Cathy's Rants and Ramblings
Cathy is a 54 year old mother and grandmother who is just now discovering how great of a place the internet is. Sheraised over $500 in the Blogathon 2006, she's a full-fledged member of the Blogaholics Anonymous, she has recently shown unwaivering support and care for her pregnant daughter-in-law, and she writes inspiringly about her arthritis and total knee replacement surgery.

These are all interesting facets of her blog, but she had another idea that really made her stand out from the rest of the crowd in my book. Cathy came up with the idea of Blog Blast Friday. This is another one of those "bloggers helping bloggers" ideas that I am so very fond of. The idea is that you submit the link to a post that you are particularly proud of, and Cathy hosts all the links in one place for everyone to check out. It's kind of like a "best of" for bloggers. Kind of similar to "blog carnivals" (like Grand Rounds that Dr. A often talks about.

In any case, Cathy's first "Friday Blog Blast" is THIS FRIDAY! She was hoping to get at least 10 articles, but I'm hoping she gets a lot more. Posts on ANY topic will be accepted this time around (in the future, she may do topics week to week). So, if you're interested in participating and gaining a little extra exposure for your blog while featuring one of the articles you are most proud of. Just send Cathy an email cathy(dot)aus(at)gmail(dot)com with a link to your article. And don't forget to check back on Friday once the Blog Blast is up and running!

In summary, that's "Cathy's Rants and Ramblings", for some great blogging and a really great blogging idea! Tell her that Bestest Blog sent ya!

Well, I got my first shipment of Best Buy Bucks in the mail today. I am referring to those that come on the Chicken Selects and Premium Chicken Sandwiches at McDonald's as part of their Monopoly game. If you send me your pieces, I will accept them as cash at face value and apply them towards your being a premium blog. It's a great way to spend those dollars that might otherwise go to waste if you don't shop at Best Buy that much. Just contact me at BobbyGriffin@gmail.com for my address if you are interested. Thanks!

Happy Halloween to all my readers. Up until this year Halloween had been a fun holiday. But now, being a teacher, Halloween is a big excuse for kids to be hyper and doped up on sugar that eventually leads to a headache for me (and probably for them once they come down off of the sugar). I'm sure once I settle in as a teacher it will get better, but as a new teacher little things like this still stress me out.

Epiphany Sanctuary
A review by Mimi Lenox from Mimi Writes

On a day when spooks rule and darkness reigns, let's reflect on a small corner of the blogosphere known as Christine's Epiphany Sanctuary. Ahhh.........that's better. 'Creating sanctuary for the spirit, both inside and out' - that's her blog claim to fame and she doesn't disappoint.

Christine loves plants. Did I mention Christine loves plants? Let me say it again. Christine LOVES PLANTS. Listen to this author talk about plants........"Calla lillies, white. I love the old fashioned calla lillies. I pine to have a creek running through a genteel-countryside half-acre, lined with calla lillies and moss and ferns, very sheltered under large trees."
I told you her blog was a sanctuary.

She has plants I never heard of. Plumbago. Portulaca. Freesia. She gets downright personal about these babies. Plumbago caused her to soulsearch and 'seek gardening counseling.' And no wonder. She stops to photograph mischievous squirrels, possessed trashbags that dance and will call you a Lawn Nazi if you mess with her garden.
She scampers around in the middle of the night in the rain scavenging for mystery flowers, surprise flowers and believes said flowers go to Flower Heaven.

Did I mention Christine is creating a prayer garden around her house? She tends her garden like she tends to her soul. Contemplatively and with prayerful creativity and sincerity. What makes her blog special is that once you spend some time there you really feel like you're in a warm lovely corner of the universe where petals are precious and cats named Mackers are human. She will share her faith with you, bare her very tender soul and all the while make you think she's just a hippie girl full of serendipity and spunk. Well.....she is! You'll also enjoy her wacky brand of humor and down-to-earth opinions

So don't worry about those ghosts and goblins tonight. Come sit awhile in the Epiphany Sanctuary and tell her Mimi Lenox and Bestest Blog sent you. The picture shown in this post was taken in Christine's own backyard where in her words, "The glory of God can be found everywhere."
I see it. Don't you?
We are in a sanctuary you know.

The TouchWolf Institute
Today's final regular Morgen Monday here at Bestest Blog brings us GhostRose's The TouchWolf Institute.

GhostRose is a fiction writer in the UK, who is an intrepid young Blogger. One of the first people to switch to Beta Blogger, she is an excellent source for HTML questions to be answered -- such as how to put a photo in your title bar.

I thought her site would be appropriate for the day before Halloween, because her site is decked out for the holiday, and along with being a writer she is a poet, astrologer, and Tarot Card reader.

Speaking of Halloween, check out her Halloween Meme, where -- despite her Blogging name of GhostRose, she says she's fearful of ghosts! Much of her writing has a supernatural theme to it, and she is going to be one of the Bloggers who will be participating in NaNoWriMo, (National Novel Writing Month -- where writers attempt to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days!), which starts on November 1st. A brave soul, she plans on posting her NaNoWriMo writings as she writes them on her Blog. I look forward to reading what I'm sure will be a supernatural thrill ride.

So get into the Halloween spirit and scare yourself over to The TouchWolf Institute. Make sure you tell her that Morgen and Bestest Blog sent you over for a ghoulish good time!

One of our regulars here will be leaving us (at least temporarily), so I am looking for someone to fill those shoes. If you think you might be interested in a regular stint as a guest blogger here at Bestest Blog, please email me at BobbyGriffin@gmail.com and let me know why you deserve the position. Thanks!

Thanks to everyone who linked me up this week. Your link should now be appearing in my collection (even if you requested one as recent as 5 minutes ago). There are 47 new blogs for you to peruse in the Recent Additions page. Thank you also to those who made a donation this week. Of special note, we have a new blog claiming the top spot on the Prgemium Blog list. Congratulations and a big thank you to Barb from Skittles' Place for her donation of $125 (which came in 4 separate installments).

Your chance to be "Bestest Blog of the Month" for November is going fast! Only 6 hours left until it's all decided...and currently last month's winner is winning again! Guess that goes to show I have at least 1 satisfied customer! If you wanna steal the auction away from him, click here and go make a bid!

It's a Blog Eat Blog World
The whole guest blogger idea was received so well that I decided to make it twice a week, Tuesday and Thursday (otherwise the line would have taken us into October already!). This pick comes to us courtest of Julie from "Flip This Body."
Interested in being a guest blogger? Click here to find out how!

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Morgen, the self-titled “gay gift shop owner” from Michigan, is the author of the hilarious It’s a Blog Eat Blog World, and I proudly nominate him for Bestest Blog of the Day.

First off, Morgen is freakin’ hilarious. Anything that he writes has me chuckling, if not rolling in my cubicle. He is able to take an every day occurrence and turn it into a stand-up comedy routine to rival Jerry Seinfeld.

Morgen’s posts vary in content; from the every-day wackiness of his small town shop visitors to the mating rituals of his pet chickens. He sets a weekly schedule of topics in the sidebar, ranging from “Herbal Soap Stud of the Week” (complete with a studly photo to match the herbal soap he’s featuring at his store) to “Seven Silly Questions Saturday” (he picks a different reader each week to interview with silly questions.)

