The Weblog Review

Having an idea about the weblog I’m about to read is something I enjoy. Almost like a movie trailer, it gives me an idea of what to expect. The author(s) of this weblog “aim to entertain a general audience with short stories and essays. Our publication schedule is irregular, but we do try to put up something new once a week.” At least that’s what it says in the about section of the site. So, that’s the idea I went on – irregularly posted short stories and essays.

When I clicked on the archive link, I was taken to a page where there are only nine entries. There are no dates indicating when these entries have been written at all. I decided to start at the one listed at the bottom and work my way up.

The essays are mundane. Describing in detail the process of “stop, drop, and roll” should you find yourself on fire and defending the integrity of the planet Uranus could both be topics that can turn into something fun or lengthy, but the author is content to just give four or five brief paragraphs about the topic. As I progressed up the list of archived essays and short stories, they got better with time.

The layout doesn’t consist of much. It’s a three-column layout and doesn’t appear to be based off any standard template. Hooray. The site is missing any bells and whistles, but they truly aren’t necessary and the design works just fine with this site.

The author’s “Instrument of Joy”, in this case, seems to be the keyboard (or the pen). He makes note in his “about” section that he wishes to remain anonymous until he becomes a better writer. With that, readers learn nothing else about the author.

I really never feel comfortable critiquing or reviewing someone’s creative writing. What someone else may find magnificent, I may find as something that cannot keep my attention for more than a few minutes.

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There were two things that jumped at me when I saw the site. 1.) the stark, let me say, “plainness” of the design, and 2.)the length of time it has been since the author’s last post. It was good to see, though, that he acknowledges the lack of posts and explains the reason for it. It’s certainly understandable why he hasn’t been able to update recently.

The blog is a compilation of essay-like entries that touch a variety of subjects ranging from politics to religion. Joseph Coyote seems very interested in current event and isn’t scared of voicing out his opinions in such matters. He does prove his points well, supporting his opinions with hard facts and sound arguments. But then again, so do a number of other bloggers. Coyote points out the hypocrisy of mankind concerning different subject matters and, I have to say, some of his arguments even swayed me.

I found the layout stark. But it wasn’t a bad thing, really. For once, I was glad not to have my eyes bombarded with all the different colors, shapes and banners. So it really was a pleasant surprise. It’s nice, neat and functional.

The entries are well-written, smart and entertaining. I certainly liked them. I only wish that there were more updates. I’m sure that when our author has gotten through his daily life businesses, he’ll get around to updating. NULL

“Rhubarb is Susan” has a note at the very top of the site instructing readers to read the disclaimer before continuing. Not being one to break rules, I did and I am very glad that I did. From this disclaimer, readers learn a lot about the author and the weblog before even reading a single entry. I love this in a site. A compact section that answers the questions of who, what, and why is a great addition to any weblog or any website for that matter.

Simon is the author of this weblog. He lives in Chicago and has a true passion for reading and even writing poetry. It somewhat offsets his career as a postdoctoral researcher in astrophysics, I guess. As learned in the previously mentioned disclaimer, he reviews poetry in his entries on “Rhubarb is Susan” and is very selective in how he does this.

The layout, for starters, is one of the infrequently used Blogger templates. It’s a classy one and actually flows well with the content of the site. There is just something about the text being on what looks like parchment paper that kind of fits in to the whole poetry theme of the site. Neato.

Simon goes about posting his reviews in a very courtesy manner. Each post contains the poem he’s reviewing and his thoughts on the work. This can obviously be somewhat lengthy. To save readers the hassle of having to scroll through so much text, he posts a couple of lines from the poem and then provides a “full review” link. If readers want to scroll quickly through the site looking for a particular review, this is much easier.

These reviews go into specific detail. In his own words, Simon goes into what the poet means, what could have improved the poem, and even sometimes touches the technical aspect of the piece of work. His passion and understanding of poetry clearly stands out in each of his reviews.

I can’t dance. My limbs are lethal weapons. Innocent people got hurt trying to teach me to dance. Same goes for me and trying to understand poetry. It’s never a pretty scene. Simon, however, does a superb job of explaining the poems he reviews. While they may not be pieces of work that I had ever read or seen, I still felt like I could learn a bit of what the poem meant.

Is “Rhubarb is Susan” a site that everyone will understand? Not at all. It is one I would recommend, though, for people willing to open their eyes to something new. For me, it made poetry seem like less of a daunting experience than I had previously thought.
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When I thought about the title of this blog, I thought this was going to be a site for men to rant about things. I don’t know why, it is just what I thought I would read. Unfortunately I was wrong. When the site loads the header tells us that this site is “Comments, mini-essays, anecdotes and quotations on language, literature, politics, the arts and almost anything else. Some are quite serious but most are not. Updated every two days or so.” Can we be any more straight forward on what to expect?

The blog uses a blogger template. Sure it is one of the less used ones, but I really wish the author would use his own design. The header has a little graphic, but that is it. The rest is standard. Oh yeah, before I forget its that brown flowery background one with the cream color main area.

Well the author doesn’t lie. He really does blog about almost everything. His posts are very long and detailed which I would normally be all for. However I found the posts to be quiet boring. The posts read very monotone like, almost as if Al Gore was writing this blog (please don’t let the author be Al Gore and let Tony be the author’s real name).

After reading through over half of the posts, I realized that this author could not be from the US and was probably from Europe. Little things like colour instead of color tipped me off, and then it made sense for how well written this author is. He definitely had a more strict/formal education than I have and it shows. I was finally happy that I was able to figure something out about this blog.

Overall I don’t know if I could recommend this blog. If you like a blog that has a lot of content, then this might be for you. For me though it just was not catching enough to keep me entertained. The best comparison I have is that this is like that foreign movie that some of us like, and some of us don’t.
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Jonathan is an academic, a writer, and a designer, according to his Blogger profile. Keeping that in mind, his weblog, “A Word in Your Ear”, has the potential to be a hit. Before even beginning my journey through Jonathan’s archives, I tried to block out the fact that the site is hosted through Blog*spot and does use one of the many charming Blogger templates. Thankfully, Jonathan has done a bit to spruce up the design. I’m hoping his writing does even more.

The archives date back to May 2004, giving Jonathan over a year and a half of posts to go through. His first post is actually an essay written in 2002 about graphic design in education. It didn’t take long for me to realize that when Jonathan posts, he puts a lot into what he is writing and the end result is something that is very easy to read and, while it may not pertain to the general blog-reading population, he is able to make each topic understandable.

Jonathan writes a lot about graphic design and about creating website using HTML and CSS and whatever else is the latest and greatest designing code. With as much talent as he possess in his writing, I have a feeling his coding skills are just as polished. No excuse for a Blogger template, Jonathan, none at all! 🙂

This site is extensive. The entries are long and there is quite a bit to read considering the site is updated nearly daily. Jonathan dabbles in a little bit of everything and makes it no secret to his readers. Whether he shares music he’s been working on or ideas of his future employment, guessing the content from each post to the next is nearly impossible. With such a wide variety of topics, readers can easily become enraptured in one topic or another.

Jonathan falls into the category of bloggers that like to write. A lot. His daily posts are lengthy, but are well written and easy to read. “A Word in Your Ear” is a site that is at least worth a glance, simply due to the wide range of topics the author can competently scribe in his entries.
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