04-18-03 @ 11:34 am EDT

Dang. Where is everybody? Even my favorites are hardly updating, and when they are it's usually the Shameless Plug page. o_o Oh...maybe because it's Good Friday? I only just realized that. So do we have a lot of Catholics onsite? Humm. I hope that's the reason; the stillness is starting to bother me. Go figure that everyone ELSE gets all quiet when I feel like yapping for a change! >_<

I keep wondering lately if I should remove myself from the Journal Ring. I enjoy some of the journals in there and read them often, and have R&R'ed them, but aside from the few people (I know of at least one...surely there's another or so, but I can't remember) who knew of my journal before the ring, I don't think any of the members there read mine. :/ I know it sounds petty, but that was what I thought the ring was for; not for us to keep 100% up with every single journal, but to at least check in on them from time to time. To check out some of the newer ones that we've never read before, instead of the same few over and over again. I know of somebody in the ring who has said they don't care if anybody reads their journal or not, and the journal itself pretty much says that you can read it but it doesn't mean you are welcome in. If this is so, why did they enter this journal in the ring? One enters journals in rings to get attention, don't they? From what they said it just sounds like they don't care whether they get attention or not...then they enter in a ring...I don't get it. Anyway, when I entered I had hoped the other people whose journals I love to read would at least check in now and then, but from what I can tell they don't. I feel kind of embarrassed that these are people whose journals I really do like to read, people who I respect, but they aren't interested in mine. Like I don't belong in the ring because I'm not interesting enough. Most of the journals on there are the really big ones on this site that get all the attention and ratings; although Skew is in third place when it comes to most viewed journals, and is high up there also in ratings, I just feel out of place. Despite Skew's stats I have just never felt as recognized and esteemed as some of the other journals. Like those of...okay, I'll name a few. Like those of Oracle, Earthwoman, Haizey, Tigress, and some of the others I can't remember at the moment. (I wonder why Alyndria and Kim-Marie don't write anymore? They must be on private and I can't see them...) They just all feel more important and beloved and belonging than mine. I feel like a speck compared to theirs, which is why I feel stupid even wishing they would notice mine. :/

While I'm on the subject of journals, I may as well get this one out of the way too! ^_^ Diaryland. The banners REALLY irritate me. Not because there ARE banners...that's understandable. Banner ads have never really bugged me, unless they flash a lot or are disguised to look like error messages. Rather it's the content of them that bugs me. Many of them refer to ONE defining fact about the user as if that's the ONLY thing that makes them who they are. "Look! I'm GAY! Don't you want to read my diary?" or "I am an ATHEIST! I don't believe in God! Doesn't that make you want to read?" or "I'm a Wiccan! Whoooooo! Doesn't that sound interesting?" Many more of them have overtly sexual tones and even words. I have seen the F word, albeit bleeped out, and other words such as penis, boobs, piss, and not-too-subtle allusions to the sexual act; I know there are others that I can't remember right now. I have nothing against this--but when they're plastered all over banner ads that can be seen by viewers or users of ANY age, it bugs me. Can't these people come up with less sexually explicit or less adult-language-oriented banners? It's gotten to the point where if I see "penis" or "boobs" or "sex" on an ad, I will NOT click on it. It just strikes me as a juvenile plea for attention. "Look! My ad says SEX on it! Don't ya wanna click? Don't ya??"

All of this goes without taking into account the fact that like 75% of the clickthroughs belong to like TWO or three users there. I keep coming across new ads that look interesting and when I click on them...I'VE BEEN TO THIS DIARY BEFORE! And I didn't care for it! I know, when you're a paid member there you get a lot of banner ads to promote your diary. But why do the same two or three people out of all the paid members make so many different ads? Give the other users a chance. I get tired of always clicking through to the same two diaries...ugh.

AND...I just don't understand the concept of the paid users putting up banner ads anyway. All the paid users already have friends lists a mile long. You put up banner ads to drum up traffic to your diary; why are they interested in that much more traffic? Attention to entries, I understand, but if a bunch more people add these users to their friends lists, I bet they don't have any time to read half the people on their lists anyway; I know I have difficulty keeping up with the few people who list me as a friend. Why do these people with dozens upon dozens of friends listed need MORE diaries they will never get the chance to read? Or do they just want others to list them, and they will never read the others' diaries in return? That's kinda rude.

I've had two people lately sign my guestbook saying they'd stop by my journal again, and I did thank one of them, but I don't think they've returned. :/ I dunno, I think I'll end this rant now.

Oh yeah, Part 2 is done and posted! From 33.72kb to 57.41kb. ^_^ Work on Part 3 will begin soon...*sigh* And I entered a mythology contest which I just know I will not win... :( ...but you know me, always stupidly hopeful of things that won't happen. I'm hoping that at least the judges will R&R. It seems like whenever I enter contests I don't even get that. >:/

I am so BOOOOOOOORED! I have to post this now and log off to write or something. I hope it perks up around here later on today. Tar...