By far, my favorite posts detail his trip to Egypt, where his flight landed in Cairo on September 11th, 2001. Yes, THAT September 11th. The stories about his trip are really compelling, very often ending in a cliffhanger that finds you logging on the next day to find out what happened. Lost passports, held at gunpoint by Egypt police, blatant come-ons from local men…and this is all before lunch on Day 1! Morgen includes “Extra Egypt” posts to explain specifics of Egyptian culture that are really fascinating (such as the definition of Baksheesh = the tipping that is expected everywhere you go for any service imaginable) and then he links back to these definition posts when mentioning the confusing word in his story, so as not to keep any of his new (or just forgetful) readers in the dark. Very thoughtful!

He LOVES reader comments and feedback, and he does a great job of involving his readers by posting a “Question of the Day.” He really wants to get to know his readers and tries his best to respond to each comment after they are made.

So check out Morgen at "It's a Blog Eat Blog World" and tell him “Bestest Blog” (and Julie from “Flip This Body”) sent you!

...on your chance to bid on "Bestest Blog of the Month." Check out the eBay auction here. The current bid is still lower than last month's winning bid, despite the fact that this site is growing every day. In fact, last month's winning bidding is currently winning this bid as well, because he has been THAT happy with the results!

I am on the brink of receiving my first PayPerPost payment. Well, that's not entirely true, I've already received $40 in referral fees...but I am about to receive my first money for actually making a post. One of the site rules is that you must leave up posts for 30 days. So, once those 30 days are over, you get your payment, and you're free to delete that post (if you feel like it). So, 29 days later, I've done 45 posts and $324.55 in payment will start to creep into my PayPal account day by day. Not bad, not bad at all. If you're interested in signing up with PayPerPost, please use my email, BobbyGriffin@gmail.com, as your referrer! I found out about this site was one of the blogs in my directory, The Foo Logs, thanks The Foo (unfortunately, I couldn't find his email address when I was signing up, so he didn't get the referral fee...sorry!).

Sorry that I didn't post a blog choice for today. I was away from my computer during the prime posting hours. Know that I am now back and working hard on your updates! Hope everyone is having a good weekend.

Terra Incognita
...by Julie from "Flip This Body"

I love Chavie's blog, Terra Incognita. It rules.

Chavie (who goes by the moniker "csmc") is a cool former-Chasidic Jew chick, living the swingin' singles life in Seattle. She is an artist and a recent weight "loser." She chronicled her weight loss in a blog called "Success on the Horizon", while maintaining a separate blog for her artist endeavors called "My Own Superhero". She recently decided to put it all together to form Terra Incognita, which is now a nice balance of the two.

The look of the blog is sharp, clean and artistic - you don't even see any links until you scroll all the way to the end, which makes the blog seem more welcoming and easier on the eyes. When reading it, I often feel like I'm reading my own writing, except a little more sophisticated, trendy and intelligent. Her posts are always written well (you'll rarely see "filler" blog material) and the content is personal, thoughtful and funny. You feel like you're having a conversation with your hip alternative friend in a coffee shop in the Village. (No, not The Village. THE Village.)

One of Chavie's more entertaining and thought-provoking posts centered around our youth's obsession with MySpace. Another entertaining post focused on her obsession with video games. You just never know what you're going to read next! Whatever the post, Chavie is a talented and interesting person, so you know you can count on her writing to be a great read.

So check out Terra Incognita and tell her Julie from Flip This Body sent you, via the Bestest Blog in the Known Universe.

Totally Biased Book and Movie Review
Finally, a review site that is honest about their bias. I think that most all reviews that biased, but reviewers like to think of themselves as "unbiased" and "objective." Not Meowkaat, what you see is what you get...and that's detailed, honest reviews.

She has developed the "Reading Rainbow Level of Goodness" for rating books as well as a movie rating system.

But Meowkaat has gone beyond reviewing books (like this cheesy vampire novel) and movies (like a recent favorite of mine, Little Miss Sunshine). She has also been reviewing TV shows (like my favorite, the Lost Season 3 premiere), a weekly Sunday blog review (like former BBOTD winner Who Are We), as well as other randomish topics (such as the life of Steve Irwin).

This is a great site because not only if you like books and movies...but also because you get to learn more about Meowkaat personally by how she feels in her reviews...instead of the standard personal blog "here's who I am and what I did todtay" format.

So, check out Meowkaat's "Totally Biased Book and Movie Review" and maybe she'll review your blog this Sunday if you ask nicely!

Here we go...! The auction for "Bestest Blog of the Month" has commenced (actually it started yesterday, but I didn't have the chance to post about it until now). The winner will have their link and short description in the top left hand corner of my blog for all of November. Also, for each dollar in the winning bid, they will be placed an extra time in the Random Blog rotation. After the month is over, 10% of the winning bid will be put towards a permanent spot among the Premium Blogs.

This is a great chance to really boost your blog's traffic. Bidding starts at only a penny with no reserve. So, check out eBay to monitor the progress and thanks for looking!

Scam Alert
Ok, I will admit it...I have been scammed on the internet. About a year ago, my wife and I received a message about our join eBay account. The jist of the message was "Someone is trying to hack your account...to protect it you should click this link and change your password." So, the first thing you think is "yikes, I'm being hacked!" The email, the email address, the link address, the actual website we were directed to...they all looked VERY official. So, we input our password, supposedly changed our old password and thought nothing of it.

Within 24 hours, someone had logged into our account and was selling some sort of high powered, super sonic, underwater microphone...a listing price of $2000 which carried a fee of $40. Now, this hacker was smart and I will give him credit for a valiant effort. First of all, he hacked our account shortly AFTER we had purchased something...hoping once our purchase was complete there would be a period of inactivity. Secondly, he listed the item for only 24 hours and directed potential buyers to contact him and pay him at a DIFFERENT email address than was listed with his account. If we (like many internet users) did not log in at all during that 24 hour period, he would've sold the item, got the payment, and we would've been stuck with the eBay fees. Luckily, we did find out, cancelled the auction and eBay was very helpful about getting our account back to normal.

If only I had read Jerome's blog before facing that ordeal. He posts the scam emails that he frequently gets sent, along with helpful tips on what to look out for, and funny comments about the stupid mistakes the scammer makes. He's received scams about internet auctions (apparently Canada is a city), a phony baloney lottery, a guy in need of a favor, a paypal phishing email (with some helpful comments about Gmail), and a fake job offer (for a company that doesn't exist!)

Jerome has done a great job educating, while at the same time entertaining (something I try to do everyday when teaching). So, check out Scam Alert before it's too late! And if anyone would like an invitation to join Gmail, please leave a comment with your email address and I'll send you one over.

The Wonderful World of Nothing Worthwhile
Mimi Lenox from Mimi Writes peforms a lobotomy on Michael's brain. Pass the scalpel.

First of all, his head is in an X-Ray or is the X-Ray in his head? Who knows! And just exactly what is ticking inside that blue brain of his? The title to Michael C's blog would lead us to believe not much, so I decided to perform a lobotomy and find out for myself......I found funny. Sometimes sane. Inquisitive. Overly ordinary but not ordinarily so. He confesses to being a die-hard NASCAR fan, family man, BBQ lover and aspiring comedian. Blaming his penchant for humor on an overdose of Letterman and SNL, I'd say the only operation he needs is a good publicist. Enter "Blog Nothing" - his outlet for down-to-earth ramblings and everyday mirth.

