154th requested review is of JournalLife.com
Rating out of 10: 3

layout etc: (2: 2)
As I looked at the diary I began singing the tune "Mr. Jones" from Counting Crows, "You know grey is my favorite color, I felt so symbolic yesterday." But moving on from that, I like the grey/blueness, I like it very much. The graphic that she uses is very classy and everything blends well. The picture has a certain sophistication and maturity about it. When I see a picture like that, I begin to expect a quality diary.

There wasn't much I didn't like about the look of the diary, except I felt like the side-bar of links went on forever. I know there may not be much she could do about that, except well, condense it into links she has to have on the main page and then do a separate link page for the others.
Iinstead of just listing a lot of diaries that she likes, maybe saying -why- she likes them, or what we should expect if we go to that link. Diary titles are mostly vague or poetic, and often don't tell us much of what lies within. When she gives us a list of so many pages, I am not going to go to each, but if she told me what each is about, then maybe I could choose the ones that I like.

Annoying writing habits: (2: 0)
I find the overusage of smiley faces and "LOL", mildly disturbing. I also found in some of the older months she was writing in more of a blog style, that consisted of a lot of lists and internet tests that I don't like seeing in a regular diary.

Unique: (2: 0)
Not that I can see, this diary is very much like most diaries out there.

Quotes from the diary: (2: 1)
"Maybe it happens to everyone in their lives, but I really find that since I turned 40 I feel it more often. I wonder if there is something I am missing out there, maybe I should go back to school, start a different hobby, do volunteer work, change jobs. I don't know, maybe this is something that lots of women go through, but I really don't talk about these kinds of things with anyone at work, so I really don't know. Any ideas anyone?"

"I was so convinced that it was Thursday yesterday that if no one had told me different, I wouldn't be going to work tomorrow!LOL I still have tons of work to do for the Migration next week that it is a good thing that I do have tomorrow to work!"

See what I mean?

"I am not into self inflicted pain, and since I get my eyebrows waxed all the time I should have not have fallen for the 'no pain' words used in the commercial!LOL I now have shaved legs with two strips of very red, raw skin where I not only removed the hair but apparently took away some skin as well! LOL"

Would I go back for another read? (2: 0)
I looked around to try to find something that spoke me and I just couldn't find it. While this diary is probably interesting to her and her friends, there really isn't anything there that I couldn't find at a hundred other sites.

There is an indefinable quality in some people's writing that reaches out and grabs you. Call it a zing or a flash or something. Something that takes your imagination and your mind and spins you off into exciting and wonderful places. This diary doesn't have it.
posted by Eli Moose on Wednesday, July 31, 2002

153rd requested review is of Daily Poetry
Rating out of 10: 5

layout etc. (2: 1)
I like the layout, but again this is one that needs a little sprucing up.

She uses pictures here and there on some of her pages, but the main page is so plain that it hurts my eyes from the glaring whiteness of it all.

I really like the way the frames work; I must say that she at least got that part figured out without any major catastrophe.

I think her previous and next links need to be named and not simply the symbols she uses.

Annoying writing habits: (2: 1)
If I see the word tonight spelled like "tonite" one more time I think I might scream. I almost got mad about the random poetry everywhere, but how could I when the name says it all?

Unique: (2: 1)
She has a very unique way of writing a diary that I've never seen before. I usually do not like lists and/or headings in the middle of an entry, but when she does it, for some reason it makes sense. It is like her mind is all over the place, but she takes you along for the ride and nobody gets lost.

Quotes from the diary: (2: 1)
"By the time we reached the 61 cent cafe, I had settled down from happy. I gathered myself and my extra strong black coffee around a table with David and Andy -- content. A feeling that's been happening more often lately. We sipped our cheap drinks, they smoked over-taxed ciagarettes, and we complained about our minimum-paying summer jobs in summer's wilty contentedness."

After reading this entry I was forced to go make a good pot of coffee.

"Frosted mini-wheats be damned! I panickly grilled her for the date and time of disposal, while running for the rubber gloves. The old plastic plates must be saved!"

"It's nice to be out with someone at whom you can laugh at incessantly, wether it be about his brother's ferret eating his other brother's guinea pig or something else less funny. At some point tonite, we were uncontronably laughing at each other so much it was hurting. And he looked very happy and genuinely at ease, not just laughing at me cause I was being silly again. It's not something I've seen in a while, and it quite made me feel the same. My mouth still hurts from laughing."

