Category: Uncategorized

I was greeted by a very restrained site. The title was explained by a Montaigne quote.
“I have gathered a posie of other men’s flowers, and nothing but the thread that binds them is my own.” The author, Mr Brooks, is going to collect together the work of others and make a collage perhaps?

The design was simple and the web log pleasant to read. There is a right sided panel with recent posts, archives and some links to blog related sites. There is evidence of an anti spam device which is good to see. The top of the page contains the blogger.com adverts and the quote and links to a very straight forward factual about me section and links to the author’s other online activities. There is also a link to a detailed contents page where an overview of the site and a Roget’s driven statement of purpose can be found.

The aforementioned collage didn’t quite work for me. There is very little in the way of imported wisdom from the great and the good. Mr Brooks is not a very good magpie. There are some quoted words from the obscure and even more obscure. Some contrived comments suggest fraud. I was too disinterested to research that.

There is limited use of pictures, links and some of the comments appear to be ‘set ups’ and the vast majority of the posts are off topic and trivially nondescript.

The writing is eloquent and at times interesting and once laugh out loud witty. However it hit these heights too seldom to maintain my interest. I struggled through the already assembled posts, the vast majority of which were written prior to the publication of the web log in April 2004. Why that is, is not explained.

I struggled to finish my reading for this review to be honest. Not my particular choice of flowers. I can give it no more than a two out of five – it is well written after all.
Other Men’s Flowers

The difficulties of translation/interpretation from French to English and vice-versa. This was my initial one-liner to describe Céline’s site yet it does not cover all the aspects of it. I found myself trying to sum the site up with a fierce passion after reading it as I am into the same line of work and the correct translation of ideas always arouses my curiosity.

Upon first glancing at the site I posed a question: “How would the author manage to convey, in laymen’s term, the subtle difficulties involved in translating?” Not an easy task… I began to wonder if she’d actually be able to pull it off and interest the reader in the process.

I commenced my trip browsing around, navigating the site. It looks very professional. Simple white and blue template, a side bar with recent entries, recent comments, post highlights under “Category” titles such as Grammar, Culture, Idioms, Interpreting, etc. The site also includes a notify form for updates. Overall, the site has that certain “cleanliness” that Moveable Type gives.

The site title “Naked Translations” is followed by a description (something I always find soothing) and it also features a top menu that takes you to the “home” page where we find Céline’s picture and site introduction; her “About” page, where we learn she is French and moved to the UK nine years ago to complete a Master’s degree in English and ended up staying. We then have an “Experience and Credentials” page which I found pretty impressive. Her rates are also included in the menu (though given via e-mail) as well as the blog itself, called “Translation Blog”, where she explores the same subtleties I mentioned above.

After ending my browsing, I dived into the archives expecting nothing but rather impersonal posts regarding her profession. As I read on, though, I found my initial idea to be wrong. What I most liked about reading Céline was the way she managed to thread her translation difficulties with everyday existence. For example, her post on how to translate this : “Blaming Tony Blair is like trying to pin jelly to a wall”, into French while successfully conveying the meaning and then how she calls “mum” up in an effort to find some ideas on the Tony Blair remark, proved touching. Interesting merge of both the professional and private world there. The private-world posts range from overachieving, the holidays, self employment, the fear of losing good work for taking time out to the loneliness involved in being a Translator: “Solitude and isolation are big issues for freelance translators “, she writes. And the way in which she explains it has us nodding our head in approval.

Her posts relating to the areas of her profession are easily found in the side bar, under the Category title. Thus the posts under “Grammar” will contain just that. Difficulties in using the grammar of both languages when attempting to translate ideas. The Idioms posts deal with idiomatic expressions and how she relates them to daily life. The Interpreting posts I found to be most interesting, making you smile as you picture Céline’s ordeals. Whatever the category, her Translation Blog always manages to merge work with daily life. That is quite refreshing as a career blog will not, of course, appeal to all readers. However, this blog manages to broaden its horizons and interest both the translator and the average blog fan . Also, Céline found the way to explain, in a clear manner, the troubles which she faces when translating English to French and vice-versa to people like me, who do not speak French at all. Quite an interesting blog.

