Weblogs with unique titles make me happy. I clicked on the link to the site and was very glad to see this site at least looked unique and original.
This layout strayed from the packaged template that Blogger has to offer, which is a rarity from the list of growing weblogs hosted by Blog*spot. It’s a clean and defined layout and is very easy to both read and navigate – all great trimmings on a weblog design.
The site has a ton of extras from top to bottom. It’s easy to subscribe to this weblog either through an RSS feeder or through email. There’s a huge section under the “navigation†header – the archives, information about the author, photos taken by the author, etc. The author lists some terrific charity websites for readers to explore. And, as with nearly any other site, there are the typical links to the archives, a blogroll, Amazon wish list and more.
For starters, readers can easily find a link that tells all about our author, Schmutzie. From standard auto-biographical information like birthday information and her marital status to a couple of 100 item lists, it’s refreshing to be able to learn so much about an author before going back to read the archives of this site. This much information doesn’t leave as many unanswered questions, and that’s a bonus in any weblog.
One of the first things I noticed that I liked about this weblog was how each post is numbered. This was the first weblog I’d ever seen it, and I almost immediately wanted to add the numbers to my posts, too. That doesn’t happen very often.
“Milkmoney…†is not a new weblog by any means. Having previously kept up a site on Diaryland.com, Schmutzie switched over to Blog*spot in August of 2003, and has been regularly updated ever since. Consistency is definitely one way to keep readers coming back for more.
Through the first few months of posts on this site, Schmutzie would give readers a few paragraphs to read and then, at the end of the post, throw in a few links to other websites that pertained to the topic she just covered. The board game Scrabble, tobacco, being a dominatrix – yep, you can just about find everything you can think of, and that’s just the first three months of posting!
Her posts, the ones that stick to one topic, are often like little stories. She brings really good humor into what could easily become daily mundane events. Her husband brings home a new scanner, so they scan a dirty sock. A dreaded trip to the dentist is turned into a funny anecdote that I’m sure many people relate to. These are just two fine examples that make this weblog worth reading. For those not wanting to read multi-paragraph posts, Schmutzie throws in an occasional list from time to time that’s just as interesting.
Currently, Schmutzie is plugging away writing a 50,000 word novel this November, along with her husband. After reading a massive amount of posts on this site, a novel seems like the next logical step in her writing process.
milkmoney or not, here I come