I'm hiring a boss

So my six months with Seth Godin is wrapping up soon. Which means I'm looking for my next adventure. And rather than taking the passive, lame-ass way of finding a job, I'm hiring a boss. Pass it on.

Little Miss Match store opens at Grand Central

Going to be sad to not see this every week after I go home. It's just a happy place!! My favorite thing at the Little Miss Match store is the round that lets you select individual socks to create your own sets. Wish we could do that online too. (Hint, hint!!)

Can you see me on a motorcycle?

Yikes. I'm willing to take risks, dream big, all that jazz. But when it comes to risks of my person, my body, I tend to get a little freaked out.

I'm afraid of heights (because they are really bad for your health). I hate roller coasters. I get car sick. I panic when I start to pick up speed on skis (maybe I should just snowshoe). Loss of control - not so much my friend.

So (just where am I going with this?), here's my great irony. I love to go fast - as long as I'm on the ground and semi-controlling things. I adore water slides. ATVs are a blast. I drive like a granny to save gas, but speed is good. (OK, I'm still a cautious driver, no matter what. Maybe not so ironic.)

A few months back, I started thinking motorcycles. We have an antique Norton that came to us in pieces (it belonged to hubby's grandfather) and it's being restored to probably better than original. Which led us to realize that we could actually ride it! Hooray!

Which has us making plans to take motorcycle lessons and shopping for helmets, motorcycle jackets and other gear. I'm excited about the class and desperately hoping I like actually driving a bike. Because then, I get to get my own!! Because it's the most important thing, of course, I've been trying to decide on a color. We have a yellow car, a green car and now a red motorcycle. So I'm thinking electric blue. Going to be a blast!!

Spring in NY

Good things about spring in NY:

• It's actually spring. We seem to skip that season in Dallas.
• Tulips everywhere!! My favs.
• You can open windows. Wow.
• No more layers, layers, layers. Cuddle Duds are now packed away.
• No humidity. Nice!!
• No mosquitos! Nice!! (Was concerned because of the river so close.)
• All of which adds up to the fact that I actually go outside. Amazing.

Bad things about spring in NY:

• Too much fresh air - bad. Darned allergies. There's something up here that doesn't like me that we don't have back in Dallas.
• Still have to have layers, layers. You never know what'll be like outside.
• No bluebonnets. Missed them this year. Sigh.
• Serious raining. I actually bought rain boots. (First time I've really experienced the "April showers" from the poem.)

Flight 93 memorial a travesty

So, in an inevitable move, there are plans for a memorial at the site of the Flight 93 crash. And a rush to get it done before the 10th anniversary of the 9-11 plane crash.

Can anyone tell me how the memory of these people is served by taking the land from the owners to build the memorial? It's an irony that the people on Flight 93 died trying to protect others, but the land owners find themselves entirely without protection as the park service makes a land grab.

Would you want to remembered in a way that trampled the rights of others? If we see their struggle to get the plane back as a fight for freedom, how hypocritical is it to take land from people to honor them. And just to be clear, it's taking the land no matter what you pay for it if the owners are forced to sell it.

There's no greater public good served here by taking this land. No necessity met by a change of ownership.

If the people who owned the land wanted to build a memorial, if they approached and said they wanted to donate, even if they approached saying the wanted to sell it because it just didn't seem right to use the land for anything else, that's one thing. But to tell them they have to sell up, no choice about it, nope. Eminent domain run amuck.

At least it's not another case of a developer stealing land with the government's help for a strip mall. Gaaa.

Two tips for Ning

Can I share a secret with you? Something I wish had known a few months ago?

There are a lot of Ning groups out there. I've landed in a few of them. And you can't log in under more than one email at a time. Ugh. So I'm in Triiibes under one, Sales Club under another and a SAMBA group under yet another. This is a nightmare from a logistical standpoint!! I can't easily switch from one group to another. Sigh. Live and learn, right?

Another tip related to Ning. If you ever start a group, do it with a throw-away email and user name. Because if you participate in the group under your admin address, you can never get rid of that group. If someone came along and offered you money to take over the group, the only way to give them control is to delete yourself from the group. So all the work you put into the group, all your participation would be gone. Poof. Unless you're OK with that, don't participate in your Ning group under the same account as the one you set it up under.

Children's bedding options for easy decor

Back when I had my mural business, I loved doing children's bedrooms. Adults are much more willing to be bold and daring in a kid's room where they aren't in other rooms. I did rocket ships, a Winnie-the-Pooh tree, a farm - great stuff.

So of course, I loved putting together my latest line of shops, all around children's bedding. There is just so much cool stuff out there these days. When I was a kid, I remember Holly Hobby and Strawberry Shortcake and that was it.

So I have had a blast pulling together these guys with everything from frogs to ladybugs to Disney princesses to trains. I ended up with 25 of them by the time I got done. And there still plenty of room for more, amazingly enough.

Lenses created for SAMBA

It stands to reason that Seth would have those of us in the SAMBA program busy over at Squidoo. (More pages means more traffic means more page views means more money for Squidoo means more money for charity.)

