CONTENT 63/70
I found this diary highly relatable and very entertaining; almost like a mix of "My So Called Life" and Bridget Jones' Diary rolled into one. High school drama has almost never been so entertaining--and I mean this most literally. Everybody's got a high school freak-out story, and (almost) everybody's got a right to tell it. However, there's a right and a wrong way to go about telling these stories. Most people go about describing their grade school lives as though they were reruns of "The Young and the Restless." This diary, however, gives all of those cheesy soaps a mean and cynical kick in the ass.
I found entries about crushes on teachers, carnies and SAT scores. Jealous of the new kid, huh? I can't say I've never been there before. This entry could've fallen into one of the pits of utter boredom, but you managed to save it from such a perilous fate by giving it your own unique perspective. Great job. I also enjoyed reading this entry, because you showed that there's a definite line between having emotions and being overly emotional. It's okay to cry for yourself every now and again--it's not okay to sob and moan over the every single drop of a hat. You're a very well-adjusted kid.
Some entries, however, were a little weak. I don't necessarily like to read edited transcripts of someone else's Instant Message conversations, so I usually tend to skip over them whenever possible. Sure, what so-and-so typed to you at three in the morning might have been hilarious, but hardly anyone is going to find the humor in it if they don't know the two of you personally. Things like that raise the boring-o-meter up a few notches.
Your spelling was usually pretty good, so I can't complain too much. However, I was irked at your spelling of the word "dreidel." Oy, vey... how'd you come up with draddle? You're a naturally great speller, so people like yourself don't necessarily take the time to spell-check every last word they've typed. But take the time to do this if it's something that's not in your every day vocabularly. It'll keep you from making costly mistakes.
STYLE 9/10
Like I said, you're like a fresh-kick in the ass. But in a good way, I promise. I think I'll definitely keep coming back for more--diary entries, that is. No ass-kicking for me, thank you very much.
DESIGN 9/10
When it comes to layouts, I'm usually of the image persuasion, but if I had to go imageless, this would be the template I'd choose. Blue is such a wonderfully versatile color, and I love the vertical stacks of boxes that hold your links. My only gripe is the fact that the actual font for the links is so small. I wish they were a little larger for my blind-as-a-bat eyes to read comfortably.
NAVIGATION 5/5
Everything's in working condition. No problems here.
FREQUENCY 4/5
A good amount of updates here. You have the usual tenacity that keeps readers ready and waiting for more.