The Weblog Review

Brandon, the author and creator of The Chirish Website, is a high school senior, and a self-admitted computer geek. A lot of his posts deal with high school life or that “geeky coding stuff” he seems to enjoy so much. Posting what you like or what you enjoy is usually what defines a weblog, and it does just that.

In all honesty, there were many entries I read where I had absolutely no idea what was going on or who was being talked about. However, I’m sure that the people Brandon addresses in these posts know exactly what’s happening. It’s just one of those very personal weblogs where you might actually have to know the author to “get it”.

This is a relatively new weblog to join the ranks of the thousands and thousands out there. Brandon’s only been keeping this weblog since mid-December 2002, but he’s already put a lot of evident hard work and time into the site, both the programming behind it as well as always adding more and more sections to peruse while visiting the site.

The site design is extremely functional and very easy to use/navigate. The different shades of blue all look pleasant together. It’s simple to tell what may be a link and what’s not and there’s not much to try and question when looking at the design. It’s very straight forward and works great for Brandon’s weblog and the rest of the sections of his site.

These sections are also a great addition to the site and definitely worth checking out while you’re there. The games portion of it literally kept me occupied for hours. All I needed was more things to keep me planted in front of the computer and the links Brandon has available to online games definitely did just that.

The Chirish Website is definitely one that focuses solely around Brandon’s personal life. While the biggest part of the site deals with what’s going on in his life on a daily basis, by following it for a while you begin to feel like you quite possibly fit right in to his daily routine. I would suggest checking this site out just to see if Brandon’s the kind of guy you’d like to keep tabs on from day to day.

chirish.com

This blog, from a guy named Adam, isn’t given any particular name. When you go to adamswansen.org, you’re met by a nice picture of sun beating down through clouds and the words “you don’t have to believe everything you think.” Interestingly, I find this statement to be oddly profound as I think it’s ultimately true in life; despite its simplicity. This statement, to me, touches on the fact that we’re all our own worst enemies — and how often times, it’s what we think that limits us and/or hurts us. Without a doubt, this statement was incredible at welcoming me to Adam’s blog.

Adam is the posterchild, or atleast could be, for The National Everyday Blogger’s Assosciation (NEBA) — if such an organization existed. He writes in an everyday fashion and pulls it off surprisingly well. Here’s a taste of his style for writing …

“February 06, 2003

Haircut

haircutting for me is a spiritual experience. I love to get my haircut there’s something about it that just feels really good. I got it cut today because it needed it badly. The guy did something that I have never had anyone do. He strapped this vibrating thingy(yes I see the joke) to the back of his hand and gave me the best head massage that I have ever gotten. Wow.

On a side note it’s still snowing here. It’s really white.” (adamswansen.org)

Now, I find this entry to be quite entertaining just because of the pure realism it offers. Adam’s real with his readers and I think that’s appealing — it certainly is to me.

I don’t like giving 5’s … in fact, I think I’ve become notorious for being harsh and overly critical … But this guy covers all of his bases, by being genuine. I like the design, I like the writing … it’s as simple as that. Well done Adam.Adam’s Mile high Blog

I’ve never seen a weblog quite like this one before.

This isn’t your average, run-of-the-mill, this-is-what-happened-to-me-today weblog. Rather then current events, the author decides to take the readers on a journey through her family’s lives years ago. Whether they’re memories she’s experiences, or stories she’s been told, there’s so much recollection throughout the posts that it nearly seems like a history book.

The design is a slightly modified Blogger template. It’s one of the better ones to choose from, and by using this one, it really puts the main focus of the site on the words, which is definitely where it should be in this instance. The black and white pictures that are posted along the sidebar are a wonderful touch to both the layout, and to give you an idea of what the author’s family is actually like. After all, the entire time you’re reading the site, you’re picturing them in your head.

The entries are like reading through a photo album, but Trish gives you the image through her words, allowing you to see it the way you perceive it. The entries aren’t really that of a personal weblog, but more along the lines of very tiny chapters in a historic or genealogical novel of some type. It’s a different type of weblog, but I’m certain it’s own that could draw a very nice following. It may be the type of thing you’re looking for. Give it a shot and see.
Writer’s Block: Scribblings from Memory

Once again I come to a blog and have no starting point or basis from which to understand where the writer is coming from. Who are you? Where are you? How old? Why are you blogging? Some basic info about the writer would help readers to relate.

The older entries were not in typical paragraph sentence form but were long winded poetic reflections of a time and place in the author’s past. It was somewhat Ginsburg-ish. There is a lot of description… which I found cumbersome at times. Can there be too much of a good thing? I think this style would be better suited to a book of poetry. This style may appeal to other readers however.

Most of the content focuses on the writer’s family and events in her life such as the birth of her daughter or trips to the hospital for her ill father. My favourite entry was from 8.13.2002 which I will only share a piece of… (I encourage you to read the whole thing)

“I come across a slip of paper taped to a cubbyhole in the desk. Document “Uncle Henry” and “Aunt Daisy” in family history it says. For a moment, I wondered what in the world, then a split second later I smiled, remembering Mom telling me last year, in the midst of her first flush of grief and confusion. “I want to tell you before I forget…” “Uncle Henry” and “Aunt Daisy” were Mom and Dad’s code phrases in their early love letters to each other”

Overall a solid but somewhat brief read. A few things: the picture links are all dead for many of the archive entries. The layout is clean but could use a bit more zip. The archives go back nearly a year but there are only a few entries but month… clearly the website is very well named. 🙂 I felt the blog read like a script for A&E’s Biography at times. This isn’t a bad thing, but if you aren’t interested in John Doe’s story you will likely turn the channel. Writer’s Block: Scribblings from Memory

I must say that my curiousity was definitely piqued when I saw the title for this weblog. I half-expected to be bombarded with ads and pop-ups about CD’s and video games when I loaded up the site. Much to my surprise, however, I was presented with a clean and simple front page that was pleasing to the eye.

The Mediaburn Radio Weblog is a companion to the online magazine at http://www.mediaburn.net. Consequently, the links and news on the weblog revolve around the same topics as the magazine does – namely “news, information, music, and the arts”. However, the weblog itself is primarily news and information about music and the arts, and technology. In fact, many of the news stories did focus on technology, such as the recent acquirement of blogger.com by Google. There are occasional sparse comments by the author, but the weblog is primarily a collection of links to different articles, albeit interesting articles. For example, the blog’s February 3, 2003 entry had a link to a site which tracks the national debt (which unfortunately is over 6 trillion dollars as of 2 minutes ago).

I couldn’t seem to find any information about the author, or perhaps authors, of this weblog. Gary Santoro appears to be the sole commentator of the blog and director of the magazine. I had to dig through many of the entries to find some of Gary’s comments, and I was disgruntled by the fact that many of his comments were short and unrevealing. Although this is primarily a news and links site, it is nevertheless a weblog, and the author’s insight and feelings are a key element in blogging.

The Mediaburn Radio weblog is essentially a collection of various links, some interesting and some not. The blog doesn’t have a specific target group – it’s content ranges from everything to current events to technology. If you’re a fan of mediaburn.net, then I recommend you visit the blog. Otherwise, you can find most of the information on the blog on the pages of Yahoo.com and CNN.The Mediaburn Radio Weblog