I noticed Michael's blog this week when I read an article on Morgen's site in which he answered 7 Silly Questions. (which goes to show it pays to participate in the blog community - you never know who is lurking about) It's hard to hold your own with the King of Silly but Michael royally managed to unseat the Morgenizer by sharing his special brand of silliness. Michael has been getting around the Blogosphere quite nicely these days - he also came in 2nd place in the WIKI contest and kindly visits other blogs to leave comments and encouragement. I see his blue brain everywhere! He's a team player of no ordinary wit.

Michael doesn't have a lot of bells and whistles on his blog but that just wouldn't do for a blog about nothing worthwhile, now would it? Although his pictures are fabulous! He's an original blogger in the truest sense. That's why I applaud his faithful posts; he lays it all out there and isn't ashamed to admit he has a lot to learn. Each Saturday he hosts a segment called "Things I Learned This Week."
Here are a few things Michael is teaching all of us. According to Michael, "It's education, sometimes insightful and always pathetic." He's discovered many of life's great and earth-shattering lessons: eating oreos in bed is a bad idea, co-workers often have unkind words for Michael, (sometimes they only think bad things but that's OK because remember, Michael's head is an X-Ray which apparently gives him special mind-reading powers), never cuss around a four-year-old and botulism begins in the back of the refrigerator.
Poor Michael.

I'd say he's definitely become a blog addict right along with the rest of us. He has to stay up nights thinking of these clever titles. He begins articles with intriguing questions I just can't seem to resist. Like this smelly pumpkin patch post , interrogations with watermelon researchers and who could resist this title? "I just cut my finger off but the bases are loaded." (Michael is always in a fix or musing about one quandry or another).

Click on over to The Wonderful World of Nothing Worthwhile. Tell him Mimi and Bestest Blog of All-Time sent you. You might just learn a thing or two from Homer Simpson's skull.
Gee.....he's soooo transparent.

Damn you Blogger for delaying my progress. The updates are done and ready to check out in the Recent Additions section. There's 43 new blogs...plus 6 new premium blogs. Another great week...thanks everyone...enjoy and keep those new links and donations coming in!

Congratulations to Rock from Truth: The No Spin Politically Incorrect Zone for helping me break the $1000 mark. Rock's $50 donation CATAPULTED me over $1000...at the time I only needed $11 to make it. Thanks Rock, and enjoy your $10 premium blog bonus!

Two Can Anne
...by Morgen from "It's a Blog Eat Blog World"

Today's Morgen Monday brings us Two Can Anne, the story of a sprightly New Yorker, who waxes sarcastic about the subway, the after-affects of visiting a deli at 4am, getting hit on --on E-Bay, and shares photos of her captivating cat Doodle.

Photos of Doodle are a high-light of this entertaining Blog. As Anne says, you cannot fight the cute: Let go and let Doodle.

You can also Vote For Anne's Next Love Match and help her choose the next Internet Dating Guy she goes out with. I'm all for Mister "Loves The Ballet", myself....

Besides, she makes the Best Grilled Cheese in all the land, so click on over to Two Can Anne and tell her that Morgen and Bestest Blog Of All-Time sent you. Make sure you say "Hi" to Doodle!

More Cowbell
Alright, back to our regularly schedule program... Welcome to our first edition of "Premium Saturdays." It's just like the rest of my daily picks, except only "Premium Blogs" are eligible.

Today's winning blogger is Justin, a medical student at THE Ohio State University. First of all, you lot could learn a bit from Justin. I'm not talking about medical tidbits, no no no...I'm talking about the fact that if you reference a classic SNL skit in your blog's title, you've already got my attention!

Justin preaches that his blog is designed for those people out there clicking the "Next Blog" button (or in the case of this site, the "Random Blog" button). This is because he posts about a wide-range of topics such as business, politics, and entertainment. One thing all his posts do have in common though is they're well-written and informative...not just a bunch of hastily thrown together nonsense like I tend to see in some blogs. Justin has just already reached 100 posts in about 4 months (that's almost a post a day if you're doing the math!). So I'm sure we'll be seeing lots more quality posts in the near future--in fact, I'm counting on it!

So, please head on over and check out Justin's premium content at "More Cowbell" and tell him that Bobby sent ya!

So, Morgen tagged me about a month ago to do this movie meme after I whined and complained that no one ever tags me. I've had it typed out for awhile, I just kept forgetting to publish it...here we go:

1. The last movie you saw in a theatre, and current-release movie you still want to see.
I think the last movie I saw was "World Trade Center," there's hasn't really been much out this past month or so that caught my attention, except for..."Jackass 2" which I still really want to see and probably will this weekend.

2. The last movie you rented/purchased for home viewing.
The last movie I rented (I don't purchase movies) was "Match Point." It was pretty ok, I don't really like Woody Allen movies, but one of my wive's friends recommended it to her. Having just been to London, it was pretty cool to be able to recognize certain tourist attractions in the movie.

3. A movie that made you laugh out loud.
Well, the LAST movie that made me laugh out loud was "Little Miss Sunshine" which was an absolute riot. Steve Carrell can do no wrong.

4. A movie that made you cry.
Again, the LAST movie that made me cry was "World Trade Center." The whole thing with baby Olivia and what not. It was especially meaningful to me because Olivia is the name my wife and I have picked out for our first daughter (whenever that happens).

5. A movie that was a darling of the critics, but you didn't think lived up to the hype.
Honestly, I don't pay too much attention to the critics, because so often their likes/dislikes don't align with mine.

6. A movie that you thought was better than the critics.
See #5.

7. Favorite animated movie.
As a kid, my favorite animated movie was definitely Aladdin. I loved that movie and all the songs...especially the genie!

8. Favorite Disney Villian.
From my #7 answer, you might guess Jafar, but you'd be wrong. My answer is Scar (from Lion King). As a kid (like age 5), my wife (long before I knew her) had the idea to trace pictures from her Lion King coloring book and sell them to her neighbors (for like a quarter). Well, one mean old lady refused to buy the picture from the adorable little kid, so my wife left her a picture of Scar on her doorstep and ran away. I just love that story!

9. Favorite movie musical.
Rent, rent, rent! A million times over Rent! I saw the musical, have the movie, have the soundtrack from the musical and have the soundtrack from the movie.

10. Favorite movies of all-time (up to five).
Ahh, such a hard question. In no particular order...Rent, Anchorman, Crash, Memento, and Fight Club.

Now, I'm supposed to tag 5 people...but I think everyone I know has pretty much done this meme already. If you haven't done it, but would like to, leave a comment and I will edit the post to reflect "officially" tagging you. More memes that I've been pity-tagged with coming soon!

Blogger was down from about 7PM to 11PM EST last night (though for whatever reason, Blogger Beta was up and running). I apologize for any inconvenience this caused. Also, this was the time I had set aside to finish my updating. GRR! Hopefully, I can finish it this morning...if not DEFINITELY this evening (barring another Blogger crash).

SportsBlogging.net
Welcome to Premium Saturdays, where we always feature a Premium Blog. Interesting in going Premium? Click here to find out how and why you should!

