The Weblog Review

“A Little Bit of Lisa” – I figure you can’t get more self explanatory about a personal weblog than that. I can certainly appreciate getting right to the point of a title and not leaving everyone guessing what they’ll be reading about.



Naturally, the first thing I noticed when loading the site was the layout. The image of a rubber duck and the use of different hues of yellow give the site a fun appearance, and the colors are also very easy on the eyes. The main focus of the site, naturally the weblog, can be found directly underneath the rubber duck image. A good chunk of information about the author can be found along the right hand side of the weblog – information about the author, the archives listed in both by month and by category, stats on the weblog itself and MANY more things to check out upon visiting.

The archives for April had a line or two of coding that may have been a little off, causing the majority of the entries for that month to be difficult to read, but the rest of the monthly archives were all uniform in design and just matched up perfectly. I was met with “403 Forbidden” screens a few times when following some of the links along the sidebar, but I’m assuming that has something to do with the “moving in” process to a new domain.

“A Little Bit of Lisa” has been around, as far as the archives indicate, only since January of 2003. Already in that time period, it’s switched from a Blog*Spot location to a new domain/location: http://www.lisaandben.com/alittlebitoflisa/.

Depsite over five months of entries, the time I spent reading all the archives seemed to just fly by. A good chunk of the entries are that of the standard weblog “fillers”: Friday Fives, Saturday Scruples, and a few various quizzes. Thrown in with those entries, you find personal tidbits of Lisa’s daily life. A very personal type of entry that I really enjoyed were the different entries where Lisa listed five things she loved about her husband, Ben.

Lisa is a regular person just like you or me, and her weblog reflects that. She talks about every day topics that any one of us could experience. For that reason, “A Little Bit of Lisa” is a good weblog to check out if you’re looking for a personal site to add to your list of daily reads.

A Little Bit Of Lisa

Becoming an estate agent has always been an interest of mine, and I’m an avid viewer of Selling Houses and Location, Location, Location, so I was interested to see a weblog dedicated to the profession. Just to make clear, the weblog is heavily linked to the author, John Mudd’s, business site. I suppose this would be more useful if you were actually house hunting in Tampa Bay, but I took advantage the featured homes to check out how the property market was going in another part of the world.

Back to the weblog, the main purpose of the site is given as being news/links, and whilst any news on the real estate front is reported, there are also tips such as “Getting the Best Price When Selling Your Home” and “What Sellers Should Disclose When Selling”. Many of these posts are followed by Mudd’s contact details and you are encouraged to contact him if you are interested in selling or buying in his locality (or if you just want advice on real estate). This site is definitely used as a promotion for John’s work, as well as for a personal site, and this does feel quite imposing if you are reading for leisure or just out of interest.

I would be very interested to see how this site is received by Mudd’s clients. Accompanying a few news posts are Mudd’s own comments and opinions. A very recent one even comments around America’s relationship with the Middle East. This is surely a risky move considering that his clients and potential clients use the site. He could easily offend people either way. Still, it must be refreshing to some customers to get an insight into their agent/seller like this.

The layout of the site works okay, but as all the links towards the top of the screen are for the business site, you have to scroll right down the screen to find the archives. Mudd’s ‘about page’ (which is well worth a read) can only be found on the business site, so I’d like to see that brought onto the weblog. To look at, the site is a little busy, but then Mudd is a real estate seller and writer, not a web designer.

I’m guessing that you’re going to get a lot more out of this site if you are thinking of moving house (especially in the Tampa Bay Area) or if you’re in the real estate business. Although I don’t fit into those categories, I still found the site interesting and am sure there are many other weblog readers out there for whom the site is worth a visit. I have given John Mudd’s Inside Real Estate Journal a 4 because it is an original and interesting concept. With more work on the layout, a move away from the business site (so that Inside Real Estate stands alone), and more frequent posts, it could command an even higher rating.
John Mudd’s Inside Real Estate Journal

Do you know what Ei Baa Hashne means? I’ll tell you about it. No, that’s what it means, “I’ll tell you about it”. I am very intrigued by this weblog, it’s subtitled “A web log by a Navajo in New Orleans”. I must admit, I don’t know much about Navajo culture, and this made me very interested to read the weblog. The first thing I noticed was the Navajo Word of the Week column in the right hand sidebar. That is a really nice touch that adds a lot to the blog. It’s a great way to introduce the written Navajo language to the readers.

