The Weblog Review

My first impressions of “Malibu” were good ones – she has her own domain name, an MT blog with different skins to choose from and some “About Me” stuff to get people started off with.

The templates (about seven in all) seemed to work well and look good, and it was nice that she had differentiated the ones suitable for lower resolutions. After browsing through them all, I ended up settling on the “Cat” one and then had a look round to see what there was in the way of other extras. I was quite pleased that there wasn’t too much junk in the sidebars, which seems to find its way in to a lot of blogs. There were simply the usual archives (by category or date), recent comments and two different “About Me” pages. I found the traditional “About Me” more interesting and in depth than the “Alpha-Bio”, but both were informative and helpful nevertheless. Looking through the archives, it seems that she used to have a photoblog and had removed it for one reason or another, which I felt was a shame as this also meant that a lot of the pictures in her archive postings were non-existent too. I always like nosing through a good Photoblog!

So on to the content, and one little niggle I had straight away was the spelling. Now I don’t usually bother to point out the odd spelling mistake or typo in a review, but unfortunately with this weblog it did affect my reading enjoyment somewhat, and in some cases it was difficult to work out what was being said. I know it can be a pain in the arse to put all our postings through a spell checker, but on the other hand a lot of the errors Malibu had could have been resolved simply by reading through the entry first, before posting it up. Ok, lecture over.

Generally speaking this is a personal weblog which doesn’t shine in any areas particularly, but is nevertheless an enjoyable read overall. There are some good personal posts as well as the usual quizzes and links to interesting news sites and such. Although Malibu tends to give herself a hard time for not updating regularly (though there is plenty of content here) or providing (what she considers to be) interesting content, there are some good posts to be found all the same. The ones I enjoyed the most were the longer, more personal ones about her father’s difficulties, the problems and successes she has had with work and her angst about relationships. This meatier stuff is always worth a read in my opinion, though it probably makes me some kind of emotional leech, thriving off people’s misfortunes and dramas in life. Oh well. The point I am making is that there are certainly some areas which show promise here, and if maybe she continued working on these, she might not feel so bad about her blogging abilities.

Overall then I enjoyed my time here and the site certainly has the potential for a bright future. Hopefully the author will, in time be able to relax in to her role as blogger a little more and the blog will then really start to thrive.
malibu

Just when things couldn’t get any more complicated, my first review in TWR would deal with one of the reviewer’s blogs! But as fate brings it, so be it.

My initial impression was that this weblog was clean. Though I was not too familiar with Movable Type layouts, I saw the capacity of what other MT users can do when it comes to tweaking their templates. The “co.uk” part of her domain intimidated me a bit because I pressumed that this blog might be too classy for me or something. The sidebar didn’t help me learn much about Lori, the author, for it only had her archive and a bunch of various links. I checked out the about section, but that wasn’t much of help, too. She did say that she is “still not comfortable” talking about herself, so i assumed that her entries would just be an extension of her sidebar – a couple of links with a few additional info, comments and that’s it.

Fortunately, first impressions didn’t last in this case. The farther I went on reading her entries, the easier it became to see things through Lori’s vision. Though I’m not claiming that I am Lori’s long lost alter ego, she has this translucent power to make you shift your perspective without totally distorting them to point out something.

Her writing style is, shall we say, “excitingly neutral”. It’s cynical, written in a nice way. It’s serious but funny. It’s also a blog of variety, depicting the indefinite city life. One time she comments about the most interesting article on the Guardian (this one happens a lot), next she’s setting up blogmeets (this one, too), then highlights and lowlights of the tv culture according to her (uh, yeah). How she plays with words will draw you into reading what she wishes to say.

Design-wise, well, I had already hinted you a little about it, but I will say it again. The layout is clean. It’s not messy and exaggerated, but it doesn’t really pull of the minimalism concept. It’s not a boring layout, but much work can still be done, seeing what other MT layouts can do.

Other than being a personal blog, it is half a cam/photography weblog, too. Though most of her pictures are of her and her friends’ activities, she would always lead to them in her entries. These aren’t just random pictures that reveal her face to millions out there in the world wide web world, but are a part of her posts as well, which make them a very important element of her blog. She also has a forum, which is a rather peculiar alternative to tagboards or guestbooks and even considering that this is a personal blog, but she explains it’s purpose sometime in November or October, I think.

