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For those that are conscientious of the generally unlucky number of 13, you may want to check out a blog that functions around this number.  This blog is the My Lucky Numbe 13 Blog.  The blog is a personal blog and the blogger considers her lucky number to be lucky number 13, and so the blog is about her life experiences.  Meet blogger Diana Bajenaru who is blogging from Romania, and she is very proud of this, and of her country.  The blog is a little bit of this and that with a lot of opportunities for you to learn from Diana about how to make your blog and web experiences better.    Diana writes on her blog from her own experiences from developing a B2B Portal that she says was successful, and as well, she has created and managed many other sites and knows a lot about SEO, SEM, and many other things.  See what Diana has to say in any of her recent bloggeries:  Resource for Bloggers Carnival 12th Edition, Resource for Bloggers Carnival 11th Edition, 30+ Places to Promote Your Free WordPress Themes, Green Money – Free WordPress Themes by EzMoneyOn.Net, SEO Tools, Top 13 Commentators – February 2008, Free Web Directory – 134u.net, and My Domain is For Sale, WHAT?.

Navigation on the blog is very easy with this clean and organized template.  Bloggeries are left marginalized and there is a wide right sided navigation system as well as a top navigation system with standard blog links such as the Home Page, About page, Contact Information, and the blog’s Disclosure policy.  Bloggeries are in black text on white background and the header and blog menu themes are in a green, aqua, and mustard colored theme palette.  In the right navigation system you will find Subscription Options, Categories Menu, Top Commenters Menu, the Last 13 Posts Menu, the Last 13 Comments Menu, a 13 item Blogroll, Archives Menu, and Recent Readers and Recent Viewers widgets.  The categories menu is a melting pot as you would normally find in a personal blog, and here you will find categories like Blog Carnival, Blogging, Contests, Funny Stuff, and so much more.

I give this blog a 3.4/5 overall.  This blog scores well for appearance with its clean template and organized design, as well as its good use of advertising without being too distracting.  I think however the blog’s appearance could be beefed up just a little bit through the use of pictures associated with its bloggeries.  Otherwise the blog starts to look too texty which can make reading cumbersome for the Internet reader.  The blog has a good navigation system and offers all of the blog meat necessary to keep readers organized and active in all aspects of the blog.  The content is well done considering English is not Diana’s first language, and it comes in a strong personal voice its readers can connect with.  The activity of bloggeries right now is coming in every few days to a week or more in between, and so with a little more regular updating the blog would probably see more consistent traffic to it.  Overall however, this is a great concept blog built around the unique notion of the number 13, and this creativity is something its readers will enjoy participating in.

-Chrissie

Enjoy this blog? Find other’s in our Personal Blog Directory. From now on we are pulling most of our free reviews from the “Show Off Your Blog” section. So join the forum and maybe you’ll be next!

We are looking at another political blog called A South Dakota Moderate. This political blog is ‘trying to see purple through all the red’ and is a site authored by one who has a strong desire to express political opinion through the South Dakota Moderate blog. The blogger makes it known that he has no affiliation politically in the sense that he is not being paid by any party to write the blog, nor has he ever worked in the political arena. He is a former 9 year Navy veteran, originally from Ohio, who has settled in South Dakota and has never looked back. The blogger tries to focus on South Dakota politics, but also includes bits from national politics and some interest on gadgets and technology. The blog is very well written for one that is motivated to see ‘purple’ and you can guage that yourself through any of his recent bloggeries: No Surprisek Here, Everyone is an Expert All of a Sudden, So What do you Really Think?, Please don’t Petrae (us), Chris Nelson: It’s Broken, Makes you go Hmmm…, Do you really want to impress people?, Clean Cut Kid Is Charged, Sweeping Away Global Warming, and Pizza Hut Is Getting To Be A Pretty Dangerous Place To Work.

