Category: Uncategorized

Wow.

I have just emerged from a labyrinth that begins innocently enough at a page called, Fred Sez. This page is only the blog portion of his website. It is the entrance to a vast domain filled to overflowing with all things comics and pop culture.

My head is spinning.

His blog page opens to a rather garish blue and pale yellow background with the words “Fred Sez” in bold block letters. As soon as I found out that our author is a long time published cartoonist, the colors made more sense. But they are still garish!

The opening entry that I encountered was a little retrospective on the passing of Fay Wray. I continued to read and found an impressive array of writing on subjects as diverse as, baseball, his misadventures with an overloaded clothes dryer, and an account of a family outing to a Paul McCartney concert. All of which are well written (if long) essays that left me feeling that I was in the presence of a hyperactive teenager, when in fact we are talking about a full grown man. But then cartoonists must have a very firm grasp of their inner child, otherwise they would grow up and be political analysts or something.

When I finally found his home page and a links page I was overwhelmed with the sheer volume of information on this website. There are what I could only describe as historical archives of the comic genre in general, with a liberal dose of pop culture thrown in, both past and present.

There are links to his own comic book art and one section I would recommend checking out is the link entitled “Kidz”. There are full-length comic book pages there that you can read. They are reminiscent of the Archie comic that I used to read as a kid. (About the only comic I was ever likely to spend my hard-earned money on come to think of it.)

It is entirely possible that you will recognize this author, but I must admit I had never heard of him, not being a big comics fan myself. However I was very impressed with the depth of his knowledge of the subject and his amusing take on everything he chooses to write about.

Well worth a visit. But plan to spend some time here. And don’t be fooled by that deceptive opening page, there is a serious man behind it who still seems to be in touch with the magic of his childhood. And if you stay long enough, you may be touched by that magic yourself.

Fred Sez

There are a number of layouts/designs incorporated into this site, but I’m going to focus on the main page’s design.

This site is, well, coffee colored! Quite appropriate for the title! The site is neatly organized, easy to navigate, and eye appealing. The text is easy to read and the colors are compatible with one another. I’m expecting a semi-pessimistic author due to the “bitter coffee” ordeal, but the site looks enjoyable upon first glance.

It is slightly irritating that I have to continuously close the Tripod/Lycos side bar that opens up whenever I change pages. There are so many free blogging sites and programs out there, why waste your time on something as archaic as angelfire if you don’t have to? I also have to complain about the design of the archival page. The colors and design are okay, at best, but the text is VERY small and grows more and more difficult to read, as you spend more and more time on the site.

The “Concerning Linz” page (aka about me) section has a slightly different, yet corresponding layout that is pretty neat. I’m assuming the head graphic is the author. The ads at the end of the page take your attention away from the material at hand and are very disruptive. As for the list itself, Linz is very specific about her information, but it’s the typical points of (dis)interest you find on a lot of blogs.

Linz appears to be a young twenty-something in the throws of the dating. She is also on the quest to lose weight and regain her sense of beauty. A huge added feature to this site is a “side blog” aptly entitled, Taking Back Beauty detailing her steps on this journey, her outlook on it, and her accomplishments. To date, she has lost twenty-three pounds and appears to be doing it in a slow and healthy manner! No guru diets for this young lady! I commend her on her weight loss and hope other dieters will see her story as an inspiration.

She writes with a maturity that seems to pass some of the early -twenties group by and comes across as a bright, intelligent and caring women. However, unlike some who carry the first few attributes, she is not one to be pushed around or taken advantage of. She knows what she wants and she goes after it.

She is outspoken and tends to ride the blog-posting roller coaster that we all jump on. Sometimes she goes on for a great period of time with interesting things to say, and sometimes she openly admits that she has lost the will to write and really has nothing to say. At least she comes out and admits it rather than trying to “fill her space” with garbage nobody would care to read.

Linz gives you a detailed account of the happenings in her life while avoiding the daily list of “I did this, then I did this, and then this happened.” She has a light and cheery tone when it’s called for, but she gets irritated and emotional when appropriate. She goes into how she feels about events and occasions with gusto and there is very little pessimism to be found.

The author is very open and honest with the manner in which she is coming to discover who she is a person. Most people think that you’ve found yourself by the time you get into your twenties, but I tend to disagree with them. Linz is often questioning who she truly is, while knowing all along the true answer. This is personal growth and strength all in one breath. She is simply seeking out the best place for her in her world and isn’t afraid to let on that she doesn’t fully understand or know all the different aspects to her own personality. This gives her an endearing personality that makes the reader applaud her decisions and root for her success.

