Both Tagged AND Z-Listed...

Gee, walk away from the blogosphere for a couple days and you never know what will happen...

In my blog stats, I find all these neat, weird links to my blog and trail back to find that Mike Sansone over at the Converstations blog added me, very early on, to the Z-list meme started by Mack Collier at the Viral Garden. Thank you Mike! And Mack! I am cyber-meeting lots of smart, creative people through this process and am discovering some fantastic new blogs!

On the down side, literally, my Technorati ratings steadily decline. I was once upon a time in the top 50,000 but, alas, have dropped from the 60s to the 70s since the Z-list started. That's okay, though becauseTechnorati misses a huge percentage of the links to my blog so I don't give it much credit for accuracy...and the stats aren't important to me, anyway.

So what's the Z list? Mike explained it like this:

In Revenge of the Z-Lister, Mack throws one high and tight at Technorati's 'authority' ranking system. I agree that authority isn't the right word for T'rati's ranking, though it can serve as a barometer for popularity.

Sounds like Mack and Mike have drawn similar conclusions to mine about Technorati...

At any rate, I will post a recent, quite long Z-list after I answer my Tag calling. Harry Joiner tagged the Z-listers (you clever dog, you) and Dianna Huff of the MarCom Writer blog tagged me, too. Being "tagged" means I have to share "5 things you probably didn't know about me." Then I'm supposed to doom 3 more people to answer the 5 things. Not sure I can bring myself to do that...we'll see.

1. I have 4 children--age 22 down to 4 which means that I have given birth in each of the last 3 calendar decades (a trend that will NOT continue). The year the first one left the house, the last one arrived. The main reason I had children is so that I will get grandchildren some day. At least that's what I keep telling myself as two more entered puberty in the last 3 years.

2. I didn't finish high school...instead, at age 15, I took the California High School Proficiency Exam (like the GED) and the minute I turned 16, I legally walked away from high school and never looked back. I immersed myself at Santa Ana College, and took all sorts of fun and interesting classes such as astronomy and physical and cultural anthropology. I loved being treated respectfully and as a grown-up by teachers and fellow students instead of being "baby-sat." Initially, my major was architecture!

3. I had my first son at a ridiculously early age (married and divorced by age 19), didn't receive child support, and didn't rely on my parents for financial or child care help. I overcame some incredible odds by sheer determination--working 2 jobs and trying to finish college. Those years are a blur of tiredness and macaroni & cheese, our luxury meal. And trying to make ends meet on $340 (gross) a week. When I hear general statements that young moms are destined for poverty, to be unfit moms, or likely to have ill-behaved children, it infuriates me. If that's all society expects, that's all we'll get. Expect more, show faith in these young women, and at least some of them will rise to meet the challenge!

4. Enough heavy ones, here's a lighthearted one: my favorite hobby, because it gets me far away from my computer is scrapbooking. I love the 'back to basics' feelings of cutting and pasting. And of focusing on my family and on memories. I'm addicted to this hobby, but haven't had much time in the last year to devote to it. Do you smell a NY resolution?

5. Five things, huh? This is tough. Okay, I've got it! I am related both to Theodore Roosevelt (7th cousins, 3 times removed) and Aaron Burr (3rd cousins, 7 times removed) no jokes please... according to the book Founding Fathers, it's not certain whether he or Alexander Hamilton actually fired first... You've possibly guessed my other hobby, genealogy.

If you're still reading (I know that was about as exciting as a root canal) here is the Z-list. I haven't looked yet at all of them, but there are a lot of very good ones in here:

Creative Think
Soloride
Movie Marketing Madness
Blog Till You Drop!
Get Shouty!
One Reader at a Time
Critical Fluff
The New PR
Own Your Brand!
OTOInsights
bizandbuzz
Work, in Plain English
Buzz Canuck
New Millenium PR
Pardon My French
Troy Worman's Blog
The Instigator Blog
AENDirect
Diva Marketing
Marketing Hipster
The Marketing Minute
Funny Business
The Frager Factor
Mindblob
Open The Dialogue
Word Sell
Note to CMO:
That's Great Marketing!
Shotgun Marketing Blog
BrandSizzle
bizsolutionsplus
Customers Rock!
Being Peter Kim
Pow! Right Between The Eyes! Andy Nulman’s Blog About Surprise
Billions With Zero Knowledge
Working at Home on the Internet
MapleLeaf 2.0
darrenbarefoot.com
Two Hat Marketing
The Engaging Brand
The Branding Blog
CrapHammer
Drew's Marketing Minute
Viaspire
Tell Ten Friends
Flooring the Consumer
Kinetic Ideas
Unconventional Thinking
Buzzoodle
Conversation Agent
The Copywriting Maven
Hee-Haw Marketing
Scott Burkett's Pothole on the Infobahn
Multi-Cult Classics
Logic + Emotion
Branding & Marketing
Popcorn n Roses
On Influence & Automation
Bullshitobserver
Servant of Chaos
converstations
eSoup
Presentation Zen
Dmitry Linkov
aialone
John Wagner
Nick Rice
CKs Blog
Design Sojourn
Frozen Puck
The Sartorialist
Small Surfaces
Africa Unchained
Perspective
gDiapers
Marketing Nirvana
Bob Sutton
¡Hola! Oi! Hi!
Shut Up and Drink the Kool-Aid!
Women, Art, Life: Weaving It All Together
Community Guy
Social Media on the fly
Jeremy Latham’s Blog
SMogger Social Media Blog
Masey.com

Comments

[Gavin Heaton]

Good to see the Z-list spreading far and wide ... and nice combination with the 5 things meme! There certainly are some great blogs amongst this list!

[C.B. Whittemore]

Michelle, thanks for mentioning Flooring The Consumer. I like how you combined both the Z-list and blog-tag! Happy 2007!

[Doug Karr]

This has been a fantastic trip! Thanks for the mention and great blog!

Doug

[Paul Sanchez]

we are getting our first with granted next week! thanks for adding me to the zlist!

Paul

[Chris Kieff]

"Never underestimate the power of a small group of dedicated people to change the world. Indeed, it's all that ever have."

by Margaret Mead

The Z-list is the embodiment of this quote. Thanks for adding us.

Thanks,
Chris

http://www.msco.com/blog
written by Mark Stevens the author of:
YOUR MARKETING SUCKS

[Steve Miller]

Hey Michelle. Thanks for the mention on the Z-List. I like your style, too.

[Michelle Golden]

You're all quite welcome. I hope each of you enjoys the increased readership of your blog that this Z-list meme has evoked.

Happy blogging in '07!
Michelle

[tammy vitale]

Hi Michelle, I'm late saying thanks for Z Listing Women, Art, Life....somehow I missed you earlier.

Great post - the 5 things are always fun to read on a new-to-me blog - sort of starts the whole thing off like a great chat at some checkout counter where you can discover in 5 minutes some amazing things and people.