The Weblog Review

High school life is a time of struggle, regardless of which country you live in or where you study. It is a time for young individuals to form their own characters, often an amalgam of their parents and their peer group, or in the case of the lucky few, a result of their learning. It is also a time of struggle for precocious talent. Sports stars are pressed to do better, train harder, and attract more cash to their schools. Attractive members of the student populace fight to become more attractive and more popular.

And there is also the next generation of writers to consider. Finding a voice is incredibly tough; many fail, instead attempting to adopt the style and language of their favourite published authors. To those that succeed, I raise my hat to you.

Fatuity (With A Grain Of Salt) is the work of a sophomore named Karan (with an ‘a’, apparently), a writer with a voice.

The blog is new, fresh, and like all young blogs faces the threat of becoming stillborn with each day that passes unremarked. Fortunately, there are no gaps in the history of this work; though it stretches back only two months (this and last), Fatuity is packed with highly involved posts, many worthy of comment here. Early in the writer’s online career, Karan takes an insightful look at the phenomenon of real-life stereotypes – those people that make a snug home for themselves in the pigeonholes society has crafted for them.

The site is a little empty, though. The design is wonderfully minimalist and doesn’t distract the reader, which helps, but I’d like to see more content. The page has a random photograph at the top – all of the ones I’ve seen look majestic and wonderful, but I know nothing about them, such as who took them, and with what, and why? The “About” section is prosaic and leads to no useful additional information, which is a shame, considering I have no idea about the name “Karan” and feel like it may be closely related to the effeminate “Karen.”

I also want to know more about the author’s experience with Dengue Fever in the Pacific Rim. I have read tales about Dengue, and know that it is a nasty, nasty virus; an additional post or even a short travelogue separate from the main content would be most welcome.

Otherwise, this is a good site, and could one day become very good. Karan has heard from the site’s detractors, complainants saying the tone is too depressive. It isn’t, I don’t think, and it is worth visiting. With a bit more time invested, and the continued hard work of the writer, it could grow to be a titan in its field. Until that time, I’m forced to give no more than an upper-average grade.

Fatuity

Every so often, while stumbling through the lists and links and indexes of blogs, you come across a site so well crafted and interesting you are reminded of why you became so excited by this whole “blog” thing in the first place. Johnny America is one such site.

It appears to be a group blog started in July of this year. Each author has a distinct voice. All of them are fabulous writers. There’s something here for everyone: Reviews of everything from bars to books to movies to restaurants. Wonderfully written fiction. Daily “dispatches”. Funny asides. Cultural commentary. But even with such a wide array of entries from several different authors, there’s still an overriding cohesive feel to Johnny America.

Each entry stands on its own. You can dive into the site at almost any point and find something wonderful to read. The posts are sublime. They crawl under your skin. Some are light and funny. Others are darker, cryptic and more disturbing. All are worth savoring. I found myself laughing in odd spots. A few simple sentences detailing the relative efficiency of toothbrush dampening methods caught me off guard, making me laugh out loud. The effect is a subtle one. The authors play with their audience (in the best way). Johnny America draws you in, gets you hooked, and leaves you wanting more. I was disappointed when I came to the most recent entry, since it meant I could read no further.

The design is as simple as can be and it perfectly fits the tone of the site. Johnny America is about the words. It’s about the writing. Any unnecessary bells and whistles would take away from the quiet, reflective atmosphere of the site.

There are a few amusing extras to be found here, including some chuckle inducing emails having to do with an “Am I Hot Or Not?” experiment, and an odd little Questions and Answers page. My only complaint about the site is that I wish there was a little more information on who these people are.

Johnny America is a wonderful young site with incredible potential. It takes the concept of a blog or online journal and runs with it, offering unique and thought-provoking writing to what’s sure to be a rapidly increasing audience.
Johnny America

Christopher Walker likes to make monkeys cry. On purpose. Thus the title of this lovely online journal. This particular predilection is never fully explained, but it’s enough to justify the title.

A young man from the UK, Walker is a writer and web designer. He began Monkeys Cry in June of last year. Walker is a talented writer with a love of language and good ear for a cleverly turned phrase. When I first started reading through the archives, I thought to myself, “This guy takes himself a little too seriously,” but slowly his dry sense of humor began to show up here and there. Walker, like most writers, is an avid reader and many of his entries are concerned with his latest read. He’s a thoughtful and witty critic.

The first half of Monkeys Cry details Walker’s move to Nagano, Japan to become a teacher. His descriptions of the landscape, the people, and the cultural differences he encounters are delightful to read.

Some of the entries are a little cryptic, but deliberately so, and it doesn’t happen frequently enough to be annoying. Instead it serves as an incentive to read further in the hope that these riddles will be solved. A few of the entries are a bit wordy and at times the author’s flowery language borders on pretentious, but the subjects he chooses to expound on are interesting more often than not.

