Here they are:
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Lensfest #2: Chicken Soup for the Soul
These are lenses about chicken soup, obviously, and feeling good. I have to admit, the Chicken Dance lens made me laugh. out. loud. And the very first chicken soup recipe lens has a secret ingredient that adds a layer of flavor that has been missing from my own chicken soup (and makes it definitely a cold and flu buster).
Monday, August 10, 2009
Desperate Lensmasters
I've taken Squidoo too seriously at times. When it seemed my ability to bookmark my lenses on Tagfoot would be taken away, I had meltdowns. All 3 or 4 or...however many times it's been now. Squidoo is the only income I can count on coming in every month. I never know if anybody is going to buy my art and massage clients cancel when they feel the money crunch.
I've noticed something from time to time among lensmasters. It's called desperation. I feel it too. Desperate to get that single five star rating to pull the lens out of oblivion. Desperate to get more and more ratings, backlinks, traffic, ad commissions, backlinks, traffic, comments...did I mention backlinks and traffic?
It's a virtual squid race. And you know what, it's not very attractive. It's actually repulsive. I know I am actually driving people away even as I'm shrilly demanding that I get more attention. Why didn't more people rate my lens? Why can't I get that lens in the Top 100? Why is that lens in the 80,000s? When am I going to make that one lens that everybody wants so I can make $1000 a month or more? (Or even, when am I going to bump up another $60 a month?)
It occurs to me that this is the kind of behavior that gets me, and others like me, thrown in with used car salesman and door-to-door vacuum pushers on social bookmarking sites . Nobody OWES me a rating, or even a visit to my lens. Nobody cares that I'm poor. And they don't have to.
From what I understand, really successful people don't push themselves on the populace. They wait for people to come to them, like a lion waiting for the herd to come closer. They also don't try to do everything at once. They take little baby steps and keep quietly practicing their craft, making small adjustments to their course along the way. They don't bite off more than they can chew, expect more than is reasonable. And they don't expect anybody to give them anything.
I think THAT is the way to true success as a lensmaster. In the end the drama only leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth and no increase in money in the bank.
I've noticed something from time to time among lensmasters. It's called desperation. I feel it too. Desperate to get that single five star rating to pull the lens out of oblivion. Desperate to get more and more ratings, backlinks, traffic, ad commissions, backlinks, traffic, comments...did I mention backlinks and traffic?
It's a virtual squid race. And you know what, it's not very attractive. It's actually repulsive. I know I am actually driving people away even as I'm shrilly demanding that I get more attention. Why didn't more people rate my lens? Why can't I get that lens in the Top 100? Why is that lens in the 80,000s? When am I going to make that one lens that everybody wants so I can make $1000 a month or more? (Or even, when am I going to bump up another $60 a month?)
It occurs to me that this is the kind of behavior that gets me, and others like me, thrown in with used car salesman and door-to-door vacuum pushers on social bookmarking sites . Nobody OWES me a rating, or even a visit to my lens. Nobody cares that I'm poor. And they don't have to.
From what I understand, really successful people don't push themselves on the populace. They wait for people to come to them, like a lion waiting for the herd to come closer. They also don't try to do everything at once. They take little baby steps and keep quietly practicing their craft, making small adjustments to their course along the way. They don't bite off more than they can chew, expect more than is reasonable. And they don't expect anybody to give them anything.
I think THAT is the way to true success as a lensmaster. In the end the drama only leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth and no increase in money in the bank.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Lensfest #1: Worst Ranked Lenses
In case you didn't know, Squidoo has a mysterious internal ranking system. A lens first created enters the system at around 800,000+. The goal is to get to #1, but even getting to the top 100 or top 50 is quite an accomplishment.
The better ranked you are, the more dividends you are paid. (At least that's what I heard recently. In all honesty it's mostly a mystery to me.)
So I thought for Squidoo Club's first "Lensfest" we would celebrate members worst ranked lenses. It is interesting to see what types of lenses don't rank as well. And remember that one lensmaster's"worst" ranked lens might be a good ranking for another member.
Here they are:
My Secret Garden
Mr Prez
Paso Robles Spring Day
Lyrics: Town Called Malice
Spider Web Efficient
Virtual Music Concerts
Does Shopping and Selling Online Hurt the Virtual Economy?
Chocolate Chip Cookies are My Favorite Comfort Food
Vintage Style Tiaras and Crowns
The better ranked you are, the more dividends you are paid. (At least that's what I heard recently. In all honesty it's mostly a mystery to me.)
