In the pink literally : read all about it

Hubby was heading out the door on Saturday October 18th when he shouted back, "Hey, the newspaper's all pink!" Yep, sure enough! And, a mighty nice shade of pink I must admit. That must have been fun for the web press operators early that morning printing the Times-Union.

As a Squidoo Activist, I've created two colorful lenses Cook for the Cure -- Think Pink in Your Kitchen with KitchenAid and KitchenAid Artisan Mixers -- How to Colorize Your Kitchens. Both of these lenses donate their royalties directly to Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation. October is breast cancer awareness month so I'd say these lenses are definitely topical and spot-on.

Searching all of the many Squidoo lenses, would you believe there are some 573 that mention breast cancer while cancer seems more topical with 997 lenses. Shop directly at KitchenAid Online Store: Cook for the Cure!

Tribes Casebook released as companion to Tribes book

Today I downloaded a copy of the official Tribes Casebook that Seth Godin just released. It's a companion piece to his Tribes book which was shipped this week. The Casebook is an interesting read in that it contains case studies by many of the Triiibes members. It's 228 pages long; while the Tribes book is 151 pages. I couldn't help but notice that Ed Welch is quite prolific with many of his case studies being featured. Ed has an interesting blog entitled Tribe Building.

So, what about the collage of Triiibe member photos on the inside of the Tribes book cover? We must have been out of town when Seth blogged about submitting your picture in May 2008 to be included in the collage. Yes, I'm sure of it.

Well, this is the first cover of its kind that I can ever think of that you may want to seriously consider framing it. It'd even make an interesting mouse pad with proceeds benefitting the Acumen Fund!

If you look closely at the middle of the "S" you can find my dear Squidoo colleague and lensmaster ChefKeem! His lenses are some of the MOST amazingly touching and creative that I think I've seen in all of the >740,000 lenses. In addition to his tremendous creativity, he has the kindest soul. It is a pleasure to count him as a friend and colleague.

Learn more about the Tribes book from Seth on Squidoo. Or, better yet, go ahead and buy one for yourself. What are you waiting for?

Hearing more and more about Tribes

On October 7th I received my advance copy of Tribes by Seth Godin. At 151 pages, it is a relatively quick-read -- quick enough that you may want to go back and reread it before you opt to pass the book on to a friend or colleague. By the time you get to page 146, you'll realize that you have not found any checklist follow this type of instructions or the Tribes for Dummies how-to how-tos.

I'm really NOT sure what I expected to find in this little book, but it has got me thinking -- thinking more and more about what it is that matters.

What it is that matters.

You can choose to lead, or not. You can choose to have faith, or not. You can choose to contribute to the tribe, or not.

For me, I had a bit of an epiphany when I reached page 114 -- realizing that in one of my roles, our organization is a bit 'stuck on stupid.' No, my colleagues aren't stupid, don't get me wrong. But our organization works with an industry that is dramatically changing since the advent of digital. Trying to convince a former retiree, now partner, that fax-blasting may be a practice out of the past and not the best form of communication can be challenging indeed.

Tribes, the book has shipped this week from Amazon. As is usual with Seth's new-to-be-released books, the buzz has already generated a huge interest. Searching on Squidoo for 'tribe' produces some 386 lenses. Tribes yields 419 lenses while triiibes yields only 7 lenses for now. If you'd like to hear more about the buzz on Triiibes on Twitter, you can search on #triiibe.

On August 2nd, I joined Tribes, the community. As of this writing is up to 3,650 by-invitation-only members and will soon be open to the public.

Have you faced your Manga yet

Have you found that cool site that you can custom build your own avatar from a template of cool facial features and accessories? Thanks to a fellow lensmaster, SusanVillasLewis, who turned me on to this site, Face Your Manga. This site has been around for a while, boasting well over one million avatars currently online. It's language-friendly, showing five different countries' flags although it appears only two languages are available. Not to worry; English is one of them!

Well, I was impressed by Susan's avatar as it bears a striking resemblance to her persona. Susan is an active blogger, having created a number of blogs that she maintains on a regular basis. She's also a member of the Giant Squid 100 Club with over 130 Squidoo lenses. Her lenses are quite topical, especially a recent one on Sarah Palin that was featured as a lens of the day. What's interesting about this lens is that it was created in March 2008 well before Sarah was a glimmer in Barack Obama's eye!

The word has gotten out around Squidoo about the Face Your Manga website and now many other lensmasters are sporting new cute avatars. Upon a quick glance around, I found some that caught my eye:


This looked like too much fun to me, so I decided to build my own.

