Author: admin

All white!! That are the words that come into my mind as the site loads. The writer seems to be very frequently traveling through local trains, because the two latest entries are both train-related.

The writer, as he tells us in ‘About Me’ section, is Britisher who has been living in Tokyo since 1998. The blog is fairly new, starting December 2003 (actually end of December).

The writer has liberally used images, and unlike many blogs where the only function of the images seems to increase the load time, this guy knows how to strike that fine balance wherein images actually do what they are supposed to do: entertain the reader.

Most of the topics covered are Japan-related. Yet the diverseness of the topics is worth an appreciation. One moment he is talking about used-underwear industry in Japan and second we hear his ramblings on Smoking manners.
It should be added that the writer is scantily personal, it appears that his fascination with Japan is still quite strong and he keeps posting in interesting(and sometimes really really funny) facts about Japan.

Overall site design is quite good, though the header screaming “Tokyo Times” seems a little out of place. Apart from that, the design, graphics and the actual writings all blend in quite nicely.

All and all, a nice refreshing blog. If you are looking for some blog where you don’t have to read each and every microscopic detail of the writer’s life, the this is the right place for you. This blog is definitely ‘Out of the Box’.

Tokyo Times

My initial impression of this site was a very good one. The site was very crisp and neat, including three basic colors and a clean, legible font. I immediately thought that this was going to be a great site that a person of any age could enjoy because there was nothing too immature or mature about it. Another thing I noticed was that there were lots of pictures, which are important in enhancing your site and giving the reader a visual manifestation of the story or post. After this great first impression, I decided to dig into the weblog itself to see if this good feeling towards it would last.

The good feeling certainly did last. The posts were all very well thought out. Everything was interesting and fun and the writing was very smart. She talks about everything from cooking to what she thought when she woke up that morning. I was impressed with everything in the blog and the content was very entertaining. She obviously had a purpose in writing this blog, whether it was simply to get her ideas down or to share her experiences with the world, and her voice is strong and, at some times, moving. After reading her first post, I kept seeing her as an actress in a movie but it’s refreshing to know that she is a real woman, going through life just like me and everyone else, and I think it’s important to touch a reader like that.

The design was very easy to manage and I had no trouble navigating her site. She has all of her links on the left side and posts on the right, which is very common but for a good reason. Nothing is too cluttered; everything seems to fit just right. I think the design is great, to match her amazing blog.

To add to the experience, she was many different extras lining the left side of her site. You could find a specific type of entry by choosing a category of post, which I think is very unique and helpful. She also has as “Recommended Reading” section and a “Circle of Friends”! While enjoying her Photo Album, another great find, I noticed she was a nature nut, too. All of these things are great and only add to the experience of her blog.

Overall, I think this was an excellent blog and she shows great skill in writing, as well as photography and web design. I would greatly recommend visiting this site and I think it will only get better.

Switched At Birth

Your first impression of this blog is very good. As soon as it had completely loaded (which took only mere seconds), I was surprised by the design, as it’s a really rather unique design. One minor point though, the ads right at the top are really ugly. But for the rest it looks pretty nice.

Most of the entries are written in a humoristic way, mostly to amuse the reader, but also to prove a certain moral/point. The spelling is pretty good, although the lack of any paragraphs whatsoever may put you off from reading this blog.

However, this shouldn’t stop you from reading this blog. It contains some very entertaining stories that’ll get a guaranteed chuckle out of you.

Like I said before, the design is a very unique one. I’ve never seen it before on any other blogs, so it must be a custom one. The only down-side of the design is the side-bar (right). At certain points it’s a bit crowded, and certain images give it a very amateur look.

All the links seem to work, and the archive links also function correctly. One minor thing; there seems to be a refresh every xx seconds, and this is quite distracting, especially when you’re a really focusing on the entries.Overall, I’d say the design is very nicely done, and some work has obviously been put into it.

In conclusion, I’d like the say this blog is very nicely done, and definitely worth reading. If you need to extend your blogroll, I suggest you add this blog right now. You won’t regret it.Rambling Along

Upon first arriving at Rambling Along, I was greeted by a highly functional, if somewhat clumsy layout. The eye graphic to the left is both intriguing and aesthetically pleasing, and the monochrome scheme seems to work well. I recommend the author get rid of some of the white space around the title, as it lends to a feeling of unbalance. Likewise, I was somewhat put off by the subtitle, “Musings From A Muddled Mind.” To me, at least, any blog with the word “musing” in the title (or “rambling,” for that matter) has a head start at being cliche. However, one shouldn’t judge a blog by it’s title (or its layout, for that matter,) so I continued with an open mind.

