What the heck am I talking about?

Hello people! Have you ever had somebody ask you, "what the heck do you write about?" Or have you asked yourself, "What the heck am I talking about?" Well I just asked myself that.

In a creative sense, I've been showcasing on the Topicability Blog the Top 100 Squidoo lensmasters and lenses that are occupying the various topics or categories. You know, you can look at those Top 100 lists day in and day out and think you have an idea of what's there on top, but until you generate a Wordle tag cloud, you just can't really know.  A Wordle tag cloud really does creatively sum it all up. You know what I mean, jelly bean?

So, I turned the artistic Wordle microscope on myself today. You see, I really did have an idea of what my Wordle would say, but then again, after I ran with it, I was surprised!

Well, I had expected to see Jaguar Julie and say Hungarian front and center; however, I do honestly believe the word that is popping out of that Wordle is Art!  Yes indeed.  And, how life does imitate art sometimes or is it art imitating life?

I'd say Love and Christmas are tied for second place followed up by Best and Fashion and Showcase tied for third place.  Hungarian and Julie seem up next and then we have quite a variety of "topicable" words like Jaguar and Cat and Sweet and Designer and so much more.

What's that YOU say?  Stuffed Cabbage?  Yes?  Where do you see that?  I don't see Stuffed Cabbage or Stuffed Cabbage Rolls there, but I did spot Goulash as in Hungarian Goulash ... you know?

Lately, I've been spending more time blogging ... maybe you noticed that? I've divided up my time here on Jaguar Julie :: Blog On and On and over at Topicability. Here is that topicable line-up of  the Top 100 of the various Squidoo Topics as found over at Topicability:

• What POPS with Pop Culture and Celebs?
• Hey People! It's About the People Today!
• Spotlight on Parenting and Kids
• It Is All Local Folks Oh My!
• Computers, Gadgets and Tech Oh My!
• Do It Yourself this Summer

Have you caught my profiling of the top Squidoo lens, for more than a year, on Squidoo du Jour -- The Top Lens? Have you participated yet in my Hey Monkeybrain debate about Squidoo Stats -- Public or Private?

Who grabbed cut and ate the cheese

Say people!  As Saturdays go, this one started off like any Saturday of recent experience.  Hubby is off now going round and round on the golf course with the usual suspects, hitting and chasing that silly white ball over the river and through the woods and into 18 holes.  Gosh, what a lovely sport!  I think I need to take it up and hit a few balls and knock the crap out of some silly balls ... you know what I'm suggesting?

The morning has progressed with a visit to freshen up some puppies, feed the cats, and pop that laundry of hubby's into the washer to see if I can hook up with some fabulous finds, or not. I'm hoping for at least a twenty dollar bill; I'd like fifty, but hubby doesn't usually carry fifties or hundreds, at least NOT since we had a rent-paying tenant who didn't have a checking account, so he liked to pay in cash in a dark alley ... oh, kidding!  He ran out of cash and excuses and has moved on to grace somebody elses' path and door.  Thank you Jesus!

I was sitting here looking at something that I would call a mystery, but it really isn't a mystery ... it is the story of popularity, traffic, the internet, and other people who like that story of popularity and want that traffic too ... thinking the road is paved with gold.  Writing on the platform of Squidoo has been a marvelous experience for over 4 years.  The ideas for more Squidoo lenses literally keep exploding out of the top of my head, but I have paused for a moment to notice a mystery.  And, I put a lid on my head to contain those ideas temporarily.

People are talking about how the power of Squidoo has attracted a lot of attention worldwide.  People are talking about traffic suddenly and mysteriously disappearing from their top topic lenses.  Holy Topicability Index Batman!  That's life, you know!  Have we not seen this happen for years and years?  That people will focus on a cool topic that seems to be a cool topic only to them or to only a few people.  And, then they will love and nurture and develop that topic.  Then, BAM!  One day that topic hits the bigtime. "Why, I want a piece of THAT action!"  Yes, others notice and want in on the action.

On June 3, 2010, I penned a JaguarJulie Blog On post asking "Why all the ads for Stuffed Cabbage?" It was a natural curiosity I had that in the beginning, it was perhaps Martha Stewart and me talking about the virtues and delicious taste of stuffed cabbage rolls. Then, pretty soon ... everybody's talking about delicious stuffed cabbage rolls. Don't you just love the internet, I ask?

So ... BAM! The latest foodsy candidate for all those ads, ads, ads is another gas-producing vegetable, Brussels Sprouts! Oh, I love love love Brussels Sprouts and have written a delicious page to celebrate all those 5-star fabulous recipes for preparing brussels sprouts.  What is most curious, about all this hot air on the internet, is to see a website that I recognize!  First, they loved stuffed cabbage, now they are loving brussels sprouts ... keep your eyes peeled for more from idealhomegarden !!!

Who grabbed cut and ate the cheese I am wondering? This is where I want to show that my thought pattern hit a brain f*rt and started thinking about cheese. You see I dropped by a Squidoo lens that was asking which kind of CHEESE you like on your burgers! Ah, cheese -- I love cheese, but had to start cholesterol-lowering meds so that I could still love my cheese! For me, cheese is such a favorite food, well that is in addition to stuffed cabbage rolls and brussels sprouts oh my!

My favorite cheese is blue cheese ... it can be quite stinky! Oh, I almost forgot, I also love love love limburger cheese ... a shameless plug that stinks, no it's yummy!

