This review of Ktraveldan Network is brought to you by The Weblog Review blog and website reviews. Get your site reviewed within 4 days by using the 'For Faster Service' link on the left menu.
Ktraveldan Network
Ktraveldan Network opens on a plain dark blue background with a simple table with Kim's name, copyright and email. This background is very plain but it fits the website perfectly. There are no bells and whistles to distract you on the sidebars other than a simple archive function. There is one objective of this blog and that is focused on the main articles.
Ktraveldan Network is about Kim Riley's life. She opens her forray into the blogging world by describing what this blog will be about, "On this stage I will attempt to enact essays, stories, speeches, quasi-plays, jokes, profunidty, Creative Lyin' Writin', photo's, serious observations, MP3's, and general, overall stuff. " She also reveals why many of these stories have a bookish feel to them, "I am working on the rough draft to a book, as well as turning out short stories at a manic rate."
She has a couple different lengthy articles on various aspects of adult life, (raising children, the addictions of the Home Shopping Network, job stories.) She mixes thoughtful ideas and commentary and humor quite well. When I was reading this blog it felt like reading a book on someone's life. Generally that would not be appealing but Kim makes her articles very interesting and they capture the reader's interest. This is a excellent blog to read on a rainy day or when you feel a little bored.
As I mentioned previously there are no links, pictures, blog rolls on the sidebars. Yet this does not hurt Ktraveldan Network at all. I believe rather it makes Ktraveldan Network stand out and easier to read. The focus is on the articles and nothing else. The background is excellent and the page design is simple and easy. Kim obviously subscribes to the KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) school of web design and it makes all the difference when reading Ktraveldan Network.
What a blog. This is a true web log and I must say this is well written. When one reads this blog you feel like each article is a chapter in a bestseller. Even if female life isn't one of your favorite subjects Kim Riley makes it seem interesting and fun. You will enjoy your time at Ktraveldan Network, I did.
This site was reviewed on 2004-05-31 by DyingUrthHorizon.
They felt this site belonged in the Creative Writing category.
DyingUrthHorizon felt that Ktraveldan Network deserved a rating of 4.5.
Hmm. No graphics, no pictures, no links, plain design - just text. I guess the writing better be good. The blog is written by a woman named Kim Hemmingway, so I was optimistic.
The Ktraveldan Network is a new blog written by an obsessive writer (who says she has writings dating back close to 30 years! And I certainly don’t doubt that one iota ). 'I must write! Give me a pen, or give me death!' She seems excited to have found blogging as a medium to dump her many, many thoughts, stories, essays and words into. Her goal is ultimately to be a published writer and after reading KN I’m sure it will happen.
You don’t have to read many of Kim’s entries to recognize there is something special here. Every entry has a point, a passion, a flavour, a take, a message… and the entries are all wrapped with her introspective and enjoyable narrative. Every entry, in some way, shows off the craft of a good writer. Kim's writing is very witty, articulate, entertaining and full of atmosphere. It is quite apparent that writing for her is a well honed craft. She is one of the best story-tellers I have read online in a blog (or anywhere for that matter). There would be far too many quotes included here if I was to share with you the many lines that brought a smile to my face. But here is one of many, that shows a very honest writer, 'They say little girls are made of sugar and spice and everything nice? I am made of butter, Crisco, and Twinkies.'. She also has more serious reflections such as “Status Seekers” which ponders our materialistic society, or the touching ‘Waving Goodbye’. She also has threatened her readers with audio blogs… I listened to the one on the site, and she has some lofty ideas for her blog and her website, with more audio blogs coming and possibly a section with her massive .wav collection. Good luck with them Kim!
I think it would be nice to be able to leave comments and assist her friend Kathy in critiquing her writing. Clearly she wants the feedback. There would be lots of opportunity, especially with entries such as “right to Bear arms” which I would have $0.02 to share.
In spite of the very average esthetic of Ktraveldan Network the writing pulls the grade of this site way up. A remarkable writer with a remarkable insight into human behaviour. I enjoyed reading KN. This is one blog I will undoubtedly visit numerous times, I highly recommend you do the same if you enjoy a good read. Hemmingway? Quite possibly.
This site was reviewed on 2004-05-31 by obz.
They felt this site belonged in the Creative Writing category.
obz felt that Ktraveldan Network deserved a rating of 4.5.
Oh dear, a Blogspot template. Really boring. It is dark blue with white lettering. Which is moderately easy to read, but frankly I found the darkness starting to get on my nerves already. But this is a creative writing blog, so I tell myself,it's not surprising that there is no eye candy.
So okay, who's the author? Why is the author writing? What’s this blog all about? I found no such answers readily at hand. After I got over my annoyance of having to jump into the deep end of the pool, with nary a hint of where I was or what I was about to experience, I began to read the entries. The first ones I encountered were disjointed and confusing copies of emails to a friend. But as I dug deeper, the storyteller emerged.
The majority of the entries are humorous, and broad humor at that. While fairly well written, there were often sudden leaps that left me thinking, "Did I miss something?" and having to backtrack. Some well-placed punctuation would help this problem in a few instances, but in most, I would say, a willingness to settle down and tell the story without rushing to the next punch line, (Of which there are many, and lots of them are very funny, don't get me wrong) A little more attention to detail would be a very good thing. I also noticed a tendency to end the story abruptly. A few more final sentences to tie up loose ends would have kept me from 'readers freefall'.
