Hit me up on ICQ and I'll chat about blogs any time.
I'm using word press to run the blogs, linkex (
http://linkex.dk/ ) to manage blog trades, and I'm using Blog Desk (
http://www.blogdesk.org/en/index.htm) to physically make the posts. I'm running about forty blogs using this system, with all posts written by hand.
There's a handful of tricks to use to increase your blog traffic. They are easy.
Hit me up and we'll chat.