nobody asked…

During the original conception and design of nobodyasked, one of the basic ideas was to have not one, but two listings of other blogs and sites this author enjoys reading. The first listing called Got2Read (isn’t that cute?) is the roll for daily reading, which in a sense would seem to indicate my favorites. And that is certainly what that list started as — and remains. Knowing that time for reading and browsing would be limited at times, the list started with ten entries, which felt like about all I could reasonably handle on a daily basis. Recently I added one that I felt myself drawn to daily, but could not find one I wanted to move off the “A list”, so the list grew to eleven. Yes, Rand’s Law, Corollary 7, states that “Having made these stupid rules, Winston has the right to break his own rules at any time for any reason whatever, or for no reason at all.”

The second listing, Places2Go/People2Read, is for all the other blogs that I find interesting, useful, informative, entertaining, or notable for easy finding again. There may even be a couple of them that I go to only when feeling the need for punishment. You may entertain yourselves for hours trying to figure out which ones those are. This listing has been somewhat dynamic, having frequent additions, occasional deletions, and once-in-a-while changes of name, URL, popup descriptive notation, etc. I do try to get through this list at least once a week, though my work schedule the past few weeks has made a complete sweep impossible.

From time-to-time I discover a site that speaks to me and begs to be added to the favorites list. It is becoming more and more difficult to say “No, you have to serve apprenticeship on the ‘B’ list for a while.” Not being ready to open the gates and expand the ‘A’ list to all comers, especially with limited time to commit to reading others, a re-thinking was in order. Make a third list? Nah, too much trouble and eventually leads to the same problem. Put all in one Favorites list? Too unwieldly, too hard to find the ones I want to visit daily. Put all in one list but with RSS feeds on those I want to see daily? Not all RSS feeds are created equal, and some don’t seem to work at all. Besides, I don’t find that nearly as enjoyable as hopping around myself. After all, this is supposed to be enjoyable, isn’t it?

So here’s what we’re gonna do, at least on a trial basis. If it doesn’t work, we’ll do what the Bush administration would do — deny it vehemently, change it anyway, and then deny a change was made. See, an old dog can learn new tricks!

On a non-periodic schedule (when the spirit moves us) a blog or two may be rotated into the starting lineup, bumping others who will be sent to the second-string for a while. This in no way should be interpreted as falling from grace or elevation to stardom. The benefits are the same in both groups, while the pay scales are different. The Places2Go/People2Read group get paid nothing; the Got2Read group get twice that amount. Any removed from the top listing will probably be read about as frequently as before, and are subject to being promoted back to the highly sought Got2Read listing.

Anyone who feels they have been wrongfully moved to the weekly read list should file a complaint by email with the management: winstonrand AT bellsouth DOT net. Bribe offers in US currency to assure inclusion in the Got2Read listing will receive priority consideration.