Blogtipping: May 2007 edition

Back in the days when there was something worth watching on television (Frasier, Seinfeld and Nowhere Man are all that come to mind from the entire decade of the 1990s), NBC had a marketing campaign calling Thursday nights "Must See TV," and promoted summer re-runs with "If it's new to you, then it's still new."

So even though Blogtipping celebrated its first birthday a couple of days ago, on May 1, I didn't hear of it until today, so it's new to me, and if this is the first you've heard of it, then it's new to you, too.

Blogtipping is simply this: You post an article of praise for an unsuspecting blog or blogs you like, and then offer a tip or suggestion to the blogger(s) you've praised. Rules, not that there really are any, seem to be that you give three compliments and then a courteous tip for improvement. The point(s) of all this is to make friends, say nice things about each other, and help generate traffic by creating a whole new set of links to and from your favorite blogs... not just to the home pages but to favorite articles. (Tip: Link to the permalinks, not the main page.)

Many blogtippers have settled into a routine of doing a blogtipping post on the first day of each month. I'm late, but so it goes. There's still time for me to jump on this bandwagon, so what the heck? Maybe I'll remember to do it again come the first of June.

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Blogtippee #1: Masonic Traveler. My blogtipping adventure begins with a salute to Bro. Greg Stewart at Masonic Traveler. I think MT was the first Masonic blog I ever read, and I think he was the first online Mason I ever communicated with.

A. Bro. Greg has wide and varied interests and loves to share them. His article last October about Gen. Tom Thumb, the world's smallest Freemason, still stands out as one of his most interesting.

B. Another article I enjoyed was last September's post about Hollywood Lodge in Los Angeles, which is now a theater across the street from Mann's Chinese Theater and the Kodak Theater, where American Idol is produced.

C. Bro. Greg has been a vocal participant in some of the "world's greatest debates" with fundamentalist anti-Masonic Christians. We had a great time zinging the barbs back and forth with Josh the Baptist on Pastor Josh's "What you should know about Freemasonry" site last year.

Tip: Ever since your blog's facelift several months back, it's been harder to read, visually. The mix of serif and sans serif fonts makes the site a bit busy and a bit buzzy.

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Blogtippee #2: Movable Jewel

A. Bro Don Tansey of the Movable Jewel is a relatively new blogger, as far as I know, but in the few short months I've been reading his stuff I've really come to like it.

B. His article "Blogswarm Against Theocracy" was an eyeopener — the first article I'd come across in last month's Blogs Against Theocracy movement. I credit Bro. Don with inspiring me to have written the several BAT articles I've posted here. I commend him for his initiative in standing up against what is a dangerous trend in our nation today.

C. Bro. Don has a way of tying in his personal life and thoughts with Freemasonry that isn't often seen. A recent article segued from his weekend of hammering and carpet-ripping into a deep Masonic meditation. Well done.

Tip: It's tenets of Masonry, not tenents. :)

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Blogtippee #3: Grouchogandhi

A, B and C. I've known Gg since, what, 1987 or so. Sharp mind, zinger wit, head full of useless and sometimes useful (but twisted) information, and he doesn't rag on me too much when I ask a stupid technical question about re-sizing graphics or HTML coding. Only occasionally does he respond to my question with "And you've had a computer how long?"

Sometimes a minimalist, sometimes verbose, he's infamous for:

• 2007's April Fool
• Andy Griffith vs. the PATRIOT Act
• Reprinting Timothy Leary's Eight Circuits of Consciousness

Tip: Update your blog once in a while, will ya?

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That was fun. Someone please remind me to do this again the first of June.

Blogtipping | Blogs | MasonicTraveler.blogspot.com | MovableJewel.blogspot.com | Grouchogandhi.com | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com