After reaching the end of the home page, I went back to the top to look at the "Previous Posts" list to see if I had missed anything. When I clicked on a title I was taken to that post, but then a new list of titles appeared on the right of the page that I had not visited. Maybe it's just me, but I don't care for the way this site is organized. Ease of navigation is big in my book.
I finally stumbled, by accident on what I think is the inaugural post of May 13, 2004. Oh how I wish I had read this first! In it she describes her compulsion to write and desire to share said writings. There is a very amusing imaginary dialog with friends and family members about her starting her blog. It would have been perfect to BEGIN with this post. One thing that we should remember as bloggers, is that if someone stumbles upon your blog while browsing around, you only have a few minutes at most to let them know what the heck is going on at your place. And convince them it's worth their while to stay and have a look around.
Overall, after recovering from my initial snit, I enjoyed my visit. The quality of the stories varies quite a bit, but I think Kim has a certain storytelling gift. And I will leave you with what was my favorite tale. "Jesus Is On The Bedpan in 306" May 20, 2004. Read it. But I can't tell you how to GET to it. Just keep clicking on the Previous Posts until it comes up in the menu! I think it's worth the click and hunt!
This site was reviewed on 2004-05-31 by yetzirah.
They felt this site belonged in the Creative Writing category.
yetzirah felt that Ktraveldan Network deserved a rating of 3.5.
The 'Ktraveldan Network' is a brand-new blog, started just two weeks ago by the author, Kim. It's presented in a simple, two-column layout, with text on a solid blue background. There aren't many bells or whistles visible -- at first glance, the site gives the impression that the author is still fleshing things out.
For more information about Kim and the 'Ktraveldan Network', I took a look at the first post, from May 13. From that entry, I learned that Kim is an 'obsessive' and prolific writer, working towards getting her work published. Kim also explains that she's currently a nurse (but likes writing better!), has been writing and journaling offline for over thirty years, and is thrilled to be expanding her audience via the weblog medium. It's an appropriate intro to Kim's thoughts and style, if a bit hectic.
Most of Kim's posts take the form of a story or essay; they range from funny anecdotes to creative fiction to poignant personal recollections. The entries are sizable, and the sheer volume of words contributed in the site's two weeks of existence is impressive -- it's easy to see that Kim isn't kidding about writing 'constantly... and without ceasing'!
As mentioned earlier, there are few features or extras evident on the 'Ktraveldan Network' site, apart from lists to previous posts and the archives. Kim lists her email address, but there's no other way to interact with the author or share thoughts about the content -- no comments, trackbacks, message boards, or guestbook here. For a site packed so full with the author's ideas and thought-provoking stories, interactive options seem like a natural addition. My guess is that Kim simply hasn't gotten around to such features yet -- she's recently tried out audio posting, so more innovations may be on the way soon.
All in all, I think the 'Ktraveldan Network' shows a lot of promise. Kim certainly has the stories -- and the enthusiasm -- to keep the content fresh and build an appreciative audience. It's also seems, though, that this weblog is a work in progress at the moment -- Kim has found her 'voice' through many years of writing, but may not have yet worked out how to get the most from her work in this medium. I'll be interested to see the direction this site takes in the coming monthes; for now, I give the 'Ktraveldan Network' a 3 out of 5.
This site was reviewed on 2004-05-31 by charlie.
They felt this site belonged in the Creative Writing category.
charlie felt that Ktraveldan Network deserved a rating of 3.
My first impression of the site was of a competent simple, professional effort. It has white text on a blue background with yellow titles. It looked good. The design was very simple. The name doesn’t suggest much and is not explained anywhere. There are a couple of blog related adverts and a simple previous posts side bar including an archive list. The list of previous posts ran by name and in posted order until you hit one then the archive list is lost and what appeared to be a randomly generated post list appears. This is guess work. I couldn’t really work out what was going on. The link to the latest post didn’t work from this menu despite several attempts at trying.
Kim sets out her agenda in her first post and it makes sense to use her words.
“(She will} attempt to enact essays, stories, speeches, quasi-plays, jokes, profundity, Creative Lyin' Writin', photo's, seriouso observations, MP3's, and general, overall stuff.”
The site is new, starting on 23 May 2004. The posting is prodigious however. She has posted over 27,000 words in one short week over several posts a day.
She has pretty much kept to her initial list plus some. Homework, amusing anecdotes about her work at a hospital and visits to the dentist and the gym, a eulogy, a patronising view on being homeless, her sons’ attempts at driving and a mix up over Jesus’ real name. Yeshua I believe. I like her punchy and at times vernacular writing style. There are some spelling mistakes, but hey. There was also an audio post which worked well.
She sounds like she is having a lot of fun getting this site together and it is still very much a new venture.
There are no links within posts or the use of a comments facility.
I have to be careful in summing up here as she is very much into the Right to Bear Arms and I don’t think she is referring to a disputed access way to a public house. She has posted a lot in the first week and a lot are long posts. Although a great deal of it is enjoyable, there is no end of words to wade through. I’m not sure I would have bothered if I hadn’t been reviewing the site as much as I enjoyed reading some of it. So my advice would be slow down…. However I think she is interesting enough and skilled enough to make an interesting web log here. I’d give it a 2.5 out of 5 for starters with the impression that things will get better over time.
This site was reviewed on 2004-05-31 by Duween.
They felt this site belonged in the Creative Writing category.
Duween felt that Ktraveldan Network deserved a rating of 2.5.
5 reviewers gave Ktraveldan Network an average rating of 3.6000
Site Stats
Site Category: Creative Writing
Reader Rating: 2.4000 based on 5 votes
Report URL
Cast your vote
Sorry you need to log in to vote.