I stole my picture from Fametracker because I didn't feel like taking a new one. That would mean taking a shower first, you see, and I want to finish this entry BEFORE I get in the shower. So there you go.

There's a bit of a kerfuffle on one of the mailing lists I subscribe to about the relationship between the quality of your journal and the popularity of your journal. I am of the opinion that cream rises to the top, and that if you have a good journal, it will become popular eventually, even if you don't publicize it. I mean, look at how fast word of Xeney's return spread, and she didn't advertise. Since then, she has posted to some mailing lists et al, but it wasn't like she posted to a mailing list saying, "Hey! I'm back! Everyone notice me!". She doesn't have to - she has a damn fine journal.

What I don't get is the resentment some people have towards those journalers deemed "popular". It's not a zero-sum game, people. Just because Pamie or Kymm get a bunch of hits doesn't mean that you can't. I get a little over 100 visitors per day to this journal. Some are fellow journalers, some are friends and family and some come from God knows where. It doesn't hurt that I have friends who have popular web sites (like Wing Chun and Sars), who link to me. But I've never been one of those journalers who begs for hits. If I were making money based on page views, then maybe I would. But I'm not getting paid for this. It's for my own amusement, and hopefully the amusement of my readers.

That is not to say that ALL quality journals get a ton of hits. Of course, it depends on your definition of quality. I tend to like people who write with a bit of humor and don't take themselves too seriously. I'm just saying that if you write a journal, and you want to get more hits, work on your journal. Don't start a flame war on Diary-L. Don't sign every guestbook and join every webring. Those things might get people to come to your site once, but they won't come back if your site crashes their browser or your writing is illegible.

Anyway, that's my opinion on the subject. It got me thinking, to say the least.

In a totally unrelated note, my neighbor's kid is SCREAMING right now and I feel really bad for his mom. She sounds like she is trying to be really patient with him, but it's hard to be patient with a kid who is screaming in your face. I wish I knew them better because I would go offer to watch him for a minute so she could have a break or something. My cats are all nervous because of it. They both came in the room I'm in and are just sitting there staring at me.

OK, I'm off to the shower now. Peace out.

Warning: clicking on these links will launch a new browser window.

I got an e-mail from a reader pointing me to her site: abzerd.com. I haven't had time to fully explore, but what I've seen looks great!

I LOVE Martha Plimpton and she is going to be on ER. Hooray!

There are a couple of good stories on EW Daily today, but I got so annoyed by the interstitial ads that I didn't read them all. Click at your own risk.

The most disturbing sentence in this story about Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones is this: "while Douglas and Zeta-Jones dirty-danced". OK, yuck!

Online gift registries are a great idea! The only problem is that I would want one that encompasses both online and brick and mortar stores, and updates both at the same time, to accomodate people who don't have net access.