Category: Uncategorized

Before I even got to the site I laughed. What can I say? I love the word drivel. Once I got to the site, all I was thinking was My Big Fat Greek Wedding (check out the pics on the right, they’re classic). So while this is another blogspot blog, which before I started reviewing I was none to fond of, this is another well done blog. The pictures throughout the site are a welcome personal touch to an otherwise standard design.

The writing in My Drivel is a good mix of posts about current life, news, fun quizzes, and stories from the writers past interjected with pictures for those with a short attention span (such as myself). The posts were written with a lot of feeling and even more humour. I think almost every post had me chuckle. Early on in the blog there are very few posts, which was explained in the About Me page. This brings me to what I think is the coolest reason to have a blog – so family (kids, grandkids) can hear stories of their family they may otherwise never hear, and based on what I read – they should hear.

The design was a standard blogger template, easy to read and nothing over the top. All the links within the posts work, although just a side note, I think all bloggers should warn readers of pop up ads on links they post – something I myself am guilty of when I get the link with a pop up blocking browser. The thing I found weird, was there were no permalinks, It wasn’t a detrimental thing at all, just strange. That being said, there weren’t a lot of “features” on the site. The About Me page however is a must read. I howled laughing at it. It reminded me of the banter between me and my best friend.

Overall, this site was a joy to read. I love blogs that can make me laugh, and as well make me understand. I felt as though I knew the characters enough to follow a story, and the pics of his cute kids didn’t hurt. My Drivel

Spinning is one of those blogs that you really need to sit down to with a nice hot cuppa and a plate of shortbread – and it really was too bad that I was forced to review the site through the day at work where a nice relaxed hot cuppa and a plate of shortbread just isn’t available.

My first impression of the site was that it was a bit too greyish. It’s a very basic design that doesn’t confuse you but it’s basic almost to a fault. I personally would like to see something that reflects the writer a little more but it’s okay as it stands.

As usual, my immediate action was to check out the “about me” and the first couple of entries in the blog to get an idea of the person behind it, leaving the rest of the blog alone until I’d achieved that particular goal. Well… there’s not really that much in the “about me” section. We have a one-line bio and one that is fairly typical of bloggers world-wide; “A lover of writing and reading.” She goes on to explain that the pencil drawing that appears in the top right-hand corner of the blog is not her but a picture of an oldtime movie star that her mother drew. We’re also given a brief glimpse of her interests which range from reading and writing to computer hardware.

You really can’t garner much from the first few entries (going back to October 2003) anything more about the writer either, but you don’t really need to. The quality of the writing is outstanding and draws the reader in (or at least, it did with me) regardless of the fact that there is very little information about the person behind the blog. This is a sure sign of a great, engaging writer.

While it’s personal, it’s not the mundane retelling of daily life. We don’t have to read what Spinning’s author had for breakfast, or that the car wouldn’t start. The audience gets to read past the obvious and into the interesting. For instance, when I think of the inside of a computer, I think of loads of wiring that I have no idea what to do with whereas Spinning’s writer will say “..fiddling around deep inside the bowels of a computer…” as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

And don’t get me started on her creative writing either, for it’s utterly fantastic. There’s little snippets of writing which left me wanting more and this entry is just one where I really got into the simplistic creativity.

This is a real example of not judging a blog by it’s design – for whilst the look of the site won’t catch your eye, the content will keep you rivetted.

Spinning

I think this review was made for me. When I got to Yikes!, I was hit head on with some “obviously mistaken opinions on whatever it is that Josh has written about”. This is one of the most wry, sarcastic, and funniest site I have read to date. Josh is a Jewish teacher from Encino, who among other things once had to go to the hospital to have a gum wrapper removed from his nose. This site has some of off colour humour and profanity, which goes right up my alley.

Yikes impressed me right away as it has an About Me section, and was not a blogspot blog. The site itself is well laid out, easy to navigate and just generally looks good. There are some humourous – while colurful – images, that enhance the humour in the posts they accompany. There are perma links ranging from blogs Josh reads, to Mac links, to satires of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Quite the range, and yet I found myself reading most of the sites after I ran out of things to read on Josh’s site. All the links on the site are working, and there is really nothing that detracts from the obvious work he has put into the site.

