Review 3192

Blogs are like sanctuaries for many people, somewhere to turn to and become introspective and reflective. Nick’s is no exception although his blog sometimes sounds more like a letter to his friends, a point of contact as many personal blogs are. As I log in, I am welcome by a sleek design, complimentary colors and mostly well designed layout (MSN Spaces). Further contributing to the MS conspiracy, the template breaks in my Apple Safari browser and modules overlap, pictures don’t scale properly.

To say our author, 31 year old englishman Nick, is into god is an understatement. Nick is IN-to god. Reading through the last few months of posts I would say maybe %75 relate to or mention or conclude with a godly message, so despite being a personal blog Nick’s site is also thematically charged. He wants us to know about his piety and like a lovestruck boyfriend shouting from the mountain tops. Its all good, but I often wonder whether these kinds of personal sites are merely professing their faith (ie preaching to the converted) or trying to “spread the word” as New Testament dogma often demands. Either way, there are several well thought out posts here offering opinions that I, mostly, can agree with despite my secular ways.

Nick seems like a nice bloke, and even says in his tagline that he values his friends and doesn’t really have any enemies which is a nice way to live. The site is a little cluttered with more links that you can poke a click at, but well presented and well written. He does gets a tad preachy however which only furthers the christian stereotype of fundamental zealotry, though I know by reading deeper that Nick isn’t necessarily this way inclined. He is honest, open and searching and this shines through in Nick’s Sanctuary. NULL

Review 3222

It didn’t take me any time at all to finish reading the archives of “Life As I Know It”. Here I sit a few hours after reading it all, though, and can’t really recall any of the information I read from the author’s posts.

The author is John. He’s a Christian bachelor living in the St. Louis area, according to his Blogger profile. Before I began reading, I thought I would be able to relate on a few levels – single and living in a metropolitan area. I’m also very familiar with the St. Louis area, hopefully giving me another avenue where I could connect with the writer. Unfortunately, I was zero for three in the “connection” field.

John does tech support for a local newspaper. He sometimes writes about his day at work. Church, his family, and music are other topics of interest that John focuses at in his posts.

The posts are very straightforward and there’s nothing really below the surface of his posts. They don’t require readers to think or formulate opinions or questions about what they’ve just read. They’re just vague. It almost seems as if John walks on egg shells to make sure he doesn’t go against what any of his readers would think.

The site’s hosted by Blogger, so it naturally has a Blogger template. Thankfully, it’s a simple one that’s very easy to navigate and keeps things simple. John lists a few of his favorite links on the sidebar, but that’s all of the customizing he’s bothered to do on the site.

Recommending the site to other readers is easy if they are just looking for a quick weblog read. What you see is what you get in this weblog – the straight facts, very little opinion, but very clear writing.
NULL

Review 3201

I am always awed by members of an older generation embracing new media and technology, and wish I could do more to help those, like my grandparents, who literally fear computers and the internet. So when I first logged into “Watercolor, Pen, Photography & More” I was happy to find our author Jerry Dreesen is a 68 year old man from Indiana whose artistic skill must cause him some distress by the basic blogger template. On my screen width (1024 pixels) his beautiful images are too large for the table causing the right hand menu to obscure them.

Jerry’s website is just as the title states, an outlet for creative expression including some illustration, photography, haiku poetry and more. The artwork has a notably traditional Japanese feel, very minimalist and beautiful which I enjoy a lot. I’ll confess, I am a fan of this style. Some of the “photo-haiku” posts border on being a little sentimental but the shots are lovely and the poetry is easy to read.

The choice of black background is certainly intentional as it frames the artworks nicely, and true to the Japanese style the posts are single works of art and nothing more. No distracting monologue or waffly diatribe from young people confused and angry. On the contrary Jerry’s work is confident and peaceful. My only concern would be that the template design used for the site could be further reduced, header removed, distracting lines done away with. If the site design was as minimal as the work it displays, this unity would improve the overall feel tenfold.

An ancient practice
in a modern gallery
brings joy to us all.
NULL

Review 3208

I liked the banner of this site when I saw it. It was nice. But after reading a couple of entries, I really could find much to say about it. It was just another personal blog.

As I’ve said, this was a personal blog recounting how our author’s day went. It just seemed… dry. Don’t take me wrong, journals are wonderful things to have but if you’re trying to get the public to bite, well, you need a little… more. More of everything. More controversy, more opinions, more ideas. Maybe the author just meant for this blog to be an online diary. I don’t know. If that’s what the author wanted, well, I’d have to say good job. It’s a good journal. Just like the rest of the other hundred thousand out there.

Something that did surprise me was the mix of languages in the entries. They were mostly written in English, but, here and there, there were Tagalog (Filipino) words to be found. I guess it was a coincidence that I reviewed this site since I also know how to speak that language. But it did bother me. I am not a big fan of combining languages. I mean, if I spoke English exclusively, or merely didn’t speak Tagalog, I would be confused. But as I’ve said, it could just be a personal journal for the author.

The layout was nice. I mea, it was something that I don’t really see often. The separate mini-window for the side section and the entries are pretty cool. Good job on that.

I have to say that it was kinda nice reading the entries because I was familiar not only with the language, but also the scenes he was talking about. It brought out a big of nostalgia. But other than that, there wasn’t much of anything to find there. Go visit it sometime, maybe it’ll be something you’ll find interesting.NULL

Review 3292

Paul Short is a software engineer from Austin, Texas whose son, James, was diagnosed with autism in 2003. From his first post in 2005, well after the fact, Paul’s honest first post outlines the discovery of James’ condition and the separation between he and his wife. Before long it was just Paul and his son and Paul began the process of learning and living with autism.

Paul’s blog is filled will information, and his attention to detail is astounding. Reports about James’ progress, his daily activities and learning are all thoroughly documented making the blog a goldmine for others in his situation. James is a cute kid and photos give us a glimpse into Paul’s world which must be a hard road indeed. In recent posts I was entertained with some of James’ photos having got hold of his fathers digital camera, some of which were quite good.

I can’t say anything good about the site design really, the black blogspot template casts a dark shadow over a well written blog about overcoming adversity. I think a brighter template would bring a sense of hope to the site, but then software engineers were never known for their design skills.

What I can say however is that Paul’s dedication and love for his son nearly brought tears to my eyes. The blog is just one testament to Paul’s selflessness and enthusiasm for his son. This hard situation is explained clearly and patiently with very few hints of despair, and in doing so will probably bring much comfort to the scores of people with autistic children. Despite the design and the sometimes dryness of the subject matter for an outsider, Paul’s thematic discipline since 2005 is exemplary and I’m adjusting his score for this reason. Well done and good luck Paul. NULL