Meet the Blogroll

Alexis asks:

I've always wanted to know, who are these other peeps you have links to on your blog? And why do they all do so many memes?

Well Alexis, I'm glad you asked - this gives me something else to blog about. Besides, I should have introduced you all to each other years ago. Since at least three other people like to keep up with Fred besides you, I'll have to talk about you too.

1. Alexis in Amsterdam - Author: Alexis. I met Alexis through Lauren, who is linked to Josh below. Although she lives in the land of lankyhotmen now, we used to live in the same city. We're both linguaphiles who share the bonds of vegetarianism. Well, she's a vegetarian when she's not sucking down cased meats.
   
2. Betland - Author: Bet. I tagged this website as "The Best Damned Website There Is," quite simply, because it is. Bet is very creative and I always enjoy reading her stuff. I have never actually met the Bester in person. We got to know each other through our love of Squeeze, first through a mailing list and then through a chat group. (#squeeze) We still chat most Thursdays. Now we don't just talk about Squeeze - in fact, we never really talk about Squeeze. We've found we've all got oodles of other things in common, and we talk about those. Recently, Bet and Stennie (see entry below) have joined forces to to create the Hucklebug: a funnier-than-pants-around-the-ankles Podcast. Give it a listen sometime.
   
3. Bitterspice - Author: Nyssa. Nyssa is another friend from #squeeze. Several months ago, she got a new job, which has taken her away from her blog and #squeeze, but I'm confident she will come back someday. She sent me a groovy postcard from Hawaii recently.
4. Blamblog - Author: Brett Lamb. I don't remember how I found the Blamblog. He's commented here a few times through the years, and I've commented on his site. He's a real live Canadian. who is the only other person I know of who eats tahini and banana sandwiches. In fact, he often posts pictures of his sandwiches on his blog. He's a cartoonist and an artist, and spins some interesting yarns.
5. Chicagoist - Author: Various. This is a serious of "ist"blogs from various cities around the world. I don't know any of the authors - this is more or less a commercial blog.
6. Dave Barry's Blog - Author: Dave Barry and Staff. This is another commercial blog. Dave Barry is an author and former syndicated columnist.
7. Flipsycab - Author: Flipsy. Flipsy is a long-time friend of Stennie (still below). She keeps a kickin' blog. She's a writer, an office worker, and a vegetarian.
   
8. Homestarrunner - Author: I have no idea who writes this stuff. This isn't a blog at all, but the website of a cartoon. Very entertaining.
   
9. Ignormous - Author: Chris. Chris is the husband of the blogless Amy. I know this couple through Lauren and Josh (Josh is below, just like Stennie). He's a creative mofo who doesn't blog nearly enough. Unfortunately, Chris and Amy moved to BFE recently, and now I never see them.
   
10. Jim Snowden's Omnibus - Author: Jim. Jim is Nyssa's boyfriend. I like his blog from the movies to the politics.
11. Josh's Blog - Author: Josh. I know Josh through Lauren. They hooked up at a mutual friend's party. I always enjoy reading Josh's writing, even if I don't always agree with him. He's a smart-ass who, along with Lauren (blogless) throw some of the most magnificent parties. He's a Cancerian, an übertechy, and an all-around nice guy.
12. Kelly-With-A-Y - Author: Kelly. I don't know Kelly, but she's a friend of Stennie's.* I checked out her website once after it was mentioned on the Hucklebug. I don't know a whole lot about her yet.
13. Kriz-O-Matic 5000 - Author: Krizzer. Krizzer is a friend of Flipsy and Stennie (Yes, yes, we'll get to Stennie). She's gotten into every university in the world, so she's too busy to blog. Good stuff when you can get it though.
14. Mr. Sun - Author: Dunno. I found this blog just surfing around one day. I think Mr. Dunno is pretty funny.
15. Squeezereader - Author: Nyssa. This blog isn't being updated for some reason, but for a short time it was a niceaggregatee for Squeeze info.
16. Stennieville - Author: Stennie. At last we get to Stenns! Stenns is also a #squeeze friend. I've actually met her in person, and together, we experienced iJoy. Stennie knows everything about every movie on the planet. She keeps a movie blog, you know! She has two adorable kitties, Buster and Boo, and she doesn't post enough pictures about them. She cracks my ass right up on a regular basis, and she does daily trivia and, as I mentioned above, the Hucklebug. Stennie's blog was the first I ever saw, and she singlehandedly got me into blogging, way back - five years ago?!
    
17. Random Dumb Thoughts - Author LilyG. I don't know where this link went. LilyG is another #squeeze pal. While her thoughts are random, they are not dumb. They are, however, infrequent. She's currently doing time in Kansas.
    

Now that you've all been introduced, why not grab a drink, mingle, and talk amongst yourselves?

As for all the memes, Alexis, I suppose that everyone does them for their own reasons. I like them so much because they are hip, in, sooooooo now, and get me to blog about things I wouldn't necessarily think about.

* Edited after Stennie wrote in with a correction that Kelly was indeed HER friend and not Bet's.