Holy Purple Cow Stars Take 2

Good Day Purple Star Fans and welcome to Holy Purple Cow Stars Take 2.  Today is the six-week update on the purple star award tally on Squidoo.  Whew, what a lot of work it is nominating, reviewing and rewarding these purple star awards!  Yes it is.

Out first and last report on the purple stars awarded to Squidoo lenses was on June 5th which detailed the 1,267 purple stars which had been awarded thus far.  Today's reporting of the breakdown on the Squidoo lensmasters with purple stars reveals there have been 1,350 ... that's not quite 100 additional purple stars.

If you recall, our previous leader was Editor Dave with 18 purple stars. We show Editor Dave has gained another purple star to hold on to that purple star lead with 19! Kim Giancaterino holds on, again, to second place with 17 purple stars. We have two Squidoo lensmasters holding on to third place with 15 purple stars; kiwisoutback and Treasures-By-Brenda.

Here is the official purple star award line-up, showing number of purple stars awarded and listing the respective Squidoo lensmasters alphabetically!

• 19 -- Editor Dave
• 17 -- KimGiancaterino
• 15 -- kiwisoutback, Treasures-By-Brenda
• 14 -- BigGirlBlue, drifter0658, janices7, Sylvestermouse
• 13 -- Enslavedbyfaeries, kab, OhMe, stargazer00, tandemonimom
• 11 -- aj2008, Evelyn_Saenz, Greekgeek, Heather426, JaguarJulie, skiesgreen, susannaduffy, WindyWinters
• 10 -- chefkeem, Comfortdoc, Pastiche, quippingqueen, Ramkitten, Susan52, The_Party_Animal

• 9 -- 24websurf, bethd821, boshemia, Christene, clouda9, ElizabethJeanAllen, Joan4, Spook, Stazjia
• 8 -- kimmanleyort, LindaJM, mbgphoto, monarch13, NanLT, naturegirl7, Norma_Budden, paperfacets, pkmcr, Pukeko, sandyspider, ThomasC
• 7 -- _Joan_, BevsPaper, ChapelHillFiddler, lakeerieartists, lisadh, makingamark, MeltedRachel, Mickie_G, mysticmama, vallain, WhiteOak50
• 6 - a_willow, AndyPo, Barkely, CDT, ClassyGals, Crystal_Booth, Frankster, hlkljgk, Jimmie, jptanabe, KathyMcGraw, LoKackl, luvmyludwig, MiaBellezza, mukunda22, spirituality, thefluffanutta, theraggededge

• 5 -- arncyn, badmsm, dc64, EverythingMouse, GrowWear, j_barnhart4, Janet21, Jewelsofawe, JoyfulPamela, Kate-Phizackerley, Ladymermaid, mulberry, Noadi, partybuzz, SemperFidelis, Sojourn, TheGreenerMe, Tipi, tirial, triathlontraining, WhitePineLane
• 4 -- ArtByLinda, AslanBooks, BarbRad, BFuniv.com, Chadrew, CleanerLife, daria369, gmarlett, Gordon_Hamilton, GroovyFinds, GypsyPirate, HorseAndPony, inkserotica, jkvkdailey, Laniann, LeanneChesser, LizMac60, lou16, mbrownauthor, missbat, Octavias0fferings, Peggy707, poddys, prosperity66, relache, Rob_W, Romaxx, ronpass, seashell2, SoyCandleLover-Maker, Squidster, strayspay, SusanVillasLewis, Victoria_Neely, WebSpinstress, WordCustard
• 3 -- andreaberrios, bdkz, boutiqueshops, Bradshaw, CherylK, CreativeArtist, dagsmith, daybreak, DMedley, draik, EelKat, Ener-G, flowergardener, Flynn_the_Cat, GonnaFly, GramaBarb, happynutritionist, jbdkz, JohannTheDog, Laddoo, LotusPetalYoga, Mac33, Macs, Marelisa, Margo_Arrowsmith, Michey, MissMerFaery, N376, NAIZA, ottoblotto, poutine, rms, smange, voodoomama, Wysiwigs

