.

Her name is Lynda, and she teaches Pilates & Reiki as an American Ex-pat in the Turks & Caicos Islands. In her July 10, 2007 post on her blog, Pilates in Paradise, you will see that she enjoys blogging and is setting up several more blogs! She has a pet peeve concerning people that are unduly licensed to teach Pilates & Reiki and has made a couple of You Tube Videos available on her blog that explain Pilates & Reiki. To start off the interview I asked her to tell us who Lynda is and to share something about herself that she hasn't posted in her blog!

Lynda replied: “As a child & teen I was very interested in mysticism and spirituality. I studied Tarot, meditation, Ouija boards, astral travel, energy healing, etc. Then I went to college and got into western philosophy and went straight into a PhD program.

In traditional western philosophy the soul and anything mystical is completely frowned upon. Nobody believes in god, religion is silly and in a different department, and something like Reiki energy healing would be laughable. So I taught Pilates part time and just closed off my spiritual side.

When I left academia to open my first Pilates studio in 1995, I was suddenly inundated with alternative people, practices, ideas. And within a few years I was back to practicing Judaism, meditating, and exploring energy healing.

Now I've realized that contradiction is OK. As Schopenhauer explained many moons ago, faith is a leap we take knowing full well that we cannot logically explain everything. Sometimes when I teach Reiki I am struck by how silly some of it still sounds to me; yet it works and I cannot fault what works!”

To my question “What prompted you to start blogging in the first place?”, Lynda exclaimed, “I love to write and wanted to share some of my stories and knowledge with the entire world. Once I realized how easy it is to blog, it became a habit. Now I have readers from all over and my blog produces some income from advertising. I have considered splitting my blog into Pilates specific, Reiki specific, and expat specific sites, but people have told me that they like the variety in my posts so for now I am going to leave it as is.”

The next question should have been “When do you find time to blog?”, however I asked, “When do you find time to read other blogs?"

Lynda stated, “Not often enough! That's why I love places like Blog Village or Blog Her where there is a group of blogs that I like to read. I read other blogs throughout my day/week. Some don't update regularly so it's a quick pass through.

I find that Google alerts help. I receive blog alerts daily for Pilates, Reiki, Turks & Caicos and that connects me with blogs I never would see otherwise.”

When asked, “Where or through whom did you hear about BLOG VILLAGE?”, Lynda’s answer was, “One of the blogs I visited through a Google alert was Rosemary's (Day By Day with PD & PN), and I clicked through to join."

To continue the interview I wanted to know, “Why do you blog? Is your blog personal, business, therapeutic, or just plain fun?”

“All of the above! I have received writing & teaching offers from my blog. Advertisers like my blog. My clients read the blog, and I have gained clients from having a blog. Plus, I get to write and have fun, not knowing who will be reading!” was Lynda’s enthusiastic reply.

I was glad to hear that Lynda sometimes explores BLOG VILLAGE when I asked, “How many BLOG VILLAGE blogs do you read?”, because she said, “There are about 8 that I cycle through regularly. But sometimes I go in and just click different ones to see what's out there.”

The last question helps me with the answer to “Who do I pick for the next interview?” Lynda would like to recommend Eric of Erixgraphy, so he will be added to my list of BLOG VILLAGERS to get to know a little bit more!

Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE? Start HERE.

If you are interested in being the Featured Villager on our BLOG VILLAGE News blog, please contact Janey Loree, Kilroy, or the Gatekeeper, the members of our Village Interview Team.

HITS OUT for Ranking - Like It of Not???

Since the HITS OUT score indicates how many times, since the last reset, someone has gone to read your blog FROM our TopList, and almost every Villager has at least one Hit Out, I thought it might be interesting to use that number for ranking our members.

I'll leave it this way for awhile, but I'd really appreciate your feedback about this way of ranking. Do you like it or not??

Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE? Start HERE.

If you are interested in being the Featured Villager on our BLOG VILLAGE News blog, please contact Janey Loree, Kilroy, or the Gatekeeper, the members of our Village Interview Team.

JANIE at Colloquium - Our FEATURED VILLAGER

This next Featured Villager is not only a lawyer, she has accomplished my life long dream to play in Carnegie Hall. That’s right! Janie Hickok Siess is pictured with her flute as the Delta Winds performed in Carnegie Hall on March 28, 2007! Along with the wonderful soundtrack of their debut, Janie is an avid fan of “The Soprano’s” and pens a weekly installment to recap the show.

Janie keeps busy on her blog with memes for almost every day of the week: Sunday Scribblings, Monday Candle Moment, Wordless Wednesday, Thursday Thirteen, Friday’s Feast, and Photo Hunt (on Saturday’s). Her day of rest must be on Tuesday’s!!! Don’t forget to check out her other blogs, “Here’s looking at…me!” and “The Stockton Concert Band”. So without any further ado…I introduce you to Janie @ Colloquium…

Janey Loree ~ Who is Janie? Tell us something about Janie that you haven’t posted in your blog Colloquium!

JHS ~ I don’t come from a privileged background (my father was a car mechanic and my mother was homemaker) and couldn’t care less about money, wealth or the social status those things bring. I just want to have enough to live comfortably. After obtaining a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting, I realized I could not spend the rest of my life looking at balance sheets, ledgers, tax returns, etc. because I just couldn’t make myself care about any of it. I needed to earn my daily bread doing something that required a more meaningful investment of my entire self. So I continued on to law school. There, once I took my first civil rights course, that was it. I knew I had found my niche.

Janey Loree ~ What prompted you to start blogging in the first place?

JHS ~ I was moved to start blogging during the final days of Terri Schindler-Schiavo’s life because I was so distraught about the fact that her parents’ legal appeals all proved futile.

For six years, I litigated Conservatorship of Wendland all the way to a victory before the California Supreme Court. I am among a select group of attorneys who understand the stress of handling a high-profile, high-stakes case over a protracted period of time.

The cost for all involved was enormous. In my case, it impacted my physical health, but also changed me in many other ways. I wanted to share my experiences by telling the cautionary tale in order to encourage everyone to make end-of-life decisions while they are capable of doing so and communicate their wishes to their friends and family orally and in writing. A battle about how to proceed in the face of incapacitating illness or injury is devastating to family, friends, caregivers, attorneys, guardians, judges, justices. As noted, I, along with everyone else involved in the Wendland case, am living proof that no one comes out of the battle unscathed.

A lot of people told me I should write a book. I prefer to blog about it . . . which I am doing gradually. It’s too overwhelming to try to write about all of it at once and more than five years later, I’m still processing my thoughts and feelings about that momentous battle.

From there, the blog evolved into a discussion of all sorts of topics, some very serious and some more light-hearted.

In January, I also became a featured weekly writer for Write Stuff. Between the two endeavors, I’m having a great time and learning a lot about writing and myself.

Janey Loree ~ When do you find time to read other blogs?

JHS ~ Late at night and on weekends. I can lose a lot of hours following links . . . I’m sure your readers can all relate!

Janey Loree ~ Where did you hear about BLOG VILLAGE?

JHS ~ I clicked on the link that I found on another blog . . . don’t remember which one, though.

Janey Loree ~ Why did you name your blog “Colloquium”? Is your blog personal, business, therapeutic, or just plain fun?

JHS ~ The word has several meanings, but this one is the reason I picked the name: “An informal meeting for the exchange of views.” That’s what I hope this blog is: A place where people feel comfortable dropping by, reading my ramblings, and sharing a thought, feeling, opinion or viewpoint.

Janey Loree ~ How many BLOG VILLAGE blogs are you linked to?

JHS ~ Oh, gosh . . . I don’t know! Where do I find this information?

Janey Loree ~ If you join sites like “Technorati” or “Referer.org” and add the appropriate HTML coding, you can keep an eye on who links to your blogs. I am sure that other VILLAGERS can give you pointers on this as well…such as Jim over at “Tips For New Bloggers”.

Janey Loree ~ Bonus Question: Of those BV blogs that you are linked to, which BLOG VILLAGER would you recommend for the next interview?

JHS ~ I enjoy Scribbit.

But there are so many wonderful blogs listed . . .



Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE? Start HERE.

If you are interested in being the Featured Villager on our BLOG VILLAGE News blog, please contact Janey Loree, Kilroy, or the Gatekeeper, the members of our Village Interview Team.

Hits IN ---- Hits OUT

If I find this confusing, I'm sure there are others who do, too. So I decided to do a search on the gotop100 forum for administrators, and I found this very simple explanation:

Incoming hits are how many visitors a site has sent to your top list using their link code. Outgoing hits are how many visitors your top list has sent to the site.

I've been rather discouraged that I haven't been able to interest our Villagers in voting for each other, but I must admit that finally understanding HITS OUT makes me feel a little bit better about BLOG VILLAGE and my goals for our Village. I checked to see just what our statistics are at the moment, and I'm feeling better.

Out of the 364 members who are currently showing on the blog, only 98 have a vote, since the reset on May 9. That's very discouraging, as I thought for sure that putting all the blogs back on with the new SEARCH box would encourage more participation.

But then I got to wondering about how many blogs were being clicked on from our toplist, whether they got votes or not, and that made me feel a WHOLE lot better! Out of those same 364 members, there are 320 that have been viewed by someone who found them on BLOG VILLAGE!!! That's what the Hits Out number means, and that's impressive. People may not be taking the time to vote, but they are taking the time to read, and that's what really counts, isn't it??

May 23 will be our ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY. In that time, we have had a total of 512 Villagers, many of whom I have deleted for not keeping the BLOG VILLAGE voting banner on their blogs. Only a handful have been asked to take the banner off, because of their unwillingness to edit posts or pictures that were not appropriate for our community.

We have actually grown to be one of the larger toplists on gotop100, which speaks well of all of you, as other bloggers are constantly asking to join. In fact, I have 6 blogs waiting for me to look at them right now. So, I guess I'd better quit rambling and get busy checking them out, right??

I've met a lot of interesting people, become good blog friends with some of you, and enjoyed reading about a lot of places and lives that I would never have know about otherwise. All in all, I think it's been a good year, and the number of Hits Out makes me feel like my efforts have born some good fruit. I hope you feel the same way.


Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE? Start HERE.

If you are interested in being the Featured Villager on our BLOG VILLAGE News blog, please contact Janey Loree, Kilroy, or the Gatekeeper, the members of our Village Interview Team.

Who Is Naomi?? Read about Our FEATURED VILLAGER

Janey Loree ~ “Who is Naomi? Tell us more about Diary From England!”

Naomi ~ “I’m a British born secretary and aspiring writer, currently working on my first book. I have lived in England all my life. My hobbies include writing, travel and dancing. Diary from England is an online journal covering the latest news, updates and information on life in England. A wide range of diverse and interesting topics are covered to attract a wide readership. I also have useful information and links on my blog for anyone planning to visit England in the future. I only set up my blog in January last year but I have already attracted a lot of interest. Some readers are people who hail from England originally and like to read news from their homeland. Others are just curious to hear what goes on in another country of the world apart from their own! A lot of people have e-mailed me to say how much they enjoy their visits to Diary From England, which is great. After losing my dad to cancer, I have also recently set up a charity initiative so that anybody who enjoys their visit to Diary from England can show their appreciation by making a donation to a cancer charity. It could save a life.”


Janey Loree ~ “What prompted you to start blogging in the first place?”

