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With a name like The Muttering Muse, all I could think was, “what in the world am I going to find here” when this one came up for review. One quick look at the subtitle, “Decaffeinated coffee is the Devils blend,” and I figured this would be a site I could settle in to.

Kestrel authors this WordPress site. Upon first opening the page, the reader sees a beautiful graphic, which is from “A Bacchante” by Arthur Wardle. The graphic also contains a portion of a poem by E. E. Cummings. This blog has a very classy look. The colors are pleasing to the eye and work well with her header. Kestrel has an extensive about page. I always appreciate people who write a personal blog taking the time to really work on their About Me section. It helps the reader gain insight right away into the writer and Kestrel has done a wonderful job. You learn that she has two BA degrees and is working on a Masters in Religious Studies. Check out her full About Me page and you’ll see pictures of her beloved dog Oreo as well as some fantastic snapshots she’s taken. Kestrel is engaged to be married and she has a count down to the big day in her sidebar.

Along with the standard blog roll, this blogger has several added features in her side bar. Usually lots of clutter annoys me, but Kestrel has some cool applications. As a student myself, I enjoyed her status bars for projects she has to complete this semester. It must be fun for her regular readers to keep up with her progress! She also includes a list of books she’s reading, complete with mini-summaries, and her current mood that includes what she’s craving and wishing for among other information. Very fun little apps!

A little annoying is the password protection on several entries, such as 3 successive posts discussing an argument with her fiancé and a “real time” Thanksgiving post that I assume she updated during the day. I wouldn’t really know though, as I do not have the password. Password protected entries appear throughout the blog archives. It appears Kestrel does this “in the interest of familial harmony,” as she explains about the Thanksgiving post. I can only guess that many family members and personal friends read her blog, and she does struggle with that in a post from November 17th. This is all well and good, but it does pose a hassle to the occasional reader. Perhaps a more private, intimate blog written separately might be in order to solve her dilema.

Kestrel writes about anything that seems to come to mind. Her style is light and conversational. She posts everything from the occasional favorite recipes (I copied down Pasta & Vegetables Au Gratin – thanks!), to examples of her own digital artwork and even her choice of birth control. Nothing, it seems is off limits for Kestrel. As expected, there are posts about the wedding planning and even Kestrel’s thoughts on current events.

The Archives start in April 2004, however there is only one post to be found there. Kestrel advises that it was posted on her previous blog. It’s an entry about “The Passion of the Christ” and the issues surrounding that film. The archives do not start up again until August when the writer began using WordPress. If the “Passion” post is one she feels is important, perhaps it deserves it’s own special place on her sidebar.

Overall, The Muttering Muse is an entertaining site. Kestrel posts often enough to keep her regular readers coming back again and again, as evidenced by her frequent commenters. I would have scored her higher were it not for the password thing. I’m sure I would have been provided one, had I sent email to request it, but quite frankly I’m supposed to review what I see. This writer’s variety of content and interesting sidebar apps make this blog an interesting read. You’ll just want to ask for the password to get the full Muttering Muse experience.
The Muttering Muse

Filegirl is written by Kristine, and is mainly centered on her home and family life. My initial impression was that the blog wouldn’t particularly interest me, but upon diving into the archives, I found myself enjoying it more and more.

Most posts have an illustration, a photo, a little extra something to enhance the experience. I became curiously interested to know how her daughter’s brace settled, the effect of the April Fool’s pranks, and why her mashed potato was green.

The site is quite a “girl-ish” design, but Kristine has obviously put a lot of effort into it – surf the archives, the posts all run in such a way that you’re not reading from bottom to top, and each background is different. It’s appealing.

I was definitely surprised I enjoyed this blog so much ; if you’d said “very personal blog” I’d have thought, oh dear, more “what I had for lunch” type posts, and that definitely shows how wrong the descriptions can be. Don’t judge this blog by it’s cover! It is interesting, and gives the reader an excellent view into one persons world.

Go read it!

Filegirl.com

The initial impression of this blog was a good one for me. I liked the layout. It was easy to understand, the colours meshed well and didn’t give me a headache! I enjoyed the picture of the filing cabnets with the bird sticking out of one. I thought to myself that this might just be an interesting blog.

Kristine didn’t let me down. I enjoyed her posts, getting to her archives was easy, although I didn’t like the bit where you had to go to the main page to read another months archive. Kristine mainly writes about her life. It’s a blog based around her husband, child & her obsession with Victorian/Gothic style houses.

Her writing style isn’t hard to follow. The various links all work, there isn’t many links cluttering the page either. She has some pictures thrown in which I found to be a nice touch. She made me laugh with some of her posts, the halloween trick or treating put down probably my favourite.

The general gist of Kristine’s blog is personal. She writes about her life, her quirks & with the pictures thrown in, I found it entertaining.

I think this blog is worth a visit. It’s easy on the eyes & has some interesting and humourous entry’s.Filegirl.com

This is Sara… a student, music lover and reviewer, cat lover, wry observer, and generally an all around renaissance lady. She has much to comment on in life, and enjoys doing so. She knows much about a myriad of things!

Sara has been blogging since early in 2002, and is a prolific and entertaining writer. She adds photos and links in an easily followed logical progression, and has a wry sense of humor both in her own words, and her choices of funny bits that she gleans from different sources. She is an honest and ernest reviewer of many types of music, and I’ll agree that although she willingly shares many personal insights, her reviews are often the main focus of her writing. I could easily see her as a valued addition to any music review venue, as her honest ears and eloquent words give ‘good review’… even if she (or we) don’t exactly agree with the style.

Her blog is a fairly standard templete done in an uncluttered, easy on the eyes style. The coordinated shades of green were a pretty, undistracting way to showcase her writings and photos. All her links worked easily and were quite self explanatory. She has plans to write a novel for the National Novel Writers Month in November, and I’ll be interested in what out of her large repetoire she chooses to fictionalize.
I enjoyed getting to know her through her years of growing and experiencing. I’m betting she’s a very nice person, sharp and quietly humorous.

In general, this is a most pleasant blog from a very nice person… better written then the majority. Yet, somehow, I’d almost like to see a bit more ‘edgy’ in her writing. Even her complaints are phrased so nicely, I fear she could possibly be ignored at the fast food drive up window, and get the impression she’d rarely (if ever) go back inside to complain about a batch of cold french fries, or lack of napkins. For the sweet readable design, and the very nice writing, this reviewer sends her a solid 4, and looks forward to checking in on her from time to time to watch her challenges and successes as she reaches her goals.furiousmuse

Dozer’s Blog has a fairly generic Blogspot template, but it manages to be pleasant due to the toned down colors. The pale blue background and black lettering for the texts works well. So does the font size which is readable without being in your face. He has been blogging since January of 2004.

Our author is 23, and works at the Tacoma Dome. His entries consist of a fair number of Quizilla links and results. Quotes of the Day, short comments with links to the usual web curiosities and a high percentage of announcements about the upgrades he has made to his page round out the entry topics.

While he writes lucidly, the subject matter is of the most ordinary stuff. I was thinking that it might be interesting to hear some bits of information about the groups that come and go at the Tacoma Dome, or perhaps some character sketches or memorable anecdotes about dealing with crowds of people… but it was not to be.

In the sidebar, are the usual links to blogs he reads, camera shots, archives and a section with clickable headlines from Wired News.

While this was not an obnoxious blog, it certainly was not a very interesting one. If our author wants to attract more readers, I would suggest spicing up his writing with things from his own life and work, and less about what’s going on at Quizilla this week. He might be surprised at the results.

Dozer’s Blog of Life and Other Observations