On the Road with Amanda Congdon

Last week Amanda Congdon, formerly of Rocketboom, announced her new project, Amanda Across America, for which she will travel across the contry in a "hybrid vehicle" blogging (or should I say vlogging) about it the whole way. Here's the first post of this new epoch from Ms. Congdon, emenating from what seems to be her childhood bedroom in Connecticut.

Back when she was Rocketboom's talking head, she always came across as a little desperate for attention, like a high school cheerleader at the nerd's table, milking the mediocre jokes, mugging for the camera, and pretending she cared about Internet trends and video games. Her audience liked the attention, but knew that deep down inside she didn't want to date a one of them, but merely needed them to fix her computer or do her Physics homework...or perhaps make her famous.

Rocketboom has never been a favorite of mine, but you have to give credit where credit is due. It was the geeky brain of Andrew Baron that drove content, and it's the content (in juxtaposition with her inherent sex appeal) that made Ms. Congdon so popular. And now that the geek and the cheerleader have parted, the shine has entirely worn off.

In her newest venture (or at least this post), Ms. Congdon seems maniacally desperate to hold on to her audience, trying to whip them up by using unfunny voices ("Come on, interact with me y'all") and other schtick. But upon finding herself without anything interesting to say, her game quickly devolves into a spasmodic dance that culminates with Ms. Congdon throwing herself on her childhood bed and rolling around on it.

Very strange, and a little sad.