Named for a character from the novel, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, Bonanza Jellybean is a personal life oriented blog written as an “exercise in sanity” by this wife and mother. When I first arrived, I was struck by the layout. It was attractive, but not to the point of detracting from the main purpose of the site.
I began with the most recent post, a story of a conversation in which she tried to convince her husband to wax his back and was almost immediately hooked. I delved into the previous posts and found that while it is a personal blog, her stories are often filled with humor. By the time I got to “Old Men Aren’t Dishwasher Safe, Either,” I was struggling to keep from laughing out loud. In truth, I had already lost that battle by reading her story of hiding in the bathroom to keep from having to deal with her mother-in-law. While most of the stories were amusing or even hilarious, they also gave a bit of insight into her life and personality, making them even more interesting.
The site itself has a pleasing layout, with a simple color scheme and a three column layout. The left column contains the typical, “About me” and “100 Things” sections as well as the archives for the site by title, category and date. The far right houses an extensive Blogroll and a few other links, while the center is reserved for the entries themselves. Few graphics are used, but those that are present are attractive and only enhance the enjoyment of the site.
Overall, the site is easy to look at, fun to read and if it is similar to other weblogs out there where people talk about their lives, I certainly won’t hold that against it. I definitely enjoyed this site, but it is most decidedly not for kids or those offended by the occasional (sometimes frequent) expletive. If this doesn’t bother you, I’d suggest giving it a try. You are bound to get a good laugh or two. NULL