Eliza’s has been running Fembat.Net since 2001 and she owns a horse! She has two of
them, in fact. I know that’s a strange way to start a review, but it’s not exactly
common (at least here) to have horses, so that’s an intriguing bit about her I read in
the Bio page. Eliza’s weblog is a personal one, and the site has a lot of custom
tweaks that makes it stand out from other Movable Type blogs, which can look
generic after a while.
The entries start from April 2001, though Eliza has been blogging a month
before that. The earlier posts were lost due to a Blogger problem. I started reading
the site from the beginning and one of the first posts goes into how she got her horse
and the month’s archives ends on a sad note, and I can’t help but feel sorry for her,
even though I’m consciously aware that the events depicted here happened two
years ago. Eliza’s writing has that effect on the reader.
The first few months entries are a bit sporadic and the posts in 2002 aren’t
regular as well, but that’s not to say that what’s there isn’t interesting. Eliza posts are
mostly personal, but she has a lot of different aspects in her life and with her
commitments, it’s understandable that time is in short supply for updates. The first
two year’s posts seems to happen when something happens in her life – be it her pets,
or something more unfortunate like being mugged and having a car broken into.
However, the pace picks up in 2003 and the posts start to become regular. Eliza
has many facets in her life, and that’s what makes her blog interesting…she’s
involved in many things – she even mentions writing her first novel, something I’ve
wanted to do but keep on putting off. Her archives are organized well, giving the
reader the option of reading chronologically (year, month, date) as well as within
specific categories.
Navigation wise, Fembat.Net is structured well, with a persistent sidebar menu
which changes according to the context. The site also has a photoblog and I’ll have
to say that Eliza takes great pictures, which would be something of interest to people
interested in photography. I enjoyed the “City Views” category, I reckon that’s one
of the good things about photoblogs…you get to see another country’s sights, from
the perspective of a local. These usually show you things the travel brochures leaves
out – the daily things, simple but beautiful.
There is nothing to find fault with on Fembat.com. I’m amazed that she can
maintain consistency with her posts and handle so many other commitments at the
same time, without burning out. The layout is great – the custom modifications to
her MT blog makes the site looks neat, I liked the “Recent Comments” and “Blogroll”
that’s minimized by default and only shows when clicked on. There is a minor HTML
tag error in the About page which doesn’t link correctly to her photoblog, but the
photoblog is accessible from the sidebar so this shouldn’t be an issue and can be
easily rectified.
Head over and see for yourself. I was going to end with a quip about guys
owing themselves to click on “Picture Yourself” in Eliza’s photoblog, but on second
thought, that would sound offensive, demeaning and totally inappropriate, so I will
refrain from mentioning the photos of herself, which I swear I didn’t click on until
after I read the blog and did not bias the review in anyway. It’s a 5/5 site, easy
navigation, flawless and customized design and good writing. This is one of many
personal blogs out there, but Eliza’s life is anything but ordinary, so this makes her
blog stand out.
Right. Moving on, I did not know horses can drink Stout until today.Fembat.Net