Category: Uncategorized

Behavioral pshycoholgists, I am told, have already taken an interest in blogging as both a regulating valve and a security blanket. The vast majority of personal blogs falls within either of these categories or both. Broad at Bat, run by Mrs. Broad as our “host/teacher,” is introduced as WOMAN 101, a freshman course, I suppose, flying the standard of a black bat. Right off the bat, with Mrs. Broad swinging, I’d classify this blog as both a regulating valve and a security blanket.

You could, I guess, see Broad at Bat as a mildly funny, whimsical kind of blog where Mrs. Broad communicates her accumulated wisdom on womanhood in general. She gives us only a hint as to how much time she has already spent reading the innards of a woman’s operating instructions:

(On 10/30/02) How old am I? I’m old enough that I’ve done the silly things youth do trying to find their own boundaries. I’m at that place in life where priorities are clear, comfort zones are huge, and I’m more apt to explore depths rather than just breadths. I’ve learned the big, important and expensive lessons. I’ve found myself.

That’s grand… But what does Broad at Bad exactly offer?

I’d suspect that its primary objective is analysis of women’s daily “life strategies” in this harsh, unruly world. Look, for example, at a lengthy post on flirting and teasing that attempts to define the differences between “flirting,” “teasing,” “fooling around,” and “coming on to.” Fine detail here and the audience should be of both sexes, frustrated or not, successful or not. The entire blog (and it’s a relatively young one) is in this exact same tone of “voice” — mildly didactic, sober. Mrs. Broad is really making an effort to sound cool and collected, and she probably is.

I read the following excerpt as Broad at Bat’s cross between a mission statement and a core kernel:

Women are also wonderfully brave and charitable when it comes to imparting their insecurities, their beliefs, and their opinions – like ones on my hairstyle, or how I raise my children – often within hours or days of first meeting me. You just don’t find many men willing to extend themselves like that to a stranger (on 10/15/02).

Powered by Blogger, Broad at Bat has the simplest possible layout. There are only four links of suggested reading and the archive. Writing is straightforward, plain. Mrs. Broad hasn’t any earth-shaking announcements to make. She slowly ploughs through the days, one post at a time.

I felt Broad at Bat was pop soda without the fizz.

But some people adore flat soda.Broad At Bat

I’m sure it has happened to you at one time or another.

You stumble upon a page, you get hooked instantly, and you want to tell everybody about it, Mom & Dad, and Uncle Percy, your dog trainer, your non-blogging, non-Webbing wife (girlfriend, boyfriend, whoever…), even Mrs. Gunnatharty down at Human Resources (who hasn’t seen a Web page in her little, form-and-pencil bound bureaucratic life, ever). The site is that good, it’s attractive, it’s alive, it has got “flesh” to it, it may be even called a “magnum” site….

“Webraw – digital sushi for your mind” is such a beautiful site. I saw and I got hooked. Webraw is already in the top tier of my “Blog-an’-Web” resources. Save this URL. If you’re serious about blogging, and also enjoy lively writing, humor, and almost flawless technicals behind the page, Webraw is for you.

In fact, the part that was submitted to TWR is the blog section of a larger site that contains three other areas: Form, Function, and Theory. I won’t go into details of what the rest of the site is all about, but suffice it to say the other sections are as interesting and a must-visit as the blog. Make sure you click though to them all. There’s plenty of good material in every section.

Eric J., who’s behind Webraw (and its blog section of course), is obviously somebody who knows his stuff very, very well, and has put together a multi-layered site with great care and finesse. Colors, graphics, photos, the whole page design of the blog (and the other sections) are eye pleasers (but adjust your browser for character size, otherwise you may end up with 8 point Times New Roman throughout, not exactly recommended by your eye doctor).

The reading area is adjacent to a column that contains links to the Archives, a box where you can subscribe to Webraw, and several other useful pointers, including one to The Weblog Dictionary, a smart, concise resource on acronyms, nomenclature, et cetera.

Contrary to what you might think, Eric J. doesn’t post exclusively on computer-Web-blog related material. There’s variety, including, for example, the photo of webraw.com’s new puppy, whose name is Wendy Moira Angela Darling “as in the gal from Peter Pan” (nice touch, Eric, but how are you actually going to call the dog? Pooches are generally unresponsive to anything resembling a name beyond two syllables… “Here, here, Assurbanibal…” Take my advice, it just doesn’t work)…. I was two-three posts down on the current page and caught myself already clicking furiously on links provided to all the new goodies from Google. Expect this to be normal when you scroll down Webraw’s blog — archives, too. Links and links and more links, always to something you can save for future reference.

The December 3 post includes a clever list of “You Might Be A Blogger If….” attributes. Check the list to discover if you’re among the dyed-in-the-wool or simply passing time with your blog.

Several days later, Eric J. says:

I feel like I’m drowning. There is something about the Web that is crushing my non-Web self. I feel compelled to spend every moment of my free-time learning, studying, reading, teaching or constructing something related to the Web. Feelings similar to guilt descend upon me when I’m doing something that is not Web-related. While I’d like to be able to just integrate the Web with the rest of my existence, like television or newspapers, the very evolutionary nature of it demands that I always be improving or else I will fall hopelessly behind. When I think about this it seems kind of sad but what else am I to do? I actually enjoy this, most of the time. I guess I just need to get used to drowning because the Web is an ocean and one can only swim for so long in the ocean.