Would I go back for another read? (2: 1)
This girl is a list writer if I've ever seen a list writer, but I have to admit that she had my attention. I was smiling or laughing along with a lot of her entries because she has a quirky way of writing that amuses me, even with all the lists (she even gets to roman numerals sometimes.)

You really need a cup of coffee while you read it, but I swear you'll like it.
posted by Eli Moose on Tuesday, July 30, 2002

152nd requested review is of Hat on Top, Coat Below
Rating out of 10: 6

layout etc. (2: 1)
I know I've said I like simple layouts, but I didn't mean that I liked layouts that are devoid of color or anything personal.

This layout is nice and it works without any problems, except it needs something. It is missing something personal to help it stand out from the crowd of online journals out there.

I'd suggest a few things for her to spice it up. Maybe she should look online for pictures that she likes that she can change in photoshop. There are a few free photo sites out there. Or, she could take some of her own and use them.

I'd also suggest she go with a theme; her title is rather interesting, but it seems to be the only eye catching thing she has going for her right now.

Writing is where it is at for journals, but I hate to be the bearer of bad news and say that the eye can be pleased more when something looks more enticing.

Annoying writing habits: (2: 2)
Nothing stood out as ultimately annoying.

Unique: (2: 1)
I've never seen a quilt gallery before; this is a very interesting way of bringing the audience into your personal life and hobbies.

Quotes from the diary: (2: 1)
"In my fantasy life, I’d be a full time quilter. No, scratch that, I’d be full time quilt designer. I’d have a staff to do the rest of the steps: ironing the fabric, cutting the pieces, sewing the pieces together, basting the layers, quilting, and binding. I could focus on planning the designs and playing with the pieces on my felt wall, indulging in my favorite parts of the process. Maybe I’d write a quilting book. In theory, I could write a quilting book now, but it’d have a better chance of getting it published and sold if I were a well-known quilter, which I’d have to be to have a staff to do my work for me."

So she likes quilting, maybe someone else can relate, even if I can't.

"Mom showed me the book Our Bodies, Ourselves about the same time as we had the boys in one room and girls in the other meeting at school in fifth or sixth grade, so I’d have another perspective on the whole thing. She did tell me not to show it to my friends, though; it was a bit liberal compared to the prevailing attitude where we lived. The most interesting part of the meeting at school was one girl asking our homeroom teacher what you did while you did 'it'."

What is so strange is that I've heard of this book, but I don't remember ever seeing it."

"Friday night, though, I cried because of something that even I consider stupid. Mr. Karen had Friday off and was looking for something on the kitchen counter and came across the receipt for the last time I got the oil changed in the Mustang. Looking at it to figure out what it was and where it belonged, he saw I’d gotten the air filter changed as well as chosen the more expensive synthetic oil. This puzzled him. This was not what he would have done. Why had I done it?"

Would I go back for another read? (2: 1)
I'd say yes, but her entries although somewhat engaging are missing something too. I 'd say it is the extra "umph" that makes the reader want to know more. I think she is holding back on all the details. Lots of times I feel like her entries end just short of telling the full story.

A lot of her journal entry ideas come from a place called "June Journal Smackdown," that she links to at the end of the entry which is okay, but I'd really like to see some fresh material coming straight from her. I'd also like to see longer entries, with things more explained than she is currently doing.

posted by Eli Moose on Tuesday, July 30, 2002

Yes I know it is hard to believe, but I am actually doing a review!

151st requested review is of Chapter three
Rating out of 10: 9

layout etc. (2: 2)
Have I mentioned lately that I am a fan of the simplistic style of layout? This one was to my liking the moment it opened. The picture is a little on the large side for my usual taste, but it works for me. It has a clear title and it is not hard to see from the first glance how it all works.

She points out herself that the page is very big (and it is); I hate having a scroll bar at the bottom of my screen, but I am the one with the tiny monitor. At least it isn't a huge hinderance to the workings of the layout like some I've seen. The writing doesn't cut off and never reappear etc. It still looks lovely.

It might be just me, but the color teal chosen for the links is a bit on the bright side against the white background, but at least I can see it. Also I really wish the before and after links at the top were named, but that is just because we all know how damn picky I am.

