C:Arvind.blog is a very clean site, easy to read, nice dull murky colours on the default skin which are easy on the eyes, though I began thinking some army camo print as a background to go with the colours might have been more appealing. I did have a little problem with the layout in that it wasn’t loading up properly on my monitor (resolution set at 1024×768), however that was fixed by swapping the skins over to something far more interesting. I really appreciate the technological know-how in order to set up skins for the reader’s amusement, and there are a number of cool offerings to please the eye if the default layout is not to your liking.
All of the layout/skins available are pretty much the same Movable Type template, just tweaked a little – but all the buttons he’s included made for a good change too, and he’s got loads of links and rings to check out. He’s also got several links to other specialty blogging communities and resources like BlogSnob and BlogTree – always a good thing for fellow bloggers.
Everything in the blog is neatly structured and well maintained – not a dead link to be seen (lovely!). All the archieves are easily found by most recent entry, month and category. Everything is just so clear and concise! Each entry is well planned and written though they tend to be more like recounts than anything more indepth and personal – however I did like reading all the holiday entries. It was great to find out more about India from another perspective and not just the normal touristy stuff.
I was surprised to discover that the blog had been created by a 14-year old boy, Arvind Satyanarayan (now that’s a name that rolls well off the tongue!) as it’s quite a mature offering compared to what we normally see other teen blogs and journals providing their readers. This blog is basically the day to day runnings of Arvind’s life – what we’d expect of any boy who goes to school and attends the Scouts. But he writes so well! If you’re put off reading teen blogs because of the new craze with the crazy “leet” typing and kids WhO TyPe LiKe ThIs, OMG! OMG! (ugh!), then give Arvind a go, he makes for a refreshing change to the norm.