I had planned to feature this blog in honor of my beloved New York Mets making it to the World Series. However, things did not work out as I may have expected...stupid Cardinals. But, why should another man's blog suffer the denial of an award simply because Aaron Heilman couldn't get a ball by Yadier Molina.

Ok, if that first paragraph was a bunch of nonsense to you, then this probably isn't your blog! Dave's blog is similar to mine in many respects, except his is COMPLETELY about sports. He has a featured blog of the week, a surplus of blog reviews (here are the baseball ones), and a HUGE collection of links down his right-hand sidebar. In fact, both of the Mets blogs that I read regularly he has a link to...that shows Dave is on top of his game!

Whatever your sports is...football, basketball, hockey, college sports, or anything else...chances are you'll find a blog that meets your needs. It really is an excellent sports blog resource!

So, as the Fall Classic...the World Series...gets under way today (even if my Mets aren't a part of it), check out what Dave and loads of other sports blogger aren't writing about it at SportsBlogging.net.

Ok, guys about halfway done. I know there are a lot of you out there patiently waiting and they're coming. Thanks to Mike from Wasting Time and Ordinary Tomas for finding a bunch of outdated blogs this week. He earns himself some extra traffic.

If you submitted your link this week or made a donation via PayPal, I will have you updated today. Again, I thank you for your patience...I wish the process was more automated, but I'm just one guy. Have a great weekend!

A $10 bonus to the person who puts me over $1000 total...that's the contest! We're awfully close, I won't say the exact amount. However, I will say there is a good chance that the next Premium Blog donator could be the winner. Good luck and thanks everyone!

Do you speak another language? I know a little bit of french, but that's about it. That's why one of my main goals was to make a Random Blog surfing tool for English blogs only. I hope you enjoy!

A Homesteading Neophyte
...by Julie from "Flip This Body"

Phelan, author of A Homesteading Neophyte, is a 28-year-old All Natural Foods employee, loving wife and stay at home mother of 3. This brave woman packed up her family and moved to a run-down farm in the middle-of-nowhere Kansas to start living the homestead life. A homesteader lives the life of agrarian self-suffiency. Basically, that means you depend on yourself to make all of your own food, clothing, etc. Or at least try your best to not depend on any store-bought items to get you through your day.

And she's done a marvelous job so far! Although her blog is what she calls, "a beginner's tale of mistakes," Phelan seems to really be getting into the swing of things. She cans her own food, raises her own goats and chickens, and is building her own underground home this Spring. And, in the little spare time she had left, she writes her political leaders to ensure a brighter future for her family and land.

I really admire Phelan for her bravery and chutzpah to live this kind of life. And she writes with such humor and heart that you really feel her struggles and triumphs with her. So check out A Homesteading Neophyte and tell her Julie from Flip This Body sent you, via The Bestest Blog in the Universe!!!

No one wants to send me their Mickey D's fake money for Premium Blog credits? Certainly it beats sending real money. I guess I'll just have to eat more McDonald's myself then. 3 Piece Chicken Selects with a Large Sprite and Large Fries, here I come!

I just like to remind everyone once in awhile if you have something nice to say, please say it on the Testimonials page. 41 happy visitors have already left their thoughts. If you're new to the site (and potentially skeptical), then you should also check it out!

One More Raindrop in a Bloggy Ocean
Ok, first things first. Has there everything been a blog title as thought-provoking as this one? Recognizing the insignificance of one person, yet noting their contribution to life as a whole. Deep man. Deep.

Janna is a 36 year old female from Michigan with an intense love of blogging. I'm talking 2-3 posts a day. There's a lot going on over at her blog: recounting crazy dreams, pointless pictures, trying things for the first time in 30 years. There's also a lot that's not going on.

But the clinching factor that made me choose Janna today was a message she left in a recent post. And I quote: "See, this is why I haven't gotten the 'Bestest Blog' award; I've been too busy putting the really good stuff on OTHER people's sites! :)"

You see...Janna is a master-photoshopper. Recently, she has been spending a lot of her time photoshopping Morgen (from "It's a Blog Eat Blog World") into hilarious potential Halloween costumes. This one here is my favorite! But there are lots more to check out! They're all really funny and well done.

So, fret no more Janna. You now have a 'Bestest Blog' award to add to your blogging resume, partly thanks to your hilarious pictures (even if they are technically on Morgen's blog). So please visit "One More Raindrop in a Bloggy Ocean" today and show Janna some love!

It's been about a month since the new version of the Random Blog Button came out. I was just curious if anyone had anything they'd like to share about it. One person has already told me it'd be a good idea if I could make it so the same blog didn't come up twice in one viewing session (I'm looking at you Dr. Anonymous). This is a great suggestion, and I'll do my best to implement it (though if anyone has any tips on how I might do this, I'm all ears). You guys are who I do this for, so you definitely need to be heard!

So, I am collecting as many Best Buy Bucks from Mickey D's as I can, in hopes of buying something awesome with them for Christmas. If anyone cares to send me their BestBuyBucks, I will happily give you Premium Blog credits for them, as if they were cash. I do however need you to mail them to me, because I might not make this purchase online. You can contact me for my address at BobbyGriffin@gmail.com if you are intersted in mailing me your pieces. You cannot have already entered the online code and used them, or else they are worthless now (and I mean, I will found out when they tell me they're worthless and I'll take away your Premium credit).

EDog's Everything Page
Since I opened the flood gates on letting the same blogger win multiple awards for different blogs a little while ago, I've felt almost relieved that I can acknowledge people who do an excellent blogging job in multiple places...I came up with that stupid rule, I don't know why I took so long to abolish it.

Ian had previously won the award for his "The Adventures of the S-Team" blog on October 2nd. Upon winning that award, he said to me that he was gracious, yet surprised that I didn't pick this one. Well, here you go, Ian!

Ian is a superb writer. He has twice won the National Novel Writing Month (affectionately known to participants as NaNoWriMo) and is gearing up to compete again in November. If you haven't heard of NaNoWriMo, basically during the month of November your task is to write a complete 50,000 word novel. Sounds daunting to a math guy like me...I don't even think I know 50,000 words.

Ian just just just finished another writing project, a Hundred Day novel entitled "Deep Six." I mean this thing is hot off the presses...well, ok, it's not in press (yet)...but, it's complete and you can read the whole thing (on your computer screen) over on Ian's site.

One last thing, I couldn't possibly write this review without noting Ian's penchant (<--- tough word for a mathematician) for animated smiley face dudes like the one you see here. He's crazy for them, and must have one for every single occasion (i.e. playing hockey).

So, check out Ian's "EDog's Everything Page", our 2nd two-time winner and tell him Bestest Blog sent ya (AGAIN!).

Did you know you could subscribe to my blog via email? Get the "Bestest" pick of the day straight to your inbox. It's free (of course, like anyone would pay for that, haha!). Here is the link if you are interested, there are about 70 people already signed up: http://www.feedblitz.com/f/?Sub=73020

3 more donations have come in, but we're still not quite there. The person whose donation puts me over the $1000 mark will receive an extra $10 bonus! It could happen that you donate only $1 and get $10 more free. I'll let you know as soon as someone wins.

Spluch
...by Mimi, from Mimi Writes.