I'm not taking away a point on this, but the after link on the entry titled "Jaded" doesn't work. I kept getting stuck there.

Annoying writing habits: (2: 2)
I like the line about capitalizing on her about the site page. It made me laugh, but no I didn't find any annoying writing habits.

Unique: (2: 1)
The "just a girl" link is her about me page. Although it doesn't always work, I like her one word usage in this instance.

Quotes from the diary: (2: 2)
"Sometimes I think I'm wearing myself out worrying over other people. I spend so much time feeling helpless, wanting to comfort, cure, heal the people that I care so much about from a distance. All of these people that I've never even laid eyes on, never touched hands or cheeks, and yet they have taken up such a large part of my heart, so much of my thoughts."

"Words aren't enough when there is no action behind them, when I wait for literally years for you to follow through on all those words. I don't want a relationship at all if it is going to be like this. I need more. I need someone who can make time for me, who can show up physically and emotionally at least once in awhile. You don't do that. You don't even make an effort."

This was taken from an entry composed for a collab as a letter. I really like this style of writing and think it should be used in everyone's journal every now and then to spice it up. Well done.

"I can recognize this disordered thinking. I can see the weight as it drops off my frame, but I can't stop it. My stomach will not accept food. My throat rebels against the swallowing of it. I consume massive amounts of liquid to quell the pains, but they are a temporary fix, and soon my stomach is churning again and demanding more food which it will not accept. It's not that I'm anorexic, though that word was attached to me in the hospital a long time ago. It is not about my body being too big. I have a realistic view of my shape, of the amount of space that I take up. Most of the time I enjoy food. I don't count calories. It's not about calories. It's not about pounds or inches, it's about controlling myself, it's about rigidity, it's about that hunger gnawing in my belly.
I need to find a less-destructive way to control my life. I need to find less-destructive outlets to keep me sane. Then again, a little hunger now and then ever hurt anybody."

I disagree with the last line, hunger does hurt people everyday. Yet, I do understand the thinking behind the actions.

Would I go back for another read? (2: 2)
This is the third chapter, and I'm sure in order to learn more about the author I would have to go to the past journals. I enjoyed my time there, it was refreshing. She often paints pictures with her words, which is the best kind of journal writing. If anyone out there thinks their writing is blah (or is told it is by me) you should take note of this. Descriptive words always help the reader to visualize what you are talking about, and they make reading your diary interesting.
posted by Eli Moose on Tuesday, July 23, 2002

150th requested review is of The Story of My Life

Rating out of 10: 3

Layout etc. (2: 0)
The banner includes a box with links. I hate the font. It looks fuzzy and if it is hard to read on my big monitor I can only imagine what it is like on a laptop. (I did look at it on another monitor and didn’t like it any better.) Also the image dominates the screen so much. Why? Why not just have a smaller image across the top? I prefer to see that there is a journal entry when I go to a journal, not a large image dominating the first screen. Make it smaller or lose it all together.

I am not crazy about the color choice. The darker/brighter color is behind the text of the journal and a lighter color as a frame for the image and journal. Why? Common sense suggests that you would choose the lighter background where the text is. I would encourage the person to make that change asap. Dark blue font on a bright blue background doesn’t read as easily as dark blue font on a lighter background.

As seems to be par for the course, the archives do not open in a separate window which means a lot of bouncing back and forth. But they are fairly navigable. The journal has been around for just over a year and if you click on the month and year it expands to show the various entries.

I am also not clear about the one test result that she has in every entry. I could understand if the information changed, different test results or whatever, but it doesn’t. It is just the same day after day after day. Isn’t there something else that can go here? A picture of the person who is writing the journal would be a possibility. Or a joke or quote of the day perhaps. But day after day of some superficial quiz result says nothing about the writer except that she gives too much credit to online quizzes.

Annoying Writing Habits: (2: 1)
When you have to type “(spelling?)” in the subject line of an entry, you know something is wrong. Use spell check. Ironically, she spelled the word in question correctly but there are so many other misspellings throughout the posts that to find one without a misspelling is more remarkable than finding one. One thing that I found annoying is how often she declares someone she knows is annoying or immature and then proceeds to rant (throw a temper tantrum, really) which only goes to prove that the writer is not as mature as she may think. (I would encourage her to read about displacement and how that which bothers you most in another person is often a reflection of qualities in yourself that you do not like.) There are ellipses, run-on sentences, and other various grammatical offenses.