I opted for a couple of different looks -- one with those Foster Grant sunglasses and one dressed up.


What are you waiting for? Why not create your own custom avatar at Face Your Manga.

I'm hoping to see more of these avatars for fellow Squidoo lensmasters who haven't yet posted their pictures on their lensmaster profiles.

New module for Squidoo lensmasters - Donations

Hey Squidoo lenmasters? Have you checked out the latest module that is available to you for making your lenses more charity-friendly? It's the donations module. You can easily select in the drop-down menu from a host of wonderful charities. If you have a couple of 'pet' charities, add a second or third donations module to your lens(es).

As many of you know, I have been working with First Coast No More Homeless Pets (FCNMHP) for about one-year. I first began working with them to get all the feral cats in our neighborhood spayed and neutered which was quite a job trying to just trap the 16 or so cats. When I took over the management of the feral cat colony, I had no idea what an active role I would be assuming in #1 managing the cats and #2 getting the word out to other lensmasters and Squidoo readers about FCNMHP.

FCNMHP was featured in June 2008 as the Squidoo charity of the month. In July 2008, I was able to raise a lump sum of $500.00 for FCNMHP from a winning lens in the Superhero Project honoring my grandmother Julia Nagy, My Superhero. Along with that amount, I raised other monies through several of my other lenses along with other lensmasters who earmarked their lenses to support FCNMHP.

Now if this is not your 'pet' charity, there are dozens more from which you can select. Do you know that each month, Squidoo donates well over a thousand dollars to charities? Yes, that is really amazing. So, what are you waiting for? Add that donations module to your lens today.

Huh? What's that? You are NOT a Squidoo lensmaster. Well, hey ... join today. Ah, too late!!!!

It's a Circular Reference : Topicability

It's a Circular Reference : Topicability the Squidoo Lens announcing Topicability the Blog. Ah, the importance of being TOPICAL! I AM inspired by Squidoo -- that's where you can find many a topical lens; that which personifies topicability -- the topical cream that rises to the top.

To know me is to know that I am not only inspired, but also deeply taken with Squidoo. Not only have I personally penned over 325 lenses along with 6 groups on Squidoo, but I've earned the ranks of Giant Squid and Squid Angel. Being a Giant Squid, Squid Angel, and prolific Lensmaster, I have learned first-hand the importance of Topicability particularly in how that translates to lensranking. And, I've also learned that it greatly helps when the powers-that-be at Squidoo award you with the honor of Lens of the Day, LOTD. It means a boost in lensranking!

To further celebrate my infatuation with the goodness of Squidoo, I have launched this here blog, Topicability : The Blog which made its debut on April 8, 2008! In this blog, I'll be featuring Squidoo lenses that I happen upon which are spot-on topical!

Topicability : that which is relevant, of current interest, contemporary, spot-on.

HOW TO ADD YOUR LENS: Oh, want me to check out your Squidoo lenses for topicability to be featured in my Topicability Blog? To submit a lens, please feel free to leave a comment on this topicability blog post!

P.S. I guess you could say that a bit of my inspiration from 'yesterday' is the Oscar Wilde play, The Importance of Being Earnest. Have you seen the movie or read the book yet?

The Launch of Topicability : The Blog

I have been a blogger -- JaguarJulie Ann Brady -- for more than a few years on Google. As a Squidoo lensmaster, I wanted to launch another blog that would concentrate on the relevance of Squidoo Lenses. I came up with a name; i.e. Topicability. I thought it was pretty original, and only found a few examples of that word/name in a Google search.

Topicability : that which is relevant, of current interest, contemporary, spot-on.

Use in print : The publication of two completely independent books to the same problem underlines the worldwide topicability. Knowledge Miner. On the Relation of Data Mining and Knowledge Mining. Comments on "Self-Organising Data Mining" by Prof. J.-A. Mueller and F. Lemke. By Prof. A.G. Ivakhnenko, Corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukraine, Kiev.

I value "scopability" of association higher then its "topicability". Especially because "topicability" can be easily solved. --Nikita Ogievetsky.

Just a general remark: There is a sister list called "pd-ot" wheresuch things are always welcome regardless of on- or off-topicability. --Frank Barknecht.

Maybe Martha Stewart is just on the same wave length as me? Or, better yet ... she and her staff have recognized the topicability of Squidoo lenses? Hey, Monkeybrain, is topicability a word?