Friday, October 19, 2007

Group G: Selena E-tivity 2

Hi everyone!

After hours and hours on Technorati, I decided to suggest these two blogs to you. Hope you like them!

As I like planning cheap journeys in Europe, I put in the tags the word “travelling Europe”, and I came up with a blog called Europe String, which I found particularly interesting. The author is a girl who lives now in Frankfurt, but in her life she lived in the USA, Hong Kong, China and Korea. She has been travelling around the world for business and leisure, and for this reason she feels qualified to give tips about travelling on a budget! She shares information about cheap restaurants in our continent, cheap ways of getting around -weather by land, sea or air- and where to sleep -from hostels to sleeping at airports. She also focuses on particular cities giving a combination of info.
I like this blog because it has a lot of links -both in and out the written text- to other blogs or websites on the same or related topics.

As I love tasting new dishes, I wanted to look for a blog that might give me some ideas for new recipes. I chose a blog called A Slice of Cherry Pie, which is simply something appetizing!In my opinion this blog is much more interesting than others about food because it shows you many recipes you can come up with using seasonal ingredients. The author is an English girl who posts her specialities and photos. She is a self-taught cook who is passionate about good food and home cooking. I like this blog because it is full of images which catch the reader’s eye.
I would recommend it to you because it communicates the pleasure of cooking and teaches you genuine recipes for your body. Personally, I believe cooking makes you feel relaxed.

The style used in the blogs I chose is very similar as in both the language is almost informal. That can be seen for example by the use of the contracted forms of auxiliary verbs, the negative contraction, the negation with “any”, “going to” for future prediction, the relative pronoun “that”, abbreviations and exclamation marks. I think the language it’s not very informal because there aren’t any slangs, dots and swear words.

Searching for blogs, I’ve noticed that I was mostly attracted by those that have an original and readable title, so I can say blogs’ titles are extremely important to catch the reader’s attention. The layout is very important, too. It shouldn’t be too much complicated because it could create confusion in the reader’s mind, and so on first sight the reader could prefer to visit other blogs. As regards links I’ve noticed that most of them aren’t the url but just a clickable word which is part of the text. Visiting blogs I’ve also realized that the language can vary from specialized to everyday according to the topic and the audiance. It can be also spontaneous, just like a real conversation, or a little bit more planned when it describes something. Of course, the formality of the language used might be influenced by the relationship between bloggers and readers.

That’s all for now. I look forward to reading your comments!

See you,
Selena

8 comments:

Eleonora said...

Hi Selena!
It was nice to have a look at the blogs you have suggested. I was particularly interested in the first one as I love traveling and most of the times my budget is quite limited… :-)
I spent some times reading news about London and other places around Europe and in the US. It was really fun because there was a section in which the blogger explained the main differences between English and American sports (e.g. “Cricket VS Baseball”, “Rugby VS American Football” etc..)..very interesting!
I find the blog about cooking great…Although I am not very fond of cooking, I do love eating and trying new dishes, especially traditional ones. The recipes the author put in her blog seem delicious and also quite easy, so I think I am going to give it a try in the next few days..let’s see what happens… :-)
The language used in both your blogs is very simple and clear, I had no difficulties in understanding what the bloggers where talking about…apart from one strange word I found in the first page..it was “moolah”, which is a slang term in American English to say “money” (I had never heard it before, it sounds like Ebonics, doesn’t it?). Well, I have learnt something new, good for me.. :-)

See you next week!

Elisa Snaidero said...

Hi Selena,
I also looked for a travel and culture blog like the one you suggested us, but I must admitt that yours is definitely better! I like it because the writer of the blog gives very detailed pieces of information and they seem to be very reliable. I think it is very well organized and the many links help the reader to find what he/she is looking for. For example I clicked on the word "Cheap Eats" and I got many useful tips...good to know next time I'm planning a new journey!
The second blog is simply delightful :) I must say that I'm not an excellent cook (even though I'm quite greedy) and I can't imagine myself spending hours flicking through cook books. Honestly I admire all those people who have this passion and if I didn't know that I'm a disater I would try to bake that lovely Apple and Spice Cake. Who knows, maybe during a raining day...

See you soon,
Elisa

Elisa Snaidero said...

Selena,
I posted my comment and one minute later I read your comment about my blog. Isn't it funny: I think that your travel blog is better, you think that my travel blog is better.... Eh the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence!

Julia said...

Hello Selena, I found your blog by looking at the posts that have linked to 'A Slice of Cherry Pie' on Technorati.

I'm very flattered that you've chosen my blog and by the kind words you've said about it. Thank you so much, you've really made my day! :-)

elenas said...

Hi Selena,
I visited the first blog and I found it very interesting. It gives detailed info and many tips about travelling and different cultures. I went to the presentation of Melissa Petri and I realized that the "service" of the b5media’s travel bloggers is really cool and worthy because they are constantly on the go and research the info first-hand in a reliable way.
As regards the second blog I admire Julia's interest for good food; her
passion for cooking transpires through her care in writing on the blog; the recipes, the categories and also the glossary! The photos are really... coloured! I really like the photo of the pumpkin on the bench and the colours of the autumn harvest.
Well...If I have to be honest, I would not eat all the things I looked at on the photos.;( What I mean is that this dishes could be good but like simply-cooked food.
Anyway, I thank you for your choice; I will signal this blog at a friend, Rrrreally keen on cooking.

Thanks for now,

good night,

elenas

elenas said...

sorry... THESE dishes...and signal to a friend...

Eva said...

wow!

The blog about cooking is gorgeous! And I'm not saying this just because I love cooking as well. It is well organised, clear and pleasant at the same time. And the pictures! ... I can already smell and taste the Roasted Pumpkin and Sweet Potato with Feta Cheese and the Apple and Spice Cake ... mmmm... delicious!

alessia f. said...

Hi selena!
The blogs you got are just fantastic, especially the first one! Everyone would travel on a budget so I believe that the matter is very appealing. Moreover, the several links in the text help you to immediately identify what you search and enter other marvellous sites. I also took some notes, they could be useful for my next holidays!
As for the second blog, I share with you the absorbing passion for cooking! I think I’ll download some recipes…and I also think I’ll make a pie very soon! The organization of the blog is schematic and essential, and the photos exemplify the dish in a realistic way. The language used is informal and I can say that the style generally used in the sites you found is the same as that the language used throughout the blogosphere, and above all in the sites I’ve taken into consideration.
Bye,bye
alessia