Naomi ~ “I saw a few blogs when I was surfing and thought it would be good to start one myself. I thought it would be good to have a little space on the worldwide web and somewhere to practise my writing skills. I always think life is for living and I always try to live my life to the full and enjoy every day. I enjoy meeting new people and trying new things. Setting up my blog, "Diary from England" was a challenge and a whole new adventure for me. Its been a lot of fun and I'm learning new things every day. I'm also building up a good readership of many people from all over the world which is great!”


Janey Loree ~ “When do you do your blog reading?”

Naomi ~ “I don’t have that much spare time as I hold down a full-time job and am working on a book as well! But when I do, (usually at weekends), I do most of my blog reading at Blog Village. It’s a great community of good quality blogs covering a wide variety of topics.”


Janey Loree ~ “Where did you hear about BLOG VILLAGE?”

Naomi ~ “I saw the Blog Village banner on a number of blogs I looked at, so I went over to have a look and decided to join myself. I really enjoy being a member of Blog Village. It’s a nice community of friendly people over there. I have made a few cyberfriends whilst being a member.”


Janey Loree ~ “Why do you blog? Is your blog personal, business, etc?”

Naomi ~ “My blog is personal. I use it as my little soapbox on all the latest happenings in England! I’ve always loved writing and I’m in my element when I’m writing posts for my blog. Writing on my blog gives me a real buzz. I find it very relaxing and a good way to unwind after a busy day at work.”


Janey Loree ~ “How often do you post and how many blogs do you maintain?”

Naomi ~ “I try to post two or three times a week and just maintain the one blog:- www.diaryfromengland.blogspot.com Come over and visit me soon! Thanks for taking the time and trouble to interview me Janey.”

---

You are most welcome Naomi. Since I first interviewed Naomi, (back in January) I have developed a cyber friendship with her. Her blog is filled with great posts about health issues, the Queen, the English Bobby, English news as well as taking the time to post a couple of articles that helped me out with research for a couple of our paperdolls! I am even more partial to Diary From England now that Naomi is our International Correspondent from England!! Drop by and tell her that you read her interview on the BLOG VILLAGE News!!!

If you would like to be interviewed email me at memories@pjscorner.net. Keep in mind that there are several interviews ahead of you so your interview will not be posted right away. At this point in time, look forward to interviews from Janie over at Colloquium, Lynda at Pilates & Reiki in Paradise, Granimore at Funeralis, and Bill at Recovery Addiction Basics.


Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE? Start HERE.

If you are interested in being the Featured Villager on our BLOG VILLAGE News blog, please contact Janey Loree, Kilroy, or the Gatekeeper, the members of our Village Interview Team.

Presenting Our First Annual HEALTH Carnival!!

Welcome to the April 30, 2007 edition of a our BLOG VILLAGE CARNIVAL Series. This Quarter we are featuring posts from our Villagers related to HEALTH.

NAOMI presents
OLIVE OIL GAINING POPULARITY posted at
Diary From England

Greenearth presents
Green Makeup posted at
A New Green Earth

CyberCelt presents

Stop the Violence Against Women of the World posted at
Texas RV Travel Blog saying, "Health begins with living without fear."

CyberCelt presents

Looking for Help for a Friend? posted at
CoolAdzine for Marketers

Jackie Ford presents
Pep up your life with Ginger posted at
The Vegan Diet, saying, "I feel that a Vegan diet is good for your health. If you don't want to go to that extreme you need to at least add meat free days into your life, to cut down on cholesterol plus the added benefit of helping the planet."

Leslie Feldman presents
Autism Prevention posted at
Autism Prevention, saying, "A paper about all the studies linking advancing paternal age over 33 and autism prior to the Kaiser Study on Maternal and Paternal Age in Autism published April 4, 2007."

Christopher Depelteau presents

SilverHawk™ Plaque Excision System posted at
MRI LINKS AND OTHER COOL THINGS

Lynda Lippin presents
Pilates--Fit to the Core! posted at
Pilates & Reiki In Paradise Blog

Anthony presents

The Lives and Times... of Anthony McCune: They Call It Customer Service At The Health Plan posted at
The Lives and Times... of Anthony McCune

I would like to thank all of you who chose to participate in this quarter's carnival.

Submit your blog article to the 3rd Quarter RECREATION Edition of a blog village carnival using our carnival submission form in the white box in the side bar.

Past posts and future hosts can be found there on our
blog carnival index page.

Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE? Start HERE.

If you are interested in being the Featured Villager on our BLOG VILLAGE News blog, please contact Janey Loree, Kilroy, or the Gatekeeper, the members of our Village Interview Team.

Join Us at the Village for Our First Annual HEALTH Carnival

The THEME for this Quarter's BLOG VILLAGE Carnival is

"All about HEALTH"

Are you a Care Giver? Do you have health problems you deal with on a regular basis? Just felt puny and blogged about it? Have the kids been sick? Maybe you blog about a more healthy life style, controversial issues like abortion, or the latest health news. Whether your post is to inform, vent, whine, poke fun, or whatever, if it has to do with Health, we're looking forward to reading what you have to say!!

You can click either banner to ENTER. Feel free to copy for your blog!

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DEADLINE April 26 midnight
Will be online here on BLOG VILLAGE News on April 30th.
RULES:

1. Blog MUST belong EITHER to a BLOG VILLAGE member OR link directly TO a BLOG VILLAGE Blog.

2. Only 1 entry per blog.

3. Only English language posts will be accepted.

4. No posts with titles, or with pictures, containing profanity, or of a sexual or suggestive nature, will be accepted.

5. Choose MEMBER or GUEST from the Categories, and put the required information in the REMARKS.

GUESTS of Villagers must submit the URL of the BLOG VILLAGE blog they are linked TO for your entry to be eligible for consideration.

VILLAGERS need to enter their MEMBER NUMBER in the REMARKS.

Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE? Start HERE.

If you are interested in being the Featured Villager on our BLOG VILLAGE News blog, please contact Janey Loree, Kilroy, or the Gatekeeper, the members of our Village Interview Team.

ERIC Has Issues? Find out about our Newest FEATURED BLOG VILLAGER

There's a lot of Mommy blogs out there (nothing wrong with that), but here's a unique view of family life through Dad's eyes. Honestly, I don't know what Eric's issues are - he sounds intact to me. My advice, visit his site; you'll learn a thing or two. Leave your own comments on the death of Brad Delp and talk about what St. Patrick's day means to you. Hope you enjoy the Village News with Eric.

Gatekeeper: Eric, would you share a little bit about yourself? You know, where are you from, what is, or are, your passions? What do you do for a living?

Eric: I'm a 40 year old stay at home dad, that makes me either the busiest or the laziest person in the house, I'm not sure yet. I grew up in Temple City, California. Not only the home of the Camellias, but the very first Winchells Donut shop, and the set for most all of the downtown scenes for the TV series "The Wonder years."

My love of music and creating music is the driving force in my life. My formal training is in Lutherie (stringed instrument building). For 20 years I've been involved in the music industry in one way or another. I worked for Taylor Guitars for 11 years, managing the mill and parts production. This job took me around the world looking for exotic woods that we could use in our production, most notably the "Liberty Tree Guitar." I'm currently designing an electric guitar here at the house.

Gatekeeper: Would you like to tell us how you met the love of your life? I thought the post about her birthday was adorable.

Eric:
On a rainy day in 1979, our middle school combined the boys and girls PE classes to play war ball (dodge ball) in the gym. There, for the first time, I was introduced to a cute young lady. She was a singer, and dancer. For many years we had the same circle of friends. We started dating our junior year in high school.

After High school we went to the same JC. She took it seriously while I dropped out after 3 semesters to pursue the music thing without the background of a formal education. (Bad Choice on my part) After finishing her GE, she moved to San Diego to finish her degree in Biology. We spent weekends driving back and forth for two years. Finally I got a Job in San Diego in 1990. We were married in 1991, now we are the classic "Nuclear Family" with three kids, a dog and a cat.

Gatekeeper: I read about your involvement at your daughter's school. Has volunteer work become a very important part of your life? Tell us about the garden at your daughter's school, if you can.

Eric: Our twin daughters attend a Charter School. Part of the charter requires families to spend an hour a week at the school helping out. Last year I told the girls' kindergarten teacher that I would help out in her raised garden box. I planted carrots, tomatoes, and lettuce. At the end of the year the class had a potluck and I made a salad out of what the kids had grown in their garden. This year I was promoted (sentenced) to manage the entire garden for all grades.

(Use this link to get my take on volunteering)

That Which Is Worth Doing (part deux)

Bottom line… you can pour your life into a job, hobby or whatever, but if you have kids, I feel that they are the best investment. I'll be the first to tell you that I'm not the greatest father in the world, but I try my best.

Gatekeeper: Is music an important part of your life? How long have you been playing guitar? Have you written any original songs? Would you like to? Have you recorded anything? Something we might be able to showcase on Blog Village?

Eric: Music I would say is my most passionate outlet. I got involved with music in the 4^th grade, when the high school kids came and demonstrated all the instruments in the band. At the end of it all we had the opportunity to sign up for one, so I did. I started playing the flute, much to the chagrin of my parents. Later on I picked up the saxophone.

No one else in my family has any musical ambitions. I went to work for a music store after school. It was there that I picked up the guitar, and the love of making musical instruments. Then at twenty years old I went to a trade school to learn the art of building guitars.

For the last ten years I've been playing guitar for our Saturday night church service. My love of music brought me from the last pew in the auditorium to the stage. For me, I would rather be up on stage playing worship, than sitting within the congregation. This is when I have my strongest connection to God, and I feel like I'm fulfilling my life's call.

As for my musical tastes, I'm a Rocker. I grew up listening to Jethro Tull (flute) Peter Frampton, Dire Straits, and Van Halen…blah blah blah. The 80's are my favorite decade for music.

I suffer (my wife actually is suffering) from: G.A.S.—Guitar Acquisition Syndrome. This is a disorder that causes me to think that I'll stop after my next guitar. Needless to say there is no cure for this ailment. So here's the inventory:

3 electric guitars

4 acoustic guitars

2 ukuleles

1 piano

1 harp

1 flute

I have written two instrumental pieces for guitar. One was recorded in 1990 for a Christmas album that my wife and I made as Christmas gifts for the family. We used a state of the art technology called the cassette tape.

Gatekeeper: Tell us about your blog—Eric Has Issues. Why did you start blogging? When did you start blogging?

Eric: My blog came about on a whim. I signed up in 2005 after a friend was promoting his blog. I created my own under "myname.blogspot.com." I actually made my first post in January of last year. I started off slow, it wasn't till April that I really got going on it. After seeing my therapist for a year or so she made this statement; "You have issues." And the new version was born. This also allowed me some anonymity.

I started it as a way to organize what I was thinking and feeling, set goals, and chronicle my life. This is basically a dad blog with genuine moments of greatness. I try not to be forceful on my opinions, but I do take a stand from time to time. From the stats, I get anywhere between 5 to 20 hits a day. Most are family and friends. I post about every other day.

Gatekeeper: How many blogs do you write and how often do you post? How many blogs do you enjoy reading or do you have time to read other blog authors?

Eric: I have just one blog that I maintain. I've been working on an online portfolio for my woodworking projects that I've made over the years. I'm interested in starting a blog with multiple contributors that would stand as a forum on current topics and without bashing. One of those "free market of ideas." Any takers?

I use bloglines to organize the blogs that I read. It allows me to subscribe to individual feeds, and lets me know when the blogs are updated. It's pretty convenient. Google reader does the same thing, but I prefer bloglines.

