Author: admin

Rudderless opens to a clean, clutter free page with an easy to navigate list of links including an About page that tells us a little bit about Slim and Kiki, the authors of the site. Though the information is of the “likes/dislikes” variety and not really all that helpful to the new visitor. Kudos from me though, for un-clutter on the opening page.

I began to read the entries and at first was very impressed with a humorous story about air travel, which was cleverly written, and had me laughing out loud. But as I continued to read found that I was more than a bit disoriented as to who was writing the entries. If it was a long one, I had to scroll down to the end to see who posted it. This makes for some confusion when trying to get with the flow of what is being talked about. There are entries on all manner of subjects: raising a toddler, music, urban living, liberal political viewpoints, workplace incidents and a few book or movie critiques. The writing styles of the entries seemed irregular and I was struggling to find some coherent theme to them or a thread that ran through that I could follow, and finally gave it up.

While the entries are clearly written, and are occasionally interesting or humorous, I began to feel just a bit like I was at the mercy of someone clicking the channels with a TV remote. There was a disjointed quality to them that was exacerbated by not knowing who was writing, unless I wanted to scroll to the bottom and find out. And to add to the confusion, I ran across entries that had been written by someone else, as yet un-introduced. Frankly, I began to get a bit annoyed.

To be fair, if you are a fellow Urbanite you might find this blog of interest. But it did not hold mine for long. And I am sorry for it, because a few of the entries were SO well done, I was hoping for more of the same.

If I have any suggestions they would be: a little more cogent ‘About’ section, and if the author of each entry identified themselves in the heading, it would cut down on the confusion.

rudderless.org

I can honestly say that Autograph is a weblog that I truly enjoyed reading from top to bottom. Upon entering the blog, I was greeted with a small banner at the top of the page, which says “Autograph The journal of true and creative writing”. To the left, in the corner, is a photo of who I am assuming is the author. Below the banner are a few links which are very neatly laid out. The blog had a very professional look to it.

After looking over the blog, I checked out (as I often do at first) the “about” link to see if I could get more info on the author. As it turns out, his weblog project was inspired by a blog that was created by a friend of his.

I began reading the main page, then on into his archives. One of the things that is different about Jay’s weblog, is there is only one post per page; which is not something you see very frequently. The entries are a mixture of different topics. Each one is telling a story about something different.

Jay’s entries are very well written and it’s obvious that they are well thought out. In all honesty, I feel that Jay is a very exceptional writer. Why do I say exceptional you may ask? For the simple reason that some of his entries make you feel as if you are reading a good romance novel that you just can’t stop reading until you know the outcome or as if you are watching a movie and it is so entertaining that you just don’t want it to end.

I know everyone has different tastes and what some of us find interesting, others may not, but for myself it was very enjoyable reading.

Entries in his archives range from stories about where he grew up, the respect he has for his dad, the cars he’s had and many more articles. One entry is even just a page containing of jokes, which lets you see the humor side of him. One of my favorite entries was one he wrote about his dad, A Wise Old Man. Another one of my other favorite entries was The Bloom Of A Kiss. Those are just a couple that I really enjoyed.

Something else I liked about the blog was that his signature is displayed after each entry in autograph form. I thought it was very professional looking once again.

There is really not much I can say about the design that I haven’t said already. It is very neatly laid out. The links are sectioned as to where it is very easy to get to what you want. My only complaint about the weblog is that there wasn’t more of it to read. So if you readers have some time to spare, Jay’s blog is worth checking out. I know I will become a frequent visitor.

Autograph

Stupidtom.com is, funnily enough, about a guy called Tom. Whether he’s stupid or not is up for you, the reader, to decide for yourself.

I rocked up to the side expecting some whizz-bang stuff from someone who has his own URL dedicated to his blog. I was to be slightly (just slightly) disappointed. There’s not much going on there, save for the blog. For the minimalists among us, you’ll love this. White, with a hint of a grey and black. A smattering of links out and links to Amazon.com showing what he owns (lucky man has an iPod – I think I’m the only one left in the universe who doesn’t own one, thanks for rubbing that in a little more, Tom!) and the odd picture in his daily ramblings. As I said, pretty sparse, and though I don’t think it detracts from the content of the blog in any way, I think sprucing it up just a tad would certainly not hurt either.

So onto the blog itself, or more precisely, the effervescent “About Me” page where I thought I was going to get to learn all about Tom. Not so…

I am interested in why you would come to this page. I have never read an about page that told me one thing “about” the author or owner. I guess I could post my home address and phone number like a dumbshit but what would be the fun in that. The best way to find out about me is to read the nonsense I write on this site. Other than that I can’t really help.