Unique: (2: 0)
This journal is just like any other adolescent journal. She hates her parents. She hates herself. She hates her friends. She loves her boyfriend. She doesn’t really have a boyfriend. Her friends are okay because it was just a huge misunderstanding. Well, you get the picture. There are simply too many other journals where teenagers are whinging about their adolescent plight that this one can’t be numbered amongst the ones that are unique.

Quotes from the diary: (2: 1)
“I am at James' house right now...all alone. He is with his friend Chris and I am cleaning his house. I just finished the downstairs and I am pooped. He is coming back a quarter to 4 so maybe I will still have time to clean the upstairs.”

I am trying to figure out why this girl is cleaning up her boyfriend’s house when they are not “officially” dating. I am not officially dating her either. Maybe I can convince her to come over to my house and clean up too. Clearly, she doesn’t have a problem with this.

“I have decided that at the end of my entries I am going to have a current music, current mood, current person that i hate, and favorite person of the day. Because Diaryland should have them anyways.”

Thankfully she did not choose to continue this rather banal and ubiquitous practice.

“After that, Jared took me to Sunset Park. It was so beautiful..there were ducks, bats, and foxes there. It was so cool. It's a very beautiful park. I am going to have to tell Dayna about this park once I start talking to that group of people again.”

Would I go back for another read? (2: 1)
I probably wouldn’t return for another read. The fact is that it is very difficult for adolescents to write a journal that is going to intrigue anyone who is not either a close friend or a teenager themselves. I know a very intelligent young man who has an online journal that I find incredibly boring but when we are engaged in a conversation I find many of his thoughts and ideas interesting. He hasn’t matured enough to convey really in depth emotions. Neither has this young woman. She tries. There are definitely entries that start to explore some very intimate issues but she has so many more where she is being a typical teenager, which is okay because she is a teenager, that I wouldn’t want to. I hope that she keeps writing, however. As she matures and gets more comfortable with the writing I am confident that it will improve. (The one point is for the occasional times she stops stating the obvious or throwing a temper tantrum and really explores some of her emotions about what is happening around her. Too far and few between.)

posted by Talulah Lamb on Saturday, July 20, 2002

149th requested review is of Pomegranate seeds
Rating out of 10: 8

layout etc. (2: 2)
I like this layout. It is simple yet creative at the same time. I appreciate the personal touches she made to it, like for example she says the picture of the pomegranate is hand drawn originally.

I also like the way she links to important entries and her bio at the bottom. This is a very nice, clean, and functional diary format.

Annoying writing habits: (2: 2)
I was able to read dozens of entries without flinching in the slightest (even though I did see the ellipsis in there a few times). Bravo!

Unique: (2: 1)
I thought the series of entries on how she and her husband met were very unique, especially since she left the last one for Valentines Day. Also, her picture and title of the diary are unique too.

Quotes from the diary: (2: 2)
"I grabbed a handful of silky blouses and capri slacks and hurled them over the rail. Mama flung an iridescent turquoise dress into the air. Every thing in those three closets went. Dresses. Ball Gowns. Scarves. Fancy designer clothes by Gucci, Pucci, Blass and whoever. Cheap stuff off the rack and from catalogs. It didn't matter, over the porch it sailed. Bright streamers twirling in the breeze like amazon parrots, prayer flags, or animated rainbows. Drifting down onto the heads of the women waiting below."
Taken from a short story written by the diarist which was very good.

"I keep coming out of my winter funk long enough to say I'm starting to feel better, and then going right back in. I guess it's not surprising I don't want to be social and creative if I'm feeling yucchy, but I'm tired of both feeling yucchy AND hibernating. Enough already."

"Gerry threw me 3-year-old birthday party. There were pink balloons and decorations, a sesame street cake, and a clown. Everyone gave me toys as gifts. We sucked helium and talked funny, had our faces painted, and ate too much cake. I even have my sophisticated best friend on video tape wearing a party hat and dancing the hokey-pokey! Gerry had a teddy bear painted on his forehead and he made it dance by wiggling his eyebrows. The party was fabulous!"

