When I clicked on the link to this site, the first thing that came up was the background image. It took a few seconds for the rest of the site (read that as “anything else”) to load up. My first impression was the background image was way too much. As soon as the rest of the site loaded up, however, I realized that impression was entirely off base. The main image, which is a piece done by Van Gogh, and the colors used throughout the rest of the site make the background become a bit more subdued. The overall appearance of the site is a very bold one, but not too bold to become gaudy.
“Area Youth Falls Prey to Narcissistic E-Trend” (“Area Youth…” for convenience sake from this point on) doesn’t miss a bit as far as the layout goes. The entire theme just goes very well together. The colors that are used for the links and text throughout the site very suitably play off the background and header images. The site is very simple to navigate, and has a nice mixture of extras as you scroll down the right side of the site. The extras include a brief bit about the site and about the author, contact information, a mood indicator, a zonkboard, the archives, and a good amount of links to outside sites like other weblogs, or sites that might relate to the author.
The archives go back to the middle of June, which is a time period that the author was just finishing the spring semester and preparing to study elsewhere for the summer. The author is studying Russian, so there are bits of Russian trivia and/or information sprinkled throughout the entries. While the majority of these tidbits are quite interesting, there are some that can be hard to grasp if you have no concept of Russian culture.
Like any personal weblog, there are some posts that are very highly involved with the author’s personal “real” life. I read this one, for instance, involving other people and past events in the author’s life. Most of the entries, though, don’t require you to actually know the author. They do mostly revolve around the happenings in the author’s life, what’s going on in school, and that type of thing. Each post is written in a style that’s easy to follow. While some of the entries were quite verbose, they made for very quick reading, which I personally like in a weblog.
“Area Youth…” is off to a very good start in the weblogging world. By experiencing things that most people won’t ever get a chance to experience in a lifetime, the author brings something unique to this journal. It’s definitely one that college-aged readers will enjoy, and it brings enough to the table that I would definitely recommend dropping by and giving the last few entries a read to see if it’s something you’d add to your favorites list.
Area Youth Falls Prey to Narcissistic E-trend