Josh posts about things important to him, like his school, interesting things that happen to him like trying to get on TV, and just random banter. No matter what the topic, each post is written with the same amount of obvious effort, and the same wit. No topic is taboo on this site. Something else I really enjoyed was the photo albums. I always find they add a bit of personality to a site, and are enjoyable just for readers to look at. Josh also made sure he included a link to his old Blogger blog, so you can keep up on when Josh was infatuated with Canada, and was rambling somewhere else.

Overall, this is one of the best sites I have seen on my own time, let alone reviewed. It is because of this, and the fact I have read and reread this site so many times in the last couple of days just looking for a laugh, that I have to give it a 5. There is nothing I can even think of that would make this better. Josh, don’t change a thing.Yikes!

Very Big Blog took awhile to load, but it was well worth it. The design is flawless, incorporating bright colors and stunning retro imagery, with a flash menu, to boot. The design was so lucid, so fluid and poetic, I found myself scrolling slowly up and down, watching the shadows on the text boxes and reveling in the orangeness. When I finally turned myself away from this to the actual content, I was equally charmed The counter prominently displayed on the site is creatively worded: “# People Are Actually Reading This Garbage.” A blogger willing to refer to her own site as garbage is always going to be all right by me.

Jen has been blogging for two years, and her blog accents her design business (and is named for it.)Her posts are short, numerous, and many follow the traditional blog format of links and comments. The links are fairly original, and usually go beyond the normal “links to news sites” and include lots of funny/entertaining game sites. Jen doesn’t discuss her personal life much, but what she does discuss is very entertaining.

By far the best way to explore the site is via the Categories menu on the main page. It will point you to the several reoccurring features of the Very Big Blog, such as Swanky (a periodic posting of mid-20th century tunes) and a selection of consumer-driven haikus that had me laughing out loud. All sorts of MP3s are offered up at the site, and for iPod fans, it must be a treasure trove. Jen is very pro-mac, and has a while category devoted to them, which is sure to attract Apple-friendly fans.

Despite first appearances, the site’s navigation does indeed leave some to be desired. The beautiful picture is pleasing, but takes awhile to load on every single page, and while this happens, the page is oddly off balanced. Furthermore, some sort of Movabletype error keeps me from moving from the monthly archive pages to the categories without going back to the main page. This gives the site a strange, disjointed feel. I still love the colors and overall look, though. If only that image could load faster.

I definitely recommend Jen keep writing. Her adherence to blogging’s original repertoire sees signs of being successful. While this site could use an occasional design tweaking, the overall look and feel of it is very energetic and positive, as is Jen’s writing itself. Fans of blogging’s roots, Macintosh, music, and simply cool stuff will enjoy having Very Big Blog as a resource for their forays into the web.verybigblog

I have to say that first impressions of the site came not with the loading of the page, but with the title itself ‘The Mommy Blog’. I’m not a Mommy, and I honestly couldn’t see what there would be for me there if the whole thing was centred around being a ‘Mommy’. But I persisted. This is not the weblog of a typical stay-at-home Mommy, and this is reflected through the entire blog. In one form or another the weblog has been around since December 2002, and is well established with a personal theme, and a good set of visitors.

As I had expected the site mostly consists of personal entries – about her family, her job and random life events as and when they happen. The posts are largely well written and easy to follow – the author writes well, and this is a definite bonus for any blog regardless of the content. Her posts are however sporadic, varying both in terms of posting consistency and quality/appeal of content. Not every post held my rapt attention, but all in all it was an enjoyable and worthwhile read. I couldn’t help but feel that this weblog is going to be more popular amongst fellow working Mum’s, judging by content at least.

The design is beautifully done and is individual, really suiting the style of its owner. It’s a commonly utilised 3 column layout, content in the centre flanked on either side by various internal and external links. There were two main problems I picked up on however. The first being the method of skinning the site, which didn’t work the two occasions I visited this site – Bit of a disappointment, as I was curious about the alternatives to the main theme. The second is the section “I’m telling” which resides at the bottom of the right hand column – the method of showing recent referrals to the site was pushing the fixed column out. Admittedly not a huge problem, but it was a blotch on an otherwise pristine template.

I found the content well written I couldn’t with all honesty say that this was a blog I would visit on a regular basis. I do feel it has appeal, just to a restricted audience. It’s contribution to the weblog world however is an insight into the life of a working Mum, and this if expanded on a little more could really have potential. An interesting diversion, a potentially good 3.5The Mommy Blog