Whether it be about nostalgia (entries I really love), the F word or the Darkness, she delivers her thoughts in such refreshing ways. It’s like a Sunday newspaper article with a more personal sense. Seeing how she, most of the time, bases her opinions on not-so-political current events, it’s like she’s writing an editorial. Although the editorial may be the soul of a newspaper, how much soul can you put in paper anyway? Her entries are somehow like that. Lori seems to let the world revolve around her and she lets it dictate whether she agrees to the course or not. Her blog is rightfully categorized in the personal section, but she doesn’t quite succeed into letting you discover the depth of what she really feels. It’s not like most personal blogs wherein the world constantly revolves around them, but that can be either good or bad or both. The design also needs a little bit of work, though it is okay for now. You’ll enjoy lori-smith.co.uk, but if I were to judge by TWR ratings, it only deserves a rightful 4.5.…lorismith…

The first thing that caught my eye was the nifty color scheme. I’m a huge fan of dark backgrounds with light text, but only if it’s easy on the eyes. This one is. This site has a very simple layout that pulls your attention right in to what matters the most, the entry text. The banner really caught my eye and grabbed my attention with the following description:

“Brought to you by your neighborhood misanthropic, buxom, bondage-positive, bipolar, bisexual, skydiving roue.”

I most enjoy sites who’s authors I have much in common with and this sounds like my kind of site! (There is a reason I journal anonymously, folks. I wouldn’t want Granny Gypsy finding all my secrets!) I was interested in diving right in and seeing what the author had in store for me. My excitement doubled when I read the “About Me” page and found the author shares my sign. However, I was mighty disappointed that there is little more information than that.

What is with the bloggers of the world and not giving the reader a first glimpse at who’s journal they’re reading??? I want to know the basics. I want an interesting “100 Things About Me” or some other variation of “this is who I am.” Suggestion: add more information to your “About Me” page. I understand that you want to remain anonymous, but you can give the reader a little insight into who you are AND still maintain your anonymous cover. Plus, you’ll hook a lot more readers.

This journal is raw. It is expressive, understandable, intriguing, and wonderful. I do have to say it is a bit like a car wreck that you can’t look away from. In my first few moments of reading, the author went into a dramatic explanation of her mental afflictions, her desire to cut herself, the experience of getting her nipple pierced and experienced a freak accident while she was instructing sky divers. I’m out of breath just reading this stuff!

The author has a way with words that allows the reader to experience whatever it is she’s going through. The words she uses grip at you and make you understand. On top of it all, she throws in just the right mix of humor. She holds nothing back and lets it all out in an amazing manner. She manipulates her words and forces them to dance to the music she writes. She has control.

Opening this blog is like stepping into another world. A world full of shameless sex, the search for the next surge of adrenaline, and the demons that pursue the writer in her head and in her emotions. The author is disturbed by her own ghosts, animatedly alive, and soul searching deep in her entries. This blog is not for the faint of heart. This blog is adult rated. There are sexually explicit entries and links to other sexually explicit sites. The entries are extensively thought out and served in the manner of a great steak dinner. One is expected to savor and enjoy each word handed to them while anticipating the next course.

Regardless of the “no holds barred” manner of writing, one gets the feeling that the author isn’t quite as self-assured as she may lead you to believe. She is astounded by the positive way some people view her. She seems to be a mixture of so many attributes that the end result is unlike any other person to ever blog, much less exist.

The site design is perfect for the content. The layout pulls attention into the entry text, where it should be. The design doesn’t distract the reader from what they come to this site for, the writing. There aren’t a lot of bells or whistles, but this site doesn’t require any of that. It is enough to simply stand on it’s own good merit.

The author lets you into her world while holding back any identifiable information that may lead to recognition in the “outside” realm of blogging. She is a very private person. She is a very secretive person. Yet she comes to her blog to unload the idiosyncrasies that she feels defines who she is. She’s extraordinary. And yet, she’s just a typical person living a life that she has chosen to morph into something that is alternative in a number of ways. She is the best parts of all different worlds, rolled into one human being. Even the “imperfections” of her mental deficiencies define who she is and how she writes.