• 2 -- AddaptAbilities, AllThingsMichigan, anthropos, athomemomblog, awelldressedbullet, azpoppy, blondeheroine, Brookelorren, Caseyfern, CCGAL, charlino, Christopher_Scott, crosscreations, CrypticFragments, DessertLover, Dkprincess6, eclecticeducation, ElleDeeEsse, EternalFlame, Euryale, fefe, flighty02, flowski, Freaknoodles, genglo, gkygrl, hmsweaver, Irenemaria, jeffryv, JJNW, johndilbeck, JustBon-Crochet-Designs, Karendelac, katiyana, Kylyssa, LakeMom, LauraSchofield, lisakleinweber, Loyalis, Margaret_Schaut, michaelgibbons, MikeMoore, mosaic, NancyOram, NicoleRoberts, nightcats, nyfamily5, Pantherart, papawu, Photahsiamirabel, Pixelrage, puzzlemaker, Rajays, RichLeigh, rockycha, sandralynnsparks, Shar, SimeyC, squidoohelp, sukkran, The_Homeopath, thesuccess, Tiddledeewinks, TrinaSonnenberg, unique_freak77, vanidiana, vbright105, Webcodes, whitemoss, ZachG

• 1 -- 4U2C, AdrienneJenkins, aidenw, Aldric_Chang, AlishaV, allthatiscute, alteredkat, amandaquerque, AtHomeSource, babygirlboutique, Barrie, bcarter, bechand, beeobrien, bernadette1, Bob_Druwing, boredofeducation, BrandyT, burgessvillian, Bus_Stop_Toy_Shop, ByRoy, Carmel_Aaron, cary_quirkoutcom, Charlyjl, chloecavanaugh, Clairwil, confetta, CosmeticMom, danthemans, daoine, d-artist, Dawn_Mathisen_aka_Candle_Dawn, ddixonart, Diamond_Wizard, Donnette, ebay-grandma, EbizTaxTips, Eclectic_Muse, Ecolicious, emmalarkins, EuroSquid, flipflopnana, gods_grace_notes, grannysage, grayth, groovyoldlady, guardianstar77, GypsyOwl, hollandnumerics, HotbuttonPress, icjackson, imaginemdd, IntuitiveHealer, JanaMurray, JanTUB, Janusz, jeffwend, JenniferAkers, JenOfChicago, JimH, kajohu, KarateKatGraphics, KathrynDarden, kcbaker1, kellywissink, Kelsey-Budden-16, Kharadriisa, KimberlyDawnWells, KNicholls, Kyecerulian, Lady_Gotrocks, lollyj, Lou1842, lwhitelaw, Magicality, Makita, marsha32, MeganCasey, MobyD, motorpurrr, MrLewisSmile, Mrs_R, MsSnow4a, mynameiskate, nDee, nightbear, Not-Pop, ohcaroline, OneFootPutt, oneskms, only1bub, PatinKC, PeopleLive, PJ_Deneen, pmolinero, pyle_mountain, QueSea, ravedid, Rewards4life, RickBasset, RinchenChodron, rksmythe, rlmodranski, RMJ1940, Roving_Band, Samanthie, Sammie, SandraRose, Sarah, seedplanter, seegreen, SeeMyHealthyHairGrow, SherryHolderHunt, ShirlW, shwetashah, sirkeystone, SquidooKimberly, StaciJansma, steveffeo, Superwife, Tallguy2, TeaLady, Teddi14, The_Health_Lady, TheLeftFitz, thrivingmom, Tiffany, TopMovieSoundtracks, Trekkiemelissa, tssfacts, Twmarsh, ulla_hennig, Vacation-In-My-Head, Vladi, Waxing-Lyrical, weavz, webnh, webseitler, WeddingZazzle, Wednesday_Elf, WendyKrick, WhippetTalk, WhitneyWells, WhitU4ever, Winter52, xtnshun

P.S. By the way, have you seen my purple star awarded, Squidoo lens, Jaguar Julie -- Lensography of a WAHWW?  On that lensography, I have a very special Purple Star Award page which details those 11 purple stars that have been awarded on my 645 lenses. And, another VERY special page is the Purple Star Worthy Guide which presents about 25 Squidoo lenses that I feel are worthy of being nominated for a purple star. I'm not nominating my own Squidoo lenses, but I thought it would be kind of fun to let others know just what lenses I consider, of mine, to be purple star award worthy. You know?  Have a purple cow fantastic weekend folks!

Holy Purple Cow Purple Stars

OK ... perhaps I should rephrase the title of "Holy Purple Cow Stars" to actually read something like this:

Holy Cow! Purple Stars!!!  And, that's what I'm talking about.  I used the cow in reverence to our founder, Seth Godin, and I use purple because, gosh darn it, he's written about purple cows and we have purple stars on the Squidoo platform.  Ah, get it?

On January 20, 2010, in an attempt to stimulate thoughtful and constructive conversation on the purple stars and the purple star program, I posted a thread to our SquidU Forum.  Here is a paragraph from that thread:

Wow, I'll bet we have well over a thousand purple stars now! Gosh, remember when we were all chattering about the effect of those purple stars? Well, I am very proud of each and every one of you who have been so awarded a purple star or many purple stars! Wow! What a job that must surely be to evaluate all those purple star nominations to determine whether or not a lens is worthy of a purple star.

