Month: July 2003

I think the first few available entries on the weblog, back on September 2, 2002, summed up the way the reading would go with each entry. Eight different entries from within the span of less than seven hours, none of which really had that much of a point.

Early in October, Cloe writes “That’s what my blog lacks…intelligence”. One thing that this weblog certainly does not lack is posts. Readers are subject to sometimes seven or eight posts on a daily basis. And then there are times when there’s no update for up to a week at a time. While it may be a bit inconsistent, there’s plenty to come back to read, but probably only to enjoy if you know Cloe or have any idea of some of the things she talks about – school, her “real life” friends, and things that happen to her on a daily basis. Yes, this is what weblogging is all about, but when random outside readers stumble upon the site and can’t figure out what’s going on, that tends to present a problem.

Halfway through the older entries, the layout of the site completely changes. Both are quite basic, and concentrate on the importance of this particular weblog – the writing. There’s nothing else available at this site except for the day-to-day entries Cloe shares with readers.

It’s hard to give this type of a weblog a description of any site. The posts rarely focus on anything that even resembles consistency. I found a post that said “Blogs are for losers”. I found several posts that were simply chat transcripts from various instant messaging tools, and there were a fair share of the popular quizzes and various other forms of memes that are passed around from weblog to weblog.

“Disarm”, as this weblog is called, isn’t anything that I found interest in at all. Maybe it’s the age gape, or maybe it’s that there wasn’t anything of interest thatI could find. Ideally, if I were to find an audience that would find this weblog entertaining or at all interesting, it would have to be peers of the author that are in contact with her only a daily basis. I have a feeling that those people would be the only ones that would really appreciate Cloe’s writing.

Disarm

I visited “My Travel to Belgium” several times, and I still haven’t really been able to appreciate it in the manner which the author created it. I thought perhaps this would be a very thorough piece of insight into what Belgium is like by someone that had been there. It didn’t really fulfill my expectations at all.

The first entry gives an explanation of the weblog. The author explains it as follows: “This is a weblog on Belgium. I am an Iranian journalist and plan to visit Belgium from 7April for two weeks. So you will hear more soon.”

The layout is a basic three column format, but the template that is used is definitely one of my least favorite Blogger templates. The pink and white animal paw background and the pink and peach colors didn’t really match up well with the weblog or the idea of the weblog at all. The list of “favorite blogs”, the archives listed in a weekly format, and an email address run alongside the left column. In the center is where you find the weblog content. A good chunk of the April archives seemed to be missing in action, as each time I tried visiting them, I wound up with a 404 Page Not Found message. There were only a total of less than 20 entries throughout the entire site.

Since the beginning of this weblog in March 2003, the author keeps promising photos of the travel to Belgium, but the photos still haven’t arrived. Most of the entries aren’t the author’s own personal views on Belgium, but rather various links to other sites about Belgium or random facts that author has found.

The extra information about Belgium and its geography, history, etc. would be a good addition to a weblog, but it takes more then that to make a weblog that attracts more visitors and keep people coming back to read more.

My Travel to Belgium

First off, I loved the name of this site… “Way Too Many Unruly Oranges…” Gawd knows I’ve often thought oranges would one day take over the world.. but they wouldn’t listen!… Anyways. WTMUO is a clean, well laid out site with a good number of great photos (be sure to hover over the pics for the alt tag descriptions – most have them anyways), curious links and many visitors who like to comment.

I enjoyed Imelda’s blog. The entries are usually her account of the days happenings with her spin and flair tossed in. She is honest and has a good sense of humor. It felt like she was talking to a friend about her day. After reading a few months of entries her blogging was fairly infectious. The even keel and consistently optimistic writing had won me over. Maybe it was her many warm salutations, such as ”Do, do, do … hope everyone had a nice weekend!” .

Imelda on the bugs in her room, “So I heard this buzzing sound and I was half awake thinking, “Where the hell are you, you stupid [insert choice of word] bug!!! It’s 3am and I want to sleep!!” So I waited till I heard it buzzing around and then flicked on the light to kill it and of course it stopped buzzing. Do they have the capabilities to stop in mid-air or something and be come invisible? How do they do that? And I’m sitting there in my bed completely still rapidly darting my eyes around the room looking and listening for any buzzing sounds. I never got the damn bug(s).”

Regardless if you like pulp or pulp-free, pour yourself a tall read of some Unruly Oranges. I think it would be great if she had a separate page with all her photos < wink wink nudge nudge > other than that, ’tis Wunderbar!

Finally, some advise from Imelda: “People, please! Delete the words “hella” and “hecka” from your vocabulary. Thank you.”. 😀
Way Too Many Unruly Oranges

At first sight, “what brings meaning”, has a clean, simple design. Nothing sticks out and it is comfortable to look at.

It is a personal weblog and it can be a little difficult to get to know the real girl behind the blog through some of the posts.

It is a very well written site, but many of the posts are really personal and clearly not meant for a random reader, or at least a reader that refuses to go through the archives to get a better idea.

This blog would also benefit from a commenting system, other than the guestbook. Reader comments would make it easier for a new visitor to get a clearer picture about the blog’s intentions.

Some of the posts are reflections and thoughts about different subjects, ranging from TV shows to love and more.

The design of “what brings meaning” is simple but fulfills the purpose of the site. A more complicated design would just feel inappropriate.

A very good feature of this site is the huge amount of information about the author. Many links reveal different aspects of the author’s life and even let a reader see some of her personal poems.

“what brings meaning” is a blog that will slowly introduce a reader into a talented girl’s life, but it definitely takes some time and reading through archives to be able to really begin to feel closer to the posts and to her life.house of winds