To the right of the page, one can immediately spot the author’s biographical information, which is nice. Unlike some blogs which have no biographical information, or information too vague to make sense of, Rambling Along’s author paints us a quick, concise picture of just who is behind this. He humorously apologizes for any grammatical errors describes himself as “am a 30 year old gay man with a penchant for seeing the “other” side of life.” While it isn’t really stated what this “other side” might entail, it becomes apparent that the author has a blunt, and entertaining. taste for sarcasm.

Kai, the author, has been keeping this blog sparsely since mid-September. The site seems still in it’s infancy, and long gaps between entries are common. Much of this blog written with a kind of adolescent tone that is alternately refreshing and annoying. The entries are often all-out rants, many of which any reader can sympathize with. He railed against parents giving their children funny names, and talks about his experiences with the Catholic church. While some of this is charming, other entries come across as rather mundane, and result to describing daily events with mild and expected editorializing. Some comments he makes sparkle like diamonds in the rough, and when Kai described his mood as “aubergine,” I couldn’t help but grin. This is strictly a blog site, however, and the blog itself is the only content.

In terms of design, this site is quite plain, as is expected for a new site. The large amount of white space at the top of the page in unbalancing, and the photograph above the bio is very poorly scaled (I am unsure if it is of the author or not.) The seemingly monochromatic color scheme could work, and the eye graphic on the left is intriguing, though neither really compliment the sarcastic tone of the blog. The archives are difficult to navigate for such a small site, requiring the user to flip through calendar views and search for days one which the site was updated. I suggest the author switch to a drop-down menu or list of links for site navigation. Overall, the design is legible, but certainly has much room for improvement.

In it’s present state, Rambling Along is a somewhat interesting site that some patient readers may learn to love despite its flaws. This is, one must recognize, a very young site, and the author certainly has potential. Amid the clutter, some gems do sparkle, and with a little more practice on his side, I’m certain Kai’s blog could be a consistently entertaining. I advise the author to keep blogging, reading blogs, and developing his voice. This site is very much in it’s infancy, and smacks of a work in progress. Eventually, Rambling Along could become something enjoyable for mass consumption.Rambling Along

My initial response to this blog is cute. I love the design and the graphics at the top of the site. The first thing I did was stop by and read through the “about me” page, which almost always has a ton of interesting tidbits about the author. Here, you’ll find much more insight into who Keith is. I love the look of this blog and I can’t help but hope that my first impressions of this site mirror the rest of the blog. I have high hopes for this blog as I start on the entry archives.

The first month of archives are pretty uneventful, with a few bits and pieces that are worth reading. As with any new blog the first few weeks usually entail checking code, making sure that stylesheets are working correctly and in the case of Keith, the include for php is working write as well. After getting past the first this first month you run across a few very political entries, which, in my opinion, aren’t meant to reflect one way or another but to just open some eyes. This post of a particular article was very interesting to read. When I started to get more into the blog, as the author seemed to do as well, I found intriguing entries like this one about a cookie’s fortune and his thoughts on what it made him feel. I’m sad that I missed the Binky the Crayon naming, but was glad to share in it after the fact. The blog, for it’s randomness of subjects, is very well written. I suppose that would happen with a blog so aptly named. A recent entry about the Boondocks was a wonderful read, not only because of the author’s insight but the articles that are linked.

The design is good. Very good by today’s standards. The author has taken the time to learn something new, html and css, in order to create his own designs rather than stick to some tried (and died) templates. I love the design because it fits the author so well. Everything is easily accessible and well navigated. There are couple of quirks, for example, the “randomness photo” opens into another window, but the window is not resizable and doesn’t have scrollbars. This only poses as a problem when the image is larger than the new window opened. Otherwise, I love the design.

There are a lot of bonus features to this site. There is a photoblog to see the world through the author’s eyes. You can contact the author without opening your email. He has a list of his favorite web places as well as a separate blog list. There are recent reads, dvd’s and other good things that you’re able to post about while using TypePad. The author also does a quote of the day and a word of the day. These are all worth a look since they change on a regular basis.

The majority of this blog is personal. There are a lot of insight entries, or entries that are just there to share ideas or artwork, pictures or thoughts. He keeps the blog interesting by picking different things to write about. I enjoyed reading this blog very much. Each person seems to approach the blogging world with a different viewpoint on life, and Keith’s thoughts are definately worth a read. random thinks