Now, here is where this will all make a little sense ... I am attempting to pull this blog post together for you! Who grabbed cut and ate the cheese I am wondering? I picked the fork in the road to venture onto Amazon and search on "Who Moved My Cheese?" as they say it is "An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life."  My first observations made me ask, why is that book not rated as a 5-star book?  It was that curiosity that made me read the reviews.  And, for that I am quite thankful this morning!  You see, I really really really needed a good laugh.  Let me share it ...

Usual cheesey stuff, March 30, 2010 by nr8209
This review is from: Who Moved My Cheese? An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life

This is a typical meaningless self improvement book. We were forced to read it at a previous company. Basically if you think you are so bad you really need help from this book I would give up now and head for the nearest cliff. I much prefer the parody Who Cut The Cheese? - An A-Mazing Parody about Change (and How We Can Get Our Hands on Yours) by Stilton Jarlsberg - a much more satisfying read.

You know it is encouraging to note that Google is always tweaking the algorithm to bring in the most relevant and spot-on search results. I'd like to think that when I am searching on my favorite search engine of Google that they are giving me premium search results. We all are pulled in so many different ways these days. Thank goodness for the fabulous Google. Huh, oh yes there are other search engines out there these days. Hmmm, remember what I said about working on a cool topic, nurturing it, and developing it until it hits the popularity index and then BAM! Others are on the bandwagon? Others are noticing that top traffic cool topic. In February 2008, I penned a fun debate that I think YOU will love. Be sure to express yourself GOOGLE vs. YAHOO -- Which side are you on? Ah, I do love Google you know!

P.S. Ah I am a woman you know! Yep, that is really me in that profile picture -- no mysterious avatar to make you wonder who the heck I am! Oh, and quite incidentally, I am a blonde and blondes do have more fun! Are we having fun yet? Tell ya more later. Thanks for dropping by today. Love ya!

Giving Thanks -- For the Fans Who Have Made a Difference!

This morning I am taking a moment to say "Thank You" to those 271 people that have shown their 'support' for something that means a lot to me. I have one lens in particular that stands out from all the rest of my  Squidoo lenses. This one lens means the most to me because it is because of a person who was a huge influence in my life ... someone who is no longer with us. Holidays with Grandma are a bit empty because grandma* is no longer with us.

Take a look at this fan art mosaic of my Stuffed Cabbage page. I see a lot of friendly faces there. If you are one of those friendly faces, my fellow Squidoo lensmasters, I sincerely thank you from the bottom of my heart for being there! Wow, 271 of my friends! That's not a bad number considering that I see 1,694 total fans on my profile page. And, thank you to the 531 lensmasters who have taken time to add their star to the page! Muchas Gracias and Köszönöm.



What's been very meaningful to me has been the "history" so to speak for this one meaningful lens! On April 16, 2009, this Stuffed Cabbage lens earned a purple star -- it's that special award for lenses with quality content made by Giant Squids. That was my very first purple star. Then, on April 19, 2009, this lens made it into the #1 spot overall on Squidoo; occupying that spot for some 24 days. That has been my only #1 lens, and it has meant the world to me. As Squidoo lensmasters we are rewarded in many meaningful ways. It's really not about the money; it is a form of acknowledgement that will stick with you.

It has been equally cool that there has been Google love for Stuffed Cabbage, much to the almost surprise of my hubby! He just smiles when I tell him all this stuff! Google has given this lens a pagerank of 6; that's pretty good I think. The lens has been getting great traffic too; traffic that should keep it in the overall Top 100; it's been there for over a year -- 465 days. Hmmm, I think I need to make some Stuffed Cabbage this weekend.

So, thank you those of you who have been a part of this remarkable, meaningful journey! I will never forget this.

*P.S. No, my grandma did not get run over by a reindeer. ;)

Ah fresh air - Perfect weather for chili

I moved South from Ohio quite a few years ago and sure do enjoy not having to shovel snow. Because the weather is warm in Northeastern Florida until the end of October, it makes us hunger for my award-winning chili recipe. This is one recipe that my grandma really didn't teach me. Racking my childhood memories, I really don't remember grandma making spicy chili ... Stuffed cabbage rolls, yes; chili, no.

Traffic to my award-winning chili recipe started increasing in mid-September and has steadily been rising through the end of October. Recently, one day's traffic nearly hit 400 unique visitors and has been averaging well over 325 visitors daily. Surprisingly, the up-tick in visitors hasn't translated to rising lensrank as the lens has been declining for some mysterious reason. The highest lensrank achieved was #28 overall with a reported 26 days in the overall top 100. What's the reason for the high traffic? It is thanks to Google! This lens has been ranking as the #1 position in the Google search with a number of keyword phrases.

So, what makes my award-winning chili recipe so special? I give away the secret ingredient on my page. I also spell out in black and white how to make this tasty chili recipe. It is a meatier consistency. We like to use a special kind of chili beans too and usually opt for the spicy ones. I also give you an idea of the cost to make this chili. My last recipe was geared up to feed the office staff of a dozen. The good thing about chili is that it won't go to waste. Simply freeze a portion of your chili batch for a quick fixer upper meal.

Why not drop by and participate in the award-winning chili debate about secret ingredients. Register your vote for how hot you like your chili. And, be sure to drop me a comment in the chili guestbook. Check out my recipe and let me know how you like it.