The name of this blog sounded familiar so I did a little search here on The Weblog Review and found out that the author has been reviewed three times already. Of the three previous times, I was the only one who didn’t give her a perfect 5 out of 5. The author has decided that she should post her blog into the Personal section this time instead of creative writing so lets see where that gets us.
The first thing I noticed, like last time, was that she calls her blog a Poet’s Notebook. I still like this term. Every creative person I know has a notebook of sorts. Sometimes it is digital, sometimes it is just a paper and pen. But all the time it is something that is interesting to look at and read.
The blog hasn’t changed much since I last reviewed it in 2004. There are still a lot of cat posts, in fact they have their own category now. If you didn’t know that there was “Friday Cat Blogging” you would probably mistake her blog for an online crazy cat lady. There are still poems which as I said before, I don’t know what makes good poetry. But I still enjoyed reading her poems.
The design of the site has much improved since 2004. It is now a two column layout with the navigation and other things in the smaller right hand column. This column is filled with an obscene number of items. Most of these items I do not find helpful, and actually hinder the blog. Too many little icons that easily draw my eye away from the blog.
The archives are in little drop downs as if in a form. While this looks nice as it keeps everything neat and tidy, I am not a fan of it. I prefer the old school link style. The first reason is that it is easier to find the archives. Second I think it is just easier to use.
The blog has become sparse this year due to Sharon’s lack of energy caused by her fibromyalgia and CFIDS. That is a shame because this blog is a good one. It is well written and you can tell that she actually enjoys posting to the blog.
In my last review I gave the blog a 3.5 and in this review I am giving her a 3.5. It is better than the average blog, but it is definitely not for everyone. It isn’t a must read – it is a best kept secret type blog. I think that if this blog got too much mainstream attention then it would hurt the growth of the site. So if you want a new blog to read, this could be it for you.
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