Again, this blog isn’t for the faint of heart. You’re going to find adult content in the ways of sex, mental afflictions, and life in general. The author is extremely explicit in her writings. I highly recommend this site for anyone who wants to break out of the little box containing who they are as a person and explore the other options that life has available. I’m not saying that you have to become a skydiver, a bisexual, or a bondage addict, but it is refreshing to realize there is a broader world out there than most of us are accustomed to.

This is one blogger I would love to have over for dinner.

caught in my burble

When I initially had a peek at AWesome, I thought “Oh goody! A computer blog with a more personable edge!” after noting the cute baby picture that’s proudly displayed on the blog. Was I ever wrong. This blog is designed as a sort of how-to for using ActiveWords, a Windows scripting software and that’s pretty much it. Fair enough, says I. The blog’s written by a lady from the Netherlands by the name of Marjolein who seems to have an obsession about Active Words (hence the blog all about using it).

I popped on over to check out her bio. Her 30-second elevator pitch reads as such:

You probably ended up here because you are curious what the AWesome blog is all about. The 30-second elevator pitch on AWesome is that it discusses tips, tricks and undocumented features of the software tool ActiveWords.

And true to form with such blogs, what you see is what you get! For ActiveWords users, this blog would probably be a dream as it’s written in clear, concise, straight forward English which I’d assume would be great for newbies and pros alike. She’s gone so far as to put in images and examples demonstrating the software and how to use it in conjunction with various other tools. Sadly, I can’t review her personal blog (because Marjolein asked for AWesome to be reviewed) but some other information, such as her being a surrogate mother was also listed on her bio and that was a real eye-opener.

The blog itself could use some help in the organisation side of things as it is very messy and the design doesn’t suit the purpose of Marjolein’s writing at all. I found myself getting dizzy trying to access all the entries. It’s quick to load on a 56k connection and the whole layout has been done in a very basic fashion, but that’s about it. Oh, and it’s very yellow. I believe that such a blog calls for a cleaner, more structured interface so that people looking for tutorials and tips would be able to find things and not get a headache from all the yellowness.

All that said however, I believe that this blog is a great beginning as a technical resource on the web!

AWesome

AWesome. An interesting title. Awesome has reasonably exciting connotations, as words go and it reminds me of “Bill and Ted” and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” and surfer types (none of which are even remotely connected with this blog by the way). An interesting little capitalisation of the AW was also noted – the plot thickens. I clicked on the link and launched myself in to the weblog. I was first hit by a somewhat gaudy coloured Typepad blog – various shades of orange never seem to work on screen somehow. Technically, it has an About Me page and some photos of the author’s child, though these seemed somewhat out of context as the child (or any other personal content) is barely mentioned in the blog. The ubiquitous links, webrings and other sidebar buttons and boxes are all present and correct too.

Ok, enough drivel. The blog looks ok, but nothing inspiring. It contains what it needs but little more. So moving swiftly on to the content…and swiftly back off the content too if I can help it because I found it INCREDIBLY dull. Now, before I upset the author too much, I say this with one reservation- it probably isn’t dull at all to anyone who is interested in a program called ActiveWords. The AW of the title is suddenly revealed! This program creates shortcuts within windows and is a pseudo programming language from what I can gather. The thing is, I am in rather a difficult position because I am not here to review ActiveWords (which may very well be the fantastic program it is portrayed to be on this blog). I am here to review the weblog itself and I am ashamed to say that, despite the weblog only going back a couple of months, I couldn’t bring myself to read all the archives. They were written in a very “techie” style – which is probably appropriate for a subject such as this, but makes for incredibly difficult reading for someone who is not familiar, interested in or currently making practical use of the subject matter.

The point is that those users of ActiveWords out there will probably find this helpful- there seems to be a lot of good, practical advice which is explained methodically, with pictures and downloads too. Just don’t ask me what any of it means.

The comments also seemed supportive – “great blog, really useful, keep up the good work”, that kind of thing. So for the community of users, I am sure this is a helpful resource. The author also is able to give support over IM and email, which I thought was good of her.

So I am really perplexed how to score this blog with regards to content, as it is one of the most black and white examples I have ever come across. Either people will (presumably) love it and find it useful (i.e. other ActiveWords users) or will find it irrelevant and move swiftly on (i.e. everyone else). So um….3, I guess.

And in case anyone is wondering, no I won’t be downloading ActiveWords and giving it a go myself, at least not today. It seems like rather a lot of unnecessary fannying about, if you ask me.AWesome