I was delighted to see “The Ex-Girlfriend Project” up for review because it is a blog I started reading a few weeks ago. It is relatively young but it is one of the densest most content-filled blogs I’ve ever read. It reads like a novel or a very circumspect diary. Unfortunately, the blog-format is not the best venue for the content. This story begs to be told in forward, not reverse, chronology.
The blog is the writer’s attempt to understand his relationship problems by telling the stories of all of his important past relationships. He lays out the purpose of the blog in excellent “about” and “about me” pages. Read them first and you know what the blog is about and who (more or less) is doing the writing. You are never at sea.
He begins at the beginning, in high school, and chronicles his entire history for us in amazing detail. While he tries to stick to talking about his ex-girlfriends, the stories about his group of friends and their lost, searching drug-filled lives are compelling. When you read this blog you enter another world, another time, and you are completely there, though it can be a bit exhausting. If you miss a few posts you find yourself hours in the hole. The author works “as a freelancer on the fringes of the film business,” which apparently affords him plenty of time for blogging.
In terms of design, I have some quibbles. I don’t care for color type on a black background. I find it harder to read than any other template style. The author uses a different color type for each of his ex-girlfriends. It’s a good idea, but in practice, I don’t like how it looks. I don’t think the gimmick is necessary to keep the women distinct. Reading the story is sufficient.
If you like long-form, narrative blogging, you should read “The Ex-Girlfriend Project.” It’s a good read, good writing and I highly recommend it.NULL