For a while, I've kept a Post of the Day section in my sidebar, and although it's become more like a Post of the Month feature, there are some incredibly written posts I've dropped in there, and I can always count on enjoying them again when I re-read.
I've decided to add a page to my site where I keep all those posts in one place, archived for your reading pleasure. You can't go wrong with any of them, I promise. (I will try and update regularly, too.)
Part of successful blogging (if success is measured by ad revenue and page traffic) is marketing yourself and your site well, and I admire the hell out of anyone who can genuinely market their blog enough to drive their numbers through the roof (I market for my day job, so good marketing is certainly not lost on me). But, strip the design and the gimmicks away, and all that really matters (to me, at least) is: What's the content like? Is it good? Is it well-written? Is it smart and funny and sincere?
Twitter follower numbers and comments and page views can mess with your mind -- they certainly can mess with mine when I give them more brain space than they deserve -- and it's easy to let jealousy creep in when you see someone else climbing the popular blogger ladder at lightning speed. It's normal to become kind of crazy about this or that blogger or this or that blog award, and I've let myself go there more times than I'd like to admit.
It's part of what was frustrating me this past week: letting the wrong blogging aspects affect me. Whenever this happens, I know I need to ignore the numbers and focus on the writing (for me and others).
Long way to say, go enjoy the posts I've archived over there. And feel free, as always, to share your recent favorite posts (yours, others, whatever!) in the comments.