At times her blog gets dry and boring, but who’s life and blog haven’t hit those times? We can’t all be funny, emotional, and interesting all the time. Her better entries make weeding through her slow times worth the effort. This isn’t one of those all-empowering one in a million blogs out there, but it certainly has a number of attributes. This isn’t’ the “typical” blog of a “typical” twenty-something. I think anyone in the twenty-something generation would enjoy reading about Linz, getting to know her personality, and watching her charge through this time in her life. She is on her way and she’s busting through.

This is a blog to keep your eyes on, folks. This blog may just be going places!

Bitter Like Yesterday’s Coffee

When I first opened up this blog, I was not very impressed with the layout . It was one of those 3 column layouts (which I am not a big fan of), several links on the left hand side and in the middle as well. The actual posts were on the right hand side. With this in mind, I began my journey into the world of “The orange haired boy”. Lewis (the author), was born in “Edinburgh, Scotland”, but is presently living in “Land o’ Lakes, FL “. He also has orange hair. So the title of the blog is about exactly what it says.

When I stated earlier that maybe the posts would make up for my disappointment in the layout/design, I was in for another disappointment. I went through the archives and it may have taking me all of an hour to read the entire entries. The posts had very little content in them what so ever. There were a couple of posts about the hurricanes that have been hitting the California area and other posts that had maybe one or two lines. The entries did not contain enough content to keep a reader interested. It took more time for me to go through all of his links etc.

The links on the page also seemed to be scattered all over the place and I found myself becoming really annoyed by this. However, I did like the concept that Lewis has a link on there that enables you to change the skin of his blog. I have said several times before, everyone has different taste. What doesn’t work for me, may work for someone else. To sum it all up, this is not a blog I would visit on a regular basis . orange haired boy

I loved, loved, loved the look of this site. It’s a fifties-inspired print in beautiful red and salmon tones. It’s one of the most striking blogs I’ve come across visually. On the page linked for her photos, the 50s background changes to black and gray polka dots but it’s still a cohesive site all around. Most everything is well organized, easy to understand and follow, although some of the links take a while to load even with a cable Internet connection. I’m guessing it is because of the sheer size of the blog.

Luka (not her real name) is the blog’s owner, and she’s been posting for quite some time—four years—so the archives are extensive. She posts in her “Why I’m Luka” section that she is incognito because she wants to become ‘a better blog writer.” And she has, especially when compared to her early entries featuring what she did that day or how neat it is to write in her blog. Almost all bloggers start out this way, so there’s nothing new there. Luka still reports on her daily activities but they flow better than in the beginning. I would rethink the rambling audio posts, Luka.

She isn’t afraid to voice her opinions on hot button topics such as abortion and politics. She backs up her arguments with links to other sites holding statistics and in-depth analysis. I so like it when bloggers do this. It lets you know they are informed and they want you to be as well.

Luka is an amateur photographer and there is a section where you can see her work and her comments on her work. The photo page is like a second blog, a bonus if you will. It’s also a bonus because the photo blog opens in a separate window, thus giving you twice the Luka at once. (I would like to see the link to this page be more prominent on her main page, however.) There are self-portraits, photos of trips she takes, and (why am I not surprised here?) photos of her cat. If there is a cat owner with a blog who does NOT post photos of his/her cat, please alert me to this fact. I don’t think said person exists.
incogblogo dot net

Redemption Blues is offered as a personal journal, and helpfully lists the meaning of the title for you to ponder on – which you will if you take the time to delve into the six months of available archives. The author, Chameleon, has also taken the time to provide a link to the short story she has written of the same title, although, of course, I am not reviewing that, and shall leave that to you, dear reader.

The blog itself is very well written, and contains many posts relating to daily occurences in the author’s life – the post pertaining to the wiseness of her four year old son sticks out in my mind, as do various commentaries regarding the political and social situation in Scotland, of which I am fortunately well-versed. This by no means should be taken as meaning that you may have to have some prior knowledge, I only point it out as a subject that could be interesting for you to learn more of, and what easier way than through a real person’s experiences?

There are a smattering of evocative personal photos in the sidebar, lending a little more to the whole experience, and the lay-out is quite simple and clean. As mentioned previously, there is a link to the short story of the same title, and I’d recommend taking a look, if only to check out the highly descriptive style.

I enjoyed the read, and would encourage those who can understand “big words” to take a dive into the archives. This is most definitely not a blog for those who who type in text speak. Overall, I enjoyed the writer’s style, and did have a few things to mull over after I’d finished perusing. Very thought-provoking.

Works well in both Firefox 0.10 and IE 6.

Redemption Blues