Waltzing back into your life

Style
I spent a long time trying to acclimate myself to your design, which you credit to your friend Matt/Smurf, and the set-up of all your content, but in the end, it is not an easy layout to stomach. One reason for this is that we the reader never really get to find out "Why all the dancers? Why 'Waltzing back into your life'?" Are you a dancer, or is it the painting that's special to you? Another reason for this difficulty stems from the disjointed presentation of content and information. While you have all the necessary linkage (gbook, notes, AIM, email, several "about me"-type pages, some poetry, cast and photo-cast pages, design credit, stats tracker, a disclaimer, and diaryrings), the fact that they appear before your entry sort of diminishes what you have to say, and looks a little confusing. Having some of the navigation tacked on at the bottom, and some of it at the top, also makes it hard to keep track of where to click in order to get from point A to point B. Additionally, your archives are somewhat messy. It took me a few too many minutes to figure out where to find your very first entry (I wanted to start reading from the very beginning). But, I have to give you props for your hilarious meta tags. I'm just a geek that way. They're very funny. "A journal everyone loves. friends, boyfriends, transexuals, lesbians, and strangers all agree. everyone is doing it, and you should too. The light at the end of your tunnel." I also like that you use portions of the painting to link backwards and forwards, and to the index and older pages. That does help to tie the design together.

Substance
You update a lot. This is great. Sometimes your entries are short, and consist mainly of funny quips and anecdotes, especially in your first few months of updating. Sometimes your entries are longer, and tell a lot of humorous stories about your relationship with your boyfriend and your friends. You can be really funny at times, and it's cool that you can take everything in stride - your job search, your mom, your neighbors - and milk the truly funny moments in life for what they're worth. I can't help feeling like an outsider reading your diary, though. I get the feeling that you tend to write more for the people who know you well than for us strangers. In This entry, you hint at trying to find a more personal level on which to write, trying to say more about "the juicy diary stuff that I really have been leaving out." But it never really comes about. I would love to have access to that part of your daily life - your very emotions and desires - and a less glossy look at what it's really like to be you. Frankly, I learned more about you from the picture of your end table on This page than I did from reading your writing. I think you know this well enough without me saying it, and I don't think you have come to terms with really opening up in your diary, except when you address your thoughts to your boyfriend Paul. While these speeches to him are endearing and sweet, they do seem a little out of place on a diary, and you don't want to ostracize your readers by making them feel they are not privy to these kinds of outpourings unless they're living vicariously through Paul.
I do have to say that your actual english has improved greatly over the life of your diary. At first you were spelling words wrong right and left, turning your nose up at punctuation and grammar, and it seemed a little childish. You've developed a much more seamless form of expressing your thoughts and telling your stories, with only a few remaining technical issues, about which only true grammar nazis would care. Good job.

Suggestions
I've said some ill words about your design, but like I said, I perked up at the way you use fragments of the featured painting as links, because it unifies the layout. Take that and run with it. Spend a little time reorganizing your links and navigational features, and you will end up with less of a piecemeal hodgepodge and more of a structured presentation of your stuff. Strike a balance between eclectic and loud.
Let us get into your head. Obviously, no one can force you to disclose information that you'd rather keep private, but I think you have so much more to say than you let on. Something tells me you want to be more open, more eloquent, and more diverse in what you reveal. Maybe you keep a paper journal, into which you pour all of your deepest secrets and fears and trials and loves and dreams. I hope you end up finding the courage to speak more from your paper diary and less from your quick-witted online diary, which you've already refined.

B-
Overall, a diary that I would read on a very regular basis if only Elizabeth would subject herself to the daunting process of revealing more of her thoughts...

Christine