Month: February 2003

I am pretty sure there’s a website out there, that shows bloggers how to make a blog. If I ever find the site, I’ll find the owner, and I’ll have him or her flogged for hours. Ladies, Gentlemen: it is not enough, to take a blogskin, slap it on a Blogger site, write a “100 things” list, and start blogging your life to have an interesting ego blog. And there seems to be a misconception, too – there is no law in the world that forces you to use purple and rose as your dominant colors if you are a female blogger.

Never the one to judge a book by its cover, I started digging deeper into “Are the Stars Out Tonight”, ignoring for a while the choice of colors, beginning with “feather boa”s Top 100. There’s only so much to be learned from such a list, but as the interested visitor, I am, I now know, that she is a 21 year old, British, bi-sexual glockenspiel player, with an IQ of 174 and size 32B breasts. Did I really need to know this much?

Reading through her journal, I’d discover more about feather boa. One of the cooler things about her blog is a cast list, handy for understanding the who-is-who in her writings, I perused it quite often. The entries are, expectedly, very personal and ego-centered, and cover vomiting after a a night out as well as heart breaks, the dating world, and what else ever a 21 year old girl could find interesting.

Like so many other ego-blogs, featherboa is, in a sense, a therapeutic activity. If you’re into this kind of thing, a deep dive into someone else’s mind, you’ve come to the right place, baby. For me, it always feels a bit like voyeurism, but this blog was at least nicely read voyeurism.are the stars out tonight

In the wide world of weblogs, it doesn’t really get much better.

The current design is very nice to look at it. The simple, conservative use of lines, boxes and as few images as possible really give the entire layout a very clean presence. Of course, Paige has the “About the Author” section which gives us a little more insight into her, a section devoted to “Vegan Recipes”, an obligatory “Links” section leading us to different weblogs she reads, and a couple of links directing the reader to Amazon.com where they can find out what Paige is reading or listening to.

On a personal note, I could effortlessly connect with some of her latest posts about starting her new job. Reading the way Paige describes learning everything you need to know at a new job and beginning to wonder if her new job is too good to be true are both situations I’ve experienced right around the same time she was writing about them, so I felt exceptionally drawn into this weblog.

While other readers may not find the same connection I did with specific entries, it’s simple to believe that nearly any demographic – male, female, younger, or older – will be able to relate in some fashion to the variety of posts Paige gives us about her daily life.

As I’ve said about The Book of Paige before, which still holds true three months after my last review of this site, the author only adds another entry in when she has something to say. Sometimes this is every day, but other times, there may be a few days between posts. Taking this route makes the majority of the entries more than just one or two lines long, but absolutely worth reading.

Aside from giving the world something to read every single day, I honestly don’t know what else could be improved upon. This is the second time I’ve reviewed this site, and honestly wasn’t really sure what else Paige could have done to make it stand out from being better then it was the last time it was reviewed. Being able to make such a close connection with the author gave me no choice but to give an even higher rating than in the past. Just as before, I would recommend giving this site a once over, because honestly, there’s no reason not to.

The Book of Paige

Reading the Book of Paige is like reading my own diary. This is one personal blog. Paige’s entries make her life sound so human; and almost anyone can relate to her past experiences. The self-deprecating moments in her blog (i.e. ‘Why I am an idiot’ episodes which can be found in her archives) puts a smile on your face, as it assures you that you are not the only one in the world to get bad days. Her writing is rather smooth and there’s a certain flow to her entries, allowing your eyes to just glide over the sentences. Paige is a very intelligent writer who doesn’t have any qualms on voicing out her thoughts, so you can expect really outspoken entries at times. I really love it when Paige sometimes teases the reader with entries with a really suspenseful head. (E.g. Entry dated 3 August 2002) It’s like eating while blindfolded. The anticipation! It’s fabulous!

Her site is rather well linked. There’s a good ‘about me’ page, which consists of basic details in Paige’s life (age not included. You NEVER ask a lady for her age, though you could probably catch a hint in Paige’s earlier entries), as well as some not-so-important information. For example: Paige is DIY-handicapped and spiders scare her to death. There are also the usual ‘link’ page and entries. Extras include links to her favourite books and music at Amazon.com, as well as a vegetarian recipe page to cater to lacto-ovo vegetarians like Paige. Bonus points goes to a good selection of links (e.g. Erotibonsai – A news article on a tree shaped like the more private parts of the human anatomy).