Sounds like so much fun!

Would I go back for another read? (2: 1)
Overall I think she has a talent for making the even the mundane interesting, but sometimes I don't think she tries hard enough to do it. I like the entries in which she is in a story telling mode. I think she should do that more often. Although, I know how it is, everyone can get lazy. The simple truth is, nobody is going to be interesting all the time.

I really enjoyed my visit to the diary though, it kept me entertained more than most.
posted by Eli Moose on Tuesday, July 16, 2002

148th unrequested review is of I Have Measured My Life Out with Coffee Spoons

Rating out of 10: 8

This is the online journal for last week’s Lady Gwenllian’s husband. I thought it would be interesting to see what the other half has to say about what is happening in their lives.

Layout etc. (2: 0)
I hate the design that follows the mouse wherever you go. It is very busy and distracting. It also interferes with the reading if your mouse is too close to the text. And since it won’t go away, you have to keep moving your mouse to read what lies beneath. (Obviously, a mouse can always manage to be in the way but theoretically you can move it off the screen. In this case, if you move it to the sidebar you still get a partial design floating over the text.) I would lose that immediately. Either make it so it only appears for a little while or create something that is only there when you move the mouse. Or just lose it. Whatever it takes. I don’t like it. (I know that he loves it because he writes about it so the odds that he will give a damn about what I say are pretty steep but I still wanted to voice my opinion on this.)

I suppose having a slow fade from one screen to another is nice but it does slow down the process and those who are not blessed with high speed computers or DSL will likely lose interest because waiting for a page to download can be enough in this day and age for some to lose interest. I would suggest removing this as well, perhaps only using it when leaving the first entry or something. It just doesn’t need to be there all the time.

I also do not like the font, although the white on the brown background makes it easy to read. The style itself is not that pleasant to the eye. His wife has a better choice simply because it isn’t oversized. I would suggest changing the font altogether to something more pleasant to the eye. If you must have it so large then use a font that looks good larger. If you must use this font, then reduce it to something so the dots over the i’s don’t look like circles.

Other than the above, the layout is fine. Yes, if you wander into the archives you have to go back and forth but at this rate I may start begrudgingly ignoring this in journals. There is a little clutter at the bottom of the screen that doesn’t need to be there but I suspect the person who keeps this online journal wouldn’t agree. The links between entries offers only the usual previous and next. As usual, I think it would be nice if this option were not isolated to the bottom of the page but were included at the top as well. After all, given that the pages are going to fade from one to the next, the quicker I can click on where I want to go the better.

Annoying Writing Habits: (2: 2)
Over-use of the word “whack” got tedious very quickly. The reason I am commenting on this is because his writing over-all is quite erudite and interesting. I don’t understand why he would choose to be so lazy and not use other words. Clearly he has the vocabulary to come up with a long list of adjectives other than “whack.” Otherwise, none that I noticed often enough to find remarkable.

Unique: (2: 2)
I know I didn’t say his wife’s journal was particularly unique but this man’s writing style is different from most of the journals I have read. I enjoyed the entries from the sublime to the ridiculous simply because I enjoyed reading his writing. I would like to read more of his poetry, also. What he writes about may not be profound or even outstanding but he writes it so well.

Quotes from the diary: (2: 2)
“What is it that some of us carry in our souls, maybe it comes from our genes, that makes us perceive the world in such a way? Today driving to work the clouds briefly obscured the sun, and this wan light, bright but shadowless fell over everything. And I remembered so many other times in my life when the light looked different to me-when the world was suddenly presenting itself to me as a confusion and then negation of light and shadow.”

This is just one fine example of the type of poetic prose this man writes.

“They can sing all they want in the lion king about the circle of life-it's joy and glory. To me right now it is still just a great scary bicycle ridden by a banshee rolling over me, again and again.”

“. Lady Gwenllian noted one last pale, pale pink rose blooming right at the fence between our house and the neighbors. I realized at the same moment that the fireflies were out. I haven't noticed fireflies in a long time. So I took Baby M. out of the car and showed her the rose. Then we stood silently, me holding her and the Lady beside, for a moment, just watching the fireflies rise in the slow June twilight.”

