I don’t do Facebook or Twitter, and generally find mass social media sites like that to be the pavement on the road to Hell society as a whole finds itself on.  It always bugged me when somebody was begging you to “Like” them on Facebook.  Why like?  What if I fall in love instead, where is the Love button?  Is there also a Dislike button for those of us who think your Facebook posts suck huge ass?  Or better yet, a Cee-lo Green button, which displays a hand icon with a different digit extended rather than the thumb…

Who was the genius artist who only gave me four fingers to a paw?

As I discovered when I started this blog at the end of last year, WordPress has its own Like button, which allows visitors to leave a thumbs up on any post they enjoyed.  Even my blog, frequented mainly by my message board friends (who never leave Likes) and weirdos looking for Spongebob and Sandy porn (ditto, oddly enough), is scattered with a handful of Likes over its 8 month history…. 44 to be exact!  Now there’s no way to tell how many of those Likes are genuine, since I’d imagine there are those who just float through the blogosphere Liking random posts on blogs to try to generate more traffic towards their site.  I like to think though that most of my Likers actually took the time to click because they did like what they read or saw.

Thumbs up for Evil Squirrel! Thumbs up for YOU!!!

I don’t do a very good job of “advertising” my blog…. heck, I don’t really advertise it at all.  My readership is small, and largely random, and that’s OK since I’ve never been one to mind talking to myself.  I’m just getting a kick out of the idea that I might be sharing my creations with a larger audience than I had before.

When I receive a Like, I always check out the blog of the person leaving the thumbs up.  I don’t do random searches for blogs, so it’s pretty much the only exposure I get to what else is out there on in the vast world of WordPress.  Some of the blogs are pretty neat, some of them are horrendously awful, and there are many which are nice, but not my thing.  I’ll still usually at the very least return the favor with a Like of my own for one of their posts.  And sometimes I’ll even read it before I like it!

Ummm, ES. Wasn’t that a gerbil porn site you just “Liked”?

And now, I would like to pay tribute to some of the fine bloggers out there who have shared the love like with me in my blog’s short history.  The fine folks behind these websites took the time to visit the blog of a cartoon squirrel, and for that, I am truly appreciative….

Kitty Bloger:

YAYAYAY for cute kittehs!!!!

When I was first introducing my characters in the ES universe during the first month or so I had this blog, there was someone out there who was always ready with a Like for the posts introducing a cat character, and that was Kitty Bloger (sic).  KB has the honor of giving me my very first Like, and so they have the privilege of being the first blog honored here.  Cute kitty pictures are like gold on the internet, and KB has quite a popular site chock full of feline fun.

Cancer Killing Recipe:

I don’t think this meal qualifies.

Maintained by oneanna65, cancerkillingrecipe contains the thoughts of a cancer survivor.  Some older posts gravitate towards the top for some reason, but she’s still actively blogging, and I gotta give her props for being the only one to Like my send up of the IOPWS website “We Are the 85%”, which is still my favorite non-art related post I have done here.

Our Process:

Drawing is fun!

Aaron the Ogre was a frequent Liker of many of my early comics in the series I’ve posted here, and I am quite impressed with that given the man’s own artistic talent.  He posts portraits and caricatures he draws on his blog, and his most recent post as of this writing shows off his awesome drawing of Neil Armstrong in memoriam of his death yesterday.  Makes me long for the days of classic MTV…

Joe’s Shitty Ideas:

Joe would probably stand out in a tornado, too.

Joe’s Shitty Ideas is a chronicle of a friend of the blogger’s outrageous ideas he is always imparting.  I’ve often wondered whether the alleged mastermind behind these amusingly bad ideas is really the author himself, but regardless, JSI is a good read not to mention one of the greatest blog titles ever.  Unfortunately, there haven’t been any new posts there in over 5 weeks…

The Blog of Funny Names:

Really, what mother would name her child Evil?

Dave has been a frequent Liker of my posts, and is the co-founder of The Blog of Funny Names, where those with amusing monickers are celebrated.  If you get a chuckle out of hearing Dick Butkis or Ed Balls, this blog will provide hours of entertainment.  Each weekday, a new famous or not so famous person with an odd name is profiled, with the occasional “Funny Names in the News” smorgasbord thrown out for multiple laughs.

The One You’re In:

I love a good pot stirrer!

I included The One You’re In blog even though its author Becca is the only blogger I profiled today who Liked only one of my posts.  It was my Southpaw Day post a few days ago, and of all the blogs I’ve been directed to via Likes I’ve gotten here, hers is my clear favorite.  She’s funny, and like me, she has some fucked up takes on the issues facing our world today.

Bucket List Publications:

Travel tip: “Scritch” is universal in any language.

Last, but certainly not least, there is lesleycarter, who far and away is my most loyal and frequent Liker.  Her blog, Bucket List Publications, is all about traveling the world.  I’m not much of a traveling fan myself.  I’ve never been over 900 miles from home, and my only two flights in an airplane were the result of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire deciding to choose me as a contestant back in 2001.  But it’s obviously a passion for Lesley, whose blog is a huge hit for those seeking adventure out there.

A big thanks to everyone out there who ever took the time to Like anything I posted.  Whether genuine or hollow, I still get a kick out of seeing the notification, and to think I may have made someone smile really does warm my cold, blue heart.

Show the love! Like a squirrel today!