I love it when blog writers actually spend time on the blog’s design, even if the layout was not done by the writers’ themselves. This shows that they care enough about their writing to present it well. Paige’s layout did not create the layout but the design is very clean and, unlike most blogs, is rather tastefully done. There are almost no distracting elements in the design, so it’s pretty easy on the eyes. I would say that this design definitely suits Paige’s style of writing. I say, good choice!

This blog is a truly intelligent and delightful read, filled with subtle and sometimes cynical humour. It’s good for people who love well thought out entries and eloquent writing. One area of improvement is that she could probably add in an html code that enables a new window to pop up every time someone clicks on a link. The Book of Paige is updated once every few days so it’s a pretty good choice if you want to add this site to your regular ‘blog’ diet. Seriously, this is one blog which makes you crave for more. Once you start, you can’t stop.
The Book of Paige

Usually when I enter a weblog for the first time I dive straight into the “about” page. With The Book of Paige it was different- I actually stopped on the front page and got caught up in the writing before I felt the need to go elsewhere. Now that’s a sign of a good blog.

You can’t go more than three posts in this weblog without finding one that sucks you in. One of my favourite post was about M&Ms, of all things! Paige, the author, has a love of writing and books, and with her writing abilities and inspiration combined can make the most unexpected things very readable and amusing or thought provoking.

I’d say that Paige’s writing would appeal more to female readers, as she often writes about issues that would be of more relevance to them: A response to a 1955 Good House Keeping article, how to make a plastic bag bra [very useful for the unemployed- read “broke”- among us!], Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream. However, there is enough variety to make this an enjoyable visit for anyone.

As for the layout, I definitely prefer the current one as opposed to the one used in the archives. It is clean and easy to navigate and has good use of colour. The weblog has an ‘about’ page and links to the books and CDs that Paige is listening to. This is a nice idea but I’d have preferred them to take you to a another page in the site as opposed to the Amazon site. With Paige’s writing skills, I’m sure that a reading and listening page with her views on the books and CDs would be a worthwhile addition to the site.

Whilst The Book Of Paige uses a simplistic design and focuses mainly on the day to day life of its author, the quality of the writing is what really won me over. With the new layout highlighting the writing more than ever, if you haven’t visited this site before then I would definitely recommend you go there now.The Book of Paige

“I find these truths to be self-evident. But, then again, I could be wrong.” This saying is at the top of the site, and I noticed it right away. And right away, I really liked the way it sounded and even said it aloud a few time. This same quote is also the very first entry of this weblog. Fallible.com was off to a great start with me.

The second thing I noticed? The overall design of the site. I’m going to assume the design is an original one done by or for the author of this weblog, and it’s a very lovely one at that. The boldness dark red background is mollified by the patterned quilt-square looking border around the actual weblog content.

And then, I thought I’d actually read the weblog. The second post on the entire weblog shares the story of how Katy met her best friend over forty years ago. By reading it, you’d think it was something she watched happen just the other day. With the way Katy writes, the memories she chooses to share seem like they happened just yesterday or if it was happening right before her very eyes at that particular moment in time. The descriptions she gives and words she uses give you the exact picture you need to see just what she’s writing about.

It’s not all past memories, though. Katy’s got a sharp wit that makes you laugh out loud while reading some entries. Her son’s inaugural speech he’s pre-written, yet another reason why we should all thank Al Gore for inventing the Internet, and trying on a thong after losing so much weight were a few of my personal favorites. I have no doubt that anyone that stumbles upon this site will have the same luck in finding something that strikes their sense of humor.



You know what I like? If you’ve ever read any of my reviews, you know I like “About the Author” sections. No matter how boring or inglorious it might be, I never get tired of being able to get just a little bit of an idea about the person behind all of the journal entries I’m reading. While the weblog entries alone gave me more information about this author then nearly any “About the Author” section ever could, most readers won’t start from the beginning and find out as much as I was able to.

This is a real site. By real, I mean genuine and sincere. Tales of motherhood and friendship, bits of news and entertainment, or anything else Katy decides to post just seems to fit perfectly for the site, the site content, and everything else. I really think the majority of the weblog readers out there can find something, at least one thing, they can relate to with Fallible.com. I’d certainly recommend giving it a shot.

Fallible.com