Self-Loving Post About Blog Carnivals

I am a founder and a co-proprietor of the Tar Heel Tavern which I have hosted three times so far (here, here and here).

I am a co-founder and co-proprietor of the Carnival of the Balkans, which I hosted twice.

I have put together six issues of Meta-Carnival, until the Blog Carnival webpage made it obsolete.

I have hosted a bunch of carnivals over time, including Tangled Bank (twice), Grand Rounds, Skeptic's Circle, Carnival of Bad History, Carnival of the Godless, Carnival of Education, Carnival of Un-Capitalists, Smarter Than I and Karnival of Kidz. I think that's all!

I am about to host the Skeptic's Circle again in two weeks (send your entries!) and am lined up for hosting Carnival of the Liberals pretty soon. I am already thinking which carnival to sign up to host next!

Along with those, my blogs/entries have also appeared on Blogarithmicly, Blog Of The Day, New Blog Showcase Extravaganza, Friday Ark, Carnival of the Vanities, Bonfire of the Vanities, Philosopher's Carnival, History Carnival, Carnival of Feminists and Carnival of Sin (I think that's all!). I am also supporting (and will, one day, write and submit posts for) I And The Bird, Circus of the Spineless, Carnival of Cockroaches, Carnival of Green, Teaching Carnival, Carnivalesque and some others, and I try to remember whenever I can to give them a shout-out and link to the latest edition.

Do you all think I am CRAZY!? Is there anyone out there who has hosted as much (not counting non-rotating pseudo-carnivals)? But let me tell you one thing - it was all worth it! The big avalanches of hits come and go - that's sweet while it lasts, but that is not the ultimate goal. What lasts much longer is discovery of so many bloggers who care about the same things I care about. Most of my blogroll (still under construction) consists of blogs I discovered via carnivals. It is also very nice to get in personal touch, via e-mail, with hosts (when I submit an entry) and with the rest of the community (when I am the host). That is priceless. So many friends. No more blogging alone.

Anyway, a new long post about participation in blog carnivals, how to go about it, and what you get out of it, is brewing in my head, so watch this spot if you are interested...