Blogs that I read regularly are:

Old and in the Way

LiteraryGirl

How to Change the World

The Daily Nooz

Cool Tools

Gatekeeper: When did you join Blog Village and how did you hear about the Village?

Eric: I signed up with the Village in early December. I ran across it by accident if I remember correctly. I'm not really a joiner, but I thought I'd give it a try. I don't have a large list of links nor am I a blogger that likes a lot of banners and fluff on my page. I'm trying to keep it simple.

Gatekeeper: Do you have any favorite Villagers you try to read a few times here and there?

Eric: Honestly, I've perused through the Blog Village listings only a few times. There is a lot of ground to cover, and I really don't have much time.

I've stopped off at:

Alabama Kitchen Sink

Anti Itch Meditation

Points of Light

It's kinda confusing right now

California Breeze

The Gonzo Papers

Pieces of Me

Gatekeeper: Which one would you like to see interviewed next?

Eric: I threw a dart, and this is who I hit: Anti Itch Meditation.

So, what do you think? DOES Eric have issues???

Confused???

I'm sorry that my change on the way your blog shows on BLOG VILLAGE has been so confusing to so many of you. I'll try to explain what's happening, so maybe I can put your mind at ease.

When I reset everyone to zero Saturday night, no one showed on the list until they had a vote from their own blog banner or text link.

The gotop100 servers cycle through all the members for all the toplists they have, and that takes some time. That means that you will not instantly see your vote "count." Until the server recycles, which is usually every 30 minutes, even though you or someone else voted for your blog, IT WILL NOT SHOW ON THE LIST. Once you have ONE VOTE showing, your blog will show on the list until the monthly reset. Then the list will go blank again, until someone votes.

If you vote for yourself, and your blog is still not showing on BLOG VILLAGE after waiting an hour, by all means email me, as something is wrong, and hopefully, I can fix it or tell you how to fix it.

The fact that so many of you are writing me, asking for help understanding why your blog isn't showing, is a good thing (although frustrating for both of us). It means you CARE!!!

I'm trying this new method because so many of our almost 300 members aren't keeping their blogs active or with a good voting link. There have been way too many blogs whose only vote all month long was MINE, when I've been doing the monthly check in! And, there have been as many as 25 or so each month that I end up emailing repeatedly, trying to get them to put the voting link back up after template changes, etc.

Please be patient while we all get used to this different way of displaying your TopList entry each month. In the long run, I hope it makes for a smaller, but more active and useful list, with fewer "dud" blogs to wade through to find the "good stuff!"

Doing my best,

Rosemary



Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE? Start HERE.

If you are interested in being the Featured Villager on our BLOG VILLAGE News blog, please contact Janey Loree, Kilroy, or the Gatekeeper, the members of our Village Interview Team.

NOTICE!! **********NEW Reset Procedure STARTS TONIGHT!!

As you probably already know, our BLOG VILLAGE TopList is set to change all votes back to zero once a month. This allows every Villager the opportunity to be on the front page of the list, depending on how many votes your blog gets. It has been my habit each month to go through and vote for each blog, as a way to reacquaint myself with blogs I've lost touch with, as well as check for dormant blogs, or those that no longer have the voting link displayed.

We are very close to a membership of 300 now, and real life has cut into my time for blogging considerably lately. I have decided to change the way our TopList is set up, so that only those members who have at least 1 vote will show up at all. That means each month you will need to assure yourself a place on the list by voting for yourself from the link on your own blog. The gotop100 server cycles through the votes in about 30 minutes, so you may not see your blog appear in the list immediately. If you vote, and your votes does not show up within an hour, it may mean that there is something wrong with your link, or it may be a server problem I have no control over. Please email me if you cannot get your link to work, and I'll see if I can figure out what the problem is.

I have my blogs listed with some directories, etc., that I have never visited again, once I had them set up. BLOG VILLAGE was never intended to be that kind of place. I chose the name very carefully, to convey the feeling of friendship and caring for each other that I have tried to make a part of our community. So it seems reasonable that the Villagers who are interested enough in our Community to vote for themselves once a month should be the Villagers whose blogs are listed. Of course, we hope you get lots of votes from lots of other visitors, as well! But to get your banner or name on the list, you will now need to vote once for yourself.

This change in procedure will have several positive results, I think, and no negative ones that I'm aware of. It will free my blogging time to more productive tasks, such as reading and commenting, instead of "policing." It will cut the size of the TopList, so that the active blogs will be those people see. And it should encourage new members to add the voting link quicker, cutting down on the number of emails I have to write to individual members.

I am always open to suggestions about the way BLOG VILLAGE is run, but ultimately, the decision is up to me as to how to proceed. I will evaluate this change to the reset system for awhile and will let you know if I decide to make further changes.

Hoping this change will be a positive step forward for all our Villagers,

Rosemary


Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE? Start HERE.

If you are interested in being the Featured Villager on our BLOG VILLAGE News blog, please contact Janey Loree, Kilroy, or the Gatekeeper, the members of our Village Interview Team.

Meet MARION - Our Featured BLOG VILLAGER

After sending Marion the same questions I ask of all my BLOG VILLAGE interviewees, she answered them in a way that does not need to be broken up! Please read on to find out about your fellow BLOG VILLAGER, Marion, over at The Herbal Connection:

I am a soon-to-be 56 year old woman who has had many life experiences, and who wants to share what I’ve learned as a result of these life-changing events.

I am twice-divorced; now living with my life-partner, Graham. Two dogs, Lucky and Nate, own us. I have lost a daughter; I am a recovering Alcoholic, still dry for many years. I am a mother and a grandmother, soon to welcome my second grandchild into the world.

As I learn, once more, to adapt to a different way of life, I use the Shamanistic and Reiki skills I have learned on a constant basis. I will always be amazed at how much easier life becomes, how well I can figure myself out, using these tools.

Graham is a Karuna Reiki Master Teacher and I hold Level 2 certification. I absorb the energies that fly around me so intensely, both negative and positive, that I had to learn how to protect myself. That is when I met Shaman Maggie Wahls, who opened the doors to an intensely spiritual time.

My awareness of ordinary, everyday occurrences became so acute; I wanted to write specifically about it. My life has become an amazing journey of miracles. It seemed right to share it.

And I wanted to be a storyteller. I have written all my life, primarily for myself…writing words that described the events of my life, horrible, sad words. It was the right time, suddenly, to turn those despairing words around to a more positive tone, to dissect and learn.

I wanted to reach people, to share hope in the everyday. Although I have sent some essays, etc. to various magazines, I have not seriously pursued this avenue. I treasure the rejection letters; seems they all, in handwritten words, love my writing…but what could they do with it? It doesn’t seem to fit in well, for magazine formats. LOL

Blogging seemed the natural choice for me. I am very at home on the Internet, having taken various different courses and having a natural bent towards research. I also wanted to learn to write consistently, with discipline. And I wanted to explore the world of photography.

My blog reading is done mainly in the morning, with some afternoon surfing. I try and find new blogs (to me) with the same interests I have, and try and extend my audience that way, as well as contacting and getting to know some wonderful people! And, no matter how busy life gets, I try and keep up with the great friends I have already made, just by blogging. I have huge gratitude for their support.

When I first started blogging, I knew nothing about it. Nothing. It took awhile to even understand how to publish, how to load photos, how to…the list goes on. I didn’t know about comments, etc., I didn’t know there were groups you could join. And then, one day, I heard Blog Village mentioned... I think it may even have been the Google help group, lol, a group I have had many occasions to visit!

My blog is a personal one. After all those rejections from editors, after all their suggestions to change my writing to more acceptable topics, I decided I was going to write what the muse wanted to. And so I did.

I only maintain one blog. I have others; they are still in the starting phases, where they will probably remain. I admire the people who have more than one blog; I just do not have time.

I usually try to post two or three times a week; it is a release and an outlet for my creativity. My writing is not for everyone; I wouldn’t expect it to be. But I try and project peace and serenity, I try and work out the happenings around me. I try and share any wisdom I may have learned, or am learning.

The sites on Blog Village are always entertaining. In my opinion, it is a great collection of different viewpoints; my site feels at home here. I enjoy it every day.

Now I get to pick another Blog Villager ... ta daaaa! I would love to hear about Tea, from Tea and Margaritas in my Garden!

All you need to do is read one of Marion posts to see her passion for life, to see how deeply she feels about the world around her. She has a unique way of writing and expressing life as she sees it. Read her Valentine’s Day post “Fury” to see what I mean and stop by to wish her a Happy Birthday. Her birthday is in February sometime! ~ Janey Loree


Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE? Start HERE.

If you are interested in being the Featured Villager on our BLOG VILLAGE News blog, please contact Janey Loree, Kilroy, or the Gatekeeper, the members of our Village Interview Team.

Carnivals! Carnivals! Take Your Pick OR Enter Them ALL!!!

Thanks to Kilroy, the Carnival Bug, as Naomi expressed it, has certainly hit our Villagers.

I'm trying to keep up with all of them and put a banner on the side bar, but you're all way ahead of me LOL.

You'll find TWO GONZO Carnivals to enter, a Poetry Carnival, and a Photography Carnival, hosted by James, one of our Villager photographers, on his Points of Light blog.

Another one of our Villagers, Local Girl, at her An Island Life blog, has a new Carnival EVERY WEEK! She's accepting entries for edition number 42 of The Carnival of Life, I think! Whew!!!

I'm not that ambitious, I fear. I figure with all the members being involved in carnivals, once a quarter is enough for me to sponsor or host. But I certainly admire those Villagers with the stamina to do this over and over and over .....

Now, get busy and follow those sidebar links, and get involved. Why, you might have so much fun you decide to have a carnival, yourself.

And, just in case you're having so much fun entering, reading, and commenting, that you've forgotten everything else, let me make a quick reminder that all this carnival doin's is great for your page rank. And why, you say, do you care about page rank? More visitors, more readers, better PPP offers, more sales ... well, you get the idea.


Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE? Start HERE.

If you are interested in being the Featured Villager on our BLOG VILLAGE News blog, please contact Janey Loree, Kilroy, or the Gatekeeper, the members of our Village Interview Team.

Lost Girls Featured in National Geographic Travel Blog

Congratulations to our Villagers at Lost Girls!


Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE? Start HERE.

If you are interested in being the Featured Villager on our BLOG VILLAGE News blog, please contact Janey Loree, Kilroy, or the Gatekeeper, the members of our Village Interview Team.

STEVE (Just Your Average Revolutionary), Our FEATURED VILLAGER

Janey Loree: Who is Steve Bremner? Tell us more about Just your average revolutionary!

Steve: Steve Bremner is a 25 year old missionary to the Netherlands. I was saved around the age of 15, and grew up in a brethren church. I then went on to a charismatic Bible school, originally located in Pensacola, FL, which had been birthed out of the Brownsville Revival. Some time after graduating I made my way over to the Netherlands as a missionary. My heritage in the Plymouth Brethren background, coupled with my charismatic experience in my early twenties and to date, really make an interesting mix, I believe. Click here for my three part testimony

Steve Bremner is someone who hates traditional "church" as we know it, and someone who wants to see God's kingdom invade this earth and shake everything that can be shaken--including and specifically the Church. And, specifically, to see restored to the Body of Christ the things God's word tells us are ours, that are sadly lacking, such as the supernatural and miraculous.

