Ryan Zeinert, lover of all things television and owner of the blog subject to this review, states on his header that he is wants to be “a reclusive, wealthy, alcoholic author, but 1 out of 4 ain’t bad.” I’m guessing he’s not wealthy, so strike that off the list. He doesn’t seem to be reclusive because he went to a wedding in a hall that holds 8 people comfortably and mingled with the over 100 other guests, so I guess he is capable of coming to social situations and suffering through all that that implies. He’s a damn funny writer… so that could be the one out of the four… but I think the underlying joke is the alcoholic part. And that makes me laugh. I strive to be all of those things myself.
The CDP, or Communist Dance Party, blog is a very funny read, and usually when I do these reviews I dive headfirst (not feet first, I’m not afraid of shallow waters) right into an About Me page. The Welcome to the CDP page tells me a little about where our narrator is coming from, but not a lot. He introduces us to his Missus and an evil eyed cat who has laid claim to fish, mice and a lot of money. The Welcome Page has not been updated since 2005, so I would suggest a gentle refresh if our author has the time, seeing as he’s currently writing a book and scaring visitors like me with pictures of Heath Ledger as The Joker (I will now no longer think of Heath as sexy gay cowboy, thanks to that photo).
The archives date back to 2004 and aside from all the missing graphics for entries prior to mid-May 2004 (damn you angelfire, damn you like stupid Smarch weather) the blog is a tasty mix of humorous fiction and personal insights. Ryan writes about Celia, his girlfriend (later the Missus), fancy stamps, stress, bad dreams, his ulcers, vegetarian lifestyle, Michael Moore, Politics, 72 Hours (you should read the blog to find out what that is…), TV, Top 10 Worst People Ever, moving day (best line ever: “FOR THE LOVE OF CRAP, WHY DO WE OWN SO MANY HEAVY THINGS! From now on, we buy NOTHING that weighs more than 18 pounds.”), Top 20 Scariest Movie Moments (agreed on most!), his ska band Mediocre at Best, and life in general in Madison Wisconsin.
It is your standard blogger blog, filled with bloggy goodness. Easy on the eyes, easy to navigate… the only suggestion for navigation I’d make is I highly suggest going through the archives and getting rid of all those damn ugly angelfire graphics. Again, I’m sure our esteemed author is authoring a brick and mortar book so going through old blogfodder to clean house probably isn’t on his top ten list of things to do right now.
I greatly enjoyed his wedding entry, he and the Missus were gorgeous. And I love the whole murder mystery wedding concept. Unique! Exciting! Fun! I found myself loving the blog and loving the read, and even though I’m old enough to be his hip aunt from Massachusetts, I find myself revisiting hoping for an update to the update to the update of the most recent entry on the page.
Suffice to say, Ryan, yours is the best blog I’ve had a chance to review so far. And after blogging since 2001 myself, I have to commend you in your ongoing efforts to keep the CDP afloat longer than your band. Keep up the good work, I look forward to the book.
And I must add that a Humor/Personal category should be added. Personal blogs are usually just … personal. Humor is something I would categorize as The Onion or The Sneeze, the latter having personal content but it is Humor All The Time. I’m changing the category here to Personal… but under self-inflicted duress. NULL