Where can you find articles about Shakespeare, a city made of biscuits, strange vertical coffins, and bookmooching?
Spluch finds them for you. The weird. The wacky. The entertaining. The educational. Bookmooching?!?
When I'm weary of memes (did I say that?) and need a break from serious blurfing, it's always nice to click over and find the not-so-serious.
Complete with concise and colorful pictures to accompany well-written snippets of interesting facts, this blog is a diversionary delight. The editors of Spluch are careful to credit story and image sources, too, providing more in-depth information in case a particular subject strikes your fancy and you'd like to read the full article.
Here are a few that struck mine.
For all you science fanatics out there how about a house that grows? Want to learn about extrasolar planets ? It's all here and more.
Feeling hungry? Take a trip to southwest China's Chingqing for a Guiness World Record feast.
Spluch saved me hours shopping for that memorable Christmas gift for Mom. She'll love this engraved ivory handcrafted cellphone for a mere $23,000. I'll take two. Thanks, Spluch!
And what could you give a bride who wears a wedding gown made of flour? How about a sofa shaped like intestines. Educationally crampy (ha!) and comfy.
Now that's just plain weird.
You can bet your sweet cream puffs I'll be back to visit Spluch. One more thing. If you're in the mood to spruce up your blog, click here and learn how to create your own seal. Spluch can proudly add Bestest Blog of The Day to his.
Spend some time with the Spluchsters today and tell them Mimi and Bestest Blog clued you in!

For all my readers, so you don't get too frustrated by PayPerPost ads on this site, know this. All PayPerPost paid advertisements will be prefaced with "The following is a PayPerPost advertisement...scroll down for more posts" and will have a dark blue background (the same color as the post title) as opposed to the light blue background that normal posts have. So, if you are quickly scrolling, without looking too hard, you can tell what is an ad and what is not. By the way, if you haven't tried PayPerPost yet, you should! I have made $100 in the past week and NONE of that has to do with the fact that I get 2000 visitors a day. I could get 5 visitors a day and I'd be paid the same amount! Use my email (BobbyGriffin@gmail.com) as a referral if you sign up...click here to check it out!

Sadie, Sadie, Married Lady
...by Morgen from "It's a Blog Eat Blog World"
Today's Morgen Monday takes us to Tennessee, to visit Sadie, Sadie, Married Lady.
Sadie is a married lady (to Mr. Incredible) who has two dogs, an incorrigible cat named Merlin -- a kitty with a soft spot for Pancho's Cheese Dip and tummy rubs, an engrossing TV habit, and a co-worker with a serious gum-popping problem. She's also passionate about sports.

Since she's married to Mr. Incredible, it didn't surprise me at all to know that one of her favorite quotes is from the movie The Incredibles: "No Capes!" said by Edna Mode.

A good intro to Sadie the Blogger is her 100 Things About Me post, done on her 32nd birthday. See numbers 51- 53 for more about the annoying gum-popping office manager.

It was through Sadie's blog that I became introduced to Thursday Thirteen, and she's got some great ones under her belt! One of my favorites, though, is her first: Thirteen Things About Sadie.

The gravatar pic that Sadie uses isn't her cat, it's just one that makes her chuckle whenever she sees it. Me too.

So, hop on over to Sadie, Sadie, Married Lady and tell her that Morgen and Bestest Blog sent ya!

As you can see in the sidebar, I am up to $871.75 in Premium Blog donations. I thank you all for your generosity and I hope you're enjoying your increase in traffic!

So, the contest is, I am offering a $10 bonus to the person who puts me over $1000. But, since I only update the total once a week, there's no way for you to be sure how much more needs to be donated. Well, someone could donate $200 right after I make this post, but that is unlikely.

For your reference, I am currently $128.25 away, and this past week I received a total of $98.50 in donations. So, there's a chance we won't even make it to $1000 before the next update...but I'm hoping that this contest idea will give those who were potentially on the fence about making a donation a little extra motivation to do so. Thanks, and good luck!

A Dog A Day
One of the things I missed most while I was gone on vacation (only than running this blog for all you lovely readers out there) was playing with our two Cairn Terriers, Bella and Beverly. Luckily, we had some leftover photos on our digital camera of them that we were able to look at whenever we needed to (before the airport lost it of course).

I was never a dog person until I met my wife and now I can't imagine life without them. This is similar to a quote on this blog: "Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole." (click the link to see the cute picture that accompanies the quote).

Basically this blog is all about 2 beagles named Nugget and Stewy (and sometimes about their canine pal Bruno, who, if I had to guess, I would see is a Maltese). Each day the operator of this blog (referred to only as Nuggy's Mum as far as I can tell) posts an adorable picture of their dogs, as well as a cute little story or sometimes an inspirational quote.

If you're an animal lover (and I know many of you are) then you'll definitely enjoy this blog, A Dog A Day, so please go and check it out! And tell them that "Bestest Blog" sent ya!

There are 42 new blogs, plus 8 new Premium Blogs to check out in the Recent Additions. Almost another record! Plus, I removed about 25 dead sites and gave everyone credit for linking to the random blog button. Thanks everyone...surf away!

So, I've been pimping the PayPerPost site a lot lately. Why? Because it's awesome! This is revolutionizing the blogging world. You can make cents, not dollars for writing short reviews for products...clicks and impressions don't matter, it's one flat rate. Plus, if you refer anyone else to the site, you make money too! So, consider signing up, use me as your referrer (enter BobbyGriffin@gmail.com as the referrer email on the signup sheet) and start making money referring your blog readers. I've made $25 so far referring people, and could make another $5 if you (yes you!) successfully sign up. It's free and easy, no credit cards, no signup fees. What are you waiting for? If you've already tried it out, I'd like to hear about your experiences...if you're hesistant or have any questions, post them in the comments and I'll try and clarify what I can. Let's get a little Saturday discussion goin on here, whaddya say?

I just wanted to thank everyone who linked to the random blog button. Currently in a google search for 'random blog button' we are first! In a search for just 'random blog' we're still pretty far down. Hopefully that will improve over time. I'll add your blogs into the rotation extra for this update. Thanks again!

Updates are coming soon! And there are a ton of them today. Lots of good ones too, I think you'll enjoy them. Check back real soon, I'm about halfway done!

I was on a bus with 50 screaming freshman as we took a 15 hour day trip to Washington, DC. Needless to say, I am exhausted, so I thought I'd do an extra rerun this week! Hope you enjoy it...

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Digital Traveler
I thought I'd feature a "Travel Blog" today since I just got through travelling. And this was a perfect choice. My wife and I took a ton of amazing digital pictures on our trip, but they made us check the bag with the camera in it (normally I would have carried it on) due to heightened security and conveniently they "lost it." They didn't lose the suitcase filled with dirty laundry, oh no no no. Furthermore, Matt has written a "For Dummies" book on Digital Photography. This is coincidental because my wife and I used "For Dummies" travel guides to make our trip go smoothly. It's like this choice was fate.

Fate aside, Matt is definitely an expert in digital photography and there are a lot of amazing pictures on his blog, taken as he travelled around the world. If you'd like to read two chapters for free of his book, you can click here. He even teaches an online class in photography if anyone is interested.

Go and check out some digital photos by a professional (not like anything I could take, haha) and visit my first winner for the month of August, Matt's Digital Traveler and tell him that "Bestest Blog" sent ya!

