Bloggeries is going to now review a personal blog that is called Blogging Away in Sosualand (FANTASYLand). The author of this blog is known as Escott, and you can find his blog at . Blogger Escott is retired from the real estate business in the United States and is currently enjoying his retirement by the beach on the North Coast of the Dominican Republic in Sosua. His blog discusses real estate, investing, culture, adjusting to it, travel, and women. In his spare time during his retirement, he opened a restaurant and bar. The description of his blog is that of “wild times of an American living, investing, and playing a third world country where the electric sometimes works, the women are hot, and there is money to be made!â€. You can get to know Escott and the Dominican a little bit better through any of his recent bloggeries: Herbert and my favorite sister in Cabrera, My favorite Sister, Cleaning up my computer, Where the River meets the Ocean,  Dominican Style Sunday at the River with the sisters and family, and My New Digs and My New Neighbors.
You will find navigation on Escott’s blog very simple. Bloggeries are right marginalized with posts being blue text on a gray background on one of the blogspot themes. There is a left navigation system that contains some AdSense, an “Areas of the DR that I Love†menu, archives menu with recent posts containing direct links, and links to other aread that Escott is involved with. Each post also contains a myriad of relevant pictures that add to the element of the personal voice in the blog. The blog is very obviously a personal one, and the blogger connects with his readers by adding pictoral representations of every aspect of his life. The reader also has the opportunity to get to know the blogger well through the diverse topic range included in the blog. I don’t see a categories menu in the blog, and given the wide range of topics it includes, it may benefit from one.
I will go with a 3.3/5 on this blog. The blog scores average marks on just about every count. There is nothing wrong with the blog per se, but a few tweaks here and there may make the difference between an average and a great personal blog. The first suggestion would be that the AdSense at the top of the left navigation system be moved a little farther down as the advertising tends to distract from the meat of the blog. Appearance scores are average and the blog does well in the uniqueness category. Activity could use some work as currently the blogging is not very frequent and right now ranges from every couple of days to a week or two in between postings. I also think the content is well done and offers and excellent personal voice to the blog, but there seems to be an excessive use of exclamation points. Overall however, I think this is a fun personal blog that if nothing else, made me want to take a vacation!
– Chrissie
As the United States works its election year fervor, a political blog for the right wings may catch your attention. The blog is called Danger Management and is known as 
Danger Management has a very simple navigation system. Bloggeries are black text on white background, and the blog is themed patriotically. The header and right sided navigation bar contains titles and headings in red, and the border for the blog is in blue. Bloggeries are thus left marginalized with a right navigation system. In this navigation system you will see archives going back to November 2006, Recent Posts Menu, a menu called “Resistance Links†which is the most extensive menu in the blog and carries almost all the way down the page, many subscription methods, and advertising information. The blog also has a good amount of relevant pictures that add to the appeal of the bloggeries. What I do not see on the blog that would be very helpful in navigation would be a categories or labels menu despite the fact that each post contained a label. I think a menu like this would make the blog a little easier to navigate. I also think that with a blog as politically charged as this one, an About Page would be extremely useful for the readership to identify with the thought processes that are being offered.
The blog is not going to score well on navigation as it stands right now. There are some serious formatting issues that have taken out the navigation systems and reformatted everything to the bottom of the page. Currently the blog is black text on white background and it is difficult to tell where one post ends or begins. The bottom of the page contains all of the material that is generally found in the navigation bars: About Page, Recent Posts Menu, Contact Information, Archives in a pull down menu format, and a variety of various pull down menus connecting you to other bloggers in the same niche. I currently don’t see any categories menu though I do note each bloggerie contains labels. Most bloggeries also contain a variety of relevant pictures which, if the blog was formatted properly would definitely add to the appeal in each post.