Copy this and read it again and again over the span of several days. I think that Eric has caught the deeper feeling of many of us out there…

I can go on and on about Webraw. Although, strictly speaking, we’re here to review the blog only, Webraw cannot but be perceived as the well-oiled whole that it is. On this count, Webraw gets a 5 and the set of stars to go with it. The Weblog alone gets a 4.5, completely deserved.

If you haven’t visited Webraw yet, do it now.webraw/blog

This is the weblog of small-town-Wisconsin-native, Ira, who’s now living in Chicago. The North Avenue Traffic Report is a personal weblog detail Ira’s personal traffic report, if you will. Ira best explains his purpose and intent by letting all the readers know the story behind the title of the weblog, and how it effects what he chronicles at this site.

The way Ira narrates stories is often very picturesque. When he tells of his dumpster diving experiences, it’s very easy to imagine him, legs sticking out, scrounging around for that great deal that you can’t find anywhere else – aside from the bottom of a dumpster. With Ira’s description, for the first time ever, I realized the advantages of scoping out those perfect dumpsters and piqued my curiosity enough to wonder where I might find some professional dumpster divers in my area…



No, his posts aren’t all about digging things out of the garbage. A good portion of his posting deals primarily with his bike ride to and from work each day. I never knew one could have so much to write about just along a bike ride. Ira takes time to notice what’s going on around him each day, and does us all a favor by taking the time to write about it. It’s a refreshing thing to read for me, because on my way to work, all I’m concerned about is the jerk in front of me who keeps riding his brakes and the lady next to me who’s got her lipstick out trying to use her rearview mirror to apply it.

The only thing I really felt like I missed out on at the North Avenue Traffic Report was some more information about Ira. His stories sometimes clue us in to a little bit about him, but you only learn that if you go through the few months of archived entries that are available. I’d like to see somewhere I could read a more general description of this guy that managed to entertain me the whole time I read through this site.



The design of the site is nice. It uses standard black, white, and yellow. There’s nothing flashy or something that’ll throw in any shock value. It’s just a nicely done site that makes for easy navigation and easy reading.

Stop by and give the North Avenue Traffic Report a read for a few days. Ira is sure to hook you with is writing and just the mere way he can tell a story. And that always makes for a good weblog.

North Avenue Traffic Report

A standard Blogger template was the first thing I noticed at Toast and Coffee. Standard templates always give me the first impression that a weblog’s going to be nothing but just that – standard. Toast and Coffee? Not so standard.




Claire’s logic behind putting an outside link in each of her entries is probably the best one I’ve ever seen: “That way, even if *I* don’t have anything to say, I could at least make a link to somewhere where someone *does* have something to say.” I can’t think of a better way to justify doing that!

Fashion, travel, music, plans for future technological advances – what can’t you find to read about with your “Toast and Coffee” every morning? Claire can entertain you quite well, and surely keep your attention with this clever weblog that’s genuinely about her life. From descriptions of the environment surrounding the author to little quips about warning labels on health care products, Claire kept my attention through the entire five months this weblog has been in existence.

The aforementioned layout, while just a regular template, is one of the better ones that can be chosen from. Like many other standard templates, it works well with the site. Colors, navigation, read-ability – it all works well together.

Of course, I would have loved to found an “about” section where I could have learned more about Claire. I found our author to be quite the entertaining individual and would have enjoyed reading what that natural flair for entertainment can be attributed to.

I would visit the site again just to see what else Claire is up to, or what else is being posted from the current “reception area” that’s being used as some office space right now. I’d highly suggest dropping by and hanging around for a few days – to the weblog, not necessarily Claire’s new apartment. I have a really good feeling you’ll like it there.

Toast and Coffee

American Sentimentalist is a blog dedicated to what the writer calls a “belief about the still-possible redeeming qualities of what used to be called America.” Mark, the writer, is a freelance writer, and the fact that he gets paid to write is evident in his blog entries. It is rare to have the opportunity to review a blog that uses language, rational thought, and punctuation so beautifully.

The blog is really about current events, mostly about the foibles of the current U.S. administration. Mark has a very good grasp on the situation and writes excellent, thoughtful articles and, like any good journalist, links to the sources of his information. I can’t find a single thing to complain about except to say that I wish I’d written most of his entries.

Unfortunately, American Sentimentalist does have some design flaws. While I wouldn’t expect Mark to test to make sure his blog looks good in every imaginable browser, it would be a good idea to make sure it looks good in the main two – Netscape and MSIE. It looks fine in Netscape, but is the design is seriously skewed in MSIE*. The sidebar is shown underneath all the entries and it doesn’t look good. Other than that, the design of the blog is very spartan.

A nice feature at American Sentimentalist is the ability to sign up for a weekly update. Mark also keeps a list of news sources and blogs he reads. There’s a good About Me type of page.

I will definitely visit American Sentimentalist again. The writing is excellent and Mark provides some beautifully written political commentary.

* Editors Note: The page loads fine in IE if your screen resolution is set to 1024×768 or higher.The American Sentimentalist