Parlancheq
...by Julie from "Flip This Body"

I have always found ParlanCheq's motto, "Blogging in lieu of cracking up", very poigniant. Sometimes you just gotta get those thoughts out into the blogosphere so you don't go crazy with them stuck in your head! And, boy, am I glad she does, because this is some funny shiite!

ParlanCheq's blog (aptly named, "ParlanCheq") is mostly comprised of funny, strange, interesting and sometimes bizarre tidbits and topics. Of her list of "Subject(s that don't) Matter" (aka her beta blog's labels list) you will find such subjects as AIDS, Barbie, Abortion, Falkland Islands, Home Decor, Juice Bar, Race, and (of course) Random.

I love it when she posts crazy pictures and a witty comment to go with it. Like she does here, here and here. HAHAHAHA! This is one funny chick!

My favorite thing about her blog is her ability to take a news-worthy event and give us a sampling of the general public's reaction, followed by her own opinion on the subject. She recently blogged about the hypocricy of the What Would Jesus Do website selling Lance Armstrong yellow wristbands at a "reduced price" of 6 for $12, when the market price for Lance Armstrong bracelets are $1 each. (WTF???)

So stop by Parlancheq's blog if you're up for a quirky, insightful and gut-busting read. You'll be glad you did! And make sure to tell her Julie from Flip This Body sent you, via The Bestest Blog That Ever Was!!!!

Truth—-The No Spin Politically Incorrect Zone
...by guest blogger LAEvanesce from "LAEvanesce: Musings and Opines"

"Dedicated to truth, whether politically correct or not, right wing or left wing. Less spin than Bill O'Reilly, more politically incorrect than Bill Maher. The enemy are the demagogues, in both parties. Truth in politics, news, and entertainment."

In the political world, there are viewpoints, complexities, and constant changes. Rock's blog, Truth—The No Spin Politically Incorrect Zone, covers all three, and with gusto.

Enter Rock's highly developed world. Key political and cultural events are addressed in daily posts, something that takes a whole lot of work to pull off in the political category. It's tough to keep up with the change, but Rock makes a great effort. Also present are guest bloggers, daily webcomics and quotes of the day, a poll, extensively linked sidebars, and a blog ring.

Note this: "Both Liberals and Conservatives are Welcome." That said, regardless of your political beliefs, venture on over to Truth--The No Spin Politically Incorrect Zone, courtesy of LAEvanesce and Bestest Blog!

Fungi Thinking
I've preached time and time again that I think all blogs should have a focus, a topic. But, it wouldn't be a true blog if you didn't as least delve into personal affairs a little bit, Lord knows I do from time to time here. Today's choice is just that. A personal blog with the added bonus of a focused topic: Mushrooms!

Yes, mushrooms. And no, this isn't some druggie's blog about which mushroom's are the best for hallucation and crap. This blog admires mushrooms for their beauty and diversity.

Every week, Laura posts a picture of a different mushroom and challenges her readers to identify the mushroom in question. Winners receive a link in her sidebar and brownie points. "Disclaimer: Brownie points are non-exchangable, non-refundable and may be slightly different to what you're imagining. You may only 'feel' a brownie point in the sense that you obtain a warm glow of knowing." If you're weird and you think you might want to learn all about mushrooms without any of Laura's personal stuff, you can visit her sister blog "Name That Mushroom".

Ok, are you ready to identify some mushrooms and earn links and brownie points? Each one of these links is to a mushroom that has yet to be identified.

One thing I've tried to reward on my blog is uniqueness. And Laura's blend of personal blogging and fungi blogging is about as unique as it gets! So please check out "Fungi Thinking" and tell Laura that Bestest Blog sent ya!

WebGamin
...by Mimi from "Mimi Writes"

A smorgasbord of non-classic art, sports, quirky statistics and rambling Biblical prose, WebGamin –today’s Bestest Blog of the Day pick – is not all about games. “I aimlessly roam the streets of the World Wild Web. Perhaps here is a chance to rest my head.” Virtual world or real world, the author (dubbed The Gamin) is a self-proclaimed Minnesota Vikings fan, photography buff and blues lover. Among other things.

But perhaps he’s best known for the Sandstone County series written and prefaced as Sandstone County Sheriffs Department - To Serve, To Protect, To Get Rid of All Dirtbag Criminals by 2026. Doled out in short and witty episodes, The Gamin just posted number forty-two. Here’s a hilarious snippet.

WebGamin is a bit of old-school philosophy with overtones of The Godfather where mafia members mysteriously morph into cowboys; at least that’s what it feels like. Don’t mind me. I’m just wandering aimlessly through the streets of The Wild Wild West......er....I mean Sandstone County waiting for the next criminal to make me laugh.

You'll find a large slice of life in this blog, ranging from political news commentary to Amazing Paper Art to Dust Art. The pictures are truly unique. You won't believe what this guy can do with a bunch of dirt. Dust art? Of course! What else would you expect in Sandstone County?

WebGamin is worth a look and a read. Hop on over there and tell the sheriff that Miss Mimi and Bestest Blog sent you! There are some interesting characters just waiting to welcome you to their wild virtual world.

This weekend I did an interview with Mimi over at Mimi Writes. If you wanna learn a little bit more about the man with the plan (me), then check it out! Thanks a bunch for the opportunity, Mimi.

These Are Me Thinks
...by Morgen from "It's a Blog Eat Blog World"

Today's Morgen Monday comes to us via a tip from Allie D at Memoirs Of A Gouda. She clued me in on the fascinating writings of Army at These Are Me Thinks.

These Are Me Thinks is a blog full of great reads about a witty guy named Army (short for Armstrong, his last name -- his first name is Chris, so when he refers to Chris in his posts, that's him, too).

He calls his faux-fiancee Feyonce, and their pictures of their un-engagement in a park are hilarious. He peppers his blog with Darned Good Thoughts such as Mental Manufactory (i.e. creating bird-bath shaped cocktails in "The Bird Bath"), Mythology Of Life (i.e. visiting an abandoned mental institution in "Shadows"), Vignettes Of Time (i.e. glimpses into his creative writing such as "Still Spring After All These Years"), Philophasterings (i.e. "Solutions To Problems That Don't Exist" ), and Stuff I Claim To Have Created (i.e. "Art Therapy"). He drives a Mini Cooper named Tyler, and has even organized a Mini Cooper Club that appeared in a 4th Of July Parade!

Army has been blogging since the fall of 2005, and clearly a man of many talents, this beautiful little poem gives us a glimpse of Autumn:

I mistook a leaf for a butterfly
fluttering toward me.
Beckoning, the tree invited me
to witness the sky falling
toward winter.

This is a great blog to settle in with on a rainy day. Gather up your mouse, your clicker-finger, and a mug of your favorite steamy beverage, and settle in for a good, long read. And if you want some techno-fun, click on the refresher icon on your browser and watch the tag-line above his blog-title change!

Congrats to Army! Visit him at These Are Me Thinks and tell him that Morgen and Bestest Blog sent ya!

There are 45 new blogs, plus 7 new Premium Blogs to check out in the Recent Additions.

Thanks to everyone who joined and donated, and double thanks in your patience while I get those links up. It really is easier to do them all in one shot, which means I don't get a chance to until the weekend. But, hey, I'm worth the wait, right?!

