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Wednesday, February 14, 2007
The Bad Girls Guide
I've been waiting to review this blog, because I've become a regular reader since she submitted it, and I'm glad it *finally* came up on the list.

I'm even more glad it happened to be MY TURN! Damn, I love it when life works out that way!

Bad Girls Guide:

What is this about? Here's what she has to say:
"This is a journal created by a woman for women. However, if you are a man in tune with your feminine side (or trying to get there), feel free to read on. It's mainly the stuff we talk about but that no one ever wrote
down. It's all the stuff in all those self help books that we read, all the stuff that should be said but aren't. This is just a venting spiel, about the idiosyncrasies of dating and how to make it better. "


Template: I've seen this one before. Actually, its a free template, and its one we almost used for our own little site here! (Sure glad we didn't-- we might be accused of infringing on the Copyright law or some other fucking thing.)

It certainly works better for her blog than it would have for ours, and definitely fits with her title. Doesn't that just scream "Bad Girl?" I sure damn well think so!

I love the peachy orange color - not too overwhelming and the brownish text actually works for this template. I normally don't go for any text color other than black, because once you add in links and other stuff, any other color tends to get too difficult to read. I stand corrected once again! This girl's got it goin' on!

Content: This blog is just what she says it is. A guide to dating and how to make it better. I went back to the very first post in her blog, to find out what made her decide to write this. She says right up front she's just writing her opinion, and doesn't claim to be an expert. She's just got her own ideas, and actually has a lot of great suggestions based on her personal experience, and the experience of others.

She gives advice on all sorts of things that are not good only for singles, but for us old married farts as well. Advice such as:

  1. Dealing With Mean Girls
  2. Nagging - an ability we have and men hate
  3. Making Room for Me Time
  4. Talking Dirty (yes, Mr. Diva Dee is crazy about this-- I should read up on it)
She also answers questions submitted by readers, and has many "topics of the day." There's random contests, movie reviews, and more. All in all, its got content smeared everywhere like K-Y Jelly. I could literally spend all day reading this blog, and then spend another day telling you everything about it.

Clutter: She's got a little, but it works for her. Ten most recent posts, which is fine. Almost 2 years worth of monthly archives is getting a little much though, ok? She's got a great list of bloggers in her blogroll, listed under "Bad Girls In Training" and "Bad Ass Bloggers." Stopping right there would have been fine, but she has to continue with a Quote of the Day, a list of recent comments she has made on OTHER people's blogs, her "Current Jamz", and a lot of other unneccessary stuff that could be put somewhere else on a different page. But since most of it ties in to the subject of her blog, I'm not going to bitch about it all that much. Imagine that!

Navigation: First of all, nothing seems to open up in a new page. And once you get to certain pages (such as archives I was reading) there's no way to get back to the home page. No link anywhere! So I have to use my back button to get back to where I was. I hate using the back button, because I'm just too fucking lazy. (Actually, I found the "Return to my Homepage" link hidden in her sidebar-- but I had to search for it.)

Another thing to change up-- there's no way to permalink certain posts, at least that I can find. I wanted to link to a few of her good posts from her archives for this review, but there's no way to do that. Unless I want to include a link to a whole months worth of archives, which for this blog is a LOT. Nothin' doin'.

You'll just have to go check her out for yourself.

Would I Return? Absolutely.

Rating: 9 out of 10

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10 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous says...

Seriously? I understand wanting to give people you like a good score and shout-out, but you guys are such sidebar nazis I can't BELIEVE you didn't deduct her for all the crap there is on hers. You have to page down NINE times to get to the end (Frumpy Professor, who you gave SO much shit to, only takes five page downs). So much of the shit on there isn't necessary. And fifteen plus tags on each post? Not needed. The pixelated "Menu" and "Journal" also irritate me (that's really nitpicky I know).

I have been reading her blog for a long time and I was looking forward to your review of it. I really do LOVE her blog a lot and tell everyone I know about it but I was hoping for a more objective opinion that could help Vixen improve her blog instead of just kissing ass.

2/15/2007 3:28 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous says...

Once again, another fucking ANONYMOUS POST.

First of all, I have no reason to kiss anyone's ass. I review each blog on its own, and I don't compare it to any of the previous blogs. Its just whatever general feeling I'm getting at the time I'm reviewing it.

Feel free to start your own review site, because you obviously think you're a GOD in that department.

Everyone bashed us for attacking sidebars, so I lay off the sidebar a bit, and then you bash the shit out of me again.

I think I'll just stick to reviewing them the way I want to review them... it is MY site after all...

2/15/2007 3:44 PM  
Blogger Lara says...

I actually am a little surprised that the sidebar didn't get more wrath, too...I started reading the blog after seeing it on the list and really loved it, but thought "Damn, they are going to slaughter her for that sidebar!" I admit to being just a tad bit bummed that you relaxed your standards due to pressure from commenters...I liked your strict guidelines and unbiased opinions. Maybe because cluttered sidebars are one of my pet peeves, too, so I was glad to see someone laying down the law.

But I do agree with the content and general template review!

2/15/2007 7:01 PM  
Blogger Lara says...

P.S. I know you can't please all of the people all of the time, so I would say since it's your blog and your reviews...please your damn self!

2/15/2007 9:42 PM  
Blogger Dick says...

Do not bother to review my site.
Remove it from your list please.

Your reviews are not very accurate and seem quite biased.

2/16/2007 9:45 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous says...

Just a suggestion...just because someone doesn't agree with you or criticizes the way you review doesn't mean you need to flip out. Different opinions, even negative ones that you don't agree with should be respected. You don't have to respond so defensively. Just let each person say their piece and be done with it. Either let everyone have their say or turn comments off. So they didn't agree with you so what? Just be glad they are visiting your site in the first place and care enough to comment.

2/16/2007 11:07 AM  
Blogger Diva Dee says...

Again with the anonymous comments-- just what I LOVE!

I wasn't flipping out. I was stating a fact. It's my site, and we can review sites in any way we choose to.

Should someone feel there's a better way to do it, they can start up their own site.

2/16/2007 12:15 PM  
Blogger Vixen says...

Ouch...didn't mean to be the start of such conflict. Thanks for the review ladies, I'm amending my sidebar as we speak...lol, I didn't know it was that annoying, but looking from the outside in I have put lots of crapola on there.

Thanks for the lovely review---biased or not, I think it was totally fab. (Of course!)

2/17/2007 2:37 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous says...

Blog Virgin, how do we actually get to the actual blogs so we can go an look at them, just by the name?

4/30/2007 3:55 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous says...

This Blog Virgin here is letting YOU, the other BLOG VIRGIN, know there is a link in each post to get straight to the site.

For example, on this one in particular:

I've been waiting to review this blog, because I've become a regular reader since she submitted it, and I'm glad it *finally* came up on the list.

I'm even more glad it happened to be MY TURN! Damn, I love it when life works out that way!

Bad Girls Guide: <===THE LINK IS THERE, MY DEAR!

What is this about? Here's what she has to say:

4/30/2007 4:03 PM  

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