What happened to Blogrolling?

So, about 2 months ago - I realized that my blogrolling group (aka "The Guest List") was empty. Every link was gone!

And then, upon further investigation - I discovered Blogrolling was no more.
So sad.

So now - I no longer have any of the links that I'd had saved - and I don't necessarily know how to find people because finding blogs by name doesn't necessarily make it that easy to find them.

Therefore - I'm reaching out to you.
Yes -- you.

If you were on my guest list previously - please list your blog so I can add it to my links. If you weren't, but you visit and would like me to reciprocate - please, let me know.

I'm so very sad that some of my near and dear are gone - and I can't necessarily find them.
And to find new reads - well, that's always fun as well.

I hate that I can't check in on some of my faves....

Dear Spammer from China.....

Imagine my surprise, when I log on and see 4 comments on a blog post I made....just to find that they are regarding purchasing "top quality fashion designer" items. And here I was thinking that maybe I had a new reader who was also a Red Sox fan from your side of the world. Silly me...

Just a word to the wise.... go post on someone else's blog. Mine isn't going to get you much play my friend. In case you haven't noticed, I don't have hundreds of comments on my blog - so my readership isn't tremendous (though loyal and steady, thank you!) -- so why not do your unwanted solicitation on someone else's more popular site. Maybe you'll get someone to click through to where ever it is you want them to go.

I will find a way to block you.... oh yes, I will.

Have a great day!

You can't always get what you want....

So, I guess I'm not going to be one of the finalists for WEEI's Next Sports Blogger contest that they have been running.

I haven't heard anything from them, and from what I've seen on the internet from a few people who have -- they've been notified. I know tomorrow's the deadline but I suppose I'd have heard by now.
Well, you win some - you lose some, right?

Truthfully in retrospect - my first submission was probably vague and rather cutesy. I did say that I prefer to have specific topics to write about rather than about the sports scene just because that was a rather vague topic; there's so much that falls into that category, how do you capture it all. But there are some amazingly savvy sports folks out there who blog, so my general posts probably weren't enough to keep the judges interested. It is... what it is.

Which brings me to my thoughts for today... and once again they are about Manny.

I'm constantly amazed at how people are shocked that behaviours that supposedly aren't allowed or are frowned upon are compromised in his case.
The Dodgers are now just as responsible for "Manny being Manny" there -- as the Red Sox were when he was here.
He is their goose that lays the golden eggs -- and with that, comes privileges. Benefits and allowances that the ordinary person or member of an organization aren't privy to. And wake up kids - it's like that everywhere. There are "special circumstance" employees in every workplace, why would baseball be any different?

He is paid an insane amount of money to be a racehorse. He is a diva because he can be. It is allowed for him to be as such, and because it's always been that way - he will always continue to behave the way he does, because if someone threatens to tighten the reins on him, there is a fear of repercussion.

He is the ultimate spoiled child. Think of him as a 10 year old that always got his way; got every toy he ever wanted without having to wait for birthdays or Santa Claus - and never had any rules placed upon him. No bed times, no meal times, just life on his own terms. Then suddenly, at 10 - the parents decide that now is the time to conform to rules. What do you expect a person to react to that? What does any spoiled child do when their parents try to restrain them? They rebel. And act out. Who do you blame for that? Certainly not the child...it's the parent's responsibility to lay down the law. Parenting is a tough job but someone's got to do it.

The same rules apply in life. There are boundaries and expectations of all of us no matter what career field we are in. There are acceptable and unacceptable behaviours.

Listen up MLB; Manny is your toy..... you wound him up -- now you play with him.
Is it his fault that rules apply differently to him than to anyone else?

I blame the teams, the managements and ownerships for being inconsistent.
Accept Manny for what you made him. Because he will never be anything different....

Music and memories....

Driving in to work yesterday morning, I had a musical memory moment. It was hearing Guns & Roses "You're Crazy". Funny thing is, that while I loved G'nR - and actually had the pleasure of seeing them at the Boston Orpheum before they were G'nR and just "Guns&Roses" - that wasn't the memory it evoked. It brought me back to the summer I graduated high school, hanging out with my high school sweetheart in our friend Duff's back yard…cooking linguica on the grill and listening to Lynard Skynard and the Allman Brothers. I could actually hear "Sweet Home Alabama" in my head. You would think that hearing a song would bring me back to a time that is relevant to that song and yet it didn't. Weird, huh?

I went back to yoga Monday night after two painfully long weeks. I was about ready to kill someone last week - I was desperately trying to find another yoga studio anywhere from where I live, upwards to Derry NH - in an effort to find a studio that was running a class mid day. I had half the day off and no OM to find! What's that all about?!?! So by last night I was thrilled to go. I'm actually taking another class today because I'm chasing the high of being sore. You know what that feels like if you work out….it's that sore but good sore feeling. I'm a firm believer that if you don't feel that, you need to change your work out regimen. I went again yesterday afternoon and now I'm feeling...amazing.

Well, I'm off to an appointment and then to work. I had planned to take the full day off but truthfully, the weather's not looking so great, so I'm saving the half day for a better weather forecast.

I need to figure out this being able to post via email thing.
Glitter - help a girl out!

Awards....friends...and gushing!

So, since I haven't been able to blog regularly I'm a little behind on some things I had meant to say this week. (Clearly I'm off today as I'm once again posting bright and early!) One of them being a big "thank you" to Martie for labeling me with this great little tag to add to my blog. She was "bestowed" (I always think magic fairy wands and pixie dust!) with this badge from someone who felt her blog was something special - and she included me in with 4 other girls to pass it along to - as thinking that our blogs were something special as well.

(Sound of skies opening and choirs of angels singing inserted HERE)


So now it is my turn to pass this lovely little honor on to 5 female bloggers whom I think rock. This is always a difficult thing because to single out a few - when I really enjoy those whom are on my blogroll--feels a little awkward. But pass it on I will - with the caveat of being I have no favorites. Oh - and keep in mind that some of these blogs may be "private" so please don't be offended if you can't read them.

(Waving my magic fairy wand and sprinkling pixie dust.....)


1. LadyBugs 12, a/k/a Pink and Green Girl: One of the very first blogs I started reading. Love love love her fun stories about her little daughter, as well as what happens in her life in general. We have a lot in common, despite the fact that I wouldn't necessarily have considered myself "preppy". She has some of the most delicious recipes... ever. She definitely rocks.

2. Pink Shoe Diaries: First off - don't know how I didn't find her sooner. She's a flipping riot. Like, read her blog and laugh out loud riot. AND, a great cook. She and Ms. Ladybugs12 could teach me a few things about recipes I think! Wish I found her sooner - glad that I did anyway. She's definitely rocking.

3. Melrose Place a/k/a/ Glitter: She actually has become a friend of mine in "real life". One of the funniest things I loved about her description of her self when first reading her blog was something to the effect of " when glitter gets on you, it's tough to get glitter off..." or something like that. She's funny, and witty...too giving of herself at times, and really just adorable. She truly has the life of a rockstar and is most definitely deserving of this tag.

4. C'est Moi a/k/a/ Bugs Travels: Mellissa is probably one of the kindest souls ever. I tend to think if angels truly walk amongst us - she is one of them.

5. Love, Sex, Hope & Dreams: Tish was THE first blog I ever found. Reading her blog inspired me to start one of my own; even though we write about entirely different topics and have completely different writing styles, (read between the lines here - she's a REAL writer!)it was her that got me started on this journey. She writes about poignant topics in her life - and is so very open and honest in how she writes. Or at least it feels honest, as I haven't ever met Ms. Tish. But there is something very real and true in her writing that brings you back again and again and again.