Category: Uncategorized

This would be your average teen blog. There weren’t any archives so this all based on a few posts. Alex talks about her friends and what she’s doing, where she’s going and so on. From what she’s posted, she just graduated from high school and isn’t quite ready to head off to college and rather just stay back home with her family and friends for a while. She mentioned a few times about some guy who I believe is her boyfriend and her feelings about him and all.



She mentioned she was working on a new layout and her current layout isn’t all that exciting. It’s called “the simple things” that has a black background and white font. First thing I noticed and made me grumble was I saw her posts were all squished to the left-side, justified in a small font in a 1-inch space. The sentences are too close together and she should make it at least easier for her visitor to read her posts.



It’s an okay site. Nothing to really rave about. It would be nice if she posted a little more or had some archives.Hail! To the boy that lived! (terminally screwd) ver. Harry Potter

“Immigrant Stories” is a weblog about exactly that – immigrant stories. And they’re very good stories.



The writing on this site is so wonderful. Reading each weblog entry was like writing a chapter of a story. The conversation between parties, the descriptions of the people and surroundings, and the way the author put into words their different thoughts and ideas – these three things turn this into a weblog that’s enjoyable to read.



This weblog is just getting its start from the look of it, and while it’s not update on a daily basis, the posts that are there are definitely worth reading.



The design is simple without a lot of bells and whistles, but it doesn’t need anything more than what it has already.



I hope this author keeps up the fine writing style that’s evident of the weblog so far. It’s surely a site to visit just to experience what the author has thus far.Immigrant Stories

Re-elect Gore in 2004 has been a favorite slogan of mine over the past year and a half, so you can imagine why I found Dubya’s Dayly Diary so hilarious.



Developed by humor columnist Madeleine Begun Kane, this weblog is not your average weblog. Why? Because it’s the weblog of President George W. Bush.



This site design is exactly what it needs to be – functional. Once I began reading, the site’s design was the last thing on my mind.



For me, when I read this, I pictured Will Ferrel in the role of Dubya, just as he is on Saturday Night Live, and found myself laughing out loud at every entry.



Dubya’s Diary is just a small portion of the “madkane.com” website. The rest of the site is definitely worth checking out, as well.



The weblog is in it’s 57th week, and each entry is just as funny as the next. If you can handle a little political humor, or even dumb Dubya humor, then this is a MUST READ. Have kleenex nearby, though, because I had tears rolling down my cheeks when I was finished reading.Dubya’s Dayly Diary

The People’s Republic of Seabrook begins with “If you’re drinking to forget, please pay in advance.” The first thing that pops up in my mind is whether or not this is a weblog. Is it? Everything appears on one huge single page that takes a long time to load. In fact it is still loading after I have read through the first three screen-fulls. There seems to be little or no structure here. I start searching for it but it is difficult to find. It is obvious from the very beginning that this is a weblog in motion, still being thought out and growing quickly without form. The author has chosen to do it this way, which is his right and I can respect. However, it does not make it easy reading for people like me who expect structure. So where is the weblog anyway?

Aha, I think I have found it. Part way down I spot the following words: “Welcome to my weblog- the catalogued ramblings and hallucinations of an unchecked intellect. I love to write, and frankly, this provides me with a much-needed outlet.” Good, so I click on the weblog link and get the much feared 404-error. Bummer, what’s happening here? I skip around and see he is using a ready-made template that is pretty much unused, mostly empty, many gaps. There is even a so-called shop called “shop ecrosstexas style.” Nothing to sell there, though. Click, click and more clicks in search of the weblog. Where is it? I finally find it. However, it has cost me so much energy making it this far, that I have lost some patience for perusing the blog contents. But as a dedicated and hopefully objective reviewer of blogs, I find it my duty to continue anyway. Just in case.

The general impression is that this weblog is okay, nothing exotic or overly interesting, but enough stuff to read. Plenty of stuff. Indeed, the writer does spend serious moments of thought putting down his creative thoughts on paper. I click on the About-link. There I see “What is ecrosstexas?” but there is no answer below. Emptiness and I am still left hanging again.

So let’s get back to the question that started this review in the first place. Is this a weblog? If we mean the People’s Republic of Seabrook, then the obvious answer is no. However, if we mean ecrosstexas then the answer is maybe. There is potential there. The author is obviously working hard on creating his own piece of art, but he is not quite there yet. I think that if he used some good web tools rather than trying to do everything in raw HTML by hand he could do better. There is a good chance.
The People’s Republic of Seabrook

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