Sunday, November 05, 2006

Semper Fudge

Just to make Sunday morning a little more surreal than it normally is, I want all of you non-Jews out there to realize that we're a mere 7 weeks away from Christmas. Ha, I bet half of you just spit out your coffee all over your laptop monitors. Well, see, Fireballs is always helping, because now you can ask Santa for a new laptop. Much like yer old pal Fireballs is doing. The fat bugger better come across too. Other big events forthcoming include the trailer for next year's Harry Potter movie on November 17, the American version of Thanksgiving on the 23rd, and Fireballs' own birthday on December 6.

But, onto today's business. The blog up for review today is Little Turkey, aka Emily's Mommy. Okay, first off, there's one huge star coming your way for the Nello template. Unfortunately, there's also a flaming finger coming your way, because one of my few blog pet peeves is when the name of the blog doesn't match the URL.

Okay, that's out of the way. I love Nello's work, so the template, despite not being a design I would choose, rocks anyway. Let's look at everything else, shall we? First off, she's brave enough to put her picture on the "About Me" section, so thumbs up from me (plus, she's a really cute redhead, so double thumbs up!). Picture of the daughter (most likely the Little Turkey in question), her Marine husband (Semper Fi, brother!), and their cuter than cute dogs. The sidebar is a bit lengthy due to the pics and the insanely long-ass blogroll, but it isn't my biggest complaint. My biggest design complaint is that this blog goes back almost two months in terms of posts on the front page, which is at least 6 weeks too long. The archives are rolled up, so that's a plus. Content-wise, it's a mommy/fem blog, with the occasional comment on the news. The content is what it is, but it's real. It's occasionally very compelling, but oftentimes it's sprinkled with comments on the news or happenings. It's the essence of a personal blog. I don't hate it, but I don't know that I'm adding her, either.

So what are the recommendations here? #1, I would perhaps shorten the amount of posts on the first page, to perhaps two weeks worth of time. The page is too long. #2, Once you do this, it might be worth it to categorize and roll up your blogroll, much like your archives are rolled up. #3, I know the content can be "stream of consciousness" at times, but you have to consider commas, basic grammar and spelling. Also, try to limit the use of ellipses. You definitely have a lot to say, and I understand needing the outlet. It's just jarring to me to read mis-spelled words and poorly constructed sentences.

The grades:
for the template by the awesome Nello, the courage to post real photos, and the dogs, because they are cool.

for the insanely long main page and not having the URL match the title.

for your husband. I hope he's safe when he goes back. Give him a thanks for those of us here. We definitely appreciate his efforts.

6 comments:

  1. Nello or not, those dots are seizure enducing. Sorry, I'll be the hater of the bunch and say that I don't like the template much. At all. Oh, and by template, I mean I don't really like all those dots! JEEZ! I get motion sick just looking at it.

    I also, for some reason, hate when links are centered in the sidebar. But that's me being a hoser.

    Last but not least, Balls-what do you mean by blog title not matching the blog address? You lost me on that one lover boy.

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  2. Thanks for the review. My URL used to be the same as my blog name but I had the template changed and now they no longer do. I know I suck ass at spelling but I do a damn spell check so trust me when I tell you it's better than it would be if I didn't.
    Two words I like to be described as, "Cute" and "Little". Not bad for an old fart so I'll take the compliment, thank you! I'll try working on the sidebar but I am not too computer savy, not to mention short on time. Thank you for the advise though and not tearing my ass apart because it's a "Mommy Blog" of sorts. I'd like to think my brain can spew out things occasionally that does not have to do with shitty diapers!
    I like the dots, to each their own. It's got a retro look and I am into that. I think for some reason some people see the dots behind the writing as well. Not sure why that is. It is not supposed to be like that though.
    Anyway, thanks for the support as well (dot dot dot), It means a lot to all of the military families. Semper Fi back at ya.

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  3. Please don't let Fireballs review my blog - or else don't let him ream my ass because my blog title and URL don't match. They never did match. They never will match. They shouldn't have to match - it's not like they're socks or something. (And I used the handy dash instead of the ellipses here)

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  4. Cute blog. My only gripe is that the paragraphs don't seem to have spaces between them, which makes for a bit of text overload for me. I'm using Firefox on a Mac -- don't know if that has something to do with it.

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  5. I like this blog. I agree with gypsy, though, she needs to actually put in paragraphs, not just a return.

    It's hard to read a solid wall o' words.

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Grow a pair.