Name: Tera
Site: Strange Happenings
Brief Description: it's my blog with stuff about me.
Date Reviewed: 09/17/02

Splash: No splash page, and you really don't need one, since your site looks fine in various resolutions and various browsers, and doesn't have anything overly snazzy to freak people out. If you end up getting fancier over time, you might want to create a splash, but right now the only thing splash-worthy is the pop-ups. And that alone isn't worth creating a splash page unless you want to make one anyway, just to be creative. N/A

Layout: Hrm. Sideways tiger. Why sideways? And some parts of it (on the ears and back of the neck) aren't screened with blue like the rest of the image, which looks careless. I do like your subtle, elegant color scheme of black, white, and midnight blue ... and the pale text shows up beautifully against the blue background (the blue text, such as for the dates, doesn't work so well). I also like the slightly-transparent background of the site title. Very pretty. When I first got to the page, I thought that the narrow right-hand column was for navigation (which it is, lower down), and found myself trying to read this tiny, dim type ... only to figure out that it's meaningless decoration. I would suggest *not* putting meaningless type on the same block where you are going to place your navigation. It's just not generally a good design choice. Your visitor starts out thinking that right-hand column is important, then figures out that it isn't, and then further down, they have to re-evaluate their thinking and realize that now it *is* important. Don't make people think so much to figure out your layout ... too many people are dumb. Especially on the Internet.  2/5

Originality: Well, it's pretty much just a blog. Pretty much like all other blogs. Your layout is a little unusual, and your content is obviously original, because it's all written by you (and written quite well, but I'll discuss that more under "Content"), but as a *website* this just isn't all that unique. That isn't necessarily a problem, depending on your intentions. If you're just wanting to blog, then just write a blog. Nothing wrong with that. But if you want to make your site more unique, you might want to add some additional sections ... perhaps a section of discussions of your dreams (loved the playing tag dream, by the way), a section on movie reviews (nice discussion of "Almost Famous"), etc. Your personality comes through very clearly in your blog, but -- if you want to -- you could create some really neat additional pages that explore in more detail your various interests and opinions.  2.5/5

Content: You don't have very much content, since the site is just a blog, but I did enjoy reading your writing. You write wonderfully, with vivid description and endearing energy. Your unique voice definitely comes across in your blog, and as I said above in "Originality," I wanted to see even *more* of your writing. Yes, someone else loved "Almost Famous" ... me. And my husband, too. :-) And I'm another insomnia sufferer, as well. Perhaps we are twins, separated at birth. Oh, except for the fact that I'm twice your age. Oh well, there goes that idea. I notice you don't have a link to Royal Four Reviews on your site, though you do link to another review site. I feel so rejected and unloved. But I'll get over it. Well, it's hard to give a rating to your content, because there isn't very much, but I like what you've got. I guess I'll go for "average."  3/5

Navigation: I already discussed some of this in "Layout," regarding that right-hand column. I also noticed that the link to your older blog entries was pretty well-hidden down at the very bottom of the page. Awwww ... don't make us work so hard to read your stuff, okay? It's great writing ... don't hide it from us. Make your links clear and prominent, so that your visitors can sort of flit around if they like, instead of making them scour each section thoroughly in order to find the links. I would recommend doing something different with that right-hand column, to make your navigation more noticeable. Maybe something graphical at the top, instead of the words. And add links to your archives (and any additional pages I might be able to persuade you to create, such as movie reviews or dream descriptions) in that right-hand column with the other links ... preferably at the top. You should always make sure that the links to stuff within your *own* site are more prominent than the links to *other* sites. You want to make sure people finish seeing all your stuff before they leave -- right? In fact, I'd put the links to other sites in a pop-up window, if I were you.  2/5

Various Comments: This rating might look a little low, but blogs just don't tend to be especially exciting, innovative sites. You are clearly a talented writer, and I very much enjoyed reading your blog. If you end up expanding your site to include additional pages, please drop me an email (kimberly@nothinglikethesun.com), because I'd love to read them.

Total Score: 2.5/5