Changes afoot

The three or four of you who look at the sidebars may notice something different today -- the presence of more names than just mine.

Because those who guestblogged while I was away did such a great job, and because single-handedly keeping a blog current and vibrant while holding down a full-time job is next to impossible (ask Bob Geiger), I decided that since the world didn't come to an end just because I gave some other bloggers the keys while I was away, why not do what so many others are doing and turn B@B into a group blog?

The challenge in choosing people to participate in a blog on an ongoing basis is not just finding the best writers (and writers willing to, in some cases, cross-post to a blog that receives less traffic than their own), but also trying to find writers who are in tune with what the particular blog is trying to do. With this blog, where just about anything from women's issues to weight to movies to music is fair game, it's important to have colleagues who truly get what you're trying to do. That is why to start I've chosen four regular posters, all of whom have excellent blogs of their own, to stay on as participants in this little endeavor of mine. It's kind of an experiment, and we'll have hits and misses, but we'll see how it goes.

If you've been reading during my absence, you know that jurassicpork is one of the most incisive analysts of the political scene that you'll find. Just take a look at his post yesterday on Philip Atkinson's insane ravings and you'll know what I mean. It's an honor to have him on board.

D.R. Scott isn't just prolific, but also has a great sense of how our popular culture both reflects and influences our sociopolitical life. You can read his more gossipy posts at his pop culture blog, and the Big Picture posts here.

Melina is one of the more unique blogger voices out there. She's not just a good friend, but also perhaps the only writer in the world who can string seemingly unrelated topics together in a stream-of-consciousness form, and still have it all make sense.

Citizen Carrie may call herself a moderate Republican and a housewife, but she writes incisively about a subject near and dear by my own heart and that of every middle-class worker in this country: Employment. This incorporates corporate policies and H-1B and education issues.

I've also left the keys with a few other folks whom I figure will post less often, but who have been a huge help in the past. Spiiderweb was my first guestblogger, and I hope Bob and Tata will lend their voices to the discussion as well when the spirit so moves them.

It's difficult for us control freaks to delegate or to even believe that anyone else can understand what we're trying to do and to help us do it. When you've always felt that you had to do everything yourself, relinquishing some control can be traumatic. It can also free one up to do things like take care of one's health and keep the house clean. But most importantly, it allows disparate voices in common cause to be heard in more places.