Author: admin

When I first opened up this blog, I was not very impressed with the layout . It was one of those 3 column layouts (which I am not a big fan of), several links on the left hand side and in the middle as well. The actual posts were on the right hand side. With this in mind, I began my journey into the world of “The orange haired boy”. Lewis (the author), was born in “Edinburgh, Scotland”, but is presently living in “Land o’ Lakes, FL “. He also has orange hair. So the title of the blog is about exactly what it says.

When I stated earlier that maybe the posts would make up for my disappointment in the layout/design, I was in for another disappointment. I went through the archives and it may have taking me all of an hour to read the entire entries. The posts had very little content in them what so ever. There were a couple of posts about the hurricanes that have been hitting the California area and other posts that had maybe one or two lines. The entries did not contain enough content to keep a reader interested. It took more time for me to go through all of his links etc.

The links on the page also seemed to be scattered all over the place and I found myself becoming really annoyed by this. However, I did like the concept that Lewis has a link on there that enables you to change the skin of his blog. I have said several times before, everyone has different taste. What doesn’t work for me, may work for someone else. To sum it all up, this is not a blog I would visit on a regular basis . orange haired boy

Secret Knowledge of Backroads opens with an out of focus photo of greenery for a header and an equally green two-toned background that makes for a harmonious and pleasant vista. A two column blog, crisp and neat. Not too many links in the sidebar and the navigation is straightforward and easy to use.

I poked around and noticed that our blogger has been here since May of 2004. I searched in vain for an about page, so instead dove into the deep end and began with the first post hoping for enlightenment about who was writing. No such information was forthcoming. Ever.

Our author writes about music he (I think it’s a he) is listening to. Sometimes the entry consists of a picture of an album cover and a list of the titles of the songs on same. He blogs about outings to concerts and art shows and other local shindigs. He also tells us what food and alcoholic beverages he consumed while out, or gives us a list of LINKS to all the songs on his IPod playlist for the day…. 15 of them. . . . a habit, (overlinkage) that he might reconsider.

The one thing I found mildly amusing was his use of uniquely British lingo. And it aroused in me the desire to know what words like footy, cassingle, swizz, and git mean. But for the most part, the entries are rather mundane and honestly, I can’t tell you ONE thing about the author as a person.

Now this may be just fine for his regular readers, who may know our author personally, thus making self-revelation redundant. But if he wants to attract a wider audience, a little context for the entries would be helpful.

As it stands, I was left profoundly unmoved by his taste in music, food and activities.

secret knowledge of backroads

The blog title is “Secret Knowledge of Backroads”, something I found quite mysterious, conveying very unusual imagery. The description is amusing: “if it wasn’t for disappointment i wouldn’t have any appointments” (though “weren’t” is the form of “to be” that should be used in an If Clause, just had to point that out). Very nice start.

Backroads loads a simple, green blogspot template, nothing fancy regarding design. The side bar is to the right and it carries the usual blog/links section and previous posts plus a poll and current listening/reading. There was no “about” section I could find, either in the form of a blogger profile or separate page. I gathered the author wishes to remain anonymous, yet an “about” section adds the desired author-reader connection and the lack of it can be disappointing to many a blog reader.

Backroads’ entries are of a diverse nature. He will comfortably give his expertise on music in many of his posts, while in others he will digress on a series of topics regarding his everyday experiences (I enjoyed his Peter Gabriel Concert entry of June 9) or opinions on matters such as shopping, blogging, etc. It’s hard to pinpoint the exact nature of the blog as 1. The average reader will know little about the author at first glance and what he/she will know will be learned from the archives (which is not something most readers are prepared to do) 2. The nature of his posts vary.

These in themselves are not bad things if the blog is intended as a strictly personal outlet. But once a blog is submitted to a site such as this, the reviewer understands that the author seeks exposure for his blog and/or wishes to gain some information on how to make his blog more appealing, but again, more appealing to whom? Hence, the question is the same, the author seeks to be read.
With this in mind I can say a couple of things.

