The Weblog Review

This is a daily journal type of blog by Elissa, an interesting mix of part Creek Indian and part Irish. As the graphics and personal poses at the top introduce, she is more than likely a rather rambunctious high school teenager with a lot to say. The name of this blog is One Moment which comes from the film “The Mists of Avalon.” In one scene where Merlin is dying, Elissa is especially moved. She is rightfully inspired by Merlin’s final breath “find one moment of happiness that belongs just to you.” In her very own words, this is a fitting title to use for her “personal-collective-type site.”



When you first see the dancing girl pictures in various poses at the top of this blog, you are not quite sure what to expect. Is this the author? In her bio she says she is blond, so maybe not. What is this blog about? Life, passions, poetry and other writings are included, and Elissa says she loves music as well. The design of the page and the rampant, daring use of red pull the reader downwards in search of more.



This is no less than her fifth attempt at a suitable layout for the site that she first started last year. The previous layouts lead up in an interesting way to the current one, but there remains a slight air of impatience with constant changing emotions and ideas that provide an underlying theme throughout the blog. This is the diary of a teenage girl with lots and lots of ideas, ups and downs like anyone her age.



The blog is described as “It’s all about me” which accurately describes the contents. Some readers may bore easily of so much ME flying around: I did this, I did that, I feel like, I saw them, I, et cetera. The navigation is a bit awkward at times. There are enough links to get the visitor around quickly, but you can get lost sometimes. One is not quite sure where the main website ends and the blog starts, and vice versa. There are plenty of good graphics here. The first time one visits the blog it may be hard going if one has a slow connection.



One very refreshing idea is her guestbook. There the visitor can enter one’s own website and apply for a site award by signing the guestbook. It is a curious and creative technique, how Elissa gives you the freedom to define your own made-up title for the award. She even adds it to her growing list of site awards, which is done pretty cleverly with screenshots of the so-called award winning sites.



For a junior in high school, this site is in general entertaining, spunky, and roundabout in more ways than one.One Moment

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this site when I came to it. It had a webcam shot and below some quick “current” info on the author, some archives and a reader poll. The orange and black layout didn’t appeal to me right away, but after I was on the site for a while, it grew on me.



Nick’s a high school student from Michigan who writes with a sarcastic twist, which I liked. In one of his most recent posts, he said that he hadn’t written for a while because he had rediscovered his bongo drums and took off to on a tour with some Jamaicans to do a world tour. He goes on from there to tell a funny little story with a camera shot of him jamming on his bongo drums just to make it seem a little more “realistic.”



In addition to his blog, he has some poetry, which you can comment on, a bio page, which gives you some background on him and other links to news or other blogs.



I didn’t totally dig all of his posts, but if you like reading blogs with a touch of sarcasm, you might like this site.SheepShirts Blog

Here’s Britt’s “journal of a starving artist”, and here is an enjoyable blog – all in the same. You can’t beat that.



Britt’s a multi-jobbed aspiring actor that lives a life just like anybody else. What Britt does manage to do between working all her different shifts is to keep the public entertained via her weblog. And entertaining is a wonderful word to describe “the journal of a starving artist”.



I like the list of six different “currents” Britt keeps along the side of her site, including the oversaid expression, addiction, or CD in player that she’s currently got going on.



I was disappointed to see a generic Blogger template used, but I guess that’s what happens when you’re on the go as much as Britt.



And finally the actual weblog. I liked it, and feel like it could easily become a daily diversion to anyone. Of course, the weblog is going to be enjoyed more by people in the 17-25 year old range, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.



Britt’s very colorful in her descriptions of what goes on in her life, and it makes each post fun and easy to read. Her writing is very conversational, and that’s what people like when trying to read someone’s weblog.the journal of a starving artist

When submitted for review, Bruno had a different URL. Usually a redirect page turns me off, but the redirection to such a well designed site was no problem. The problem is that with the site redesign, Bruno left off his archived entries for the last year.



I like the layout tremendously. The clean design with easy to navigate links is a plus. The graphic is cool blue and twisted. Everything works and works well on this site. The scroll is a bit fast for an old lady, but I finally got the hang of it. I don’t especially like the guestbook format, but perhaps he will find one that works better. All you have to do is close the browser on it and it moves out of the way of the main site.



I adore “about” pages, and Bruno’s was no disappointment. It told me who, where, and why. His “essays” section has some interesting reading. I would have liked to read some of the archived entries from 2001.



I’ll check back on Bruno to see where he takes the site with the new design. I just hope he considers adding archives to his 2001 entries.

Dissension

Obviously the name of this site is a reference to the phrase “Beating a dead horse.” With that in mind, I wasn’t sure what I would expect out of this site.



Page loads and of course we are thinking about horses, and there is a picture of baby ducks climbing. What does a baby duck have to do with the weblog? I don’t know.



The next thing I notice is that the design of the site is a blogger template that some how managed to win the template contest. Yes it is a good one for multiple content areas, however, they are so spread out that it makes them not flow together. I really cannot comment any more on the design, as it is a template.



Finally I start to read the site, and I am entertained by it. A lot of the posts reference us to another site, with a little description or note about it first. I liked this part. The personal stuff was in there from what I could tell out of sheer need to just post about it and let it out. I found some of the posts to be quiet entertaining, while others, you guessed it, were “Blogging a dead horse.”



The score of the 2.5 is because it uses a template, with out a good integration into the site. Maybe a different template would help, I don’t know. But also because of the more often personal posts being just like the title. There are some good reads here, but you have to look a little bit for them.blogging a dead horse