Ah…another blogspot blog. I wasn’t expecting much when the page started to load. After it finished loading, I looked at the ‘Pete’ in ‘The World According to Pete’, then at the pink background decorated with cute little paw prints and at the peachy, girlish layout with not one but two adorable smiling cats, and expected much much less.
Then I started to read.
Then I wondered: what the hell is such a witty and sarcastic male writer doing with a thirteen-year-old tween site design? A witty and sarcastic AND heterosexual male writer, no less (no offense to certain parties). I suggest an immediate revamping of the site in case the frilly, innocent layout misleads impressionable little girls and boys into reading the blog content and thus suffer from serious mental problems after coming across Pete’s ‘sex life’ and his wacky opinions on the war. Damaging stuff. So that’s 0.5 points off for incongruousness and lack of concern for the wellbeing of minors.
Seriously, now, Pete is a funny guy. The blog was originally submitted under ‘Humor’, but I unilaterally (keyword alert! keyword alert!) changed it to ‘Personal’ because I feel that The World According to Pete is really all about Pete. Heck, the title says it all. I’m not sure if it’s a good thing to write about your personal life, views and opinions and have readers laugh at it, but it sure is good for us readers. When Pete writes, he writes. Long, satisfying entries throughout the blog, with correctly spelled words (there are some misspelled words done on purpose a la ‘Flowers for Algernon’ though), grammatically perfect sentences and neatly separated paragraphs. All that just to make you laugh.
With the main attraction of the blog being his personality, it really is a let down that there is no personal information on Pete. Many bloggers scoff at the idea of doing a Hi-my-name-is-Pete-I-am-29-years-old, but in reality it is helpful for readers not acquianted with the writer. It lets readers know where a writer is coming from when he or she makes a point; whether there are any prejudices or not and so on. A white middle-class American male saying “Bush is an idiot!” is not the same as a young Indonesian saying it. A blog without basic personal information gives the idea that it is meant for friends and relatives only. Readers feel left out and have difficulty understanding posts if there are references to earlier events. On The World According to Pete, the only thing that might give some remote idea about who Pete is is a link titled ‘Pete’s Mug Shot’ – which links you to a JPG file that doesn’t show. Another 0.5 points off for that.
All in all, if you ignore the pink kitties and concentrate on the words, you will derive great pleasure from this blog. More than anything, it is enjoyable to read about Pete’s antics and outlook on life, smoking ‘problems’ and all. For someone who has had a near-death experience and seen God, he’s a reckless, fun fool. The verdict: The World According to Pete is a rollicking, wicked good read. Chances are you will develop a crush on Pete after reading through. Highly recommended.
Semi-related stuff: In the interest of writing an honest review, I have attempted to see what will happen if readers answer Pete’s call of sending him pictures of themselves. So far there has been no reply, and unfortunately (either for him or for readers of TWR) I have to submit this review before dinnertime and thus cannot inform potential readers on the outcome. Do head over and check the site out anyway.The World According to Pete