I'm a revolutionary because the Holy Spirit lives inside of me, and I'm a disciple of King Jesus, who rules a kingdom out of this world and in authority above this earthly realm's kingdom. I'm average just like anybody else in that this is not my own identity, but His. He takes the weak things of this world, and the unwise things of this world, and makes something big with them and uses people like you and me to do it. He's in the habit of using average revolutionaries like us. That and I've been too uncreative and lazy to come up with a new title for the blog, and I think it has a nice ring to it the way it is.

Janey Loree: What prompted you to start blogging in the first place?

Steve: I heard about blogging from two different people independently of each other. One was a missionary in Germany, the other was someone on my MSN chat list, and when I clicked on hers, I found an online journal, and immediately decided to start my own. I felt like I had things to say and ideas to share that other people aren't necessarily preaching about or sharing in theirs.

I feel one of my giftings is that of a teacher, and I'm studying the Word a lot, and feel like I'm constantly finding awesome nuggets of truth that I need to share with somebody, somewhere! So for me my blog was the perfect outlet for such expression, but I didn't know what "image" or "personality" I wanted to give my blog at first, and upon deciding to start one, I had no idea how to get it rolling.

In the summer of 2004, the Lord dramatically healed my mom of fibromyalgia, and I posted the testimony in an e-mail and sent it to my entire e-address book, and then decided to copy and paste it as my first written entry. Given the fact that most of my circle of Christian influence in Peterborough (the city in Canada where I'm from) was from a conservative evangelical or brethren background at that time, in all likelihood many of them would read or visit my blog if given the link. I know I have the respect of a good number of the people from my church upbringing, but who are closed to the things of the Holy Spirit, so I decided I'd use this blog as a place to study and teach on subjects strongly lacking in the non-charismatic circles of Christians, and that many of my friends might not otherwise learn or come across, if not for someone "from their midst" teaching on it and not being weird.

Janey Loree: When do you do your blog reading?

Steve: Randomly. I have a list of blogs, either that I've discovered or that belong to friends of mine, and maybe in the course of my day, I'll go through my bookmarks and catch up on them, and if few people have written much, then I can read all the blogs I frequent in a day. However, it probably takes me an average of one week to read all the blogs I bookmark.

Janey Loree: Where did you hear about BLOG VILLAGE?

Steve: I'm not sure how long ago it was, but I was getting comments on my blog from someone using the sign-in name "Dirty Butter", always encouraging me, and always leaving positive comments about how something I wrote challenged her or blessed her. It was either in email or in a comment that she asked me to join Blog Village, and explained the purpose of the site, and I'm all for joining sites if it might introduce me to people who may enjoy or benefit from anything I have to write. And the rest is history, and here I am filling out questions like this for it!

Janey Loree: Why do you blog? Is your blog personal, business, etc?

Steve: My blog serves as a perpetual newsletter for those wanting to stay in touch with me, and as I began to say earlier, I find blogging to be an outlet--a FREE one at that--that I can share my thoughts and post what I burn for, knowing that the only people who will read it are the people who want to be impacted by it. I find it also can be an extension of my ministry and my monthly newsletters, in that while I'm not physically in Holland, I can still teach and write things that will impact the Dutch people I am involved with who will read it while I'm away. Same with Canadians and Americans while I'm in Holland--just the concept that I can impact lives without being present is awesome! My blog writings can go places that I can't. So in a nutshell, I blog to motivate and encourage as well as challenge others, especially saying a thing or two about lots of dumb things Christians believe. I don't want to blog just to write, but to invite change in those who read it and come across it.

It also helps for keeping people caught up with me, since I view blogs as "voluntary bulk mail". I hardly ever send forwards or junk mail to people, instead I'll post it in my blogs (sometimes, very rarely), but people can read them when they have time or the desire.

Blogs are neat little resources!

Janey Loree: How often do you post and how many blogs do you maintain?

Steve: Sometimes I'm bursting at the seams with things to post, whether they be other peoples' articles or my own studies. However, I don't write when NOT inspired to. I go through dry seasons, and I go through insanely wet seasons. But on average, I update a minimum of once a week. Given that most people have the attention span of a gust of wind, I try not to go nuts in posting too often, because I don't post anything that I don't want people to read. So if I have a lot of drafts saved up or on the go at any given moment, then I post them one or two days apart instead of all at once. I also post articles that say things better than I could.

The only blog I consistently maintain, is Just Your Average Revolutionary. When I first started this blog, one day I wrote a big fat humorous lie. I made up this story about being a missionary to the deserts of Yukon in Northern Canada. How was I supposed to know the fact it's colder the further north you go would not be obvious to everybody reading? So I had an anonymous comment from someone, puking on me for joking around on a serious blog. Even though it's my own blog to do what I want with, I did see how joking around too much could hinder peoples' ability to take me seriously when I am sharing from the Word, so I started Canadian Bacon, but it doesn't get nearly the attention from me as Just Your Average Revolutionary, but it's an outlet for other forms of creativity, especially ones lacking seriousness.

My blogging habits are that I take a lot of notes and journal things on my laptop when listening to podcasts or mp3 preachings, and sometimes I re-write the notes so as to make a blog entry of them. Also, if I am studying something in Scripture, I find I usually will post it on my blog, so I practice the habit of writing something I'd like to share with others, and of course I use the Blogger Add-on for Word. Then, next time I'm in a hotspot or something, I save it to my drafts, a few days go by and I check it again and see if I'm happy with it, and then post it, correct grammar, etc... And post it online. Other times, I post updates rather spontaneously to keep my friends up to date on the latest with me.

Another blog that originally started out of a desire to see people united from various areas of the world and denominational stances, was a Prayer Requests and Testimonies blog. The idea was having as many people as would like to, contributors to this blog, and they can go in there and post prayer requests, and share this link with other people as well who will pray for needs. Then, those involved theoretically subscribe to the feed and pray for every need requested as they show up in your subscriptions. I like the mechanism of it all, later on people could post testimonies and how those prayers were answered.

Anyone that would like to be a contributor and/or administrator of this prayer blog, and who will pray for others' requests, feel free to let me know and I'll shoot you an invitation to it. I think this is a brilliant way to get the kingdom of God impacting each other's lives, as well as making use of a tool such as blogging.

Thank you for the questions and for featuring me.

Steve

Janey Loree: Well, it looks like Steve headed back to Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland, NL on Friday, January 19. In his Wednesday, January 17 post, he let his blog readers know that he will not have internet access in the apartment where he will be staying. He's continued to post, though, so he must have found a friend with internet access. Not to take away from Steve’s blog content, but if you want to know how to write January through December and the days of the week in Dutch, check out Steve’s blog!

Are You Missing a Past Villager???

You may have noticed that the number of Villagers has been fluctuating quite a bit lately. That's because I have put a number of blogs on InActive Status, because those blogs had not been updated in several months. Also, some of our past Villagers have not added the voting link back to their blogs after template changes, even though I've given them ample time to fix it. On the positive side, we had a large number of new blogs joining during our Carnival.

At one time or another, since we started back last May, we've had a total of 350 blogs on BLOG VILLAGE!!!! That's hard to believe, isn't it?

So, if you miss seeing a blog that used to be here, how about letting them know that you want them back Active on BLOG VILLAGE!

Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE?

Start HERE.

If you are interested in being the Featured Villager on our BLOG VILLAGE News blog, please contact Janey Loree, Kilroy, or the Gatekeeper, the members of our Village Interview Team.

BLOG VILLAGE was established on May 23, 2006, currently with a membership of 255 Active Villager blogs.

Our First BLOG VILLAGE Family Blog Carnival is HERE!

Thanks to all of you who entered our first Blog Carnival, and a HUGE THANK YOU to KILROY for suggesting it, and doing all the hard work on this one. PLEASE take time to visit Kilroy's The Gonzo Papers and let him know how much you appreciate all the time and effort he's put into this to make it such a great Carnival!!

For Your Success presents


It's all about Family!

Family photograph courtesy of The Family, McCune {Machione}
November, 1928

Welcome Guests!

Dirty Butter - YESTERDAY'S MEMORIES of a Bygone Time - Determine Not To Have An Only Child

Kilroy_60 - Fear And Loathing - The Gonzo Papers - A Father's Day Thought

Eric - Eric Has Issues - Mondays True Story IV

Janey Loree - Heartfelt Notes - Up With The Top Or I'm Not Going...

Barb - Skittles Place - Why I Have Gray Hair

Heather - Beautiful British Columbia - Does Your Family Smore?

Chara - Zero To Gourmet - here's to staying blue-jean ready

Red Dirt Girl - Red Dirt Girl - My Childhood Family

Sparksfley - Sparks And Butterflies - Mom

Ruth - Me, My Life, My Garden - FAMILY - A Blogvillage Goes Gonzo Post

Chelle & Chel - She Says It's Pretty Dumb - Mother-Daughter Communication

John Holland - altjiranga mitjina - Thursday Thirteen #8: Christmas Pictures

Random Encounters - Random Encounters of We - On Broadway in New York City

SweetSwede - In His Steps - Family of God

LJP - Save Save Save - AVIS Messes With Family Catch Up

Kim Banks - Blog Fabulous - Is Cooking The Secret of a Good Marriage?

CyberCelt - Texas RV Travel Blog - Do It For The Family

sarala - blogaway - Did you like your kid today?

Oh, The Joys - Oh, The Joys - Little Brother

Anthony - The Lives and Times... of Anthony McCune - Welcome Blog Villagers...to Post Number 99

Emma Noelle - Wiping Up Snot - Grandparents' Rights To The Family

jillbeth - The Broken Cup: Christian Poetry - A Child's Plea

Sue and Matthew - One Big Green Bus - The Whole Story {By Request!}

Joseph Potocny - Living With Alzheimers - What A Past 24 Hours

Eli - Almost Here - Jewels

Zorak163 - Grasshopper Ramblings - Create A Family

KBaggott - Babylune - Parenthood Can Be Danerous

Thomas Karkalas - MODUS VIDENDI - we are of the opinion that...

Crystal - Two Moms In A Blog - 13 Things I Have Learned As A Parent/Wife

Gtargirl - If Mom Had A Blog In 1942 - War Comes Home


JHSEsq. - Colloquium - Thirteen Reasons Why I Wish You Could Have Known My Father


Naomi - Diary from England - BRITISH FAMILY LIFE IN THE 21ST CENTURY

Michelle - Scribbit - Shark or Squid?

Linda - Are We There Yet? - "Every man is a quotation from all his ancestors" - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Tonya - There Is A Season - Selflessness

Carla - Self Esteem Awareness Blog - Emotional Abuse and low self-esteem

Edith OSB - Monastic Musings - The Media-A Third Parent?

Maggie - Ramblings of Maggie - Dear Aunt Irma

JBruno - The Voltage Gate - The Mystery of the Red Panda, Ailurus fulgens

Jan - The Poodle And Dog Blog - Police Dog Mothers Tiger Cubs

Kerry - West Coast Women - Second Guessing Ourselves

Marsha - Family Adentures - Baby Elephant

Old Lady - Eclectic Tales - Grandmama's Muumuus

James - Points of Light - Convergence

Sheila - Alabama Kitchen Sink - Today Is A New Day

JAM - Least Significant Bits - Starting School

Dr. Richard P. Mungo - Teeth Care, Healthy Food and Dental Tourism - Saving Childhood Oral Health



Thank You to all who participated.

Registration is open now for our next event.

A Strategic Alliance invites you to join our new link exchange program; it's all about mutual benefit. We're posting and adding new links tomorrow.

Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE?

Start HERE.