I’m now aware that ‘chidi’ means a car (or automobile) and browsing through the Navajo Word of the Week archives is interesting, I think I can formulate a sentence based on what I’ve read: “Ei ashkii bi ‘at’eed shik’is nizhoni”. My apologies if my attempt came out wrong. I was trying to say “That boy has a beautiful girlfriend” but I’m not sure it ‘’at’eed’ and ‘shik’is’ can be joined to mean ‘girlfriend’. It’s fun to learn the sentence structure and grammar and at least I can say “Ya’at’eeh. Huai Bin yinishye. Ashkii nishli. 22 shinaahai. Melbourne di shighan” with confidence. It’s in the Navajo Word archives. 🙂 Go look up what it means, Vernon (the site owner) has done a really good job with the description and sample sentences!

Vernon has been running the blog since the 19th of February 2003, so this makes it a relatively new one. The entries are fairly regular, Vernon does not skip more than a couple of days in between posts. The monthly archives are nicely peppered with photos too, and Vernon participates in quite a few “blog memes” like the Friday Five and Photo Friday (to name two). The blog starts out nicely, with most of the entries in the first month and the first few entries in March updating the reader about the Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans. Vernon was part of the parade as well, in one of his entries in March titled “MG update: My Orpheus Experience”, he describes his experience with setting up and riding on a float.

It’s also very nice to see that Vernon is a proud of his heritage and he makes his feelings about that known in the March 4th entry about non-Native Americans dressing up as such during Mardi Gras. The later entries are a mix of commentaries about TV series and the “blog memes”, which makes the reader know more about Vernon. The two poems entitled “My Words” and “My Deeds” are really good too, and I particularly liked the second one. His feelings in that one really came through strongly.

I have always liked reading “nostalgic entries” and I enjoyed reading Vernon’s post on the 6th of April regarding cliques while he was in high school at the reservation. I have never noticed clique-type behavior at my high school, but it seems to be common in the United States. It’s also interesting to read that he’s on the Atkins Diet, which I’ve heard a lot of bad things about. It’s worthy to note that Jennifer Anniston and Brad Pitt is on that very same diet by Dr. Atkins…I picked that up while reading the papers last week regarding Hollywood personalities and their diets.

I also noticed that I’ve been to his blog before, but didn’t read anything then. I have recently started doing the Photo Friday too, and I remember clicking through all of the past entries, so I must have stumbled upon his weblog then, but didn’t pay attention to anything other than the photo. I am disturbed by his entry about accidental kerosene consumption when he was five. The taste of kerosene is all too clear to me (don’t ask why) and reading that made nearly made me retch in recollection of the taste.

The design of the site is based on a three column template, with the blog entries occupying the middle column. The right sidebar contains the wonderful Najavo Word of the Week (which I will definitely bookmark this site for) and links to other blogs. The left sidebar has the site navigation column, an avatar with the current weather in New Orleans, links to fellow Native American bloggers and webring memberships and other miscellaneous links. The design of the site isn’t anything special and doesn’t stand out, but the interesting entries makes up for that. This is definitely blog that favors content over eye candy.

The About Me page pops up a window (with a different background) with Vernon’s personal details, including his tribe and his ancestor’s clans. It’s interesting to learn another fact about Navajo culture – it seems to be a matrilineal society. Vernon is a physician (which he mentioned in the unforgettable kerosene entry) and we share the same favorite drink! No, not kerosene. Diet Coke. The other links are Vernon’s poetry, photos (of the photo memes like Photo Friday), an archive of all the memes he has done, a page dedicated to his pets, the blog archives and The May Day Project!

