Author: admin

Wow. Other than the occasional mention on the “Real Sex” series on HBO, I was not aware that such a thing as a ‘latex fetish’ existed. Boy, does it ever. And the latex subculture appears to be enormous.

3xL is a site run by a 30-something man from Copenhagen who started this blog back in 2002 as a way to tell his wife about his fetish. He says in his “About 3xL” section, “…at that time, I just didn’t have the guts to let her in on my big secret. So my goal was to learn more about myself and my fetish for rubber, so I could gain some self esteem and speak freely about the subject to my wife.” She knows now, and he said she’s even tried it herself. Ah, true love.

The site has a black background with white type and is a bit busier than I normally like. By ‘busy’ I mean, lots of links, a blogroll, sponsor ads, photos, and other links for latex movies, gallery and news among others. The busiest page is the main page, but 3xL (meaning the three “L” words, Love, Lust and Latex) has a knack for arranging this massive catalog of information with flourish. When you visit the “Latex Links” page, it does get a bit click heavy because the hordes of links are first put into categories. But hey, I’m sure the latex folks out there appreciate this. After all, there is a lot of information to go through.

I have to say that this is the first latex-themed site I’ve ever visited. And I’m happy to learn that the German Fetish Ball has just concluded. (It makes me wonder if the fetishists will only socialize with their own ‘kind’ at these things. The Latex vs. the Foot Fetishists? Is it West Side Fetish? I’m rubber, you’re glue…?)

At any rate, if you like latex, you should definitely add this site to your Favorites menu because it is an impressive undertaking.
3xL : Lust, Love & Latex!

When I first opened The Impulsive Buy, I was pleased to see clean lines, easy to read text, and a fitting header. This reviewer feels that there should be a whole museum dedicated to shopping cart art, but I swore to myself that I wouldn’t be partial because of it. The blog is done with Word Pad and it is simplistically fitting for what it sets out to convey to its readers.

The blog’s Disclaimer states, “The Impulsive Buy is dedicated to providing quasi-reviews about various consumer goods.” Many of the reviews are of those products that look interesting, but you hope that you never actually allow yourself to purchase. The products that are reviewed are across the board. From Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Pop-Tarts to The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Presents America (The Audiobook) I won’t mislead you, most of the reviews are on food.

The reviews are all interesting in their own right. Each one seems to have its own background story. There is a nice tally of facts at the end of each review that offer the items price, the rating the reviewer gave it, and the pros and cons. The author is apparently an English major, but not the kind that is a stickler for impeccable grammar. Each review is an easy read and you really do learn something about the products that get time in The Impulsive Buy’s spotlight.

Again the layout is simple. You can search by Month, category, or just peruse the products that catch your eye. There were no special features that made the site stand out. The personal touch given to each review would land this blog in the humor section. However, I think a “Review” category would be a better fit. The entries are humorus, but with some of the odd products reviewed I think they could have been a tad funnier. Again this is only one reviewers opinion.

All in all the site is a good read. It is sort of like a personal blog that talks about products. Within each review you tend to learn more about the author than the product, but that’s not a bad thing. I really liked the weird items that were reviewed. Should the author focus entirely on those out of the ordinary items they may carve themselves a new niche.

Item: The Impulsive Buy
Purchase Price: FREE!
Rating: 3.25 out of 5
Pros: A witty way of looking at items on the market.
Cons: Could use some fun extras and a bit more monthly reviews.

The Impulsive Buy

This blog has a nice clean page with a lilac header powered by Typepad. The white, uncluttered background makes for easy on the eyes reading. Always a plus in my book.

In the About section we are quickly and thoroughly informed that our author is a proud liberal, hence the Dr. Laura reference. We are further directed to an entry that is supposed to explain WHY Grace is the radio talk show host’s worst nightmare. So I checked it out and came away mildly confused. It seems an odd thing to drag Dr. Laura into the picture. You have a liberal outlook on the world? Great. Tell me all about it. But what does Dr. Laura have to do with it……. really?

This blog is nigh on brand spanking new so if it tickles your fancy, you can read the whole thing and get up to speed on what’s going on in the author’s world. But fasten your seat belt because you are in for a bit of a manic ride. The writing style is certainly lucid and intelligent, though a bit frenzied. Grace tells us about weddings, birthdays, and her current activities which include being a student of Bikram Yoga and a disappointing cessation of her jogging training because of broken toes. All this is delivered in a lighthearted if at times slightly edgy style that is fairly appealing.

There is a nice photo section and the usual links to Archives and recent posts, plus a list of sites titled, “Condemned by Dr. Laura”. While I found the actual writing on this blog readable, it struck an off note to me to use someone that one so obviously disagrees with as the defining nexus of the blog. Why bother?

It will be interesting to see how this blog develops. Sometimes it takes a while for a new blog to find itself, and this one is off to a pretty good start.

I Am Dr. Laura’s Worst Nightmare

At first when I opened up this page, I was struck by the sheer stark simplicity of it. White background, black text & simple graphic line drawing. The only problem was, I couldn’t tell if what I was reading, was an introduction or their latest post.

The second thing that disappoints me is that this first post (as it turns out) was done 2 days ago (not today), and the one before that a whopping 21 days ago. Surely the point of having a blog is to keep it regularly updated so that the regular readers keep coming back, instead of clicking their ‘reload’ or ‘refresh’ buttons in the vain hope that something else, and preferably something colorful will appear. Alas, it does not.

Upon scrolling down, a glimmer of excitement grips me as I see another picture. A monochromatic map of California depting the San Andreas fault line. I find this mildly interesting for a short while, and move on quickly to find out more about this person in their archives…hmmm where are they?

Now I’m starting to feel like a mom who’s kid goes off to college and never calls…The posts are extremely far apart, and when this person does post, it’s not earth-shattering enough to make me want to come back and see more. This blog requires color, a little investment of time, and well, quite frankly a life.Revolution Dove

This blog is very plain. Which is okay by me. I don’t mind plain. It leaves room for the focal point to be on the words. And believe me, on this blog we are going to need all the room we can get, for I will venture to say that this blogger writes the longest entries I have thus far encountered in the blogosphere.

There is a cursory About page, with little real information about the author. But you might make a note of the fact that on the list of her favorite books, Ulysses is at the top.

The archives go back to May of 2004 and I dove in to get a feel for what is going on with our author. The entries are generally stream of consciousness impressions, and shift from the present to the past with a seamlessness that many times left me scratching my head. There is a liberal smattering of letters or diary entries from as far back as 1997. Most of the writing is rambling, which from time to time borders on the incoherent. Though the images invoked are vivid and beautifully crafted, they often seem disjointed and aloof. The only time I really connected with our author was in an entry from September 18th entitled “Grime”. If you are going to read one sample from this blog, do try that one.

The overall tone of this blog left me feeling bleak. Not that there is anything wrong with that. But I would not call this a personal blog. I think it should be under the creative writing category, which would prepare the reader for what is to come.

If you enjoy atmospheric stream of consciousness writing, this is the blog for you. And I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the brilliant mind that obviously resides in these pages. But for the same reason I did not enjoy Ulysses, I did not enjoy this blog. Though I admit that I prefer my journeys to have a beginning and an end, for I like the satisfaction of completion. A pedantic’s view perhaps. But you may feel differently when you visit, and will curse me as an insufferable hack with no imagination. My advice is to go there yourself and make up your own mind.

Redemption Blues