The blog has a very clean and sleek format and this makes it very easy to navigate. Bloggeries are left marginalized and there is a dual right navigation system and a simple top navigation bar. Posts are standard black text on white format and the navigation systems are very nicely laid out. In the top navigation bar you will find links to Home, Contact (containing the About Page), SD Search button, and a register button. In the left/right navigation bar you will find a very healthy categories menu on many different political topics, a feedburner with 19 readers, and archives going back to February 2006. In the far right navigation bar you find an advertisers link for campaign signs, Recent Posts Menu, Recent Comments menu, Blogs I Read, and a South Dakota Blogwire widget.

This blog will get a 4.5/5 from me. It satisfies all of the blog scoring criteria excellently. The content is very well written and the activity is quite frequent with posts coming in daily or even twice a day. The blog is well read as is evidenced by its many page views for each post with each post reaching several hundred page views. There are currently 51 in the feedburner showing there is a steady following with this blog. I would suggest making the about page a little more prominent and accessible to the readers at this point. Currently it is located in the Contact page and I think many readers may not find it if they do not choose to make a point of contact. It will establish a little more personal voice and connection with the readership. I would also suggest adding some more relevant pictures for the odd post here and there to spice up the overall appearance. I might also suggest taking advantage of the many page views which signifies a strong readership and possibly monetize the blog a little bit through AdSense or other forms of advertising. Otherwise however, I think the blog is very well done with an excellent format and design and would be found very appealing to those that enjoy reading political blogs.

-Chrissie

Read more Political Blog Reviews or submit yours to our Political Blog Directory.

We are going to look at another political blog that also has a very present personal voice which makes it an interesting read. The blog is called the Skeeter Bites Report and is a weekly news analysis and commentary on U.S. politics, culture, and life in general with an occasional look at Canada. You will find articles published every Monday with some Special Editions coming in on Wednesdays or Thursdays if the scoops warrant it. The blogger is Skeeter Sanders, a native of New York City who is currently living in Vermont. He’s a former freelance journalist, a self-described ‘fiercely independent thinker’ who is highly skeptical of authority figures when they disagree with him. The blog is definitely politically charged but very well written, which you can guage for yourself in the recent Bloggeries: Are you on an Adults-Only Social Network Web Site? Big Brother wants to know why?, Ex Federal Reserve Chairman says war in Iraq is ‘Largely about Oil’, Strong Evidence Emerges that ‘Osama bin Laden’ in New 9/11 video is an Imposter, and McCain, Nominee of ‘Rich People’s Party,’ Calls Obama ‘Out of Touch’ With the Poor.

Though the site is very well written, I find this to be difficult to get to at times with its fierce amount of advertising. Bloggeries are right marginalized with black text on beige background and links highlighted in red. In the left navigation bar you will find advertising, an Archives pull down menu, Where the blog is found on the blogosphere, News the Mainstream Media May have Missed, Headlines from Buzzlash.com, Subscription info, Feedback Section, About page, and a link to listen to Skeeter’s 2 hr weekly radio show. Missing from the navigation system are a categories menu and a recent posts menu. I think these two elements would add to the navigation of the blog. I also don’t see labels attached to the posts and I think the blog could get a much larger readership if it used Technorati tags or sorted the posts with labels and categories.

The blog will get a 3 from me. This blog is a little cluttered and needs some organization and reformatting in order to fare better from me. The blog could be more active. Though this keeps in line with the weekly nature of the blog, the articles that are posted are extremely lengthy and have the potential of losing the reader’s interest. I would suggest breaking one article down to make it more readable and spreading it out over the course of the week or a few days to increase the activity aspect as well as make it an easier read. I would also add some blog elements such as a categories menu as previously mentioned just to organize the blog a little and make navigation a little easier to work with. Further, I would move the advertising around so that it is not the first thing the reader sees and blends in more with the content of the blog. Otherwise, I think the content is extremely well done and the niche itself is unique and very appealing to a large audience. I think with just a few changes this could be a very successful blog with an extensive readership.

-Chrissie

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