Meet lensmaster xtnshun, my 1st interview in announcing the Giant Squids of 07-2008! Make sure to click any of the links to learn more about this really honest fellow!

Why do you write on Squidoo?

Apart from being a little addicted I now Do the Squidoo for interest.  Yes, I can make money and in the long run I hope it will be significant, but I (now) use Squidoo to find out things about people and subjects I don’t know about. I know you’re supposed to write about something you are interested in, and I’ve done that, but I’ve had the most satisfaction from things like learning about Marlee Matlin and how she doesn’t let her deafness stop her, or working out the scoring system on Dancing with the Stars (still working on that one!)

If you had to choose your top three lenses what would they be? How bout 50words or less as to why?

Jokes My Daughter Finds Funny - This really is a list of jokes my 12 year old daughter likes.  She has stopped sending them to me at the moment (it’s now boring) but I’m sure she’ll start again.  I’m actually glad they are relatively innocent!

Dancing with the Stars - This was the first lens I really applied myself to and it really enhanced the enjoyment of watching the show.  I did 12 SquidWho lenses on the contestants and learned things about them that are really interesting.  I had a spotty teenager girl accuse me of being “gay” because a 40-something man wrote a page about Sabrina Bryan.  We became friends though.  I also found it fascinating that I got 1200 hits on one day wanting to know if Helio Castroneves was married!

The Backyardigans - I started this because I got frustrated finding out which episode was on what DVD.  I actually enjoy the show and it grew into a resource for people wanting to find out about the Backyardigans.  I’m particularly proud of the little pen pictures of each of the characters.

It looks like you have great ideas about gift giving. Give us some thoughts about how you got started.

I found Squidoo through an article on how to get backlinks to your website.  I actually found it confusing and simply had a lens with mainly links to my gift site and articles I had written. I now have a full time job (darn it) so haven’t been able to keep up with the gift side, but I plan to return to it, plus it always perks up nicely at Christmas.

You have over 50 lenses on Squidoo and several blogs…how do you keep track of all your projects?

Badly.  I’m not the most organized person.  What I do is monitor the blogs and sites through my iPod Touch - you can’t do lots of writing on it, but you can start lenses pretty easily and tweak tags and title just fine. Some of my blogs have fallen behind because of work, and some were actually experiments (normally failed ones!).

Besides Squidoo, where else can we find you on the web?

I am xtnshun everywhere you go.  If people follow me then I look at their profile and usually follow back.  It’s sometimes quite hard to give those sites the attention they deserve.

Any finishing thoughts about making Giant Squid, being a lensmaster, blogging, family life, etc?

I make a lot of crap lenses.  If I see something interesting, I produce a basic lens with the full intent of returning to it when I have time to make it better.  I am slowly achieving that but don’t be surprised if there is a bare-bones lens near the bottom of my list!  On that subject, I’m actually anti-anti-spam.  I think a lot of spam is actually people who aren’t very good at it, and they need help and encouragement.  However if they are ramming something down our throat, are cheating, then they are fair game to get whacked! Squidoo can be a very frustrating place, but it’s a wonderful tool and the people are really nice as well as being pretty darn good when it comes to building pages. I’m proud to be a Giant Squid and will try to live utp to the standard that has been set by the other Giants.

**Please see We Are Giants for more information**

I am feeling very overwhelmed and unfocused! I’m not whining, just stating a fact. Here are my thoughts, asking for your help and feedback.

• Set the focus for my SquidTop Blog; make fan appreciation posts or ???
• Work on my new blog, Hearts and Hands; thought I’d make it about random things happening in our lives with links back to relevant Squidoo lenses.
• Have our website be a landing spot to highlight our businesses, where to find us on the Internet, etc.; If you have a website, what do you use it for?
• Work on lens updates; any thoughts on a good schedule for this? Remember reading a tip somewhere that it is good to update on or around the 23rd of each month…is that true?

I look forward to having you share your thoughts.

Chef Keem posted a ’shout out’ to lensmasters at SquidU! Please read it, participate, share your ideas, build a lens about helping others!  This is what Squidoo is all about, right?

Get this graphic

Stuart pozin’

This is the no-fun part of owning a goat….when they get sick and you cannot quite figure out what is wrong. Someone told me just recently that if you get a goat through their first year you’ve done good. With our attachment to Stuart, I feel sad even imagining that he would pass away. Head on over to Stuart and Wally’s lens, leave your good thoughts and advice…we would really appreciate it.

My lens on…

Jesus Christ Superstar!

Please make sure to watch these two videos…Angst of Love and the 2007 Farewell Tour of the Play! I think you will be looking to see a rendition coming to your area or ordering the DVD.  Personally moves me each and every time I watch it!

Make a difference today!

-clouda9

What a great cast of characters I am amongst for this picking of the Giant Squid! Cannot wait to find my way around to enjoy all the benefits!

Please visit my lenses and leave a message on your favorite…I’d be honored to hear from you. Curious who made it? Click here!

So it is onward and upward we go!