Alright, I know I’m lazy, but in all honesty, I hate stuff like that. If you’re going to go to the trouble of having an “About Me” page, then have something written there about you, or re-label it to “Disclaimer” and be done with it. In said disclaimer however, it was good to know that Tom prescribes to the “once it’s there, it stays there” way of blogging. It takes a lot bravery to keep something that might show the not-so-good sides of ourselves on public display to the world at large.

The actual content of the blog was quite interesting, with general meanderings of daily life or moments within the daily routine. The most recent post on the decontamination of the house due to the somewhat gross activities of a certain animal and a certain kitty-litter tray gave me the giggles. Same with the mowing barcodes into the lawn stunt – and I have to say I’m on Liza’s side there, Tom. No good. Nix to the checker board idea too. Each entry is a pleasure to read as they focus on different areas of Tom’s life rather than just a running commentary of life at work or home, or even with his animals. He stops and reflects on certain subjects – ones that we normally wouldn’t even blink twice over. There was one particular entry earlier on in my blog which had me chuckling quietly and another that gave me pause for thought.

Overall, I found that whilst this is one of the nicer personal blogs out there in the great blogosphere, it’s not a particularly meaty blog. For people who might like full-on drama in their blogs, you won’t find it at Stupidtom.com. What you will find is a well rounded, easy to read, and pleasant offering of personal posts that describes the guy behind the amusing URL.


Between you and I, I don’t think he’s stupid at all. Thanks Tom!stupidtom.com

I liked how bright this site was when I first saw it. It’s a spot on the web for the author, Jay, to share his creative writing with the world, so I thought the black letters on the white background to be fitting.

The stories themselves are well written, and interesting. The author’s style comes out in each of them. Some are shorter, some are longer, so there’s one for every attention span. I read through the author’s favorites (listed on the about the author page) and they were great. It’s hard to tell what is true and what is made up, but a good read nonetheless.

The black writing on a white background gives the feel of a typewriter, like an old fashioned writer, very suiting to the theme of the site. The graphics, although few, are clean and make a point. I like how the author personalizes each entry with his signature.

While the stories are great, there’s not a lot of info about the man behind the words. There is an “About the Author” link, with a few stats and a lot of writing about writing.

I’ll definitely be coming back to this site, I thoroughly enjoyed reading the stories. There’s little spelling or grammatical errors, so it’s an easy read. The layout is great and easy to navigate. I wish I knew more about the author and what he’s about.Autograph

I liked the look of this site when I first clicked on to it – a simple, design with a picture of the author casually leaning against the titlebar, along with a menu. All the menu contains is the posts, an About Me page and an email link. The About Me reveals an author who wants to write – the veracity of the posts may be somewhat suspect, but the aim is to do a bit of creative writing, so truth isn’t really the point here.

So the content itself is a collection of stories by the author, with a few posts containing little observations/ jokes etc thrown in for good measure. The weblog hasn’t been going long – a couple of months now, but there is still enough content to look at for a good hour or so. The stories themselves are well written and easy to read. They are usually about things that have happened recently or reminiscences from childhood/ adolescence, though as stated earlier, some are obviously more fictional than others. All contain a creative use of vocabulary and I couldn’t find any spelling or grammatical errors. I enjoyed reading all the stories- there was a certain simplicity and unpretentiousness about them and they conveyed timeless themes and ideas.

It’s funny though, because I have reviewed a number of similar weblogs – i.e. ones which contain purely funny/interesting stories about someone’s life. For some reason, all have been written by 30ish, American, “successful”, socially well adjusted men. This one probably is one of the better ones though as the extra dimension of creativity certainly helps and so far, it hasn’t degenerated in to self-congratulation or egoism, though with the recent addition of comments and friends telling him how wonderful he is, I fear that this may not last. Although this weblog was pleasant enough to read, I always find it hard to interact with weblogs like this beyond “Yay, what a great story”. I never really feel part of somehow. Hell, maybe I just can’t relate to people who are successful, socially adept, financially secure, confident and good with women. I never really have been one for mainstream society, somehow.

Still, that’s just me. I think most people will find the stories found here a great read and the author clearly has some talent in this area. Those who enjoy personal weblogs should enjoy this one too if it continues along the same lines. Others however, may need to find something else with content they can get their teeth in to a bit more.
Autograph