(If you sign up for the following website, please use BobbyGriffin@gmail.com as your referrer)

A few days ago, I introduced you to the site PayPerPost. Well, I recently had my first post approved for payment, as well as received my first payment via paypal (2 $5.00 referral fees, thanks to Adam and Jessie if you're reading this).

This site is still relatively unknown and the payment offers are still high, varying from $2.50 and up. I could see that if this site becomes a huge hit these offers might go down...but hey, why not get in while the gettin's good?

So, check out PayPerPost and use my email (BobbyGriffin@gmail.com) as a referrer if you do sign up. Just a reminder, your blog must be at least 90 days old to qualify for this service (they don't want people creating a wave of new blogs just so they can make money, they want ESTABLISHED blogs, which many of you have).

The following is a PayPerPost advertisement...
So, I've been talking a lot about PayPerPost.com lately (use my email BobbyGriffin@gmail.com if you sign up, by the way). Well, it turns out they have their own blog where they track progress, answer questions, and listen to reader suggestions. Certainly a great blog for anyone who wants to advertise on blogs. Since I'm all about promoting helpful and well-crafted blogs, I thought this was a great opportunity to take. So, if you've already signed up, check it out. And if you're hesitant about signing up for whatever reason, then this might rid you of that hesitation.

Bitter Cup of Joe
When I first saw the name of this blog, I thought for sure it would be run by a guy named Joe...but I was wrong, it's run by Vinnie G. from Cleveland who explains that "A Bitter Cup of Joe is just what everyone needs to start the day."

Besides the daily rants Vinnie comes up with (like this funny yet angry one), Vinnie is chroncling his writing of a book. Basically, each day he has a predetermined amount of words he is supposed to write, and he tracks his progress towrads a total of 50,000 words in his blog. Turns out the protagonist is a werewolf!

I recommend you check out "A Bitter Cup of Joe" for Vinnie's (not Joe's) very active daily posting and tracking his book progress (maybe if enough people bug him about it, he'll post some excerpts from it!). Tell Vinnie you're visiting, courtesy of "The Bestest Blog of All-Time."

Ok, so this blog is all about finding OTHER cool blogs on the internet to read and check out. Well, I wanted to give you guys a heads up on a brand new product that will be coming out soon. A guy named Mark Seremet is working on what he calls a "discovery engine" named Repliqa that will find cool things on the internet based on who you are! It's not out yet, but it sounds like it could be an awesome advance in the area of killing time online :-) You can check out his blog, The Fish, to keep up with progress on this endeavour. He writes about this project, his other two companies, and other interesting things. Sometimes he gives away stuff (like an iPod Nano to the guy who came up with the name Repliqa for his company). Just make sure if this is a success that you don't completely abandon my little ole site here!

This S#%t Drives Me CRAZY!!!
Welcome to Premium Saturday, where we always feature a Premium Blog. Interested in becoming premium? Click here to find out how!

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Starbender's guide to making a successful, enjoyable blog:
(1) Find funny/cool/weird/wacky pictures on the internet
(2) Write a short and witty caption
(3) Repeat

Simple formula, but really great results. I was really impressed with his ability to find these pictures, because I have done my fair share of image hunting and have never run across these particular pictures. Plus, this is the kind of blog idea that could be REALLY successful at first and then slowly phase into nonexistence as it becomes harder to find quality images. But, Starbender has been working on this blog since August 2005. I'd say that posts and images have actually GROWN in frequency and quality.

As I usually like to do with funny blogs like this are highlight a few of my favorites (but feel free to surf the whole site and pick your own favorites). I'll give you the caption, you'll have to click it to see the picture that goes along with it: Come Git the Cheese, Too Pooped To Poop, and Why You Shouldn't Sleep Naked. There are a TON of other pictures to check out though, so if you have some time to waste, this would be a great place to waste it.

So, please visit Starbender at "This S#%t Drives Me CRAZY!!!" and let him know that Bestest Blog sent ya!

So far, the usage of the Random Blog button has been phenomenal. Everyone has really taken to the new style and has been surfing till their heart's content. However, not that many people have linked to it, which I wish they would so that its search rank might improve. I'd imagine there's a fair share of people out there googling the term "random blog," and it'd benefit us all if I was the first site on that list.

So, for the next week, and the next week only, I'm offering a little incentive to link to that blog. If you add the link (whose code is below), I will add your blog's name 1 extra time into the random rotation. This link is to be in addition to the one here, and not replace it.

So, if you're interested, just copy and paste the code below into your template, and leave a comment here with your URL to let me know when it's up. Thanks!

Random Blog Button
<a href="http://randomblogbutton.blogspot.com/" title="Surf random blogs...powered by BestestBlog.com">Random Blog Button</a>

A Chuisle Mo Chroi
...by Julie from "Flip This Body"

Macoosh's blog, A Chuisle Mo Chroi, (pronounced "ah kwish-la muh kree" - literally, "the pulse of my heart", an Irish term of endearment) is full of heartfelt and funny stories from an American theatre student pursuing her Master's degree in Dublin, Ireland.

Macoosh (<---not her real name, but a nickname from her father) explains in her first post how she got to the point where she wanted to start this blog. As a struggling actor in New York, Macoosh became frustrated with the life of an actor fresh out of college. As an actor myself, I could totally relate to this passage, "My little pipsqueak of an apartment was not large enough to hold my hopes and fears, and the fears grew too big for me to control. I had to work 70+ hours a week at a death-trap of a coffee shop as a manager to pay my bills. Therefore, there was no time to audition. There was no time to perform without pay in order to be noticed. There was no time to actually live."

So Macoosh decided to live. She applied to grad school, packed up her life and set out on a 2-year adventure to University College Dublin to fulfill her dream of always wanting to live in Ireland. A very brave choice, if you ask me.

Her adventures span from everyday living in a foreign land, to obtaining part-time employment as a foreign student, to her often exciting and thought-provoking theatre courses. Recently, Macoosh blogged about her class's meeting with director Julie Taymor (of "The Lion King" broadway fame) and I am very jealous!

Overall, Macoosh's blog is funny, lighthearted, and introspective - all qualities I look for in a blog. And she's a Lost fanatic, so I think I've found my soul mate! (she's planning on weekly Thursday post-Lost reviews, as am I, so tune into our blogs on Thursdays if you're into Lost...)

So check out A Chuisle Mo Chroi, and tell her Julie from Flip This Body sent you, via The Bestest Blog. (Editor's (aka Bobby's) Note: This was one of the very first blogs I linked to, so it's certainly very encouraging to see that blogs, new and old, are always being noticed)

Emasculating Nickname
This site comes to us from blogger, Brian (also known as "Pookie" to his wife, his friends, basically everyone he knows). I have had so many great blogs link up to this site, that this is one that when I initially linked it up, I thought "ooh, nice, I'll definitely feature this one!" and it completely slipped my mind! Sorry Pookie! Better late than never...

This is a really funny blog. A lot of times on funny blogs, you see the same joke topics again and again. "Oooh, let's make fun of George Bush some more!!" Pookie comes up with funny posts and pictures on some of the strangest (and unique!) topics. Some of my favorite recent posts are ATMs for Jesus, Walk in the Park, the Remember Ring (for married men only!), Online Ferret Fashions, and the Worst Christian Web Site Ever.