Would I go back for another read? (2: 2)
I shall have to amend this by saying that between his writing style and his wife’s strong and introspective entries, I would have to say that I will most definitely be reading both of their journals. I don’t know how many other couples are both brave (or is that foolish?) enough to have online journals but I would guess that this couple is not alone. Whether they do it better than anyone else is a question that I do not have the time to explore. I can say that I enjoyed visiting with them both. I will definitely return because it is interesting to see how highly introspective both of them are in their journals and yet how uniquely they communicate their most intimate (and not so intimate) thoughts. I found his rant about his wife and Harry Potter especially amusing. Move over, Mr, Letornau, indeed!

posted by Talulah Lamb on Sunday, July 14, 2002

147th requested review is of stupid envy
Rating out of 10: 1

layout etc. (2: 1)
This diary needs a title. I'll refer to it as Stupid Envy for the purposes of identification, but it unfortunately doesn't seem to have a title of it's own.

I've been incognito for a while I know, but I've looked at this diary several times in the last week or so preparing my mind for reviewing it, but my point is that there is one thing that has stuck in my mind everytime I have looked at it and that is this: creativity isn't everything.

This layout looks creative and it gets a point for trying, but I think people often forget the real reason people go to your diary. It is not to look at the pretty background or the artistic touches, it is to read your diary. For that to work, the diary needs to be more functional than it is pretty.

The first things I asked myself were: why on earth is the typing centered, and why is it on top of a graphic? I know it looks really cool and everything, but when it all comes down it is not as easy to read as it would be with a plain background behind the text, and aligned left. I am very much pro standard, basic writing principles. My eyes naturally go to the left margin when I read (maybe that is because I read so many books) but whatever the case I still feel centered text is for poetry only.

I hope those arrows on either side of the top margin are previous and next links, but if I didn't read diaries all the time maybe I wouldn't have figured that out on my own? Why don't people think of everyone when they make a diary layout? Please clearly mark your links for your readers, everyone does not know that is a previous and next link!

When I clicked on April at the top of the page it took me to a different layout completely, which I will not comment on because I do not have the time to critique every single layout this diary has gone metamorphised through. But, let me just say one thing, huge graphics are not very good for diaries. Enough said.

Oh and I had to wade through the old formats to find the bio. I suggest a major rehaul of all of this information into one completely new format, but I understand if you don't have that kind of time.

Annoying writing habits: (2: 0)
Here are a few things I found annoying, numbered because I felt like it right now:
1.) Centered text. 2.) Emoticons (why aren't those things history by now?) 3.) No capitalization. 4.) I swear there was one entry where all it said was, "I'm going to sleep now."

Unique: (2: 0)
No, nothing at all really.

Quotes from the diary: (2: 0)
"i have discovered an automated pant-wearing mechanism. i sleep pantless. and the other day, my mum wanted to come into my room. and i didn't even realise that i put my pants on and when she left my room i was still like half asleep and then i thought "oh my god, i'm not wearing any pants!" then i looked down and see that i was wearing pants. how odd. anyways."

"anyways" is a sentence now? Oh, and I don't think I get the joke if it is meant to be one.

"i had a seafood sandwich thing @ delifrance. i saw sean, leong, kx, and some other people at pyramid. i saw a woman with a tattoo of a sun on her chest. it didn't look too great.
went to see the skin specialist @ sunway hospital, but he wasn't in. have an appointment for next saturday. hrmmm. going to assunta hospital tomorrow. i paint a mural. should be quite fun. dunno how we're getting there though. i think my mum can send us pam. so yeah."

Is it that hard to type out the word at?

"ah well. then we went for lunch later, i wanted "mee sup" but the soup tasted a bit off, and that what i thought was spring onion was actually parsley or some other herb. ick. so i ordered chicken chop. fucking expensive. erm, then later we went to "bintang hyper" and blew a lot of money on tokens. i spent rm12 there. pam and sasha bought quite a lot as well. muahaha i got the high score for one of the basketball games. my score was like 41 in a minute i think. blah. and altogether we got 273 what's-it-called? erm tickets? yeah, tickets. and there's nothing worthwhile to get with the tickets. oh well. it was fun. we're going to eat at sugar bun tomorrow. yay! i haven't had it in ages."

Would I go back for another read? (2: 0)
From what I have read I don't know much about this girl except she is 16, and I know that she likes to write about her daily jaunts etc. with her friends. I am not that kind of diary writer, nor am I that kind of diary reader. I am beginning to see that there are a distinct few people that write a diary well enough to hold my interest.

