Aug. 03, 2005: wutevabitch

25/45 Design
5/15   Aesthetic
Consistency. I can say, in all confidence, that your layout is very consistent. I'm not crazy about the colors, but you match everything to the graphic, (although there is a slight color difference between the graphic background and your table background color.

Tip: Fixing color inconsistency If you have Photoshop, open the image, click on the eye dropper tool and select the background color. View it in color picker, and jot down the HTML color tag # (a six digit number that defines colors in web browsers). If you don't have Photoshop, but you know someone who does, have them do it for you. In the future, though, your best bet is to use Web colors only. That's the only way to guarantee that your site will show up properly for everyone's browser. Not sure what web colors are? Check out Visibone's color lab.

One thing I really don't go for in this layout is the monkey behind your main entry text. It's a good image, and it supports the general theme, but it makes your text very difficult to read. What I would suggest instead, is nixing the background monkey behind the text, and, (if you still want to use him in the layout), stick the original color image above the entry box, in it's own area. You can even add a title to the image: The Chronicles of Diddy Kong. If you think the image is too large, go ahead and crop it so that the monkey is pointing to the content just below.

10/15 Function
I'm not keen on the top spacing of this layout. I keep scrolling up, thinking I'm not at the top. Avoid this by adding margin-top: 10px or so (play around with it) to your body css.
Your navigation font size is a tad teeny, and will show up ultra-teeny on some resolutions. Standard size is 12pt, not 8. 10 will slide, (your entry text is pretty easy to read). I think imbedding the guestbook form as a part of the template is a smart move, but consider moving it to the navigation table. I think it might look better there. Try it out and see.

10/15   Bugs
When you have longer titles for your entries, the date overlaps the title, and doesn't look so hot.

45/45 Content
15/15   Entertaining
It's the old Forest Gump line: You never know what you're going to get when you open up a new diary. Going by the rings, the guestbook form on every entry, the buttons, the links, etc. etc. It's easy to assume you'd be the typical whiny d-lander. But you're not.
Instead, you're mature, thoughtful, and funny. You try to understand others, and while you do have opinions about them, you state that you really don't know what they're going through. Not only are your opinions well thought out, but you accept the limitations of human knowledge. You are very funny and smart, but above all, honest.
As far as college goes... do NOT sell yourself short when it comes to the GREs. Certainly, accepting one's own weaknesses is a strength, but setting yourself up for failure isn't going to get you very far. The GREs are tough. For everyone. Keep that in mind when you're studying for them. But don't write yourself off before you've even taken any of the classes. Unfortunately, (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), higher education is a long fucking haul. You will be in college for a significant chunk of your life. Don't get discouraged before you've completed your first semester. As for community college? It's charming your friends get to go off to "real" colleges and universities, but they're paying out the nose hole to do so. You, on the other hand, get to knock out all of your pre-reqs for a pittance, and transfer to a "real" college, where you'll take courses you actually have to pay attention for, but by then, you'll want to pay attention, and you'll want to be challenged. And you won't be afraid of not being so smart, because you'll know you are smart.

15/15   Relevant
You detail your frustrations with your boyfriend, but later go on to say that communication isn't so hot between the two of you, and you're both going to work on that. This sort of development and conclusion makes you extremely worthwhile to read.

15/15   Narrative style
I think this entry describes your narrative style, literally, better than I could. You're smart, funny, and you speak honestly, with your real voice. Like squirrelx, speaking the way you speak, instead of typing in perfect queen's english, makes your diary that much more individual and unique, as well as fun to read.

10/10 Extras
Bananas ... Poop? Oooh! I get it! Love/hate! Okay, I thought it was kind of stupid at first, but it's ultra clever, and it completely matches your layout. It's little details like these that make me happy, as a reviewer. CONSISTENCY, people. I mean, I definitely think there are things you can work on with this layout, but it is extremely consistent, and that? I like.

Total: 80/100 Work on the layout a little bit. My major vice with it is that it inhibits easy reading of your great content.