Aren't you tired of people asking you rhetorical questions when you aren't quite sure if the questions are rhetorical or not?

Edited to add:Correcting the date because I JUST noticed the publish date on this is 10/31. ACK. I created the draft the night before, then forgot to correct the publish date. ACK. Out of the gate, I am already fucking up!! Fortunately, I have many, many witnesses who can attest to the fact that I actually posted this on 11/1. Unfortunately, they can also attest to the fact that I am an idiot. It's not like I am going to win any prizes, but the obsessive-compulsive part of me can't stand having an incorrect publish date, so I am correcting this. I would normally correct this without comment, but I don't want to be accused of cheating. Nope, not a cheater, just anal-retentive.

Bloggers, start your engines.

It's NaBloPoMo - National Blog Posting Month. I've been scribbling ideas for the past few weeks and I am pretty psyched.

I'd like to start this month off by giving some shout-outs to the bloggers who have inspired me from the Early Days. This is not a "favorites" list - that would be my Blogroll over to the right, check it out. No, the shout-out is just the folks who are fairly original to my Blogroll. These are the folks that prompted me to sign up for a Blogger account. These are the folks that gave me courage to post pictures even though I am not a photographer. These are the folks that motivated me to keep writing. And most importantly, these are the folks that inspired me to read OTHER blogs.

First, props to Blogger. I suspect they are going to be punished this month with so many folks posting. Try not to hate them too much because after all, this is FREE. For the record, I've had few problems with them and thanks to them, this is one of my cheaper hobbies. Damned straight, I wish folks were handing out skeins of yarn for free.

Throwing Things - I have been reading this blog for well over 3.5 years now - I can date it because I remember when Adam, the founder, posted about his newborn daughter. My original idea for Rancid Raves was to be an homage to what they have done over at Throwing Things - they're running a delightful blog over there with Lotsa Linky Love regarding entertainment, pop culture, sports, music and politics (hands down, some of best TV commentary regarding Studio 60, The Amazing Race, etc goes on over there in comments section. Why are you still here? Check 'em out.) Anyway, as you can tell, I didn't even get NEAR to what they have done, but I am still pretty satisfied with what I ended up doing instead. Bonus note: Throwing Things also brought to my attention one of my favorite authors, Jennifer Weiner, Adam's wife. I still wonder what she thought of the crazy woman at her Kansas City book signing who couldn't stop gushing over her HUSBAND'S blog- I was THAT excited to meet the wife of the Throwing Things founder.

Average Jane - a blog I like to call "ironic" because Jane is anything BUT Average. She was the first of my Real Life friends to start blogging. I read her blog for months and just HAD to jump on board because she made it look like so much fun. Damn, was she right.

Goofy Girl and Surrender Dorothy - Both Real Life friends who blog. Through good examples, both have demonstrated the important lesson that I needed to keep something for myself when my own child was born. And for sure, it has helped me retain some Semblance of Sanity this past crazy year.

Rag Water and Bitters and Blue Ruin - I found Rozanne through Average Jane. Her blog used to be titled Anything of Interest? and yes, there usually IS something of interest over there. She lives in Portland, the City of Weird and uses her surroundings to full advantage in providing lots of fun Slice of Life snippets complete with photos.

Piffle- Diana found me through a now-defunct blog, The Rabbit Lived. Through me, she found Rozanne - since Diana lived in Portland herself, this was an exciting find for her and now her and Rozanne are good friends. If that isn't a cool story of how blogging can expand your world and your friendship circle, then your heart is made of stone and you shouldn't even BE HERE. Ahem. Diana is another great Slice of Life blogger and her haikus ROCK. On a sentimental note, X and I received some bad news earlier this year and Diana sent me the most encouraging, helpful, wonderful email ever. It was a long one, full of positive words that I needed to hear in that dark time. Everything is fine now and under control. I keep meaning to email her and thank her, but maybe this will do. Um, yeah - Thanks, Diana. At the time, you said EXACTLY what we needed to hear.

Finally, I'd like to dedicate this month to my Inner Geek. I ignored her for years, but since I have accepted her into my heart, life has been pretty damned good. I will never, ever be cool but understand now that is not what life is about anyway.

I'll never look good in purple and red velour, either.
Bah. Whatever.