Figuring Out Blogrolling - FDL and Debsweb

As my BlogRoll on the right sidebar shows, I'm figuring out how to blogroll. As I add to the blogroll, my plan is to tell you a little about each one, so you will know why I added it, and maybe you will learn a wee bit about me. These first ones, though, are special to me so I'll share a little bit more of the why on them.

Firedoglake and Debra

I mentioned Firedoglake below thread so I'll start there. I started reading FDL around a year ago (shortly after my friend Debra came over and turned me onto FireFox and RSS feeds - Debra created a monster). Jane was blogging FDL solo at that point and I liked her style and content. I started reading her regularly when she started including some bits of her email exchanges with a former prosecutor using the aka Reddhead regarding BushCo outing an undercover CIA agent for political purposes. FDL is my #1 place to get all things political. FDL is now the first place I hit on the web, and the last I check before logging off (now that I have my own blog I expect that will change slightly). They get a lot of page clicks from me, checking for new threads and comments.

FDL has grown, with Redd now blogging under her real name, Christy Hardin Smith, and they recently added Pachacutec. Besides deliciously snark-filled commentary and great eye-candy pictures ( sometimes they cause me to spew my coffee) FDL has expanded and became a major political blog, including the Progressive movement, trying to kick-start the Democrats into growing spines and build what they call the "net roots" of political activism. A fantastic comments section exists there relatively free from trolls. Very creative and intellectual resource. They are much more than the short bit I put up here. Click on the link and enjoy!

Debra - DebsWeb was also mentioned below. Besides creating the aforementioned RSS feed monster and being the first person to list me on her blogroll, she is more than a friend. Debra is many things; she is a Professional Personal Chef and an Acupuncturist. She was formerly with the Army, is a former Republican Democrat, and has an insatiable appetite to learn. She is the first person I turn to for Computer Geek to English, along with Medical to English and Science to English translation. She has a dry, witty, razer sharp intellect along with a kick-ass memory. LOVE going to concerts with her and we disect "24" every Monday night on the phone. Don't really get a lot of her science fiction stuff but I don't hold that against her. Go read her blog and see the world through her glasses. They are not rose tinted and she cuts right to the chase in her observations. She has the kindest heart of anyone I know but I would not want to piss her off. Did I mention she is a VietNam-era Army Vet?

Jane, Redd, and Debra are what inspired me to start this blog. Debra kept after me, "Why don't you blog" was something she would mention every month or so. After stubbornly refusing, (laughing), I started TTGB - send all complaints about TTGB to her (laughing). After Redd joined FDL, I watched her posts develop, grow, saw FDL growing into a major blog, have heard both Jane and Redd (yeah, I know its really Christy but she'll always be Redd to me) on radio and/or tv, well, they inspired me cyber, just as Debra does in person and on the phone.

Google News came with the blog. Who knew?

The CHP website because its still a pleasure to sit here, in a small valley on the mountain in a temperate rain forrest, nestled in my cabin near town, surrounded by redwoods and ferns, overlooking the creek and its junction with the river, a steady, heavy, non-stop downpour drumming on the roof and deck, all warm and toasty with a fire going in the wood stove, Token sleeping in my lap, a hot cup of coffee on the desk, KPIG on the radio playing "Cows with Guns" (or maybe Stevie Ray Vaughan or some Janis) and surf through CHP's current incidents page while they are out working in the rain. California drivers forget how to drive in the rain. California drivers forget how to drive in the fog. Hell, California drivers forget how to drive on sunny days.

I still remember when rain on a day off was a good thing. Thank goodness I no longer have to doff my banana suit over my wools in a futile attempt to stay halfway dry while serving those who paid my salary. I sit here, watching the CHP list of details growing, listening to FireDispatch.com when I don't have KPIG on, and smile. I still miss the job but I sure don't miss working in the rain. The best thing about being retired is waking in the morning, hearing rain, and rolling over to go back to sleep until it is warm enough to get up!

I did not work for CHP but spent 24 years and one day, working for one of the 5 largest cities in the San Francisco Bay Area. Hard physically and emotionally demanding job but very rewarding. Now, it is just part of my past, like the legal secretary I was before that - but I do enjoy the CHP pages. They have a glossary link (on the right side of the page Resources menu pull down that usually reads Driving Tips) for those that need CHP to English translation. If you click on an incident in the top half of the page, a reverse chronological incident detail as entered by their dispatchers will show on the bottom half.

That's my blogroll for now. More links, but less explanation to follow.