I do, I do, I do believe in fairies

It's probably wrong that the first thing I thought when I realized that Franco is Peruvian is "chicken." But, in fact, I have peruvian roast chicken leftovers from last week in the fridge today for lunch, and I'm totally looking forward to that chicken, because it is fucking good.

Anyway...enough about my neverending appetite.

Do you remember when you were oh so very young, and the world was filled with magic? Do you remember when you kept your thoughts locked in a tinkerbell diary underneath your bed?

Franco still lives there, in Cinderella's castle. Seriously. I'm not even exaggerating here, he has one of those tower rooms that you only get if you're an 8-year-old girl with money.

Actually, Franco is an 18-year-old Peruvian immigrant who currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia, and writes under his real name (tsk, tsk). I'm hoping that this never comes back to haunt you during future job interviews, Franco, when your employers learn that you "believe in fairies, magical creatures and magic." Franco, didn't your parents ever talk to you about internet safety? I'm guessing no.

Okay, so...here are some thoughts. I love the header image, it's adorable. However, I fail to see the connection between the header and most of your writing, to the degree that your header appears to be anachronistic.

I hate three column blog designs. They look too damn busy, and generally, the users of three column designs make sure they are packed to the gills with busy little gadgets and crap that only reinforces this problem. Franco is no exception to this three column junked up blog rule. First, we have Franco's "Posie" (I'm not sure if these are his personal flower children or if Franco has simply misspelled "posse.") Then, we have Franco's I-pod playlist, contact info, blogroll, and comic book links. On the far right column, we have Franco's "about me," a photo of some random place, a photo of a random key, a label cloud, a survey, and the archives.

As is almost always the case, the crap contained in these sidebars could be distilled down to a single column without impeding the blog's readability/maneuverability, at all. And, these items only serve to distract us from the content.

As far as the content...it appears that Franco is struggling with a blog identity crisis that is currently coinciding with his teenaged identity crisis. More than one blogger (even the teenage kind) has gone through this phase, including me, and at that point, blogging becomes a chore akin to pushing an obstreperous mule up a hill.

Most of Franco's entries don't work. For one thing, I don't read blogs that link to videos of cutesy children who've been overmedicated with laughing gas. However, some of his entries show what his blog COULD be if he perhaps were willing to walk away from his blog in its current incarnation and be anonymously real:

Dear Diary:
My parents are those kind of people who married the wrong person... (click to read the rest)

Those kinds of entries, I'd read. Most of the rest is garbage of the kind that, in ten years, when you pull your tinkerbell diary out of the boxes that you'd stored in your parents' attic during your college/young adult years, and re-read it, you'll be deeply and painfully humiliated by your teenaged stupidity.

Don't do this to yourself, Franco. In particular, dude, don't do this to yourself using your real name.

My best advice to Mr. Rivermist is that he move from his present digs, establish himself in anonymity, and start writing, not about fairies, but about his life. You know, basically, the kind of thing that happens when people stop being polite and start getting real.*

Franco, you spend so much time in a fantasy world to avoid your real life, when your real life is tangible, compelling, interesting, and painful. Stop posting filler, and start documenting your life.

It's harder to be real than to believe in fairies...but in the long run, it's worth it. You'll see, when you get out there in the Real World.*

I give you a . You've been around these parts long enough than to know better than to submit your teenybopper fairy wonder diary to us.