Administration: How to get a link

OK. I am being hassled about this by someone who should know better, but for those of you who really would like a link on The Penitent Wagnerite, here is some information.

First, I try to select only blogs and websites that meet my own personal, subjective standards to be called "excellent." Some, like Sounds and Fury and On an Overgrown Path, meet those criteria with thoughtful, reasoned posts about a variety of things. Others, like Wellsung and Parterre Box, do so by being smart, funny, and outstanding sources for good opera information. There is something about being close to the cultural fires that makes for good reportage.

However, I can't read all 50,000,000 blogs out there. In fact, I only read about ten. So, if you think you've got dynamite, let me know (through the e-mail link above) - preferably in something approximating the form below:

Dear Mr. Smith:

I think that your blog would benefit from having a link to my blog, [name] ([url]). In fact, without my blog, yours is a sorry shell of a blog - yearning to have the glory and wonder that is mine. Furthermore, I'd be happy to link to yours.

Cheers,

John Q. Blogger

When you put it like that, what choice do I have? I could be rejecting the blog of the next Gore Vidal, Philip Roth, or Norman Mailer. How would I live with myself? How, more to the point, would I get a mention in the "Acknowledgements" section of their book? Also, the chance of having more readers to mine through my largesse pleases me. Of course, if your blog isn't that great or I don't like your tone: you're S.O.L.

It's that easy. Or is it?