Author: admin

Monoblogue opens to a visually uninteresting background of very fine, closely spaced gray lines with tiny generic fonts. The first entry on the page that day was a small paragraph about an apple computer site, followed by a huge blank space that perhaps is supposed to contain an image, I’m not sure. I searched for some information about the author and found one paragraph:

the author lives in los ángeles and in good company . he was born in 1970 , started reading grown-up books altogether too early and stopped playing with legos a bit late . he is now just a tourist in two cultures •

Okay, that was informative. I began browsing through the most recent entries and encountered a disjointed mix of liberal politics and computer related subjects, along with the occasional, out of left field bit of trivia, such as the link to a site for “Psychiatry for Mishandled Toys”.

Political blogs are so pervasive that in order to stand out, one needs to really do some homework. And in my opinion, this blog does not stand out in any way. I don’t get a sense of the author’s thought processes, only a regurgitation of tired finger pointing slogans that are frankly a dime a thousand these days. If you want to persuade someone who might disagree with you, show me your gut feelings, write about how you have struggled to understand the world from your point of view. Try to convince me with sound reasoning. Don’t just post a link to MoveOn.org and another link to where I can contribute money.

Elsewhere on the page there are links to our author’s family tree which was fairly well done, and a travelogue section with some very nice pictures from Ecuador that is worth taking a look at, and some original line drawings and Photoshop digital art that might be of interest. As far as I can tell, all the entries are from August of this year. There were no older entries that I could find.

Overall, I found this blog rather uninspiring. The entries don’t seem to hang together with any real coherency. Perhaps if the author revealed more of himself in his posts, I could have connected with him. Since this seems to be a very new blog, it is possible our author is casting about trying on different things to see what fits. If he succeeds in finding his style, this blog has potential to improve.

mono[b]logue

One of my BIGGEST peeves with weblogs is when the entry text is not the central focus of the site. Yes, design in important, but a good design with crappy material is nothing. This site goes against my “entry material first belief” by shoving the text to the right as if it’s an afterthought. The orange left column is way too wide and over-powering. Plus, it ends halfway down and then just drops off and disappears. You can see where the side panel SHOULD end, but doesn’t. This area of the design needs to be tweaked just a bit.

The banner is original and eye appealing, but the quote is hard to read and again, pushed to the far right. I like the way the calendar is incorporated into the layout and the colors are great, but that’s where the eye-appeal ends. I’m hoping the writing draws me in more than the design of the site does.

The author is currently doing a “blog challenge” where she asks herself a question and answers it. in the entry. In summary, it bores me. Some of the questions include: “What do you accidentally forget to pack each time you go away? If you were to die today, would you go to heaven? Why do you choose to live in the UK?” Blah, blah, blah. Boring.

Her earlier entries, before the “challenge” are better. She’s slightly humorous and good-natured. She talks about her family and her life and is mildly interesting. Unfortunately, I don’t find anything here that I can’t find in a number of other “mommy blogs” on the net. You can tell she adores her children and her husband and seems to be an upbeat and happy person. There is rarely a negative post or an emotional outburst. I’m not saying this is a GOOD thing, I’m just stating what I found. Even when something “bad” happens, she seems to retell the situation with a smile on her face.

The “About Me” section is well written and informative (not to mention newly updated). This blog has all the bells, whistles, and links that you could think of. The writing is mediocre. This woman is someone we’d all love to be friends with in “real” life, but not an author who’s life you would necessarily care to read about on a daily basis. Again, she has a decent sense of humor, and that comes across in her writing, but this is just another mommy blog.

This site may be interesting for other mommies living in the UK, but I don’t find it altogether all that interesting. It’s not a “bad” blog by any means, it’s just not a good one. There are countless other blogs out there in this same category and that’s what I find so unappealing. There is very little that is original on this site. There is nothing here that I couldn’t find elsewhere on the web.

Give it a try, you might like it. I, however, have more unique and interesting blogs to read.

Pewari’s Prattle

Pewari’s Prattle opens to a rather confused color scheme. Blue, green, orange and yellow and are just a bit much all on the same page. It’s cheerful, but more than a bit confusing to the eye.

The newest entries are a fairly interesting list of questions to answer. Such as: What are your current views of the United States?, If you were to die, would you go to heaven?, and the more obscure, Monkeys or Pirates? Our author answers all of them in an honest thoughtful and humorous style that is quite readable.

She has been blogging here since April of 2003, but has a long history of on line interaction, via IRC, starting in 1992. This is almost ancient history in the computer world! This site is mostly what I could call a Mommy blog, but with a liberal smattering of other interesting comments on a variety of subjects. Enough so to keep our interest even if we aren’t still changing diapers.

There are some clever blogging ideas here that include the aforementioned questions to answer, plus she blogs about ordinary things like the purchase of a new stroller (pushchair in the UK) enumerating all it’s finer points and does contests like the 26 things photo project. She wrote a very complete review of the latest Harry Potter movie (which was spot on by the way) and not only did she participated in last year’s NaNoWriMo novel writing month, she posted her chapters for her readers to peruse.

As an American, I enjoy reading blogs from people who live in other countries. This author did a good job of giving me a little taste of life in England. Although maybe someone could enlighten me about exactly what a “dummy” is, and why an infant would need to stop having them “cold turkey” I am baffled.

