[dropcap1]R[/dropcap1]emind me not to enter my own contest again. Heh. It was a rough day in my humble little household, so I wasn’t watching the vote as diligently as usual. If it weren’t for a late-night Facebook push by the eventual popular vote winner, I would have come in first. Not that I’m in any way ungrateful for being so close to the top, it’s just kinda funny since this is my gig and all—I wouldn’t want it to look like a fixed contest. Thanks, guys, for the votes and votes of confidence.

Editor’s choice

So hard to pick again this week, and I went with Erin at A Book for my Daughter. It’s a moving post about her absence from her blogging addiction and how she’s traditionally handled all other projects/obsessions in her life. I very closely identified with so much of it and, as always, Erin’s post was very well written. Welcome back to lovelinks, Erin, and congrats on the win.

Lurker’s favorite by Flood G

In another close race, Flood chose lovelinks virgin Kim at Rubber Chicken Madness. It was the theme of “letting kids be kids and feel what they feel” that influenced Flood’s pick. I loved the photos that were the focus of the post. Congrats, Kim. We hope to see you next week.

Popular winner

Jenny Leigh mobilized her social media army and won this week’s popular vote with a very funny post on her fender bender with an elderly man who, if not stopped, will manage to kill us all. When I’m on the road, the two drivers I yell at the most are old people and teenagers. Why can’t they all stay home? Congrats, Jenny Leigh, on the win.

Comment karma

Whenever it’s a slow news day around my house, I like GOTV tweeting for each lovelinked blog. It goes something like this:

Voting lovelinks today? Vote here for free fringes. [current link to lovelinks]

You guys will then RT your GOTV and your army arrives dutifully to vote for you. It’s a cool thing.

Yesterday, @book4mydaughter retweeted the GOTV for two other someones instead of her own, and I was verklempt. I am a big fan of promoting others over promoting myself, and Erin’s tweet shows she feels the same way. Thanks, Erin, for such a sharing spirit.

Win-Win

The thumbnails are sorted in the grid from most yellow star votes to the least. In the case of a tie, like if four blogs all got seven votes each, the thumbnails are sorted by page views. Do not be discouraged if your blog has landed near the bottom of the grid; it is always a tight race. The fun lies in getting better exposure for your blog and in the spirit of competition as incentive to improve your writing and blogging skills. It’s a win-win for everybody involved.

Thanks again, everybody, for linking up, for reading, for voting. And for making lovelinks the most welcoming spot on the Interwebs.

Lovelinks #40 opens Tuesday.