I'd Like to Share

(random pretty picture of strawberries and tea because we're going to
talk about happiness. and pretty things, strawberries and tea all make me happy)

Charlotte Brontë once said, "Happiness quite unshared can scarcely be called happiness; it has no taste."  I would agree wholeheartedly.  Over the past almost-two-years that I've been blogging, I've derived a great deal of happiness from reading the blog posts of some of the many excellent writers out there.   That, of course, is only the beginning of it-- I've also made many dear friends through reading people's blogs, and even met one.  :D

I know many of you enjoy blog-hopping (and meeting lovely people) as well, and so I've come up with a little plan to help us all share our happiness.  I'm calling it "I'd Like to Share," (original title, no?) and it consists of a monthly link-up in which we all submit our favorite posts written by other people so that all the participants can enjoy the spread-around happiness.

This is how it works.  I've created a page on this blog which is currently empty (well, except for a copy of the picture you'll see below.)  Your task, for the remainder of August, is to keep a sharp lookout for the Best Post of the Month.  This will be, quite simply, the best post you read on any blog all month.  When you come across this post, whatever and wherever it may be, you'll copy and paste the link (the link to the actual post, not just to the blog's homepage) into a comment on that page I just linked to.  You'll also mention what category you think this Best Post fits into-- Inspirational, Informative, Humorous, Just Plain Interesting or Miscellaneous.  (And if anyone has a category they'd like to suggest, please drop a comment here!)  You're only allowed to nominate one post per month, so choose wisely.  :D

On September first I'll compile all the links into one master list and put them in a regular post on my blog.  (They'll also appear on the I'd Like to Share page.)  If lots of people participate and everything goes according to plan, we'll have several posts in each category (hopefully from many different authors) and y'all will have a delicious afternoon of blog-post-reading ahead of you.  Ideally, this project will introduce people to blogs they haven't read before and will maybe even give some extra attention to blogs that don't get visited frequently enough.  I mean, everyone wants more blog readers, right?  (Okay, okay, except maybe the big super-mega blogs with several thousand readers and paid advertising on the sidebars.  And even they would probably enjoy some more readers, because if they've got paid advertising on the sidebars they'll definitely want more traffic.  :P)

So if you're interested, please put this elegant little button on your sidebar (look, I've even included a grab box to make things easy for you!) and start advertising the I'd Like to Share event!  If all goes well in September, I'll make this a monthly feature-- which means that as soon as the Master Link Post goes up on September first, it'll be time to start nominating new posts for October.  Is it all crystal clear, my dear?

<center> <a href="http://miss-dashwood.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img alt="Yet Another Period Drama Blog" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv5QyUCt2FB1_3ppzz3yFo1QSeZsP_gL_s8Rzpgv80_CJsNDjZRT8PpL7ytWWhJBIMltVIlE3im9ENhzCXkPCWrEq6XFQNSfeC4CbiOQr08c3dbXfgN11KU8tC5Ps6zfIWGVsJ7WA_QZU/s1600/ilts.jpg"/></a></center>

Oh, and a few ground rules (because I'm a by-the-book kind of girl, and in my opinion rules and schools are NOT tools for fools)...

~I will read (or at least skim) each and every post that is nominated for this feature.  I don't want to provide links on my blog to any content that makes me uncomfortable, so if I come across bad language, suggestive material, endorsement of ungodly media or anything that I think might be detrimental to my blog readers, I will not include that post in the Master Link Post.  Not trying to be harsh or offend anyone here, but hey--my blog, my rules.

~Please put careful thought into deciding which post to nominate for ILTS (that's I'd Like To Share, for the information of the acronym-challenged).  If you don't come across a post this month that strikes you as particularly outstanding, then don't worry about nominating anything.  Better to have a small selection of really good posts than a huge list of mediocre ones.  And don't just nominate a post because your best friend wrote it.  That, my dear children, is called nepotism, and is FROWNED upon in most societies.

~In the same vein, don't nominate someone's post in the hopes that they'll nominate you in future.  That, my dear children, is called back-scratching, and is also FROWNED upon in most societies. 

~However, when and if you do nominate someone's post for this feature, drop that person a comment (on the post in question!) and let them know they've been nominated (but not as a hint to them to do the same for you).  It might make their day!

~Oh, and the post you nominate does not have to be something that was written during the month of August.  That goes for future installments of this feature as well-- it can be something that was written in February 2008 for all I care.  Good content is good content, and if you're like me and enjoy archive-browsing (when you have the time...), you won't want a great post to go to waste just because it's tucked away in a corner somewhere.

Whew.  Didn't think it was possible to mention the word "post" so many times in a single blog post.  (There I go again.)

Have questions?  Leave a comment here!