offence
Layout 17/20:. God, I have to do something about my eyesight. My blurred vision makes the quotation look like �Dreaming of heaven � just a minge.� At, least I hope it�s my eyes and not my mind. Anyway, this template is based on somebody I haven�t heard of, on account of being a multi-cultural ignoramus, but I actually kind of like it because it�s uncompromising. Usually when people base layouts on the famous, they go for the Beautiful People. To be fair, this guy is no looker but you respect his talent. And I respect that. Colour-wise, it is in danger if being just a little dreary, especially because the image has that grainy quality but kudos for having done it yourself.
Links/Organisation 10/10: You sure have a lot of links but they�re splendidly sub-divided, making them manageable. Go you.
Contact 4/5: Notes, guestbook, e-mail.
Errors 8/10: Am I allowed to count your obsession with Mr Phoenix as an error?! He�s got eyes like a snake! Yuk. Anyway. I think it�s stretching the definition of �errors� to take marks off. Sometimes your grammar veers off the rails but, generally, you�re very readable.
Updates 4/5: Some skips, some multiples, but generally regular.
Content 25/30:
It�s a hard � even overwhelming � thing to review diaries with so many entries. More than anything I admire the sheer tenacity of anyone who passes the two hundred mark. It�s such an achievement. In a way I find it somewhat frustrating because I can barely brush the surface of your diary, but the pathetic fraction of entries I did read I very much appreciated. Your diary is quite a dark and angsty thing and, normally, I�d hate that but you have such a way of expressing yourself and enough self-irony to step back occasionally that I actually found myself really empathising with you, especially here because such things have happened to me. I also like your sardonic perspective on the world, and the way it influences practically everything you write � even in your layout, where you say under Requirements: �IE 800x600, simplified chinese encoding for a few entries, tolerance for boredom and swearing, and an intelligent mind.� Your entries are usually inspired by what happened that day but you write about your feelings and responses, as well as the events, so I was hardly ever bored. Heh �. I have very little tolerance for amateur poetry but I don�t think you�re too bad.
Actually, after all that gushing I�m afraid I don�t like your current entries as much as I enjoyed reading your backlog. Diaries are fascinating because you get to see a person�s life shape them, and watch them as they change but there�s a bitterness and a harshness in your recent entries that makes them a lot harder to read and, even, a little distressing (for example when you tear into your previous idealism here. I said I admired you because you were uncompromising but this seems to have set into a sort of �Okay, so I�m arrogant� intolerance that rubs me up the wrong way: �And I request because I am an exhibitionist, because I think I am a total genius, and because I like it when people praise my writing. And people praise my writing a lot. And I don't see why I should be apologetic for being arrogant.� Ah, well, whether I like you or not isn�t the issue: the diary is still well-written and interesting to read, although in more of a literary way where sympathy with the writer is less relevant than the writing.
Bonus 10/10: Tons o� stuff: reviews, cast, glossary, links, school, disclaimer, poetry and fiction, surveys, fans � bonus ad nauseum.
Will I return 7/10: I guess I�m fairly intrigued but my personal response to you is somewhat ambiguous. I think I could like you enough to become a regular reader.
Total Score: 85/100
So says Justamephit.