Don't cry because I don't like your diary. My advice is to make your writing more appealing to a larger audience by adding more feeling, more story-like writing, and more in-depth stuff all around. If you aren't interested in what people like me find entertaining to read about, then forget you ever requested this review and go on about your life like normal. It won't hurt for long, I promise.
posted by Eli Moose on Wednesday, July 10, 2002

146th unrequested review is of Lady Gwenllian's Lair

Rating out of 10: 5

Layout etc. (2: 1)
I either love the layout or hate it. A part of me adores it. I love the images at the top and the color and font are fine. I really like what happens when you click on a link. (Try it and you will soon see how little it takes to amuse me.) The images are great but if you are surfing the net at work and trying to kill time on a slow day, the pictures could get someone fired. I know that seems silly but if the wrong person saw those naked women scrolled across the top, some poor bored employee could get into trouble. I don't want the person keeping this journal to change anything. Leave everything as it is. But let the reader beware. If you work in some ultra-conservative office then you may offend someone nearby.

I also don't like that the links inevitably lead to pop-up windows. That is incredibly annoying. Every link practically led to another flood of pop-ups. The layouts are nice. They compliment the style of the journal well. The archives are okay. (Unfortunately, they do not open in a separate window but you can't have everything, apparently.) I would like to see them more navigable. Less hitting the back button every time. She knows how to design with frames. I know some people don't like frames but sometimes frames can make site surfing easier. I am beginning to think that archives either need to open in a separate window or be framed so that the left (or right) bar would have the list of entries and the reader could click on the entry of their choice. While I am in my little fantasy here, why not have each month to the left and when you click on it the month would expand into a list of individual entries for that month?

Okay. I shall leave my little fantasy now and say that the layout is fine until you start clicking on some of the links and have to suffer the pop-ups.

Annoying Writing Habits: (2: 1)
There were none that were remarkable. Actually, I would have probably been a lot harder on this journal writer because she is a Language Arts teacher so I admit that I would have held her to a higher standard. However, she doesn't give people names in her journal. Only initials. Now this is fine if you only know and refer to 26 people total. But she has a step-son, ex-husband, and a brother-in-law who all have the initial R. If you are going to type out "stepson R" or "brother-in-law R" why not just give them a name? Rick. Rod. Robert. Rasputin. It makes it easier for the reader if they have a name to give to the person so give them a name.

Unique: (2: 1)
How silly is this? I am going to say yes, because of what happens when you click on a link. But that isn't worth two full points. Frankly, other than that, this journal isn't remarkably unique, and even that I have seen before. (Just because I have seen it done elsewhere doesn't mean I don't like seeing it done here, I suppose.) The writing style isn't surprising or remarkably creative. The layout is basic so there isn't much unique there. She offers book reviews and recommendations but those are only accessible if you are willing to tolerate the pop-up windows. I would suggest she could look around and see what others have done to get some ideas but then if she were to imitate someone else that wouldn't be very unique, would it?

Quotes from the diary: (2: 1)
"You decide to try the phones outside one more time. It works! You break down sobbing from this tiny bit of stress that any normal person could probably handle, but not you -- you're OCD, you're hungry, and you're so relieved to finally be able to use the fucking
phone. Husband kindly says he will fix it all. You forgot your bill inside the Circle K, so you have to go back in, after the clerk scolded you, and snatch it off the counter before someone sees it and does who knows what kind of evil with the information on it.
You begin the trek home, realizing for the first time that your street has the peculiar characteristic of going uphill BOTH ways. You arrive home, strip off your sweat-drenched clothes, and discover you had $.63 the whole time."

I admit that I admire her ability to be so candid about their financial situation. I would imagine that some journal writers, especially those who make their journal public, are tempted to white wash their reality. She clearly is able to not sugar coat her reality. I think this is a good thing.

"He is immensely proud of having great-great-grandchildren. I'm not really certain exactly how many he has, but my estimation is that he has 6, including my two, and one on the way. No, I'm not pregnant. Heaven forfend!"

Okay, anyone who can use "Heaven forfend" in a journal entry correctly deserves some praise. Kudos!