If you are interested in being the Featured Villager on our BLOG VILLAGE News blog, please contact Janey Loree, Kilroy, or the Gatekeeper, the members of our Village Interview Team.

BLOG VILLAGE was established on May 23, 2006, currently with a membership of 259 Villager blogs.

THURSDAY is DEADLINE for BLOG VILLAGE Family Blog Carnival Entries!!

Just a quick reminder that time is almost up to enter our BLOG VILLAGE Family Blog Carnival!


Carnival entries may be submitted NOW.

DEADLINE for entries

THIS THURSDAY, Jan. 25th, at 11:59PM EST.

For complete details


Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE?

Start HERE.

If you are interested in being the Featured Villager on our BLOG VILLAGE News blog, please contact Janey Loree, Kilroy, or the Gatekeeper, the members of our Village Interview Team.

BLOG VILLAGE was established on May 23, 2006, currently with a membership of 258 Villager blogs.

Carver (Just a Redneck Hanging Out With Jesus) - Our Featured Villager

Interview with Matthew Carver, author of Just a Redneck Hanging Out With Jesus.

The Gatekeeper: Well, my friend, what is it we can call you--Pastor Matt, Mr. Redneck or should we stick to JARHOWJ?

I don’t really care, just not Rev. There is nothing reverend about me. Just call me Carver.

The Gatekeeper: I like your definition of a “Redneck.” Care to share? And where do you hang with your family (where do you live?), and what do you do?


Carver: Carver’s definition for Redneck: someone that won’t mold into something man says he or she should be. Someone that is who they are and proud of where they come from and doesn’t care what others think about them. I have heard Rednecks are only in the south, but I’ve seen Rednecks everywhere I’ve ever been.

I was born in Maggie Valley, N.C. I followed a little blond to Canton, N.C. and stayed. I have two children, both girls. The oldest is learning to drive. I told her she couldn’t get her license until she learned to drive a straight — she’s learning in the Jeep.

I am in the ministry full time, employed part time, but that’s God business. I help my father in the restaurant businesses in the summer time. My heart is in ministry. The restaurant is in my blood.


The Gatekeeper: When did you start blogging and why? What is it you blog about, how many blogs do you author, and do you read other blogs? And, by the way, how often do you usually post? Sorry, that’s a long string of questions!


Carver: I started March of last year (I think.) It is a God thing; I don’t type fast or think fast so it’s led by God. I led a spiritual gifts class last year. and one of God’s students found one of their spiritual gifts was computers. She has built us a web page (she has never had a computer class in her life), and suggested we have blog pages to let people know who we were and what we were about.

The other two pastors have blogs and have named them also. It just seemed natural to name mine Redneck. Then I remembered wanting to name a group of young men (in another church I went too) Rednecks for Jesus. It didn’t go well there, but some people are paralyzed by the fear of man. I thought if this was going to be my blog, I could name it whatever God would give me a peace with. Here we are Just a Redneck hangin’ out with Jesus.

I post what ever God lays on my heart. I want people to know they can be who they are and be effective in spreading God's word. They don’t have to fit man’s mold - they have to fit God's plan. I want everyone to understand God changes and molds man (people). Man doesn’t mold man. Conviction comes from God, and forgiveness comes from God.

Sometimes I read other blogs. It all depends on the time I have.
I have no other blogs, I have a hard enough time with one, and I don’t multitask. I don’t think it’s in a man’s DNA.

Posting is sporadic, time and leading of the Holy Spirit sets what people read (Mostly). I do blog from my human side, sometimes.


The Gatekeeper: Why did you decide to join Blog Village and how did you stumble across us?

Carver: I was invited by someone that had read my blog; I can’t remember who. I’ve slept since then.


The Gatekeeper: One more question: Who from Blog Village would you like to see interviewed next? Brave enough to tell us why?


Carver: Another Christian blog that is out of the box, that goes against religion, and spreads the word that Jesus loves people and salvation has nothing to do with mans’ works. Brave or stupid; I don’t care what people call me! I’ll have to stand before God one day and give an account on whether I led people into the presence of Jesus or ran them away. Religion doesn’t lead people anywhere but in circles. I ain’t got time to lead people in circles. (Unless it’s on a track and I’m behind the wheel. Ha, Ha)


The Gatekeeper: Carver is a pastor who loves NASCAR and drives a Jeep. You’ve got to love that. He’s for real, I dare say, and his blog is not only fun to read, but is also very inspiring. He’s never short on wisdom either. Go ahead and ask him anything about spiritual matters - he won’t pull any punches. You’ll get the truth! So go ahead and leave a comment at JARHOWJ. You’ll be welcomed.


Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE?

Start HERE.

If you are interested in being the Featured Villager on our BLOG VILLAGE News blog, please contact Janey Loree, Kilroy, or the Gatekeeper, the members of our Village Interview Team.

BLOG VILLAGE was established on May 23, 2006, currently with a membership of 252 Villager blogs.

Don't Panic! It's Time to Reset the Votes to Zero!!

If you're new to BLOG VILLAGE, or to TopLists in general, you may be surprised when you take a look at our TopList tonight. Except for the Villagers who have votes since 5:01PM, all of the Villagers are back to zero. This happens each month. If you want to know when it will happen for next month, take a look at the very bottom of one of the BV pages. (You'll see the date and time of the next re-set is on Feb. 14th at 5:01PM PST.)

You will also find a link to this News blog at the bottom, and there's always a link to the newest Featured Villager after the #10 blog.


If you are interested in being Featured, please contact Janey Loree, Kilroy, or the Gatekeeper, the members of our Village Interview Team.

Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE?

Start HERE.

BLOG VILLAGE was established on May 23, 2006, currently with a membership of 252 Villager blogs.

KILROY - Our New FEATURED BLOG VILLAGER

Janey Loree: Who is Kilroy? Tell us more about Fear And Loathing - The Gonzo Papers!

Kilroy: Kilroy is an evolving character; an explorer, spiritualist, consultant, writer and photographer.

Fear And Loathing - The Gonzo Papers is meant to be a vehicle that pays tribute to the spirit of Hunter S. Thompson. In the Gonzo spirit, distinctions between the author and subject are blurred. There is a merging of fiction and nonfiction.

Fear And Loathing - The Gonzo Papers examines the human condition; that which lurks in the shadows is explored; questions are asked and a point of view is taken without apology.

It should be noted that the author accepts no responsibility for spontaneous anger, personal outrage, blurred vision, headaches or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder experienced by visitors.

One final point, I regularly publish my original photography. The photographs rarely have anything to do with the narrative. I do hope that people enjoy the images; or at least that they inspire thought.

Janey Loree: What prompted you to start blogging in the first place?

Kilroy: I spent a week at Cape Cod with TheSpecialOne. It was good for me to step away from having work be omnipresent. I had time to contemplate my life and consider the need to gain a greater sense of balance. Blogging was something about which I had knowledge; it was an opportunity that up to that point I did not pursue. Shortly after returning from the trip I decided it was time to begin.

Janey Loree: When do you do your blog reading?

Kilroy: I don't have a specific time that I do anything, other than filing my taxes by April 15th. Unless I file an extension. 8-D

Janey Loree: Where did you hear about BLOG VILLAGE?

Kilroy: Reviewing sites to include in my "A Hitchhiker's Guide To The Blogosphere" series, I am always finding different things posted in sidebars. I'm sure it was one of the ones I chose to investigate.

Janey Loree: Why did you name your blog "Fear And Loathsome – The Gonzo Papers"?

Kilroy: When you mention Hunter S. Thompson, invariably, the first thing people think of is his book "Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas". Fear And Loathing is a phrase The Good Doctor frequently used. My "first" blog Fear And Loathing In The Blogosphere was lost in some sort of inescapable Blogger archive hell. I used the name of one of his books when I recreated the original blog and moved forward.

Janey Loree: How often do you post and how many blogs do you maintain?

Kilroy: The first year I only posted about 100 times exactly. I was disappointed with that. It was, though, the best I could do given a certain circumstances.

Right after my blogiversary I started exploring Pay Per Post. I have published about 80 posts over the last month. About 40 of them are sponsored by Pay Per Post advertisers. It has worked out well in that it is virtually seamless with what I had already been writing.

Fear And Loathing - The Gonzo Papers is in the Pay Per Post Affiliate Program. If anyone is interested in testing the program, I would appreciate them signing on through my site, www.KilroyTheGonzoPapers.blogspot.com

Janey Loree: Which BLOG VILLAGER would you recommend for the next interview?

Kilroy: I referred a blogger to you; one who is a personal friend and a professional associate. So, it seems only logical I would refer you to The Lives And Times... of Anthony McCune.

To conclude, I'd like to thank you for your interest in Fear And Loathing - The Gonzo Papers.

One last thing I feel is important to say. I believe blogging is an excellent educational forum. It's not possible to learn, though, if your viewpoint is the only one you see. I am interested in what input other Blog Villagers have to offer. Whether it is in agreement or not; I'd like to encourage an exchange of ideas because it's helpful to us all.


Janey Loree: In the near future, you will be reading interviews by Kilroy. Not only does Kilroy have a way with words, he is proactive in the blogging arena. Drop by his blog to inquire about The Gonzo B$ Carnival.




Sift through his posts to enjoy all his photography, lithographs, and renderings and let him know that he needs to start another “Headline Naming Contest”…



Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE?

Start HERE.

BLOG VILLAGE was established on May 23, 2006, currently with a membership of 251 Villager blogs.

We Reached 250 Villagers on our TopList Today!!

We've been hovering close to this "magic" number for some time now, as blogs were added and others were put on InActive Status or Deleted for not having the banner on their sites. But today we actually did reach the total of 250 Active members!

Those of you who have displayed your voting banner or link prominently on your blogs are, for the most part, the ones to thank for our tremendous growth since May, 2006, when we opened BLOG VILLAGE. The other reason we have been able to attract so many quality blogs is the wonderful way many of you have joined in the community feel of our TopList and showed, through your continuing comments on each other's blogs, that you really are interested in each other.

I hope that this year sees an increase in publicity for BLOG VILLAGE and for each of your blogs. I also would like to see even more participation among our Villagers as far as supporting each other's blogs. You show your support for your fellow Villagers when you comment on their posts, and when you vote for their blogs. You also contribute to the quality of BLOG VILLAGE when you post regularly on your own blog.

If you will make an effort to work toward more participation, the ultimate result will be that you will have more quality links to your blog, your traffic will increase, your readership will increase, and your Search Engine Rank will increase, too.

So, I wanted to say a big THANK YOU to all you Villagers who have done your part to make this one of the best blog TopLists on the Internet, and I look forward to our continued growth!!

As always, if there is anything I can do to help you achieve these goals, don't hesitate to ask. And if you have any suggestions or ideas that will help all our Villagers, please email me.

Happy Blogging to You All,

Rosemary

This is a copy of the email I sent all our BLOG VILLAGERS today.


Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE?

Start HERE.

BLOG VILLAGE was established on May 23, 2006, currently with a membership of 250 Active Villager blogs.

I HAVE BEEN INTERVIEWED about BLOG VILLAGE!

Roy, from the For Your Success blog, has posted an Interview reply I sent him recently. If you're curious to know what is involved in starting and running a TopList, you might be interested in reading about how I started ours, and what I do as Admin of BLOG VILLAGE.

Backlink

Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE?

Start HERE.

BLOG VILLAGE was established on May 23, 2006, currently with a membership of 247 Villager blogs.

Our Stick-to-it-tiveness Award Goes To JOE!

