My BlogRoll and All Links Have Disappeared!

Vintage Candid Mug Shot, 1920s

I have no idea what's going on in mysterious Blogger blogworld, but my beloved blogroll has disappeared from my sidebar and I have no idea how to get to all of your blogs!

Help!

If you know about this problem (and I poked around a bit on Help Forums, so I think many are having it) and know what to do, let me know.

And please, please, please, if you're a regular reader with a blog that you know once sat beautifully on my sidebar, please leave a comment with your blog address so that I can create another list.

Oy vey.

Next Blog, Planting Rue and Thomas Hardy

Common rue

Do ya'll ever click on the Next Blog tab at the top of your page on Blogger? I just started doing it, and you know what? Every single time I do, the "next blog" is a hard-core Catholic one or evangelical Christian one. Names like Jesus Fever, Got Bible?, Stampin Sisters in Christ, Christian Apparel -- I'm not talking run of the mill fervor, either, but some scary stuff. Guns and God. Is it retribution? Is it a message for me? Is it a warning?

Am I digging my grave?

 Am I planting rue?

Will I rue?

Answer me, Sue.


"Ah, are you digging on my grave,
            My loved one? — planting rue?"
— "No: yesterday he went to wed
One of the brightest wealth has bred.
'It cannot hurt her now,' he said,
            'That I should not be true.'" 

"Then who is digging on my grave,
            My nearest dearest kin?"
— "Ah, no: they sit and think, 'What use!
What good will planting flowers produce?
No tendance of her mound can loose
            Her spirit from Death's gin.'" 

"But someone digs upon my grave?
            My enemy? — prodding sly?"
— "Nay: when she heard you had passed the Gate
That shuts on all flesh soon or late,
She thought you no more worth her hate,
            And cares not where you lie. 

"Then, who is digging on my grave?
            Say — since I have not guessed!"
— "O it is I, my mistress dear,
Your little dog , who still lives near,
And much I hope my movements here
            Have not disturbed your rest?" 

"Ah yes! You dig upon my grave…
            Why flashed it not to me
That one true heart was left behind!
What feeling do we ever find
To equal among human kind
            A dog's fidelity!" 

"Mistress, I dug upon your grave
            To bury a bone, in case
I should be hungry near this spot
When passing on my daily trot.
I am sorry, but I quite forgot
            It was your resting place."

Thomas Hardy (1840-1928)

If you're on Blogger, tell me what happens when you click "Next Blog."

Word Verification

I know that I read on Ms. Moon's blog that the new word verification requirements and procedures on Blogger are supposed to be a way to preserve some of the old typesets or something like that, and while I enjoy a good typeset, I haven't enjoyed entering weird word and number combinations over and over the last few days on other people's blogs. I've also gotten far fewer comments on my own blog despite a huge surge in visitors, so I can only imagine hundreds of you peering at the screen and trying to decipher the blurry configurations only to give up any attempts to either agree with my damnatory words about Santorum or damn me to hell for my heresy.

So, I've dismantled my own word verification and fully expect the comments to pour in, both spam and otherwise.

Let's see what happens.

Comments Housekeeping

Many of you have expressed to me through email that you're having trouble leaving comments here. Are you primarily WordPress users? I think the problem is here on Blogger but is restricted to WordPress users. I went on the help forums and found this information which confirms that while it's a Blogger problem, if you're a WordPress user and want to leave a comment you should do the following. Any advice? Let me know if it works -- or not.

The problem is OpenID. It simply doesn't work very well. When possible, always use the NAME/URL option. http://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/blogspot-blogger-not-accepting-my-wordpress-comments?replies=9