Well, I must thank The Meatriarchy for adding me to (his? her? its?) blogroll and also these kind words:
I have added two excellent blogs to my skimpy blog list (apparently the secret to a successful blog is to have lots of links to other bloggers).
The Blog Quebecois - (which I presume is in Quebec -I'm smart like that) and I share something in common - we like racing simulation games. I'm counting the days till I get a house big enough to slap a giant screen TV somewhere and turn some virtual hot laps on Suzuka or Leguna Seca. He is also bang-on about Radiohead and record company copyright silliness.
Shux. One quick thing -- I'm not in Quebec, but rather, Alberta, where I've lived most of my life. The French side of me is Acadian. And I barely speak French, apart from what I remember from high school. It just seemed like a funny name. (And a play, for non-Canadians, on the Bloc Quebecois, the federal separatist party, if that isn't too much of an oxymoron.)
I'm sure The Meatriarchy knows this deep down, but I'll echo and amplify his (her? its?) remark on blogrolls and how they affect traffic for the benefit of new bloggers or those thinking about getting started.
I started this blog in earnest about mid-March. I registered it with every blog-listing service I could find, and I had about 11 hits over the next two months.
So out of boredom as much as anything else, I put in a blogroll (blogrolling.com, etc. are free and easy to install) and started tagging blogs that I liked to read. It's much easier than trying to find them in your bookmark file.
There are two types of bloggers: Those who obsessively track their counter logs, and those who lie about it.
Excuse me, I have to check something...
It's surprising who does come calling. In the last week I've had hits from Natalie Solent, Ken Layne and (I think) Tim Blair. I'm not gaming them, either -- I read them each just once or twice a day. But I do it from my blogroll, and when they see that same address popping up in their logs, they're sometimes curious (or bored) enough to click to whence it came.
No guarentee that they'll link to you -- but if one of them does...
About the second biggest thrill I've had lately was when Colby Cosh added me to his blogroll. The biggest was when he pointed out something I'd written, and my traffic went through the roof. (OK, from 3 hits a day to 30.)
More importantly, I got another couple of good sites linking to me because of it. Quality sites = psychic satisfaction + much quicker indexing in search engines.
So, class, what have we learned? 1) Link to people that you like reading. They just might link back. 2) Do not be metaphorically clipping your toenails or picking your nose when Rachel Lucas or Moxie rings the doorbell -- do you want to dance with the beautiful babes? Or do you, uh, not?
I'm running out of useful advice, and it is getting late.
John Hawkins has a useful FAQ on blogging here.
One final thing. Always be polite and grateful for the help you get from others.
So go visit The Meatriarchy now. Right now. Or I will shoot you.