If you enjoy these, or any other of Pookie's recent posts, then you're in luck! Pookie has been blogging since July 2005 (which is like forever in the blogging world), so there's lots of old posts to keep you entertained. And since a lot of his stuff isn't current events based, you won't have to scroll through loads of old Michael Jackson posts to find anything worth reading.

So, please check out Pookie at Emasculating Nickname and let him know that Bestest Blog and Bobby (aka Mr. Boo-Boo?!) sent you!

Foxxfyrre's Black and White Art Blog (aka Graffiti My Blog)
So, when I started this blog and it gained popularity, some people began submitting MULTIPLE blogs at a time. Frank was one of those people. Well, I came up with this rule in my head that "Ok, they can submit more than 1, but I'm not gonna let them win blog of the day more than once." Well, I had already featured Frank's "Honk 'n Holl'r" blog awhile back, but he has made a new innovation with his other blog that I cannot resist.

His blog started off as a place to host his black and white drawings which was pretty cool(hence the name). Then Frank had the novel idea to let readers submit drawings about their blog they had done against a brick background.

So all you do is go to this website, download a blank brick wall file, go into MS Paint and draw away! Then you email Frank your drawing and he hosts it as a link to your blog. Frank's motivation was to get people drawing and being creative and in return it's a GREAT way to promote your blog and you come out with a pretty cool picture that you can host on your own. Frank even writes a bit about your blog to go along with your awesome drawing.

I plan on making my brick wall soon and I hope you do too. I promise I'll get to it soon Frank (along with the 2 memes that Morgen and Julie have tagged me with). So check out the "Graffiti My Blog" as invented by Frank and tell him Bestest Blog sent ya!

Jane Lake Makes a Mistake
...by Mimi from "Mimi Writes"

Who is Jane Lake? Why does she speak in third person? And why does she make mistakes? That's what I wanted to know!

"I am leery to start a precedent that has a good intention when it may lead to opening Pandora's box," she writes.
Could have fooled me.
Refreshingly honest and not always politically correct, I found Jane's writing hard to ignore. From her first post I was hooked and wanted more, more, more of Jane - a four-letter word you'll hear often on her site.
This twenty-four year old blogger from New York definitely has my attention.

No mistakes here, folks.
This is a top-notch blog. From the layout to the meticulously placed ads and pictures, right down to witty and provocative snippets of well....Jane.
It all works.

In Jane Lake and Size! she perfectly segues from the silly "Would you step on a bug, or does it matter how big it is?" to the seriously controversial "How small does a baby have to be before you take away its right to live?" without missing a beat.
Tender topic or unapologetic opinion, I often found myself thinking "Hmmm…..she does have a point." Her posts start with humor and end with a punch (sometimes the other way around.)

Jane Lake and Spinach! asks the burning question, "Why can't E. Coli be more selective and attack turnips? Nobody in their right mind likes turnips.." then compares the recent spinach scare to a possible terrorists conspiracy theory (!) ending with a whambam reference to Popeye (my childhood hero) – all in one smart post.
I found myself laughing out loud and scratching my head.

In one witty article after another, Jane Lake meets Hillary Clinton, de-stresses with Tom Cruise, sings with Elmo, blasts Mel "Gibberish" and doles out some real depressing statistics about real men that made Mimi shudder.
Thanks, Jane.

But I wasn't depressed for long after reading about friendship and her fresh-faced take on the real world in corporate America - then depressed once again by her painful observations on artificial intelligence and humanoid computers!

But, that's OK.
Jane Lake Makes a Mistake may be a roller coaster; but it's a nice roller coaster.
I, for one, will be back to ride again. I hope you will do the same. Please don't forget to tell her Mimi and Bestest Blog sent you!
Congratulations, Miss Jane.

The Adventures of the S-Team
...by Morgen from "It's a Blog Eat Blog World"

Today's Morgen Monday Bestest Blog Of The Day for October 2nd is "The Adventures Of The S-Team." This is a Lego cartoon blog, by E-Dog Blogger Ian.

The Adventures Of The S-Team details the hilarious exploits of a band of Lego superheroes who have such super-duper powers as Sand (Sandstorm), making themselves into a Stonewall (that would be Stonewall), the Ability To Break Stuff With His Head (Shellshock) and then there's "Smokescreen, the team's resident Jamaican, can create clouds of smoke. And he's also an amazing snacker."

The most current adventure arc has detailed Sandstorm's mishaps with The Mammalizer, which was Science Guy's attempt to help the dairy industry by increasing, well, mammary propensity. Sandstorm Mammalized herself, thinking she would get a new super power (other than Sand) and to her dismay, ended up very well-endowed. Especially for a Lego figure!


The link here is to Ian's S-Team Adventures Blog page, which he describes as the "extras" features, as if the S-Team were on DVD, you can find the actual comic here. Interesting comments by the Creator, background, and just plain old humorous insights into the making of the S-Team. On the S-Team Blog, you can click on the numbered headline (i.e. #96) to take you directly to the comic the blog entry references.

So go check out The S-Team, and tell E Dog, Sandstorm, and the gang that Morgen and Bestest Blog sent you to check out the Adventures!

I'd like to welcome the 22 Recent Additions to join my link exchange; the 4 new Premium Blogs that made a generous donation; and the winning bidder of "Bestest Blog of the Month" Reel Hollywood.

But, we'll have to say goodbye to about 50 blogs that hadn't been updated in over a month. If you helped me find these, I thank you (especially Ian, Morgen, and Julie)! If you'd like to help me in the future, you can earn some traffic in the process. I'm glad I finally got around to updating this, it vastly improves the "Random Blog Button". I was just able to surf about 50 blogs in a row without finding one in violation!

So, it's been 2 months since I officially announced the inception of "Premium Blogs". Since then I've had donations from 63 different sites, totalling $677! And you know what? I haven't had a single person complain and say it was a waste of money...but I have had people write a testimonial on how it was money very well spent. Especially since the inception of the new "Random Blog Button", the premium blogs have seen a huge spike in traffic. As one astute donator commented, it's my job to get them to your site...once they're there, it's your job to keep them around.

So, if you haven't already, please check out the master list of "Premium Blogs" and perhaps considering becoming one yourself.

The more I think about it, the more I conclude that the easy signup for Adsense through Blogger is one of the best moves Google ever made. Not the best for the bloggers...the best for Google themselves.

Let's see, Google's payout per click comes in at about 10 cents. To earn the minimum $100 required for Adsense to pay you that's 1000 clicks. Now let's say you have a 2% click-through ratio (which is probably a fair estimate)...that means you would have to have 50,000 visitors to your site before you made the minimum amount.

Now, honestly, how many blogs out there have that kind of longevity? Maybe like 1% of the blogs? Most blogs probably make like $5-10 tops and fade into nonexistence.

So, what do you think happens to all these accounts with sub-$100 earning totals? Well, Google stuffs their pockets with those dollars of course! It simply does not make sense as a small-time blogger (from the blogger's perspective) to use Google Adsense.

Now, I have been very happy with AdBrite, you set your own minimum payout (mine is $5). Last month I made $35 and that check is en route to my mailbox. But, there are LOTS of ad companies out there, many of which have minimum payouts of $5, $10, or $20..a realistic total for a blogger.

Plus, now I am trying PayPerPost.com (use email address BobbyGriffin@gmail.com as your referrer if you signup). Where you get paid for writing short reviews