Now I really want some curry

One of my very good friends lived in India for a while, and I always loved reading her emails about her experiences there. The strange sights, smells, spices. It was a taste of something completely foreign, and beautifully strange. And that's a little bit of what I get from Let Me Be Me.

Sure, it's in the vein of our recent deluge of Indian bloggers requesting reviews. There's still some cultural disconnect for me, but this is something new. She's an adult, and quite a progressive one at that. There's no angsty juvenile crap going on, and though there's some poetry, it's not making my eyes bleed.

The design could be heaps better. It's your standard mustardy yellowish Blogger template. Not cringeworthy, but completely nondescript and boring. And though her blog is, above all, serene, it didn't bore me. Not quite. There are tons of easy to customize free templates out there. Find something unique, something with personality.

Now, back to that serene thing. This chick is that. It's very zen, insightful, and thoughtful. And if the writing weren't actually quite good, it might be boring. For me. Because I like things that are ramped a little higher up on the raunch scale. I'm more pigpen than zen.

But there's a sense of peace here, a quiet observation of what's going on in the world that is appealing and interesting. The problem is there's a lack of personality. I read the entire blog, and I still don't know very much about this woman. That's partially because there are bits that, as an American who's never traveled outside of European countries, I'm unfamiliar with much of her world. But that's not all of it. There's some reserve here, maybe an unwillingness to let loose. And I'd really, really like her to. In her quest to "be me," I'm not sure she has. Ignorant American that I am, when I think of India, I think of spice. And that's what I feel like this blog needs -- just a bit more flavor.

I give it





because I really do enjoy her writing. But there's some improvement to be made. Snazz up your template, and give us a bit more of yourself in your writing. So many times I say that I don't want to hear about what people do every day -- but in this case, surprisingly, we might could do with a little bit more of that. Who are you? Where do you go? Who are your friends? What's your husband like? Show us your favorite shoes, tell us about your neighborhood. Let us in a little more.