I haven’t seen a May Day project I didn’t like, and this didn’t break that tread. I enjoyed visually seeing what a day in the life of the author is. Ahehee Vernon, I really enjoyed reading through your entries! I’ll have to follow the guidelines and give it a 4 for the inconsistent design though. hagoonee’ everyone, and don’t forget to click on the link to check out Vernon’s blog, it certainly is a refreshing change and a fun read for me. It’s a very good site, that’s for sure.

Ei Baa Hashne’ – I’ll tell you about it

For a relatively new blog, Michael Colbert’s is rather good. The writing is concise, and the dry sense of humour Michael injects into his entries makes the posts rather enjoyable to read. Michael’s blog is mainly used for sharing things that he came across in a day – be it online or real life. Along with the good writing, there are also picture posts, which add colour to the blog.

The layout is a typical Blogspot template, and the blog is quite well-linked. There are little bits of information on the side tables, E.g. the reason for this blog name, but nothing too informative. The blog is updated every few days or so, and you can subscribe to the blog to be informed when there’s a new post.

This being a ‘personal’ blog, it has incredibly minimal information on the author. Only after reading his posts, did I learn that Michael’s attached, has two cats and is slightly asthmatic. It would be really good if there was an ‘About Me’ page.

On the whole, this is a rather typical ‘personal’ blog where you read about the author’s day and thoughts. It’s a pretty straight and frills-free blog so if you want a quick read, this should be a good choice.
michael colBLOG

The more entries I read at this site, the better I felt my own vocabulary was becoming. Maybe that’s why Josh refers My So-Called Strife as his “verbal bonanza”. To put it simply, Josh uses big words that just seem to flow naturally. When I use big words, they seem to stick out like a sore thumb throbbing so much you’d rather just rip it off.

In addition to his wonderful vocabulary, Josh is a VERY funny guy. He writes in a very conversational manner, which makes any weblog all the more enjoyable. Part of what makes My So-Called Strife such a humorous weblog is the way Josh does not hold back with writing about anything at all. Is running out of toilet paper something anyone would share on your weblog? Perhaps. But is sharing the resolution of that same problem something you’d share if it involved an old washcloth and the threat of skid marks? I don’t think I would. Josh, however, has no problem with it at all!

If it’s shock reaction he’s looking for, it certainly works. Just from reading entry after entry, I think that’s just how Josh is, though. He’ll say what’s on his mind and has no problem leaving out the details no matter how graphic or potentially self-embarrassing they might be. That type of attitude and writing style will definitely bring me back to read even more of his antics.

The layout is a simple one with the weblog portion of the site on the left, and several links running down the right. As far as I can tell, the appearance should be the same no matter what screen resolution readers are using. It’s a layout that works for what this site is, and that’s just Josh’s weblog. I found that the links he lists under “ephemera I like” are weblogs almost just as entertaining as My So-Called Strife.

Not to say that the weblog isn’t enough, however, because it’s much better then many, many weblogs I’ve read. I would love to see an “About the Author” section. Granted, through his posts you do find out information about where he works, or what he does in his free time, but after laughing nearly the entire time I read his weblog, I kept trying to figure out where this guy might have came from and what gives him this impeccable flair for being able to communicate things in such an entertaining way.



I bookmarked this site. I couldn’t help it. Why would I not want to add this site to my list of favorites? It had me laughing nearly the whole time I was reading, and when I wasn’t laughing I was thinking “Wow, that’s a good word” or “this guy really knows how to put together a string of sentences that don’t make me think I’ve been sitting here reading this for hours upon hours”. Trust me on this one. It’s worth your time just to take a peek at the last couple of entries. Those alone will hook you.


My So-Called Strife