She asks what "emo" is. I point her to this website: http://www.fourfa.com/ This may not be the definitive answer but it is a start. When one is a parent of little ones, one must be up on all things that may be defined as "pretentious-teen-angst-I'm-deep-because-I-think-about-death-and-write-bad-poetry-and-listen-to-crappy-music." (That quote is also from the journal so if you have a problem with what is said, email her, not me.)

Would I go back for another read? (2: 1)
Yes, I probably would. I can identify with the choices she and her husband are making. I can appreciate her financial struggles. And what I especially find intriguing is that she and her husband both have online journals. Judging from her entries, they read each others journals as well. Either this couple is incredibly brave or incredibly foolish. Either way, it is a curious thing to read both sides of the same coin. I don't say I definitely would because she does seem to go on and on about web design at times. Maybe I just bounced into the posts that were obsessing about these things but if I did then anyone could and online journals should be about a person's life, not about the updates on a website. Then again I write that fully aware of the sad truth that some people's lives truly do revolve around their websites. Given that she has children, I would think it is safe to say hers does not. But I could be wrong.

posted by Talulah Lamb on Sunday, July 07, 2002

145th requested review is of Angelgirl95
Rating out of 10: 2

layout etc. (2: 1)
I don't dislike the layout, but I don't think it is very original either. Then again, I knew it was a design by Twiggle before I even looked at the bottom right. It is not that Twiggle is a bad designer, I like her designs, but using a design made by someone else can easily make your diary seem run of the mill because that designer designs for a lot of people using her same eye for design. There is no personal touch, there is nothing uniquely -you- about it.

I am aware that people are sometimes forced by the limited number of "cool internet handles" to take the one they like and add their year of birth of birth to it. I assume that this is the case with the author of this diary, but I am not sure why she titled her diary after her internet handle.

From her profile: "I'm a 22 year old bisexual who is a manager at a major video store where my former girlfriend slept with my boss and made a baby that I now co-parent with her. Any questions?"

Yes actually, I have questions about every part of that except your age.

She really needs a cast list and a more detailed bio as much as she talks about people. It would really help if I knew who they all were.

Annoying writing habits: (2: 0)
I loathe survey/question type entries and I saw a couple on here. If you want to tell your readers things about you, try writing a witty, truth telling entry. It will work out much better that way.

I stopped bothering to count all the things that bothered me, but you can bet that was a good thing. She overuses "lol," smiley faces, ellipses, asterisks, and more. Did I say I lost count?

She also has more than a few typos that spellcheck won't pick up, like "than" instead of "then". Check out her quotes for more reference.

Unique: (2: 0)
Nothing unique about it really.

Quotes from the diary: (2: 1)
"Something(s) a lot of people don't know about you: I love to sing, but don't do it in public, unless you get wind of my talent show tape that was done in the 9th grade (lol), I write sex stories, that I'm bisexual, that I'm a huge advocate of child abuse and neglect."

I hope she really doesn't mean that part about being "a huge advocate of child abuse and neglect," but if she doesn't that is a typo that really needs fixing.

"I realize I'm ranting and saying things that I've repeated time and time again. I have a really bad habit of doing that, but I'm pissed off. I miss Parker. I realize I haven't spoken about him much in here, but I miss him so much when I'm not near him. And you know what...Luevonna took that away from me. She *left* me, she left the life we had for a once in a lifetime chance..she's the one who lost out, not me. And if she and Eric are happy together than fine, because she's not going to have anyone else to enjoy it with and if it doesn't work out? She's not going to have anyone then either."

"I have no fucking idea why the person that I've supported almost from the beginning of the birth of Parker, who has supported through money (and a great deal, I might add) and love, who has fought everyone she loves close to her to be with the person she thought she was going to be with forever, who learned to like a man who's my boss who slept with my best friend at my workplace and then expected me to be his best pal, who, well, you get the idea.
Has Eric left his wife??? Hell no."

It does have soap opera storyline potential.

Would I go back for another read? (2: 0)
Why wouldn't I go back? Is it that the author comes across as a teenie bopper in an adults body? Is it that she writes like she just learned "cool internet terms" like RFLMAO, LOL and : D? Is it that this girl is just plain boring? Nah, maybe the yellow just hurts my eyes.
posted by Eli Moose on Tuesday, July 02, 2002