I almost never talk about

I almost never talk about weblogs here (mainly because everyone else does and it sickens me), but I seem to be running into a problem with them lately. I’m not reading anything new. When I go to a typical weblog, they have a list of links down the side that amount to “if you like this one, here are some others you might like.” The problem with this, though, is that there’s very little opportunity to discover something off of the beaten path. It’s just more of what you’re used to; if Swallowing Tacks is a medium Dr. Pepper (hold the ice), Zippyblog is just a refill. I spend days on end searching for something other than Dr. Pepper, Pepsi, Mello Yello, Jolt, and even YooHoo….where the hell is the mango juice?

And while I’m on the subject (this will be the last mention of weblogs for quite a while, I assure you), shouldn’t the Blog of the Week feature on Blogger.com be satiating my need for new reads? Lately, they’ve been featuring more of the same: sixfoot6, Digital Web, and Barbelith. Fine sites all, I’m sure, but they’re pretty much doing what everyone else has been doing for months and years now. Has it come to this? Has the weblog format run out of steam? Is anyone out there doing anything interesting with tools like Blogger? Or are all the weblog writers reading the same how-to manual? Come on Pyra, hook me up!