My first impressions of “The joy of being me” were positive, and things only got better from there. Apart from having her own domain name (always a good sign in my opinion) she also has her own personalized layout which is simple, functional and looks great- really compliments the blog well. It was nice to be able to see all of the sidebar stuff without having to do any scrolling (at least in 1024 x 768). She has also embraced new technology and has two videos of her bungee jumping, as well as a 24 hour webcam and real time chat facility for when the authoress is there (she wasn’t when I visited.) Looking back through the archives, the webcams have been used quite a bit, even for seeing who came “trick or treating” on Halloween by rigging it up outside the front door. I also liked the way that her blog links actually showed an image of the blog being linked to.
Ok, so the design/layout/optional extras were all exceptional, appropriate and tasteful. So with all this going on for her, could the content measure up too? Well yes, surprisingly it does. The authoress is an oldtimer amongst bloggers, with archives going back to January 2002 (though this didn’t seem to be the beginning of the blog). All her postings are of a personal nature, fairly short and easy to read. This makes the blog easily accessible and a light read.
Although the subject matter doesn’t vary much from the day to day life stuff, there are sufficient updates for the reader to get really caught up with things. Her life is pretty varied and she also waxes lyrical about her views on the bigger issues too, which make it even more engaging. Before I knew it I found myself two months in to the archives and still wanting to read further. I don’t know what it is about unpretetious blogs that simply relate the day to day life stuff but I find them absolutely fascinating if they are written with any real honesty, which this one is. It is like being a voyeur I suppose- it taps the same vein as reality TV shows do, though without anyone playing up to the cameras.
I thought this blog embodies for me what blogging should be about, at least personal blogging. Some people may get bored here if they are looking for the more factual or “themed” kind of blogs, but for those of you who simply want to get a view on someone else’s world, this would be a great place to start.The joy of being me