All in all, this is a cheerful and creative blog with enough variety to be interesting. I enjoyed my visit and might have a pop in now and then to see what’s happening with this creative Mommy in the UK.

Pewari’s Prattle

mono[b]logue is a plain looking site. Somehow, however, I find the visual starkness appealing. Maybe its look makes me think of a newspaper with its absence of color.

The blog has submissions by a friend who is a military man stationed in Afghanistan. These entries are an interesting first hand account of life abroad in the Armed Forces. Clearly being abroad is emotional for the author, who seems to be becoming increasingly more disillusioned about being in Afghanistan, : ‘ how many more must die before we feel justice has been served ?’ The author seems interested in exposing the ‘truth’ of what is going on in Afghanistan. It seems in all levels of his experience in the Army he finds frustration. From the President right down to his immediate officers who are ‘clowns’. These entries from abroad add an interesting journalistic flavour to the blog.

One of the first things I found curious about some of the earlier entries was that a lot of details are [omitted]. I wonder if the author was doing the omissions or if the entries were screened… hmm.

The writing in mono[b]logue is very good. The author is intelligent and has some interesting insights into human nature and shares a lot of unique first hand experiences and observations. The tone is usually somewhat serious but considering where the author is, that is hardly surprising. There are also entries, well supported by links, about Art, computers, media, lots of politics and world events… many diverse and important issues are covered in mono[b]logue’s content. The blog is often more about issues than the author himself. You do, however, get a strong feel for the author’s personality through his commentary. There are a few entries that could use a little more commentary (the good stuff) but overall the majority of entries have a persuasive dialogue.

Going through the entries was a bit of a challenge however… you can only go to the previous entry not back. So…I had to manually enter every page since I wanted to read from the oldest to the newest. Just a little thing but…annoying as a reader.

Quite a compelling and impressive author. If you like reading real news this blog is a must. Highly recommended.
mono[b]logue

There are a number of layouts/designs incorporated into this site, but I’m going to focus on the main page’s design.

This site is, well, coffee colored! Quite appropriate for the title! The site is neatly organized, easy to navigate, and eye appealing. The text is easy to read and the colors are compatible with one another. I’m expecting a semi-pessimistic author due to the “bitter coffee” ordeal, but the site looks enjoyable upon first glance.

It is slightly irritating that I have to continuously close the Tripod/Lycos side bar that opens up whenever I change pages. There are so many free blogging sites and programs out there, why waste your time on something as archaic as angelfire if you don’t have to? I also have to complain about the design of the archival page. The colors and design are okay, at best, but the text is VERY small and grows more and more difficult to read, as you spend more and more time on the site.

The “Concerning Linz” page (aka about me) section has a slightly different, yet corresponding layout that is pretty neat. I’m assuming the head graphic is the author. The ads at the end of the page take your attention away from the material at hand and are very disruptive. As for the list itself, Linz is very specific about her information, but it’s the typical points of (dis)interest you find on a lot of blogs.

Linz appears to be a young twenty-something in the throws of the dating. She is also on the quest to lose weight and regain her sense of beauty. A huge added feature to this site is a “side blog” aptly entitled, Taking Back Beauty detailing her steps on this journey, her outlook on it, and her accomplishments. To date, she has lost twenty-three pounds and appears to be doing it in a slow and healthy manner! No guru diets for this young lady! I commend her on her weight loss and hope other dieters will see her story as an inspiration.

She writes with a maturity that seems to pass some of the early -twenties group by and comes across as a bright, intelligent and caring women. However, unlike some who carry the first few attributes, she is not one to be pushed around or taken advantage of. She knows what she wants and she goes after it.

She is outspoken and tends to ride the blog-posting roller coaster that we all jump on. Sometimes she goes on for a great period of time with interesting things to say, and sometimes she openly admits that she has lost the will to write and really has nothing to say. At least she comes out and admits it rather than trying to “fill her space” with garbage nobody would care to read.

Linz gives you a detailed account of the happenings in her life while avoiding the daily list of “I did this, then I did this, and then this happened.” She has a light and cheery tone when it’s called for, but she gets irritated and emotional when appropriate. She goes into how she feels about events and occasions with gusto and there is very little pessimism to be found.

The author is very open and honest with the manner in which she is coming to discover who she is a person. Most people think that you’ve found yourself by the time you get into your twenties, but I tend to disagree with them. Linz is often questioning who she truly is, while knowing all along the true answer. This is personal growth and strength all in one breath. She is simply seeking out the best place for her in her world and isn’t afraid to let on that she doesn’t fully understand or know all the different aspects to her own personality. This gives her an endearing personality that makes the reader applaud her decisions and root for her success.

At times her blog gets dry and boring, but who’s life and blog haven’t hit those times? We can’t all be funny, emotional, and interesting all the time. Her better entries make weeding through her slow times worth the effort. This isn’t one of those all-empowering one in a million blogs out there, but it certainly has a number of attributes. This isn’t’ the “typical” blog of a “typical” twenty-something. I think anyone in the twenty-something generation would enjoy reading about Linz, getting to know her personality, and watching her charge through this time in her life. She is on her way and she’s busting through.

This is a blog to keep your eyes on, folks. This blog may just be going places!

Bitter Like Yesterday’s Coffee