Naked Translations

Ugh. Not another family blog. I admit that I have one of my own burried on the web, but that doesn’t mean I want to read them. After all, the point of a family blog is to write for your family and close friends, not for the general public. This is like pulling out your wallet and showing your children’s pictures to complete strangers.

Drooling over super stars, complaining about Martha Stewart, daughter goes through puberty, cats, rain, husband, neighbor stories, online quizzes, yadda yadda yadda. Boring. Boring. Boring.

Even after reading through three months of archives, I’ve yet to know anything about the author that doesn’t relate to one of her children, her husband, or some other person in her daily life. Even her About Me section is lacking and doesn’t really give you much depth into the author. There was little more than basic information presented. The blog content reads like the diary of “what I did today…”

Her attempts at humor fail, she never scratches below the surface of any subject, and her entries seem never ending. And I mean NEVER ENDING. Her lack of interesting subject matter is not helped by the general look or design of the site.

The design is a typical Typepad layout, with the three column layout everyone is always complaining about. The main entry information tends to look squashed in between the two side columns, as if that material is nothing but an after-thought. The text is easy to read (dark green on beige) and the header is unique, but that’s it.

The lacking content could be made more readable if the author were to focus inward and share with us who she is behind who she presents to us. She needs to cut more to the point and not drag the reader through endless unimportant information while getting her point across. There is nothing that makes this blog stand out. This is your typical Mom Blog and even I (a mother who blogs) didn’t care for it.

The author is a bit older than the “typical” blog author and I admire that she has undertaken this task. The world needs more experienced bloggers to help us fill the corners of the Internet left vacant by the teen drama blogs that we encounter all too often. However, she needs to work on what she says and how she says it. This is not a site I would be interested in revisiting any time soon.
This Full House

The Brittany Spears Blabbermouth exhibits a quintessential greatness of blogging – if you’re interested in Brittany Spears, you no longer have to do a Google search and sift through pages and pages of other information to find you Brittany gossip, you can just go to the Brittany Spears Blabbermouth. The blog is basically a collection of, and comments, on anything that has been published about Brittany Spears, from official press releases and performances to paparazzi pictures and gossip. The color scheme is perfect and it even includes a list of Brittany Spears-related paraphernalia available on eBay!

The authors (Tiffany B. and Steve) get their info from all kinds of sources and the blog – appropriately, if you consider the subject – is loaded with pictures of Brittany. Though there isn’t much on the blog that moves beyond commentary about news stories I had read at regular news outlets, having a collection of the stories and commentary in one place made the reading experience similar to reading a minute-by-minute biography of Brittany and the authors are good at tying a current Brittany event to people and events in her past.

Bottom line: if you’re already a die-hard Brittany stalker, this site won’t tell you much, but if you have a passing interest in her, this is where you can catch up with the die-hard stalkers. I’ll also reiterate that it’s an excellent, if somewhat frivolous, example of the potential function of blogs in the general media world. The layout seems to be a bit screwed up at the moment, but with all the Brittany info, pics, links, and eBay stuff, the site is worth a look.
Britney Spears Blabbermouth

Elisa’s Place is a Modblog. This is the second one I’ve actually browsed through and it’s still a little difficult to understand Modblog link dynamics (like the archive for instance). Oh well…

Elisa’s starts out with a very simple black and white template. She has a nice picture of herself in the header (no blog description though), which saves the blog from visual boredom (as it usually happens with a white background color and black font). But the template is still a lot better than some I’ve seen on Blogspot for instance. The side bar has the typical Modblog options: a full profile, pic gallery, chatter box, a poll and links.

Elisa is 32, married with children. The blog deals with her life and basically whatever she chooses to rant about. It is basically the opinions and daily happenings of her life in word. She may not be an accomplished writer in the sense of oozing verbal greatness in each and every one of her posts, but she is articulate and knows how to deliver. I enjoyed reading her on matters so diverse as men vs. women, cute anecdotes involving her children, and ranting that will put a smile on your face.

Elisa’s Place is a good blog title. For it is after all her place. She sounds like a nice individual with a good life. I think those blog readers seeking to identify with the daily joys; rants, trials and tribulation of smart woman will enjoy her. I did.

Elisla’s Place