Say, speaking of that ... we have Bonnie and Robin [only] reviewing the nominations and awarding those purple stars? Right? Gosh, I'm thinking maybe we could have a Purple Star Review Committee to help out -- you know, we have so many groups and group activities and what not that occupy a lensmaster's time.

Well, my conversation, appeared to me, to get a bit testy although it wasn't meant to have people getting defensive, going on the offensive, and taking sides about whether or not they thought the purple star program was working.  Suffice to say, though, that my thoughtful discussion did seem to lead to some "improvements" and changes! Yes it did.

Many a lensmaster began to trumpet the swell program with purple star topic lenses! And, even those purple star topic lenses garnered purple stars for said lensmaster(s)! Oh yeah. Then, we celebrated the anniversary of the initiation of purple stars with a day to award purple stars to non-giant lenses. Oh yeah! And, as of today, we have now celebrated a couple more special occasions with actual purple star queens handing out purple stars. Oh yeah!  Thanks Susan for the swell job.  I tell you WHAT!  I sure wouldn't want the responsibility of determining which lensmasters' lenses deserved the purple star.

You see, we can nominate our own lenses for a purple star. However, I've always felt a little weird about nominating myself or my work. So, I do believe the very last lens I did nominate for a purple star was in December 2009 for a lens that was really a project lens. I've surely nominated MANY other lensmasters lenses and am happy to say that I do think all my nominations have garnered purple stars for those lensmasters ... and I do think only one of those lensmasters guessed that it was me who did the nomination.  I like to be a bit quiet and humble about those nominations and do get a big smile when they guess it was me.

On the other hand, I do believe out of all my purple stars, I've figured out the ONE lensmaster who has nominated my lenses.  And, I still can't believe it's been only one lensmaster to thank for nominating my lenses for a purple star.  I surely appreciate my friend and fellow lensmaster, Janet, who has reminded me that we should not draw our worth from purple stars ... you know, purple stars don't define the caliber of our work, but it sure can be nice when everyone else is getting them ... you know ... to actually be included too.  ;)

So ... here we are today.  I obviously had too much time on my hands this Saturday as I was multitasking ... doing the laundry, editing my lenses, reading my email, chatting on the forum ... that I was curious after our last celebration of purple stars ... to take the time to do a descending order tally to see WHO is getting those purple stars.  OH, and what a surprise!  Holy Cow! Purple Stars!!!  I did NOT expect to find a guy on top.

It is huge to see a friend and fellow lensmaster, EditorDave at the top of the purple stars tally!  Huge congratulations to EditorDave for garnering eighteen purple stars.  That is truly amazing.  EditorDave has got some of the most enthralling lenses.  I was just remarking, I think yesterday or the day before, about the komodo dragon pictures.  OMG!  Now that is one fella I wouldn't want to encounter in a dark alley ... the dragon!!!

So, to all my interested readers and lensmasters, here is that descending order purple star tally, from most to least, and presenting the lensmasters alphabetically by number of purple stars earned thus far.

CONGRATULATIONS everybody!

• 18 -- EditorDave
• 17 -- KimGiancaterino
• 14 – BigGirlBlue, drifter0658 , kiwisoutback
• 13 – Sylvestermouse, Treasures-By-Brenda
• 12 -- janices7, kab, tandemonimom
• 11 -- aj2008, enslavedbyfaeries, Evelyn_Saenz, Greekgeek, Heather426, OhMe, stargazer00
• 10 – chefkeem, JaguarJulie, Ramkitten, skiesgreen, Susan52, WindyWinters

• 9 -- boshemia, Christene, clouda9, Comfortdoc, ElizabethJeanAllen, Spook, Stazjia, The_Party_Animal
• 8 -- 24websurf, bethd821, j_barnhart4, Joan4, kimmanleyort, LindaJM, mbgphoto, NanLT, naturegirl7, Norma_Budden, Pastiche, pkmcr, susannaduffy, ThomasC
• 7 -- BevsPaper, ChapelHillFiddler, lakeerieartists, makingamark, MeltedRachel, Mickie_G, monarch13, mysticmama, paperfacets, quippingqueen, sandyspider
• 6 -- _Joan_, CDT, ClassyGals, CoolFoto, Crystal_Booth, Frankster, hlkljgk, Jimmie, jptanabe, KathyMcGraw, lisadh, luvmyludwig, MiaBellezza, mukunda22, Pukeko, spirituality, thefluffanutta, WhiteOak50

