Rashenbo Reviews the Blog: Waking Jonas

Waking Jonas is a blog that I would categorize as personal/humor.

The Rating Scale: 1 = Dreadfully dull 5 = Alright 10 = Awesome! I'm so jealous.

The Title:
At a glace, one might say... "Waking Jonas, hmmm what is special about this title?" At first, I just give the title a 4-5. However, this is one of those titles that as you read the content - you realize it has a meaning and the title wasn't really made to grab attention from a list. From the about page, this is a little tidbit to think about regarding the title:

jonas was a kitty who had many adventures with me. his life was short but he was loved very much. the site was named after a lonely afternoon where i found myself so in need of attention that i woke him up from his afternoon nap. what are cats for? a captive audience.

I'm not a cat person, but even I think this is sweet and it changes my thoughts about the title... and gets at least a 6.

The Layout
Ah, the joy of Word Press... I see some great Word Press blogs. I'm even thinking of starting up a blog for my husband and using Word Press. The layout here is simple and clean. No flashy colors or annoying backgrounds. I like the sidebar on each side of the content here. Sometimes having the two sidebars limits the width of the main content column - but I think the spacing is good here. I think it could be a little more "catching" or unique so I only give it a 6ish... but it is nice and it's easy to navigate - that's always a plus.

The Sidebars
Those of you familiar with my reviews know I like to see links, widgets, something in the sidebar. I think it makes the site more interactive and gives the reader more opportunity to spend time on your site surfing through your options. I have to say that I love the little ninja in the sidebar. It makes me happy. Maybe I need my own blog ninja?

Waking Jonas has some nice little images on the sidebar. The sidebars are organized nicely. Site navigation and widgets to the left... link love to the right. Course... I did notice that I'm not on the link love (/sigh) but it's ok. No points are deducted if you don't mention me! The comic links are a great little area to surf around - I know... I spent some time surfing through there.

I also liked the sleeping pose widget. I noticed it when I saw WJ during the nablopomo competition - I even posted my own in one of my blog posts. She's got quite a few things for readers to click on, surf through and visit so that chances of a reader hanging around longer is a little better. I give her at least an 8ish - (and this is not higher because my personal preference is to see a little more than what she's got). Other people don't... but they can do their own review and give a 10 if they want! :)

Blogosphere Presence
It's good for bloggers to get involved in the blogosphere... through links, through community blogs, through widgets that join folks together, etc. I don't rank it, but I always check on blogs I review. Her blog is on technorati and she's got a few sites that link her through technorati - like Testament to Youth in Verse. She's on BlogHer (a blog community I'm also a member of and recommend) and she's got some Flickr action happening. Looks like she's been having some fun! :) With the history of blog posts, I'm sure there is more of her out there in the blogosphere. Although, it could probably be improved - if that's what she wanted.

Now... to what we all know and love...

The Content

The first post appeared waaaaay back in April of 02... yeah, 2002. That's got to be one of the earliest dates in an archive I've seen... at least among the general population of bloggers. Kudos on the history. The posts are frequent... the posts are often short. Sometimes they are funny... and sometimes I had no idea what she was talking about! And, some of them are cute! I particularly enjoyed the recent post regarding the Christmas Plague and Kitty Mittens.

Overall, there are some nice posts here... some of them definitely had more of a "quick mental note" feel to them. I know the writing style and structure is intentional (read the about)... but I did find it a little distracting from time to time... that's probably my inner editor rearing it's head. I like the use of images in the posts... but if the goal is to increase reader awareness and blogosphere presence... there may be some room for improvement with post content. Now, that's just me... others may disagree... but I think I have to go with just a 5ish for the overall content. Not that there isn't some great content in there... it's just a little hard to find.

As always, I appreciate the time I spend on blogs. This is my opinion. I'm not an expert, I'm just sharing my thoughts. I tend to review a blog each Saturday. I keep a list and pull in the order of receipt. If you would like me to look at your blog. Click the "Rashenbo Review Me" link in my sidebar.

Cheers!

Updated to reflect the new URL.