I'd like to honor JOE, author of the Living with Alzhiemers' blog, with a Stick-to-it-iveness Award for his persistance in working on his code until he finally did get the BLOG VILLAGE voting banner to show! This was not an easy task for him, and I am so proud of his dogged determination.

Why not stop by his blog, see what he has to say, and give him a virtual pat on the back, too? And now that his voting link is working, you might want to vote for him, also. I'm sure he would appreciate it.

Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE?

Start HERE.

BLOG VILLAGE was established on May 23, 2006, currently with a membership of 245 Villager blogs.

Our Featured BLOG VILLAGER - Ashwin Khanna

Hi there,

This is Janey Loree, a member of the BLOG VILLAGE Interviewing Team. In the near future you will start seeing interviews by The Gatekeeper and Kilroy. Please stop by their blogs to thank them for taking some of their precious time to help us find out more about our Villagers.

Before Christmas, I interviewed Ashwin Khanna, one of our newest Villagers, and asked him seven questions to gain more information about who he is, and what his blog, AceTech, is all about. (Ashwin has moved his blog to his domain and renamed it to 30 Gigabytes Dot Com.)

Ashwin is a seventeen year old, who fills his blog with posts on technology, electronic gadgets, and making money by blogging. While browsing his blog, I found his Christmas Eve post quite interesting. He stopped blogging during finals, but I have a feeling that he is gathering more technology, gadgets and advice that will show up on his blog in the near future.

He shares a link to a button making site and is willing to host these buttons on his blog in an attempt to help his fellow bloggers advertise their blogs. Remember to create an 80 x 15 button to advertise on Ashwin’s blog! Mine are almost ready!

Janey Loree: Who is Ashwin Khanna? Tell us more about your blog!

Ashwin: Ashwin Khanna is a young blogger who is willing to learn the right tools of the trade to be successful in every aspect of life. I am into blogging, music and going out with friends and having fun. My blog is about a true passion of mine, which is technology and gadgets, and I use this blog to let my readers know of the latest products and reviews and other tech tips and tricks.

Janey Loree: Ashwin, what prompted you to start blogging in the first place?

Ashwin: I don't know really. I was reading in papers and on the internet about how blogs were becoming popular and thought I should give it a try. So I did.

Janey Loree: When do you do your blog reading?

Ashwin: I normally read other blogs after school and in the evening. I find out about other blogs on forums and blog directories. As a student, I don't get as much time to read blogs as I would like, but I try to whenever I can.

Janey Loree: Where did you hear about BLOG VILLAGE?

Ashwin: On most of the blogs I read, I always see a banner ad for blog village, and so I decided to check it out. Hopefully, it will increase readership for my blog, which I am sure it will.

Janey Loree: Why do you blog? Is your blog personal, business, etc?

Ashwin: I blog so I can let other people with a passion for gadgets learn about the newest and latest products. I also blog to see what people think of the products I write about, and, hopefully for me, I can earn money from my blog.

Janey Loree: How often do you post and how many blogs do you maintain?

Ashwin: I generally post about 2-3 times a day, however sometimes it can be more or less depending on how much homework I have. My collection of blogs is called AceMedia.

Making up AceMedia are 30 Gigabytes Dot Com,
AceGames, and Ace2.0


Bonus Question: Which BLOG VILLAGER would you recommend for the next interview?

Ashwin: As I am new to blog village, I don't know many users, but I think it should
be someone with the lowest ranking, so there readership can increase.



Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE?

Start HERE.

BLOG VILLAGE was established on May 23, 2006, currently with a membership of 245 Villager blogs.

Derek Jones - Our Featured BLOG VILLAGER

Janey Loree: "Who is Derek Jones? Tell us more about Art by Derek Jones!"

DEREK JONES: "I am a professional artist living in the Scottish Borders - though I am English and have only been here for about 22 years so I am still an incomer(!) My main interest is figure drawing and painting using local amateur models. I show my figure work as far apart as Edinburgh and London and in the past in Amsterdam. I live near a working harbour and if not working with models I enjoy doing paintings of boats etc .... the colour and mess of a working harbour appeals to me - probably reminds me of my studio.

I am fascinated by techniques and at the moment am exploring the use of combining a pastel underpainting with acrylic to finish off. I am a traditional printmaker using etching, aquatint and mezzotint whereas with my figure work I am more experimental combining a mix of pastel, charcoal, collage, type, acrylic etc etc."

Janey Loree: "What prompted you to start blogging in the first place?"

DEREK JONES: "I started blogging because I am a bit of a hermit and it seemed a good way to communicate (though I don't use many words in mine!) and blogs seemed more dynamic than traditional websites."

Janey Loree: "When do you do your blog reading?"

DEREK JONES: "I have no set routine - I usually dip into various lists of blogs to see what turns up - but my interest is usually in blogs by visual artists of one kind or another."

Janey Loree: "Where did you hear about BLOG VILLAGE?"

DEREK JONES: "I noticed the Blog Village link on several blogs I had looked at and took it from there."

Janey Loree: "Why do you blog? Is your blog personal, business, etc?"

DEREK JONES: "I use the blog to keep folks in touch with my current work - if a gallery or individual shows some interest I ask them to have a look at the blog - I belong to some online gallery websites (such as this one which DOES INCLUDE NUDES so if that might offend don't look!)

http://www.untitled-gallery.co.uk/index.php?cPath=24_254 but the blog shows what is going on now."

Janey Loree: "How often do you post and how many blogs do you maintain?"

DEREK JONES: "I have only one blog - http://derekjonesart.blogspot.com/. There are lots of blogs of artists showing a new painting everyday and that interested me but I do try to show a new image as they are finished - sometimes daily sometimes every few days."



Janey Loree: Derek Jones may be well known as a figure painter, however his commissioned "Boat" pieces are my favorites. With the six pieces that he shares with us, starting with "small it is !" and working through to his latest "high and dry", Derek has captured the ambience of these little boats located in the local harbours in the Scottish Borders of Great Britain! I invite you to watch Derek's blog for the next painting in a "series of faces" that he will be showing in 2007.

As fellow BLOG VILLAGER red dirt girl has already stated, "…..your work is beautiful! hazy, evocative..like re-living a dream......"

Art by Derek Jones is well worth the visit!


Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE?

Start HERE.

BLOG VILLAGE was established on May 23, 2006, currently with a membership of 249 Villager blogs.

Blog Village - A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Blogosphere

Not long ago, Kilroy60 decided to celebrate the anniversary of his blog's first year on the Internet by having a Commentathon. His goal was to reach 365 comments within a month's time, and he actually came close, with at least 311 comments.

Many of those commentors were fellow Blog Villagers. This may have a little to do with his latest post, or maybe nothing at all. Who knows with Kilroy?!?!? Anyway, I encourage you to follow the link in the title and read and comment on some of the Villagers whom the big Kilroy has chosen for his Hitchhiker's Guide.

Thanks, Kilroy60, for giving these fine blogs a featured position on your blog. Let's pay back his kindness, folks, by visiting his Guide, choosing a Villager or two, and commenting on their blogs! Kilroy is not going to be upset with you if you leave him a comment, either!!!


Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE?

Start HERE.

BLOG VILLAGE was established on May 23, 2006, currently with a membership of 246 Villager blogs.

Get to Know the GateKeeper - Our Featured Villager

Janey Loree: "Who is The Gatekeeper? Tell us more about Pieces of Me!"

The Gatekeeper: "The Gatekeeper is a fictional character in my unpublished novel: Paragon: Swords of the Watchers. He is the keeper of the holy scrolls - recording the history of all the worlds in the universes of the Almighty One.

Thus (that's how the Gatekeeper speaks) I kept the name Gatekeeper for my blog. After all it's the pieces of my life he is recording. He also handles most of the posts at my church's blog, The Gate. How appropriate, don't you think?

Of course, when I'm not the Gatekeeper, I am known as Debby-a-stay-at-home single mom who's trying to write for a living. Christian fantasy is a hard sell but gaining popularity and I won't give up. In the meantime I'm just writing articles here and there. One story published in a local newspaper, one in the online magazine Dragons, Knights and Angels, and a devotion in The Upper Room, coming out in May, 2007.

By the way, I was born in Hollandia on the very big island known as New Guinea, just above Australia. I am the daughter of two wonderful people who survived a POW camp in WWII. There are many stories to write, and I've been interviewing my parents for a while now.

When I was two years old we were evacuated by the Americans and taken to The Netherlands - something about a war between the Dutch and Indonesians over ownership of New Guinea. If I did my research I would actually know who won that war. It wasn't my family. Time moved on and by the time I was eight I was relocated a third time. Queensland, Australia was our next stop. I almost made it through high school there but Dad was offered a pastoral position in a little church in Southern Cal. So off to the USA we flew. And here I am . . . still . . . thirty years later."

Janey Loree: "What prompted you to start blogging in the first place?"

The Gatekeeper: "Blogging for me seemed an easy and creative way to keep in touch with family, since we are pretty much all over the planet - Indonesia, Holland, Australia, Washington, Northern Cal, Southern Cal etc. So I built it, but nobody came. My brother left a comment once. Then I thought of journaling my daily life which seemed interesting enough to me. After all, I'm a stay-at-home-single mom (now there's a story of grace) with a daughter attending Biola University and a 14-year-old son (who I home-school) making a living in Hollywood."

Janey Loree: "When do you do your blog reading?"

The Gatekeeper: "My son is on the computer for most of the day so I read blogs in the evening. Sometimes I get carried away and read some good posts till two in the morning. There are some great writers out there with interesting lives."

Janey Loree: "Where did you hear about BLOG VILLAGE?"

The Gatekeeper: "You know, to be honest, I don't really remember how I heard about Blog Village. It must have been while surfing other blogs and probably clicked on someone's banner. Yep, that's my story and I'm sticking to it."

Janey Loree: "Why do you blog? Is your blog personal, business, etc?"

The Gatekeeper: "My blog is very personal. Sometimes I write about my kids, sometimes I write about writing. I like to do book reviews, Christian movie reviews and translate Bible stories the way the Gatekeeper would tell it . . . maybe . . . if he was funny. However, I've had to revert to writing ads so I could make a few extra dollars to pay the rent - we're trying not to spend the money my son is making."

Janey Loree: "How often do you post and how many blogs do you maintain?"

The Gatekeeper: "I try to post every day to keep the content fresh and hopefully interesting. The ads seem to fit in with the rest of the posts. Usually it's hard to spot when I'm posting an advertisement, but sometimes it's kind of obvious. Sometimes it's just hard to miss. Nonetheless, I've promised to keep the integrity of the blog which was meant to be a positive influence on the web.

One of my writing buddies from my writer's critique group helps me out once in a while. She likes to write devotions and also records the minutes of our meetings. She gets very creative. My main blog is Pieces of Me , but I am also the "Keeper" of my church's blog, The Gate. If you visit us there don't let anyone know my real identity. Just kidding, of course."

Janey Loree: "Which BLOG VILLAGER would you recommend for the next interview?"

The Gatekeeper: "How about we hear from the Canadian missionary in Holland, Just Your Average Revolutionary, - sounds too interesting to pass up. I never thought of Holland needing missionaries. What was I thinking?"

Janey Loree: Stop by to see how The Gatekeeper organizes the chaotic and unorganized events in her life. The Gatekeeper has a unique way of writing that, if you don't watch out, will draw you into each post! Read The Gatekeeper's book and movie reviews, share what you think about her posts, and remember to vote for her in BLOG VILLAGE. Encourage her to share her parents enduring story, and catch The Gatekeeper's view on age old Bible stories.


Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE?

Start HERE.

BLOG VILLAGE was established on May 23, 2006, currently with a membership of 239 Villager blogs.

RED DIRT GIRL - Our Featured Villager

Janey Loree: Who is Red Dirt Girl? Tell us more about you and Red Dirt Poetry!

RDG: Well, the name "Red Dirt Girl" comes from a song title of the same by Emmylou Harris. It's a story about two best friends growing up in the red dirt hills of Alabama. I grew up in the red dirt hills of Georgia about 45 minutes from the Alabama state line.......I fell in love with the song and the name the first time I heard it. I've been calling myself "Red Dirt Girl" ever since.

I'm a 42 year old soccer mom of 3 and step-mom to 1, who probably should spend more time doing the laundry than blogging! Red Dirt Poetry is an off-shoot of my original blog, Red Dirt Girl. My initial intent was to do a 'fantasy' blog of high heel shoes that I'd love to own and wear intermixed with 'noteworthy words' such as quotes, my poetry etc. In putting that blog together, I realized I had written enough poems in the last 8 months that I could give them their "own space." So, Red Dirt Poetry was born!

Janey Loree: What prompted you to start blogging in the first place?

RDG: My first introduction to blogging came from a former boss of mine. I worked for a non-profit ministry part-time. One of the ways he kept in touch with missionaries from around the world was through blogs and blogging. He was the one who showed me how to set a blog up. At first I had thoughts such as: who would want to read my ramblings? what is the purpose of doing this? will it be too time consuming? But I went ahead and started a blog. I found that the blog became a creative outlet for me and actually encouraged me to sit down and write each day or so. What I love about Red Dirt Poetry is creatively combining artwork with the poems. I hunt the internet looking for just the 'right' image to convey some aspect of the poem written.

Janey Loree: When do you do your blog reading?

RDG: I have no 'set' time that I sit down to read. However, generally, I blog in the early mornings (with my morning cup of 'joe') right after the kids have been sent off to school. If I am around, I will read and/or post during the early afternoon until the kids are home. After that I have no time for blogging - my family and its activities take priority. I don't blog in the evenings nor on weekends!

Janey Loree: Where did you hear about BLOG VILLAGE?

RDG: I saw the Blog Village banner on a couple of blogs that I had visited. I got curious one day and clicked on it. That's how I found Blog Village. I liked the concept a lot. It feels more like a community of friends here rather than a bunch of anonymous bloggers trying to get links.

Janey Loree: Why do you blog? Is your blog personal, business, etc?

RDG: My blogs are definitely personal. I blogged, originally, because it gave my creativity an outlet and was a place to 'store' all my personal thoughts and feelings. As my blogs evolved and changed, I have to say that blogging is now also about having fun. I enjoy 'meeting' new people from all over the world through them. So, now, blogging is as much about making friends and maintaining a community as it is about being creative for me.

My poetry blog has introduced me to a number of other poets, writers and artists in the 'blogosphere.' Their work has definitely enriched mine, expanded my horizons and continues to inspire me each day. My poetry is becoming better and better as a result. Having a blog dedicated solely to poetry also helps to 'keep me on track.' I am forced to sit down and work with a poem or two each day, or at least jot notes down for future work. Part of the 'business' of writing is just sitting down and actually 'doing it.' Blogging helps to create the 'structure' and 'discipline' I need to write.

Janey Loree: How often do you post and how many blogs do you maintain?

RDG: Currently, I am maintaining two blogs: Red Dirt Girl, and Red Dirt Poetry. I had two other blogs before these that were much more along the lines of personal essays, thoughts, feelings, and faith based discussions. However, because of their personal nature, my husband felt our lives were a little too exposed to an 'unknown' audience. So, I shut them down and started up these two blogs.

On Red Dirt Girl, I post 5 times a week. I never post on weekends. Three of those days are fantasy shoesdays, where I post a pair of shoes. The other two days I reserve for a quote that has grabbed my attention recently - sometimes related to shoes, most times not. It's a quirky, eclectic blog and meant to be pure fun. In part, it's very funny because I am quite tall and do not wear high heel shoes!!

On Red Dirt Poetry, I post a new poem 2 to 3 times per week and occasionally a critical essay or quote on poetry from an outside source. During the week of Thanksgiving, for instance, I ran a week long series of my favorite poems from other poets. This blog is definitely more personal and intimate. I work with subject matter from my own experiences and life, including the fact that I have bipolar disorder. All of this becomes 'material' for poems. I select art that I love for one reason or another to help illustrate my thoughts and ideas. You really would have to spend some time at this blog to get a 'sense' of who I am and what I am about.

Currently, I am on a holiday 'hiatus' from blogging and will not begin posting new material again until January. So stop by Red Dirt Poetry when you have an extra minute or two and look through the site. I hope there will be a poem or two there that will 'speak' to you and your experiences of life!

Janey Loree: Which BLOG VILLAGER would you recommend for the next interview?

I would be very interested in reading about Derek Jones and His Art . I find his work to be dreamy, evocative - quite lovely. I've had contact with him regarding using some of his images to illustrate my poetry. And he has been quite kind and receptive to the idea. ~ Red Dirt Girl



For an e-clectic wandering through free verse, lyrical imagery and fantasy shoesday, Red Dirt Girl’s blogs not only include her poetry, but poems from her favorite authors, including a special poem written by her 11 year old daughter, a.k.a. “Mini Dirt Girl”. Stop by encourage our fellow VILLAGER, who posts “non-posts” while she is supposed to be on a sabbatical until January! – Janey Loree


Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE?

Start HERE.

BLOG VILLAGE was established on May 23, 2006, currently with a membership of 235 Villager blogs.

Meet Our Featured Villager - BILL of NEW ENGLAND PHOTOS

Janey Loree, who has several blogs on BLOG VILLAGE, including Paper Doll Cut Outs and Mustang 'n' Cowboys, volunteered to interview her fellow Villagers for me, and I jumped at the chance to have her do it. So here's her first interview.

Good Morning Bill and Wendy,

In an effort to let the VILLAGE Community know more about you and why you blog, please answer the following questions:

1. Who is New England Photos? Tell us more about you!

2. What prompted you to start blogging in the first place?

3. When do you do your blog reading?

4. Where did you hear about BLOG VILLAGE?

5. Why do you blog? Is your blog personal, business, etc?

6. How often do you post and how many blogs do you maintain? (add a plug for your website here!)

7. Bonus Question: Which BLOG VILLAGER would you recommend for the next interview?

Thank you for taking some of your precious time to let the BLOG VILLAGE Community know more about NEW ENGLAND PHOTOS!!!

Bill wrote:

“Who am I? I am a fifty year old New Englander from Granville, MA. My hobby before photography was restoring 18th century homes. Over the last 20 years or so we restored six homes, mostly in Litchfield County Connecticut.

A few years ago I had an internet provider that offered a free website; I thought “Why not start a blog”, so I put down some of my thoughts on the site. I decided that really was not me, so I decided to join Blogger and create a photo blog. I decided to show photos of New England, some historical, some scenic, some bizarre, some just real life, hopefully all interesting. The area is beautiful and I like to show it off.

I always have my camera at the ready; it travels with me everywhere I go. The few times I have been without it, I have been sorry due to missing some great photos; like that time a moose was just standing twenty feet from the road. I snap photos everywhere I go and then research most of them. I amaze myself with the amount of history that is all around New England, things that I have never even heard of.

I really like to hear from people that have moved away from New England and come to my blog to visit back home again. One woman who is in the Peace Corp. in Bulgaria wrote me that she liked visiting my site for just that reason. What I really would like is to hear from someone who used my photos and description in a class assignment or a teacher sending their students to the blog to see what the first Law School in America looked like, or something like that.

http://newenglandphotos.blogspot.com is my only blog and it keeps me busy. I post every day; in fact, I have over 1000 photos posted on my blog right now. Keeping this blog also keeps me visiting places all over New England and is making me more observant; I notice a lot more of my surroundings.

I get up early in the morning and surf through blogs while eating breakfast, I do my posting in the early evening so I don’t miss a day. I often think about putting my blog in a different format since I notice that people search for things on my blog and don’t seem to stay long enough to even find what they are looking for. I will have to work on that.

One day I got an e-mail from Rosemary inviting me to join Blog Village and here I am.

So stop in and stay awhile and see what my New England is like.

Bill Owens

New England Photos



Janey Loree adds:

Just as the name implies, New England Photos, is a photo blog filled with pictures and researched facts that give an excellent insight into New England History. Joining BLOG VILLAGE in early September of this year, New England Photos is currently in the Top 20.

With comments such as “I love your photos, and enjoy the time spent at your blog.” from Marion, and “Great collection! I've only visited New England once; I feel like Cape Cod became part of my soul.” from Kilroy … don’t you feel a tug to check out this photo blog?

Don’t forget to leave Bill a comment that you stopped by his blog. Remember to vote for New England Photo and rate the site back in BLOG VILLAGE. I just found out who invented basketball! ~ Janey Loree

Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE?

Start HERE.

BLOG VILLAGE was established on May 23, 2006, currently with a membership of 233 Villager blogs.

A Call for BLOG VILLAGE "Comment Pals"

Our own Villager, Tomas, of Captain's Bridge, has started a new blog, Modus Vivendi, about the Art Therapy Club he volunteers with at a mental institution in Lithuania. He and I have been emailing back and forth, trying to come up with some ideas about how BLOG VILLAGE might be able to help these people. We decided that they would enjoy having some "Comment Pals." They don't read English, and Tomas has the only access to a computer, so if we will all make a habit of visiting his Modus Vivendi blog and saying hi to the people in the photos, Tomas will translate for them, and I'm sure it will lift their spirits. Judging from the art work that can be seen, some of them are quite talented, and would appreciate the encouragement of some outside opinions.

Modus Vivendi will be joining BLOG VILLAGE soon, so you won't have too much trouble finding it. Please take this project to heart and show the community spirit that I know we have.


Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE?

Start HERE.

BLOG VILLAGE was established on May 23, 2006, currently with a membership of 230 Villager blogs.

She's Not Tooting Her Horn, So I Will!

Our very own Villager, Sheila, of Alabama Kitchen Sink, has been asked to write a blog for the city of Montgomery, the capital of Alabama, in the http://al.com website. This is a big deal to me, as an Alabamian, because I use the al.com site as a resource for all kinds of local information. I even find out where the Birmingham Estate Sales are going to be each Friday from that site!

She's just gotten started, but if you'd like to see what she's written so far, here's the link to River City Views.

I just happened to see this piece of news by accident, while surfing through BLOG VILLAGE. Do you know of any other Villagers who have won awards or been recognized in some way? We'd love to let everyone else in our Community know all about it, so by all means email me, and I'll get a post up about it as soon as possible!


Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE?

Start HERE.

BLOG VILLAGE was established on May 23, 2006, currently with a membership of 225 Villager blogs.

Our First Stick-to-it-tiveness Award Goes To

Well, have you ever had trouble getting your blog to look the way you wanted it to? If you can honestly say NO, you'd have to be in the minority, I suspect.

As the admin for our TopList, I've been able to help several Villagers, from time to time, get their BLOG VILLAGE voting link banner on their blog, so that it worked properly and looked the way they wanted it to look. Most of the time, that's an easy task, but every once in awhile, someone has a bunch of trouble with their template. It's as if the template is possessed.