• 5 -- a_willow, AndyPo, arncyn, badmsm, Barkely, EverythingMouse, GrowWear, Janet21, Kate-Phizackerley, Ladymermaid, LoKackl, mulberry, Noadi, SemperFidelis, Sojourn, TheGreenerMe, theraggededge, Tipi, tirial, WhitePineLane
• 4 -- 0ctavias0fferings, ArtByLinda, AslanBooks, BFuniv.com, CleanerLife, daria369, dc64, gmarlett, Gordon_Hamilton, GroovyFinds, GypsyPirate, HorseAndPony, Jewelsofawe, JoyfulPamela, Laniann, LeanneChesser, LizMac60, lou16, mbrownauthor, missbat, poddys, relache, Rob_W, Romaxx, ronpass, Squidster, strayspay, SusanVillasLewis, triathlontraining, vallain, Victoria_Neely, WebSpinstress, WordCustard
• 3 -- andreaberrios, BarbRad, bdkz, Bradshaw, Chadrew, CherylK, CreativeArtist, daybreak, DMedley, draik, EelKat, Ener-G, flowergardener, happynutritionist, inkserotica, jkvkdailey, JohannTheDog, Mac33, Macs, Margo_Arrowsmith, Michey, N376, NAIZA, ottoblotto, partybuzz, Peggy707, poutine, rms, seashell2, SoyCandleLover-Maker, voodoomama, Wysiwigs

• 2 -- AddaptAbilities, AllThingsMichigan, anthropos, awelldressedbullet, azpoppy, boutiqueshops, Brookelorren, Caseyfern, CCGAL, charlino, crosscreations, CrypticFragments, dagsmith, Dkprincess6, eclecticeducation, EternalFlame, Euryale, flighty02, flowski, Flynn_the_Cat, Freaknoodles, genglo, gkygrl, GonnaFly, GramaBarb, hmsweaver, Irenemaria, jbdkz, jeffryv, JJNW, johndilbeck, JustBon-Crochet-Designs, Karendelac, katiyana, Kylyssa, Laddoo, LakeMom, LauraSchofield, lisakleinweber, LotusPetalYoga, Loyalis, Marelisa, Margaret_Schaut, michaelgibbons, MikeMoore, MissMerFaery, mosaic, NancyOram, nyfamily5, Pantherart, papawu, Pixelrage, prosperity66, Rajays, RichLeigh, rockycha, sandralynnsparks, Shar, SimeyC, smange, squidoohelp, steveffeo, sukkran, The_Homeopath, thesuccess, Tiddledeewinks, TrinaSonnenberg, unique_freak77, vanidiana, vbright105, Webcodes, whitemoss, XP

• 1 -- 4U2C, AdrienneJenkins, aidenw, Aldric_Chang, AlishaV, allthatiscute, alteredkat, amandaquerque, athomemomblog, AtHomeSource, babygirlboutique, Barrie, bcarter, bechand, beeobrien, bernadette1, blondeheroine, Bob_Druwing, boredofeducation, burgessvillian, ByRoy, Carmel_Aaron, cary_quirkoutcom, Charlyjl, chloecavanaugh, Christopher_Scott, Clairwil, confetta, CosmeticMom, daoine, d-artist, Dawn_Mathisen_aka_Candle_Dawn, ddixonart, Diamond_Wizard, Donnette, ebay-grandma, EbizTaxTips, Eclectic_Muse, Ecolicious, ElleDeeEsse, emmalarkins, EuroSquid, fefe, flipflopnana, gods_grace_notes, grannysage, grayth, groovyoldlady, guardianstar77, GypsyOwl, hollandnumerics, HotbuttonPress, icjackson, imaginemdd, IntuitiveHealer, JanaMurray, JanTUB, Janusz, jeffwend, JenniferAkers, JenOfChicago, JimH, kajohu, KarateKatGraphics, KathrynDarden, kcbaker1, kellywissink, Kelsey-Budden-16, Kharadriisa, KimberlyDawnWells, KNicholls, Lady_Gotrocks, lollyj, Lou1842, lwhitelaw, Magicality, marsha32, MeganCasey, MobyD, motorpurrr, MrLewisSmile, Mrs_R, MsSnow4a, mynameiskate, nDee, nightbear, nightcats, Not-Pop, ohcaroline, OneFootPutt, oneskms, only1bub, PatinKC, PeopleLive, Photahsiamirabel, PJ_Deneen, pmolinero, puzzlemaker, pyle_mountain, QueSea, Rewards4life, RickBasset, RinchenChodron, rksmythe, rlmodranski, RMJ1940, Roving_Band, Samanthie, Sammie, SandraRose, Sarah, seedplanter, seegreen, SeeMyHealthyHairGrow, SherryHolderHunt, ShirlW, shwetashah, sirkeystone, SquidooKimberly, StaciJansma, Superwife, Tallguy2, TeaLady, Teddi14, The_Health_Lady, TheLeftFitz, thrivingmom, Tiffany, TopMovieSoundtracks, Trekkiemelissa, tssfacts, Twmarsh, ulla_hennig, Vacation-In-My-Head, Vladi, Waxing-Lyrical, weavz, webnh, webseitler, WeddingZazzle, Wednesday_Elf, WendyKrick, WhippetTalk, WhitneyWells, WhitU4ever, Winter52, xtnshun, ZachG