So I thought for Squidoo Club's first "Lensfest" we would celebrate members worst ranked lenses. It is interesting to see what types of lenses don't rank as well. And remember that one lensmaster's"worst" ranked lens might be a good ranking for another member.
Here they are:
My Secret Garden
Mr Prez
Paso Robles Spring Day
Lyrics: Town Called Malice
Spider Web Efficient
Virtual Music Concerts
Does Shopping and Selling Online Hurt the Virtual Economy?
Chocolate Chip Cookies are My Favorite Comfort Food
Vintage Style Tiaras and Crowns
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
The Squidoo Club
Squidoo has been put down one time too many on Tagfoot. Therefore I've created a Ning group called Squidoo Club specifically for people to promote their lenses (and Hubpages, etc. if they have them) as well as share their ideas and experiences as a Squidoo lensmaster. I hope to make a real community out of it.
I'm cooking up weekly contests of some sort with the prize being an interview of the winner posted here on this blog (and maybe some other things as time and resources allow).
If you want to come and just leave a list of your lenses on your blog and never say another thing, that's fine. If you want to list every single one of your lenses, each of which is about a different model of cell phone, go for it. Such things would get you labeled as a spammer on Tagfoot, but not at the Squidoo Club!
If you want to come and be a part of a friendly community, that's much appreciated (but not required).
If you want to join the group and leave a comment on my page to try and entice me to pay for sexual acts with you then I will:
- pray to Jesus that you grow a brain
- invoke Hecate and do some sort of magical working on you - binding, banishing, etc. -
- block you from leaving comments on my page, the last of which is something everyone can do.
So join the group by clicking here, pull up your keyboard and your beverage of choice (because this is thirsty work!), and promote yourself to your heart's content.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Applying for Giant Squid
I had been putting off trying for becoming a Giant Squid (a person with 50 or more Squidoo lenses) for a year at least. I thought I was going to get there with the last "class" at the end of December but I just couldn't make myself push through it. I think I had about 25 lenses to do. I was down to nine by May and wasn't sure I could get there until I found JustBon's Blue Ribbon Squids team to join. Something about hearing that disco classic "Ain't No Stopping Us Now" every time I stopped by the team lens to add my latest to the list kept me going. And I thought I was all done with disco.
But getting the last 50 lenses wasn't enough as it turned out. (Fifty-one, actually. As usual, I can't count. At the last minute I thought I had 50, no 49, no 50...so I ended up with 51.) I had to "hand in" a lensography as part of my application. I had one but it was just a list of lenses. so with two weeks to go I decided to draw illustrations for it and make it a bit more interesting visually. And then find a way to tie it all together. It was a bit like designing a niche in the flower building at the local county fair. Anyway, it's all done and I think it turned out pretty well: An Intuitive Lensography. Now let's all cross our fingers and hope that I really get to enter the hallowed halls of Giant Squidom.
But getting the last 50 lenses wasn't enough as it turned out. (Fifty-one, actually. As usual, I can't count. At the last minute I thought I had 50, no 49, no 50...so I ended up with 51.) I had to "hand in" a lensography as part of my application. I had one but it was just a list of lenses. so with two weeks to go I decided to draw illustrations for it and make it a bit more interesting visually. And then find a way to tie it all together. It was a bit like designing a niche in the flower building at the local county fair. Anyway, it's all done and I think it turned out pretty well: An Intuitive Lensography. Now let's all cross our fingers and hope that I really get to enter the hallowed halls of Giant Squidom.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Steampunk Fashion
I decided to do a lens to get a better handle on what "Steampunk" was, a term that I kept running across in art, Second Life, and elsewhere. Much to my surprise I found that it is a cultural phenomenon, philosophy and even lifestyle that makes my life make sense. Although I probably won't ever dress in full 'Punk drag, I will look for ways to incorporate elements of it into my wardrobe.
For more see
For more see
Friday, May 15, 2009
Decorating Cookies
Image courtesy of Smitten on Flickr.
Take a look at what you can do with luster dust and fondant:
Image courtesy of sewmuchfun on Flickr
For more info and the supplies to try it yourself see
Molded and embossed fondant:
Image courtesy of Toni... on Flickr
Painting cookies with food coloring and brushes:
Image courtesy of neviepiecakes on Flickr.
For more info and the supplies to try it yourself see
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)