One of our Villagers has been plagued by such a template lately, but she's been a real trouper and hasn't let that wayward template beat her.

I'd like to honor Merry Mama, author of the Six Kids blog, with a Stick-to-it-iveness Award for her persistance in working on her code until she finally did get the BLOG VILLAGE voting banner to show, at least in IE.

Why not stop by her blog and see what she has to say and give her a virtual pat on the back, OK? And now that her voting link is working, you might want to vote for her, too. I'm sure she would appreciate it.

Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE?

Start HERE.

BLOG VILLAGE was established on May 23, 2006, currently with a membership of 226 Villager blogs.

Verification, Moderation, Hurdles to Comments??? A Personal RANT

I've noticed that an increasing number of Bloggers in general are using the verification process to weed out comment bots. And I've also seen quite a few blogs that I frequent who've gone to moderated comments. These measures to prevent spamming and offensive comments kill the spontaneous flow of the conversation between the blogger and the reader, IMVHO. I, too, have used verification on my own blogs from time to time, when I seemed to be the target for these bots, but I try to take the verification back off just as soon as the spam storm seems to have passed.

I say all that to say that personally, I very much dislike to comment on someone's blog, only to find that I have to fill in a long string of letters. Usually, I've taken so long to compose my comment, that I end up having to fill out two sets of letters, because the first set has expired. There are even a few sites I've seen that make me do the verification thingy, and then they moderate the comment, too!!

I've been on dialup for the last week, and it's really made me appreciate just how cumbersome this whole verification process is. If you choose to Preview your comment, then you have to put in another string of letters in order to Submit your comment. Not to mention you have to wait while the slow dialup loads all this stuff.

Well, can you tell I'm just a wee bit peeved? Yes, I know the bots are out there. Yes, I know they can be a real pain. All I'm saying is, some of you have gone overboard and turned the prospect of commenting on your blogs into a real pain, too. I hope I've given you something to think about, anyway.


Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE?

Start HERE.

BLOG VILLAGE was established on May 23, 2006, currently with a membership of 226 Villager blogs.

Featured BLOG VILLAGER Janey Loree

I've already posted about two of Janey Loree's blogs on our TopList, but this busy lady not only sells online, but she has two more blogs on BLOG VILLAGE that she'd like to share with you.


MUSTANG 'N' COWBOYS

The most important people in my life are my two sons, Travis and Tony, better know as TnT. It was not until after a car accident while moving to the west coast, back surgery a year later, and a move to the San Joaquin Valley, that my guys finally had a chance to own their very own horses.

TnT dreamed of horses all their lives and as a single mom, I didn’t have the means to help their dream come true. Every time we drove by a field with horses in it, we had to stop! My blog, Mustang ‘n’ Cowboys, is a way to journal the experiences that chronicle their dream come true with wild mustangs adopted from the Bureau of Land Management. They work for the Federal Government as Correction Officers at the prison located here in Taft, CA and appreciate the quiet time with their horses.

Interesting Note: I started this blog while TnT were on a pack trip in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. On phone silence from day one, (the cell phone was hidden in the emergency kit somewhere deep in a pannier box on one of the mares), I started this blog on the most trying day of their pack trip…

NOTES THAT TOUCH THE HEART

Because I am nostalgic at heart, I started this blog to have a place to note the things in life that touch my heart. It is my goal to touch your heart while sharing my thoughts on music, poems, T.V. shows, and blog articles that I come across. My heart felt notes will be sad at times, reflective in nature, but with an attempt at lifting your spirits.

After starting this blog, I have found myself looking for the good things in life, instead of dwelling on the bad. The artwork in our banner and on our website is drawn by my mother, Phyllis Mae Richardson Fisher.

I'm sure Janey Loree would appreciate you stopping by her blogs and chatting with her.

Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE?

Start HERE.

BLOG VILLAGE was established on May 23, 2006, currently with a membership of 217 Villager blogs.

Just a Little about Me, Your BLOG VILLAGE Admin

I thought you might like to know a little bit about me, Dirty Butter, or really Rosemary, the person who started BLOG VILLAGE. I've been into computers since way back in the early 80's. My very first computer was an Apple II+, which I still have. I learned how to program BASIC back then. Later, because our school district went with PC's, I bought my first Windows computer, and I've been using that operating system ever since.

My DH and I started selling online as a way to dispose of all the neat things we found when we emptied out his Dad's house, after we moved him in with us. He was a real packrat, and had saved lots of old things that turned out to have value to collectors. Then we started selling things we had in our own house, including toys our grandchildren had outgrown. That got us interested in selling plush animals.

About a year and a half ago I looked at my first blog, and I'll have to say it was not a pleasant experience. It just so happens that first blog was full of profanity and the pictures were child porn, as far as I was concerned. It's a wonder I ever looked at another one. But I had read some articles suggesting that blogs were a good way to promote an online business, so I decided to educate myself in this new medium. At first all I did was join some traffic exchanges and surf a lot, reading what appealed to me, and ignoring what didn't.

Finally, I took the plunge, and started the two blogs that are connected to our business, Yesterday's Memories and Plush Memories. Both have evolved somewhat from what I originally envisioned them as being about, but I guess that happens to a lot of blogs over time.

As I became more and more comfortable in the blogging community, I also became more and more disgusted by the large number of blogs that bombarded me with skin I did not want to see and words I did not want pushed at me, whether I wanted to read them or not. That's when the idea for BLOG VILLAGE began to form in my mind. I put those thoughts into action, with the kind encouragement of one of the monitors of Blog Advance, in May, and you know the rest of the story.

My other blog, Day by Day with Parkinson's and Peripheral Neuropathy started out as a private blog to play around with the new beta blogger and chronicle my life, as the doctors tried to figure out what was wrong with me. But then I decided to make it public, so I might possibly make contact with some other people who were experiencing some of the same things I was. I've continued to make it a very personal journal, and a few friends do stop by from time to time to give me encouragement, which is greatly appreciated. I realize this is not a blog that is interesting to anyone but me, but it is very helpful and therapeutic to me, so I continue to post almost daily.


Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE?

Start HERE.

BLOG VILLAGE was established on May 23, 2006, currently with a membership of 211 Villager blogs.

Our Featured BLOG VILLAGER - Janey Loree

Our Featured BLOG VILLAGER for this week is Janey Loree, a very creative lady who stays very busy with an online business and several blogs. We'll take a look at two of her blogs this week.

PJ’S PAPER DOLL CUT OUTS



PJ’s Paper Doll Cut Outs is the “blogvoice” for the paper dolls created in PJ’s Corner. Rachel, a paper doll created from our children’s book “Twiglet” the Little Christmas Tree will be our “spokespaperdoll”! She has presented some of the paper doll memories that are already posted and will inform you when there are new memories. This is the place to share your paper doll memories with all our young readers.

When I was a little girl, my mother made my paper dolls. I can remember watching her create gowns with minute detail. The one that comes to mind was drawn on yellow lined paper, but my little girl eyes only saw a dress of long flowing black material that sparkled of sequins and lace…so of course the artwork in our banner and on our website is drawn by my mother, Phyllis Mae Richardson Fisher.

“TWIGLET” THE LITTLE CHRISTMAS TREE


This is an advertising blog for a children’s storybook written by my family. “Twiglet” the Little Christmas Tree is a story of discoveries, miracles, and friendships as experienced by twins Rueben and Rachel Oliver. The images of Rueben and Rachel have been in my mother’s memory from the time she was a little girl. As an artist she was able to set those images down on paper as these cute little twins became paper dolls as well.

“Twiglet” the Little Christmas Tree is available through our website with a link from our blog. The book is comb bound so that it will lay flat and the story and pictures can be enjoyed without fighting turning pages! Along with 49 full page pictures, the book is filled with “art sparks” to enhance your child or grandchild’s reading experience. The illustrations and art sparks in the book, the artwork in our banner and on our website are drawn by my mother, Phyllis Mae Richardson Fisher.

Please take the time to stop by Janey Loree's blogs.

Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE?

Start HERE.

BLOG VILLAGE, surfing, blogs

BLOG VILLAGE was established on May 23, 2006, currently with a membership of 206 Villager blogs.

Featured BLOG VILLAGER - Sheila

We have so many wonderful bloggers among our BLOG VILLAGERS, that I thought it would be fun to get to know a little more about each other.

Our Feature Blogger for this post is Sheila at Alabama Kitchen Sink.

I started my blog at the end of July and have been posting most days about life, politics, education, food, culture, design, religion and race. If those topics don’t fit the name of my blog, the (Alabama)Kitchen Sink, I don’t know what does. The original intention was to do a little self-promotion for my CafePress shops. Little did I realize how much I like to get on my soapbox. I rarely post about the CafePress shops, but regular readers will see examples of my designs from time to time, and I really do appreciate all who take the time to look.

I’ve met a wonderful assortment of people via the blog. Just last week a young man from Michigan wrote me to find out more about Montgomery neighborhoods, and he said, “I know you’ll be honest.” When our local school board wanted to fire the superintendent, I had people from all over the country reading about the struggle. And just this morning at a school meeting, an incoming board member congratulated me for my coverage of the issue. She’d figured out who I was. China, Norway, Great Britain. Wherever the Internet reaches, I’ve had visitors.

I’ve probably been more honest than is wise at times, but after facing what I’ve faced (you’ll have to visit the blog to see what that was), I really see no point
in not being passionate. I have causes and don’t mind spouting off about them. I’m always learning from my fellow bloggers.

And yet sometimes I wonder a bit who's reading. Those in the U.S. might have seen a new Sonic Drive-in commercial on television. The wise wife and her not-so-smart husband are talking about the delicious new strawberry milkshakes. Not-so-smart husband says to wise wife, “I think I’ll write about this in my blog. My readers would want to know.” Wise wife asks,“Who? Your mother?” He replies, “Well, she said she told her neighbor about my blog.”

Please take the time to stop by Sheila's blog at Alabama Kitchen Sink.

Interested in joining BLOG VILLAGE?

Start HERE.

BLOG VILLAGE, surfing, blogs

BLOG VILLAGE was established on May 23, 2006, currently with a membership of 201 Villager blogs.

You Are Invited to Join BLOG VILLAGE - Our Brand New Family Friendly Blog TopList

One of the ways we have found to promote our blogs and increase traffic and readers has been through joining TopLists, where readers vote for our blogs daily to help move our banners up to the top of the list of sites.

The problem for us with these TopLists has always been that most of the blogs that get most of the votes are sites that feature a lot of skin, or use profanity or crudity in their blog titles. We tried to find a TopList we felt comfortable joining and couldn't find one, so we made one ourselves!

That's how BLOG VILLAGE was born.

Our goal is to have a full mix of all kinds of blogs - political, personal, business, hobby, all religions, all viewpoints, you name it.

Here's the only Rule:

There will be no blog titles or post titles containing profanity, or pictures of a sexual or suggestive nature.

This should make any blog on BLOG VILLAGE family friendly, so that you would not have to be concerned about anything that would pop up on the screen when clicking on any blog from our TopList.

We know there are many blogs that would qualify for our TopList, and we'd like to invite you to join us, and make our list THE place to go to find a family friendly place to surf for quality blogs. Please wait until you have been blogging for more than one month, with at least 10 posts or so, before applying.

We have added some policies about being an ACTIVE Villager, and maintaining your membership in BLOG VILLAGE. Before you apply, please read this post. If this sounds like the community you can support, then by all means, apply!


Apply HERE