As of June 5, 2010, the list shows 1,267 purple stars have been awarded in total.  The majority of purple stars have been awarded to lensmasters who are giant squids.  The purple star is awarded to lenses with quality content. There are only a limited number of purple stars handed out on a weekly basis.  Many, many more lenses are deserving of purple stars.  To be awarded a purple star, your lens must be nominated!

The Topicability of the Purple Star

The topicability of the purple star ... in the titles of lenses. Well it was just another Wednesday morning for me until I ventured into the SquidU Forum to find that yikes, my Stuffed Cabbage lens was a hot topic of discussion in that a star symbol had been inserted into the title of the lens after the title of "Stuffed Cabbage."





To help you determine how you would like to weigh in on the debate about showing special characters in lens titles, I have included a snapshot of the Stuffed Cabbage lens with the open shadowed star design that I currently employ on my twitter profile. Thus far, I have heard no comments one way or the other on the appearance of the stars on my twitter profile. So, I can't weigh in with the scientific evidence about that.

However, a few lensmasters have mentioned that browsers other than FireFox do not recognize this special shadowed open star! Hmmm -- must fix that!


OK -- so this snapshot above of my Stuffed Cabbage lens uses a special character star that I believe should image correctly in browsers other than FireFox. It doesn't quite have the impact of the other star and it is definitely not purple -- haven't figured that one out.

Well, the purple stars are being handed out now at a rate of 21 per week -- we will be close to one hundred lenses I think by the end of this week. I've got ONLY one purple star while there are lensmasters with 2 purple stars and quite possibly some of these lensmasters may earn a third purple star in the near future. I'm holding my breathe for a second one although I did NOT nominate any of my lenses this week.

So, what do you think? Like any of these stars in the titles? Actually, thinking about it ... I know I did happen to see a registration mark or a copyright mark on a lens title for a trademarked product. I think those special characters should be allowed to be used!

By the way! You wouldn't believe how many other lensmasters started employing the asterisk in their lenses titles. Good to see so many jumping on the star bandwagon.

Rewarding Content - Unveiling the Purple Star

Rewarding Content - The Unveiling of the Purple Star. The PURPLE ONE has made its appearance at Squidoo! By 'purple one,' I am referring to the purple star that is now being rewarded to Giant Squids for their quality content lenses. These purple stars made their debut on April 16, 2009 -- oh, they had been around for quite some time, but officially just hit a handful of Giant Squid 100 Club lenses.



Above is a screenshot of what that beautiful purple star looks like on a lens -- you can find the purple star next to the gold star under the lensmaster photo in the upper-right hand corner of the page. I love that my Stuffed Cabbage lens was tapped for my first purple star !



For those Giant Squid 100 Club members who have just earned their first purple star you can also see a purple star on their lensmaster profile. Check out mine!

The purple star program has now kicked into high gear! To find out more about what it takes to earn a purple star, be sure to visit this official Purple Star Program Lens lens which explains the program. At the moment it is only available to Giant Squids! So, I'd say that is an incentive to qualify as a Giant Squid!

Update: After my Stuffed Cabbage lens earned the purple star on April 16, 2009, it made it to the #1 spot overall on Squidoo on April 19th. As of May 18, 2009, it spent 24 days in the #1 spot; 6 days in the #2 spot. As of May 18th, it was one of 3 different lenses, each recently earning purple stars, to make it to the #1 spot. The Stuffed Cabbage lens, now HUB, had been experiencing excellent traffic for about 1-1/2 years, before it earned the purple star. It is open to debate whether any lens now occupying the #1 spot could achieve that lensrank without the benefit of the purple star !

Say, you're not yet on Squidoo? Hey, what are you waiting for -- here is your invitation!