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