So, I’ve been experimenting a lot with blog widgets lately. You may have noticed them, running down the right hand side of the screen. Here’s what’s there, why, and what I’m thinking so far.

Search Box: Pretty self explanatory, probably used by me for the most part.

About Me: Just a blurb about myself and my blog. Originally a separate page, I decided to incorporate it here instead. Nothing too fancy and purposefully plaintext to try to deter a spambot or two.

RSS Feed: Essential. I get really annoyed with any blog that doesn’t have something like this. Attached to Feedburner, another must have.

Calendar: My motivator — turn the days blue. More like a mantra….turn the days blue, turn the days blue…

Monthly Archives: Another motivator, but more for organization and being able to go back and see what I was thinking a month ago, six months ago, and pretty soon a year ago.

Fav on Technorati: Kinda important, easy to use,Technorati is worth fully taking advantage of.

More Technorati Goodies:  See above.

MajikWidget Blog Poll: I have important questions, important questions that need answers. MajikWidget may not have the answer, but they do have easy to integrate tools for (hopefully) finding that answer.

Last.fm Recently Listened To: I like the idea of integrating music into my blog…Last.fm’s blog widgets are the best I’ve seen so far…I’ve tried a couple MP3 streaming blogs and have not been impressed. I’m open to suggestions, since I’d like to be able to stream the MusicIP Free Music from Debanter.

Facebook Profile Badge: I think this is only the beginning for this one…there’s a lot of fun stuff you could do to say something about yourself on Facebook in other places. But in the meantime, it’s one of my favorite online destinations so why not tell the world person who reads this?

FIQL MyPlaylists: These guys are working really hard and the site is a fun idea. I post playlists intermittently (when I remember to save them..which is not often), but for the most part I have this widget to support Mike and the rest of the FIQL team.

Twitter – What Am I Doing: Oooooooh, it’s simple…and fun…and more than slightly addictive. Like Facebook, I’m hoping for more options/customization in the future, but for right now it’s a bit of a ‘Why Not?’ widget, and it definitely impacts how well Twitter has stayed on my radar.

Backpack: Voluntary advertising. I love Backpack — useful for an individual and in groups. Easy to use, free – wildly low pricing. The calendar has also been the stickiest for me.

Firefox: IE is not the only option my PC loving friends. Make the move, you’ll thank yourself for it.

Creative Commons License: The sensible option for content creators, Creative Commons is the way to go for me. This widget lets everyone who takes a peek at what I’m writing know how I feel about reproduction and attribution of my wee little writings.

TheGoodBlogs: My latest blog widget experiment…it might stick, it might not. I haven’t had it long enough to really have much to say, but TheGoodBlogs sounded interesting enough.

So there you go – what’s happening on my Sidebar. Don’t you feel like you know me just a little better?