Name: Shmazzy
Site: Yellow Brick Road
Brief Description: A personal site containing my writing. :)
Date Reviewed: 09/17/02

Advance Notes: Dear Shmazzy, The passion I feel for you expands beyond all possible boundaries ... Oh. Wait. You didn't say I *had* to write you a love letter. You just offered it as an alternative to sending you insults. Since this is a family site, I won't refer to the other option you offered, except to say that I've already indulged recently, thanks very much. I wasn't planning on sending insults, anyway, but I'm very susceptible to suggestion. You mentioned a love letter ... and before I knew what I was doing, the emotion was just pouring out of me. Okay. Time to get serious and actually review your site. I just had to vent the silliness inspired by the first paragraph of your site (which I enjoyed, by the way). AHEM. I'm putting on my Serious Hat now. I can't promise it won't wobble once in a while, but I'll try to keep it on as much as possible.

Splash: No splash. But I bet you'd make a darn gorgeous one, from what I've seen of your graphics work. And it would allow you to warn folks about the frames and the 1024x768 screen resolution requirements. In fact, yeah ... I think you need a splash page. Especially since about half of all web-surfers use screen resolutions smaller than 1024x768. Give 'em some prior warning, eh?  0/5

Layout: Very original layout, and very beautiful ... very atmospheric and evocative. The monochromatic color scheme gives the site a subtle, moody, elegant look. I also really like the shadowy effect on all the display text. Unfortunately, I have to admit that I thought some of the subtle hues kind of clashed with each other. For example, the display fonts are a fairly straight-forward whitish-gray, whereas the text box is a greenish-gray, whereas the image behind it includes hues that are more brownish-gray. And then the image on the right-hand side of the page is more yellowish-gray. I think this layout would look better if you chose one of these hues, and then simply used different *shades* of that one hue, along with the black and white. For example, black, white, whitish-gray, and subtle shades of brownish gray in varying saturations and lightnesses might look very pretty. I also would recommend indenting your text slightly on both the left and right within the text box, because the text would be easier to read with small side margins.  3/5

Originality: Your layout and graphics are very original and interesting. Your writing, too is very unique and intimate. The entire site is thoroughly colored by your personality, which always makes a site tremendously interesting. I really have no suggestions for improving the originality of your site, because it doesn't get much more original than this amount of personal writing.  5/5

Content: You have a *lot* of content for a personal site, and all written very well. Your writing is vivacious and engaging, if sometimes a tiny bit stilted, as if you're trying to impress someone. When you write in a natural, flowing voice, your writing is excellent. Your poetry is darkly moving, and you include quite a bit of it in that section of the site. I notice that some of your content is quite far out-of-date (for example, the "Experiences" section hasn't been updated in almost a year). But, barring that, your content is very high quality, and you've got plenty of it.  4.5/5

Navigation: I think your "Art" link should be separate from the primary navigation, since it leads to a different site entirely. It should probably be included in the "Links" section. Other than that, I found your navigation to be pretty much flawless. The primary navigation at the top of the text box is clear, attractive, and prominent; and your sub-pages all have useful, relevant "Back" links.  4.5/5

Various Comments: Your site shows a great deal of creativity and emotion. I found your writing fascinating.

Total Score: 3.5/5