Category: Uncategorized

My first impression upon visiting Dazzle’s Original Fiction was pretty good, easy to read, nothing jumped out at me and it certainly didn’t take long to load (in Netscape or IE, but I would certainly use IE).



Let me start out by saying as a ‘weblog’ this one stinks. I have no idea when each entry was made, and outside of knowing that the authors name is Paul Millar and he is from the United Kingdom I know zip about the author. Okay, now I can move onto what this site is really about.



Paul Millar’s site is a collection of his short fiction writing. You are greeted with his most recent story on the front page, five others are linked to the right. There is an archive section with an additional eleven stories. I can’t say that I read much anymore (fiction), and when I started reviewing Dazzles’s I was kind of bummed out because I knew I would have to read a whole lot of fiction, which I am just not into. Well, Paul Millar took my disappointment and tossed it out the door. I think I realized that I was hooked on the writing when I was a paragraph or two into the story “Give It Away”. The author describes a group of youths (in youth attire; skate boards, hooded tops) as; “Each one thinking they are individual, not knowing they are uniformed.” And “Many stare at him – barely disguised snears – look at the grown-up infiltrating, invading, OUR space.” I was in the same uncomfortable situation not two weeks ago, passing some teenagers outside of a record store as well.



“Memories Of A Dead Woman” spooked me pretty good (and while I was at work yet). My favorite would have to be “Sounds From Within”, about an out of body experience. I’ve heard stories about such things, in this story the author makes you feel like you are the one having the experience. At the end of this one you take a deep breath and feel glad you are alive, just as the main character does. I wish I had the kind of talent it took to write that story.



I was tempted at first to classify this site as ‘adult’, there are certainly stories that have adult like content. “Distractions Of A Beautiful Stranger” is one. Had the author not made me the person looking at “A Beautiful Stranger” through his writing, I probably would have classified it as such. After all, this is literature (real writing), and you can’t put that into an age group. I would not recommend having this site on your computer at work though. This is best read at home with a hot cup of tea in hand. I will say (because really, I am quite the critic) that I thought “Dead Loss” really stunk because it was hard to read. Maybe its some weird type of ‘prose’ thing, but if you are going to write something and put it in paragraph form, you better gosh darn have some type of punctuation. Reading that story was like running a sprint while holding your breath.



The author also has an e-book you can buy, for only $2.88. My pay day is Friday, and I am seriously considering buying it. You’ll have to follow the links on the right side of the site to find it. Look under “The Jesus Christcafe”, for it.



In summary, this is a well designed site. There are archives (to older stories), a link to where you can buy the author’s book, and a comments feature at the bottom of the entry page. I have to say though, as a weblog it stinks. I loved the writing, but Paul Millar is a mystery to me. Two and a half stars, check it out, if you are into a good read. Dazzle

“driving with a pinky” is a blog written by Natalie, a teenager in high school sharing with the world all the little things that make her tick which range from songs, little adventures with her friends and everything else that goes on in a teen’s life.



Despite the fact that there were so many posts on the main page of the blog, I found it hard to stay interested in the writing. It might because I don’t regularly read sites about teenager’s lives in high school, however I couldn’t really find an overall consistency. I found the different colors in posts a bit distracting and then about 3/4th of the way down the page, all the posts became italicized, which was confusing since I was curious to know why all the posts weren’t the same.



I wasn’t really able to get a really good feeling of who she was as a person from her site, which I would have liked. When I read a site I like to know or be a bit familiar with where the author’s coming from whether it’s from the writing itself or a biography on the author. Maybe a bio or “about me” section would have helped in this case.



The site is still fairly young; 2 months old and will develop more over time. However, I’m sure you might like

“driving with a pinky” if you like reading sites from a teen aspect.driving with a pinky

One word comes to mind when reading the gigglechick website: Funny. I guess that is what you would expect from a comedian, but it is still a refreshing surprise.

Erin, the aspiring comedian/graphic designer who maintains the gigglechick website manages to find the humor in even the darkest situations. Sometimes, the humor is dark, sometimes sarcastic, sometimes it is milk-through-the-nose funny, but it is always there.

The humor even shows through the site design. Erin uses a Pill-container, which she refers to as a poor woman’s PDA, as part of the logo. She has a section called “Jackasses & Stalkers” for people who instant message her out of the blue with inane questions, or hit on her. She even has a “Rantings” section for her extended diatribes about her life and thoughts.

Overall, this is a very well designed, well thought out weblog, and one that should be on everyone’s weblog link. gigglechick.com v.2

David serves in the U.S. Air Force, which he sees as a “great way to express commitment to American principles.” David also expresses his commitment to American principles in his weblog, but not as much as I originally guessed. Other topics, such as his upcoming move to Montana (which will be the sixteenth place that he will have lived), his weblog, and other people’s weblogs, all get their fair share of writing space in David’s rather lengthy archive.



Like news blogs, David’s writings are filled with links to other places. However, each post is interesting and understandable without clicking on the links themselves. Never expect to be left in the dark about what any post means, if you need to, you can click on the links and read what David is writing about! This is definately a good feature.



I would say that the weblog’s main audience would be people that know David (there are a few posts designed just for a certain person, but not many), and people who are interested in the political side of current news. Assuming you’re in the target audience, the weblog is well written and a good choice for reading. Between the archives and the links in each post, you’d be hard pressed to run out of things to read.davidmsc.com

I am in love – in love with Eric’s photography. Due to his near obsession with taking pictures, viewers are treated to VERY frequent weblog entries in which several photographs are available to browse through. Scenery, people, abstract shots – they’re all simply amazing. And my regards were that high for Eric’s photography even before I found out his shots have been published in various mediums.

While drooling the fine quality of pictures Eric has displayed everywhere, I also read the weblog and browsed through the rest of the extensive site.

The weblog is laid out very well, with it being easy to distinguish between entries and find my way around. With the author’s active life, it makes for an entertaining weblog. Trips to San Francisco, eating in NYC and running into people like Conon O’Brien and Danny Devito – they’re entertaining events, and Eric does a great job describing them to his viewing audience.

The bio section is one of the best I’ve seen. Eric has a rundown of how he’s grown up, from 1977 until now, in a slideshow type format that shows some MAJOR changed – definitely excellent ones, to say the least! I laughed out loud at the scanned handwritten note Eric’s younger sister wrote about him during their squabbling elementary school days.

I had a good time at this site. The pictures, as I’ve mentioned before, were amazing. Those alone are enough to make a person come back again and again.ECHENG.COM