Category: Uncategorized

A nice design with colours that are easy on the eye. I nice simple navigation made up from links. A simple 2 column blog. Links in the 2nd column and information on what the author is reading etc.



Richard openly admits that he started his site as “something to do” but it has taken over and is now a daily task! You can tell this by the daily entries. Richard lets you into his life and lets you know what he likes, dislikes and how his days have been! There are an assortment of photo’s thrown in which are good, I liked his style!



The design is clean and simple with no fuss and nothing to distract you from the main blog. The links live on a page on their own which I think is a good idea as it allows you to surf the page without distraction. His writing is concise and interesting and you feel as though you could get to know him via his blog.



The photo’s, for me, were a plus on this site, and the fact that there is really on his writing to take all your concentration. I do like simple blogs where you have no fear of getting lost!! I do like the blogs that tell the stories of a persons life, and this certainly does that! He also has a web cam, but I missed that with the time difference!!



Overall I really enjoyed reading this blog and I loved the simplistic layout. I may even have to pop back again!barkins.com

My first impression upon visiting (Mis)Representation was; blogspot site, nothing flashy, seems kind of ordinary, just your average weblog. I’m probably going to read about someones bad dates and job complaints. Well, if there is one thing I’ve learned about reviewing blogs, is that the first impression usually means absolutley squat. When I review a weblog I like to take a quick look at the main page, look for the archives, and click on the oldest entry so I can read from day one. (Mis)Representation started just about a year ago, and thats where I started reading.

This is the weblog of Teresa Michele Montgomery, 19/20 year old Missouri college student. I think there are about one million blogs out there written by 19/20 year old college students. What separates Teresa Montgomery’s blog from many of the others, is that this is a true ‘journal’, a true ‘diary’. The author (even after finding out the increased popularity of her blog) does not start writing to her audience. She keeps writing exactly what she is feeling. There is an ‘about’ section but it really doesn’t tell you a whole lot. Its through the writing that you find out what the author is really about. Teresa, by her own admission, is struggling with a weight issue. She has an uncanny knack for falling for guys that are absolutley out of reach by virtue of already having girlfriends. This would seem tragic if it wasn’t so gosh darn comical each time it happens. The author battles depression, (the clinical kind that you need medication for) and is able to get off her medicine and handle it pretty well. In an entry that made me sit back, take a deep breath, and be thankful for my own good health, Teresa confronts the possiblity that she might have diabetes (July 29th entry). Its fascinating to anyone (this reviewer included) who has not been in that situation to read such a candid display of the expectation of the worst news, the self blame, and acceptance. Turns out the author does not have diabetes. Turns out later on in the blog the author suffers from another painful syndrome instead. Teresa, from day one of the blog confronts just about every single issue that confronts all of us from one time to another; insecurity, financial problems, sexual orientation, lonliness, family issues, medical problems, weight issues.

The blog design is pretty random. The author changes the template frequently (and the blog address as well). This would be a pain in the butt if it did not coincide with differant issues in the authors life. At one point in time she changes the site address to get away from people who are harrasing her (or maybe people she is just sick of dealing with). The design of the site is pretty fluid, along with the authors emotions. If you read this blog, you won’t notice it though. As I did, I just wanted to read the next paragraph, to see what happened next. The last entry of (Mis)Representation even mentions that her site is closing down and moving to another site. To access the new site A Rescued Destiny follow that link.

(Mis)Representaion has a few cool bonus features. There is a message board, guestbook, and a comments feature. As previously mentioned, an about section, plus the authors IM and Email address. Pretty much a well rounded blog.

The negative aspects of this site? Sometimes the entries are sporadic. But whose blog entires aren’t sometimes?

In summation, I got hooked on this blog early on (and I think you will too). This is the kind of blog all of us bloggers wanted to have when we started our own weblogs. An online diary. A TRUE JOURNAL. Nothing flashy here, just a person writing about what they really feel. Four and a 1/2 stars, check it out.(Mis)Representation

“…inexplicably fancy trash.” makes me wish I had a better sex life so I could completely relate to the discourse on this site, which revolves around sex, sexuality, and erotica. The blog’s description, “Being a blog on what it is we think of when we think we’re thinking of sex. With your host, Nicholas Urfé,” is clever and enticing, making the reader first have to puzzle out the sentence structure, then pause to wrap one’s mind around the concept behind Nicholas’s writing.

