“I’m going to America” is a fairly unique blog in so far as it has a point to it. The author even hopes that it will be helpful to someone, though “Helpful Blogs” isn’t a concept I am particularly familiar with. Certainly my own blog isn’t very helpful. Self indulgent, certainly. Helpful, no. Anyway, I digress. The point of this blog is to document the experiences of the author who is emigrating from Dublin, Ireland to New York City. This would make interesting blogging material in its own right, but the author is in addition to this, a sound technician for films.
So, there are two great aspects to the blog to start off with. Also, the overall design is really well done. The site is easily accessible with an intro page (including bio) and a FAQ page about the whole emigrating thing. These both provided me with exactly the information I wanted before I started diving in to the archives. It is an MT blog, so is technically sound and there are a few nice additions in the sidebars too- a “poll” feature which is used extensively throughout the blog, (though when the results are posted up in the entries it is not always clear what the poll was about in the first place). Also there are movie reviews and photo montages of various events.
The entries are categorised, but I found the best way of reading it was to start way back at the beginning of the archives. Because this blog tells more of a story, I found it made more sense to do things this way and start at the beginning. There are just enough blog entries written before the emigration to New York for the reader to get a feel for the author, his life in Dublin and to build up some suspense for the big move itself. There is a goodbye party which is extensively blogged about and in October 2003, it all finally happens. I couldn’t help feeling a little anticipation myself when I got to this point of the blog. The rest of the blog (to date) mainly deals with settling in to New York, trying to find work and other various domestic arrangements.
The work aspect of the blog is equally appealing though. The author seems pretty good at his job- the first few posts do provide a couple of definitions for the more technical words he uses, though these are not kept up throughout the blog and can make some of the posts a bit overwhelming. Anyway, he is obviously good enough to have mixed with a few stars, (though he still gets star struck quite a bit, which is nice.) One of the most fascinating posts of the whole blog though is this one, which describes in great detail the work he does on a 24 hour film making project.
At the moment there is enough content in the blog to get through it all in one sitting (give yourself an hour or so). One or two of the posts about the parties he goes to I found a bit dull and long winded, but generally the entries are all well written and witty. I am definitely gonna keep checking back to see whether things work out for Anthony in New York. Whether the blog maintains its appeal once things settle down a bit more remains to be seen, (Anthony can seem like a reluctant blogger at times) but for now, it’s enthralling stuff.
I’m Going to America