1. Backroads needs an about page or some section providing information about him.
2. While his writing is very enjoyable and his music expertise, impressive (I liked his take on Jeff Buckley), Backroads is at his best when he posts longer digressions on what interests him (be it music, ranting or what not). These by far, are the most enjoyable entries. Other entries are pictures with no text which may seem incomprehensible to the average reader (though I found them appealing, giving insight to what Backroads’ character may be like).
3. Also, and this is purely of a very subjective nature, though the blog title and description are unique, it may not reflect the feel of the blog. One might consider the author to be of a pensive, even dark nature, which he is not. Again, this right here is a matter of my cohesive thinking, nothing more.
4. Blogger comment options are terrible to use. Backroads could try another free service which would make interaction with his readers easier.

Ok, with this out of the way, I’d like to finish with an overall impression of the blog.

I liked it very much. And I mean very, very much. It is one of those blogs that I would add to my blogroll. As a reviewer one may rate a blog highly yet not add it to one’s favorites or blogroll, yet with this blog it is different. It appealed to me and I got the impression that Backroads is intelligent, musically savvy, witty and a whole lot of fun. It made me smile. I can only expect good things from this blog in the future (seeing how far it’s come since its recent birth), and I will keep my fingers crossed for the about page.
secret knowledge of backroads

As I see It is an orange and yellow Blogspot generic template that did not seem all that inviting. A bit stark and plain. The page background however is white and the fonts large enough to be easy to read. In the sidebar I found Link sections including such things as, books the author is reading, lists of favorite TV shows, favorite web sites, and a 20 things about me link.

I read on the About page that our author is a 40 something happily married homemaker living on the east coast of the U.S. with her husband and college aged daughter.

This blog has been in existence only three months, but there is an impressive collection of entries and more than enough for me to get an good taste of her writing style and the direction.

What I found was a woman who is profoundly content with her lot in life. A homemaker par excellence, in an age when such things are not valued as highly as they once were. This creates grist for some nostalgic writing. She also writes extensively about her Christian faith and quotes often from the bible. The entries are uplifting and introspective. She writes about longing for simpler times and has determined to keep those times alive in her personal domain.

In one of the most recent posts she is playing Pollyanna’s “Glad Game” with some changes brought about by the installation of a new carport and the resulting diminishment of light into her kitchen. And I recommend to you the entry of September 17th “June Cleaver With A Twist”, as a good example of the tone of the entire blog.

I enjoyed my visit and may stop back by for a peek now and then. But I leave you with one more thing. DO check out her “My Photos” link. Here you will find a window into not only her home, but to the simpler, gentler times that she so obviously values.

As I See It

Upon my first visit to this site, I gathered that the title would pretty well sum up what this blog was all about. Basically, I expected a straight-forward accounting of the world as the blog writer saw it. No more, no less. I was both correct and incorrect in my assumption… Allow me a few moments to explain.

I was greeted by the standard generic blogger template and my eyes automatically darted over to the left margin where I could find the “About Me” portion of the blog. I learned that the blog was written by a lady named Debra, and I quickly got an overview of her current life and one word seemed to jump off the page at me – “Christian”.

Upon further examination of the page, I noticed that there was Psalm quoted directly under the main title. The woman was obviously very devout in her faith, so I was curious as to what extent religion would play in her blog entries. Onward I forged.

The blog basically chronicles the day-to-day life of Debra and her family, as well as her occasionsl commentaries on her faith, society, and humanity in general. Through the three months of archived entries, I noticed two main things while reading:

1. Debra is a very good writer. Her writing style automatically put me at ease and I found very good flow with her words. It was an easy read for me, and I got to feel very comfortable with the author during several posts.

2. I found the first two months of postings to be very religiously heavy-handed. At times it felt like more of a Sunday morning sermon than a blog read, and this made me somewhat uncomfortable and disinterested at times. I noticed it has tapered off significantly as of late, but it was a very present theme during the early stages of this blog. I’m not saying this is a bad thing, per se, just something that doesn’t appeal to everyone… Myself included.

I do understand that religion may play a big part in Debra’s life but, without discussing my beliefs, I was put off a little bit my the ever-present feel of it here. The writing is great, no doubt of this, but the topics weren’t diverse enough to keep my interest for very long.

Debra is a very charming, likeable lady, it seems, and her choice of topics may be great for some others who think along this vein. For me, it wasn’t exacly my “cup of tea”, unfortunately.

The writing is superb, choice of topics… often not for me… 3/5 it is.

As I See It