The suggestive background image, which is partially obscured by the main body of the blog, emphasizes the relaxed, irreverent approach to sex that the author exhibits in some of his entries. But do not think that this is a fluff blog with a sexy lure. Tough issues like teen sex-education and freedom of speech are also linked to and discussed. In other words, “…inexplicably fancy trash.” is Nicholas’s views of sex and its portrayal and role in society, from funny and flippant to angry and reactionary, and everything in between.

“…inexplicably fancy trash.” is, of course, for those 18 and up, though I’m sure Nicholas would have his own thoughts on our society’s insistence of protecting “the children” from all things sexual. The site design could be better, but it serves its purpose of providing the reader with refreshing and interesting content. For a topic that is still a touchy, sometimes taboo subject, Nicholas manages to discuss sex with a healthy, open-minded attitude that takes away the giggling, blushing reaction to sex without stripping it down to boring, dull biology. Kudos.“…inexplicably fancy trash.”

This is probably the most interesting (and enlightening) blog I’ve reviewed. I was at first taken aback by the bald guy in make up background but if you read the blog you’ll understand that.

In his blog’s first post the author; Sean, states: “I’m 21 and gay. I’m not in the closet, I’m not confused, and I’m not contemplating suicide.” I knew immediatley this was going to be a good one. As a heterosexual guy I hoped this blog would give me insight into what life is like, on a day to day basis, for a homosexual male. The author post regularly, pretty much on a daily basis. There is a a break for a few months, but after the author picks it back up, there aren’t any large gaps in posts.

The author posts about pretty much everything that is going on in his life; work, love life, family, friends, all very honestly. Sean is definatly not posting for an audience but using his blog as a real journal. I found the posts about his mother the most touching. Once I started reading I couldn’t stop and spent most of the afternoon reading entry after entry. Some entries are hilarious i.e. the 3/14/02 (80’s day at work) begins; “At work. So Here I sit as Boy George.” The blog does touch on discrimination (in the form of a banana ornament, the whole incident is just priceless, a must read). Sean’s blog also has something most blogs don’t. Suspense. The author takes an HIV test and I found myself skipping ahead a week in posts because I couldn’t stand to not know the results.

I give this blog a high score because through reading his site I felt I knew the author, and by the way he wrote it, you can’t help but feel some of what the author is going through, ups and downs.

One other interesting note. After reading most of the journal I realized the author and this reviewer actually work for the same company but in different states. Sean wisely does not name the company he works for (that has led people into more trouble than it is worth). That didn’t affect my review though, I had already decided that this blog was getting a high rating. Just shows you well this site is written.

The site design was nice and easy to navigate. I had no trouble using both Internet Explorer, and Netscape. There is a guestbook, archives, a photo section, no broken links, this site pretty much has it all.

In summary, this is a ‘page turner’. I’ll add Freeze The Flame to my favorites list, and if you read this blog, I think you will too. Four and a half stars, check it out.

freeze the flame

The Book of Paige opens up to a nice design with a funky logo in script writing. It’s a simple blue and white design that’s easy to navigate and all of the links appear to work cleanly. It’s easy to get to what Paige is reading, listening to, etc. The links are clearly defined on the right with no guesswork needed.

As for the actual blog entries, Paige has a nice way of incorporating humor with serious topics. Case in point, Paige references a woman who hit a homeless person who was, pretty much, impaled himself on her windshield and she ignored his please and cries for help. Paige shows her own personal contempt for this woman’s actions by giving the woman a little jab in describing some of the “important” things the woman needed to accomplish prior to reporting the homeless person in her windshield. Each entry was a wonderful read and you learn a lot of about our author.

I only have two small complaints. First, Paige needs to invest in archiving her posts. Having posts that go back about three months all on one page meant (for this guy on one slow PC with a dial up connection) that I had to wait to start reading some of the entries. Archives are our friends.

Second, the opening page has, what I assume to be, the post of that specific day. I think I would have preferred more entries over the plethora of links to webrings and such. Also, I think there might be too much space between the links which spoils the “clean” design I liked above.

But like I said, those are small complaints. I really enjoyed reading The Book of Paige and think that it’s a worthy read.
The Book of Paige