So we're supposed to be doing a lens a week. Let's just say I'm a bit behind. OK, a lot behind. But ahead of everyone else!! Which is what really matters, right? (Have got to get past the comparing thing.)

Lenses are supposed to cover a concept, book or case study - our choice. A book is the easiest for me, so I've tried hard to choose others, which is part of what's gotten me behind on the assignment. Poo. Not that I don't get concepts, but my standards for what should go into that kind of topic just means I need more than a week to get it done. (Excuses, excuses!!)

Here's what I've completed to date. Definitely different from my general choice of topics. Which is good for me, right? Gives me a more complete diet.

• Books - The Red Rubber Ball at Work, Republic of Tea
• Case Studies - Water is Basic, (eventually John Stossel)
• Concepts - How to Promote Your Book Using Squidoo, Being On Purpose, Brand Position Story

Note the lousy lensranks? Gotta do something about those. Doesn't get me motivated to do more deep content lenses when they don't do well. (Yes, it's my fault. I've also fallen off the promotional train.)

Photo vs. Avatar - the battle continues

I get a bit of grief occasionally from people (including Seth) because I don't use a "real" picture in online profiles. Apparently being a cute cartoon isn't good enough for some people. (Who've never met me. Maybe I am just a cute cartoon?)

And I'm not the only one who gets grief. I've read posts recently over on the Warrior forum and a blog post from another guy dissing those of us who choose something other than a photo for profile pics.

The guy on the Warrior forum was ranting about how he couldn't take someone seriously if they had a cartoon photo. This guy had a shot of himself in what looked like a pit-stained grey t-shirt. Hmm. Was I taking him seriously? Nope.

The blog post guy was going on about how he wouldn't know who you were if trying to connect at a conference. Of course, his profile picture was a shot of himself that only showed him from the eyes up. I could pick him out of a crowd. Right?

Lots of glass-house owners throwing rocks out there these days whether it's about twitter or profile pictures or blogging. I stand by my philosophy of everyone's right as long as they actually have a strategy for what they do rather than just being a sheep. Baaa.

Me? I just like the cartoon. It's a logo for my personal "brand" in a way that a photo can't be. Get over it.

Multiple twitter personalities

If you like to read this blog, but aren't a big RSS person, you can keep up with it via twitter now. I started an account just for the blog and am feeding my posts there - LifeofLewister. The Carnival of Squid is also up and running on twitter - CarnivalOfSquid.

That makes four accounts so far. Thank goodness for twitter desktop clients! I use twhirl.

Three movies I'm keeping my eye on

Way back in the dark ages of 2008, there was this movie that came out called Kung Fu Panda. My lens on that is still one of my top guys and earners. Amazing!

So what'd I learn? Animated movies are great lens topics. And to start early because you need the time to build traffic and fall in and out of Google a few times. So way back at the start of the year, I tracked down my movies to stake out my territory. Landed on UP, which comes out from Pixar in a couple of weeks; Planet 51, from a Spanish company in November; and They Came From Upstairs, a live action flick set for July and starting Ashley Tisdale of High School Musical and Disney fame.

Note that I didn't do one on every kid's movie that's coming out this year. So how'd I pick? (Like I remember that far back!) I believe I was looking for 1) something I would want to watch, 2) powerhouse backing like Pixar and 3) merchandising opportunities.

Key components from my Kung Fu Panda lens that I carried over? (Other than the obvious of the trailer.) Character descriptions, pick your favorite character, screen shots, official sites, videos of reviews and polls, polls, polls. Kids love to vote on stuff!

(The UP movie is another lens that I think will provide great value to readers. It's nigh impossible to search Amazon for "UP" and get relevant stuff. It's been a challenge to collect it all so far.)

Why, yes. I do deliver value

An increasing portion of my Squidoo portfolio is shops and stores. And when I started out with them, I felt just a little … not sleazy, but like I was sacrificing standards and expectations in order to attempt to make money online.

That feeling started to amplify when I learned more about keyword research and started choosing lens topics just to capture a market niche.

I realized recently that while I might not be creating tons of original content in these shops, the kinds of shops I’m creating still deliver real value for my reader. So they should be things I am proud of. (And not just happy because I make money with them.)

For example, one I created on a whim and just for fun is on novelty cycling jerseys. As I was slogging through the 3,700 options on Amazon, I could see that I was providing a service to anyone looking for something other than a standard cycling jersey. Whether you want a heavy metal band shirt, cartoon character, beer, college, stylish, whatever – I did all the work for you. You can come, scroll through my shop and look at 300 shirts that are exactly what you’re looking for rather than scrolling through 3,700 options at Amazon. Not to mention that I pull in shirts from more than one source to give a pretty complete shopping experience.

So, guilt assuaged. I might not be giving you 20 tips on buying a cycling jersey, but I can help you find the absolute coolest ones out there. (Or beautiful vases, butterfly gifts, children’s bedding, iCarly gear.)