There are some excellent extras to be found at Monkeys Cry. Several lovely photo series taken by Walker in both Japan and Europe are available. Also included are links to Walker’s original short stories and online novel, The Last People. I haven’t read the novel yet but his short stories are interesting.

Visually, Monkeys Cry is lovely. Walker is a talented web designer. He recently started his own design business, Ubik Studios. His journal is simple but not plain and looks great in both Netscape and Internet Explorer. An appealing patterned background and photos that rotate as you move from page to page add visual punch. He’s a proponent of fully accessible design, and for that I could just kiss him.

Monkeys Cry is a sturdy, engrossing journal. Walker takes the time to craft more than just a laundry list of his daily activities. You can tell he puts a lot of thought into each entry. He takes chances with his writing and isn’t afraid to experiment with style. That, combined with a pleasing original design, makes Monkeys Cry a journal worth returning to.
Monkeys Cry

Nino Nano Speed is maintained by Nino Marchetti, a freelance writer from California. When I first arrived at the site, I wondered about the title. What, exactly, is “Nino Nano Speed”? I got my answer as I began looking through the archives.

It turns out that Nino Nano Speed is term coined by Marchetti’s fiancée to describe the pace at which he lives his life. The blog appears, at first, to be simply a collection of links with editorial commentary by Nino, much like any number of blogs available online. But as the months go by more and more personal entries begin to appear. It’s this interesting mix of personal anecdotes and cultural commentary that make Nino Nano Speed a pleasure to read.

Marchetti is a good writer. He comes across as a thoughtful fellow, neither arrogant nor abrasive. He offers up a good selection of links to peruse. Most are to items and articles I hadn’t seen before. He also includes original pieces of his own, most written for classes he is taking at a local university.

My personal barometer for what constitutes a good blog or journal is the author’s ability to involve me emotionally with his life or the material he is presenting to the reader. When I found myself smiling like a goof at Marchetti’s engagement announcement, I knew he had drawn me in.

Also included on the site is a link to Marchetti’s professional writing portfolio.

The design is one of Blogger’s standard templates. It is one I’ve seen on dozens of other blogs, but it’s professional looking and easy to read.

The blog was submitted in the news/links category, although the amount of personal entries on the site almost caused me to re-categorize it. I decided in the end to leave it in the news/links category. Most of the entries do touch on technology, politics, and culture in traditional weblog style.

Nino Nano Speed is a fine blog from an informed and intelligent writer. Thoughtful, funny, and relevant, it’s one I plan on visiting regularly.
Nino Nano Speed

I did the happy dance when I saw this one come up on the list! I’ve been hoping for this kind of blog to show up for review, since it’s a good example of one of the newer uses of blog technology. It’s not a personal blog, but listed in the news/links category. In this case, Bay Area freelance writer Nino Marchetti is using it as a showcase for his work, while at the same time providing items of interest in his field and the occasional editorial. It’s an active virtual resume. Great idea!

Like so many of these, where the text is the most important thing, it’s hosted on Blogspot using a template. Yes, I know, templates are anathema to traditional bloggers, as our fearless leader, Brent Todd, pointed out on Call For Help today. ;>)

This is a different kind of blog, though. Readers of news-oriented blogs, I’m finding, are mostly interested in sites that load fast, navigate easily, and have good content. The bloggers themselves are either technically-challenged, and sometimes wouldn’t have a blog at all without templates, or have time constraints that don’t allow for creating some of the impressive visual art I’ve seen on more traditional blogs. The result is a plain vanilla visual presentation, with the textual content carrying the show.

You can expect many more of these to come; they’re catching on like wildfire with writers of all kinds. This may be seen as heresy by some; but it appears to be the way things are going these days.

There’s plenty here at Nino Nano Speed to read, and links where I found new things I didn’t know about, and bookmarked for a later look. There’s a newer section called, “Stupid Criminal Tricks,” where he posts the dumb things criminals do to end up on local police blotters. I hope he can keep this feature going! The author’s been maintaining the blog since May 2002, and while not posting everyday as he should, doesn’t leave gaps of too many days or even weeks as some do. His major fields of interest have been crime and business at the local level while freelancing for a newspaper, with the occasional segue into writing on religion, food, or technology.

He’s been smart to keep his focus local and limited to his areas of expertise. Sometimes cyberjournalists try to take on the world, or at least the country, which can leave the readers wondering what the dude’s on about. In this case, there’s no confusion about what you’re going to find here.

Because he’s new at this, and writing for a variety of publications, the writing quality and tone of the blog is uneven. This is a typical problem for freelancers, but eventually it does iron itself out as the writer finds his own voice, and starts to relax with the process.

I’d like to see more of a blogroll — networking is, after all, what it’s all about!

Otherwise, this is a worthwhile blog for anyone interested in this part of the world outside and beyond San Francisco. It’s not perfect, but it’s pretty good.

Nino Nano Speed