South Florida has warmed up nicely, thankfully, and it’s back to being a very pleasant time of year again.  It’s nice and cool at night, not cold, and during the day the temperatures are rising to the mid 70’s with plenty of sunshine and a light breeze.  No need to put the air conditioning on, open the windows to let the fresh air in, it’s practically perfect.

The weekend was fairly uneventful, with my seeing my daughters on Sunday morning for breakfast and to take them to the park, but most of the rest of the weekend I sat in and tried to work on updating lenses on Squidoo and catching up with correspondence.  

I didn’t create any new lenses this week, however I finally got around to completing my final Song Lyrics lens, YMCA by The Village People.   I created this in July 2008 but never had time to complete it, and although it had a number of blank modules, the song has done well with the search engines and I get enough traffic so that without any promotion it’s actually the best performing of my Song Lyrics lenses.  Well now I have finished it, and think I did a pretty good job, but what is the probability that Google now drops it’s position so the traffic disappears?    As well as completing the lens, I added it to more groups, lensrolled it, Stumbled it, Tagfooted it too, so you would think things would improve…   Got any lenses related to the 70’s or Party Songs?  I would be happy to add them as Featured Lenses here.   One thing I was disappointed in, is that I had wanted to add a Featured Lens Module to highlight other lenses about Greenwich Village in New York or artists that had come from there.  Could I really find anything?  Nope!  A few lenses that mentioned it, and a few really awful lenses that I didn’t feel happy with linking to.  Maybe something good will come along in the future.

Debbie and I have also been busy working on our blog (see below), and the traffic is increasing nicely, with lots of our friends from Squidoo and Tagfoot visiting.  We haven’t added many postings to the blog in the last week, but I have lots of ideas for posts and pages – just need the time to focus on them.   

One thing I have been thinking about is Google Adsense.  Sometimes a click is worth only 1 cent or fewer than 10 cents, but at other times it can be worth a dollar or even more.   I need to do some research on the keywords that pay best on Adsense, and to try to steer some postings towards those topics, hoping to target visitors who will click on the more profitable ads.   This way we might be able to go from one to five dollars a day to fifty to one hundred dollars a day.   Here’s hoping I can find the secret sometime soon and put some new ideas to work.

HAVE YOU SEEN OUR NEW BLOG

Debbie (better know to some of you as Debnet) have a new blog, and we both invite you to join in the conversations there and to see what we are up to.   We plan to cover just about anything, from what each of us is doing while we are stuck 4,500 miles apart, to news, updates and information on trendy new items or web sites / software that we like.  So please if you have time drop in to see us at Off The Record.  Be sure to leave us a comment to let us know you were there. 

My SQUIDOO LENSES

My lens status as of today is as below:

LENS STATUS

Top 100: 0
Top 2,000: 4
Top 10,000: 9
Lenses: 74

NEW LENSES

The Best Breakfast Food
The Daily Joke January 2009

MY TOP 5 LENSES

1. The Best Breakfast Food
2. My Pet Peeves
3. Bournemouth
4. Zecharia Sitchin
5. The Daily Joke – February 2008

LENSES IN NEED OF LOVE – I AM LONELY – PLEASE VISIT ME

• Song Lyrics – The Jam Town Called Malice
• Song Lyrics – Squeeze – Up The Junction
• Song Lyrics – Madness – My Girl

It’s freezing cold here in South Florida today.  Well freezing is a relative term I know.  Put it this way, the temperature when I came to work this morning was 39 degrees.  If it was in the 40’s I could have just come to work in a short sleeved shirt as usual, but since it dipped into the 30’s, I decided to put a sweater on, mostly because of the cold wind.  

It was so funny sitting in traffic, watching people smoking like crazy as they often do on the way to work, cars all fogged up because they didn’t want to have to open their windows, and then some people wearing thick winter coats with hoods pulled up over their heads, trying to drive with just eyes and nose peeking out.  I mean it was barely below 40 degrees, not Minnesota or Canada.

It’s been an odd week really so far.   Last week was tough, with it being the second full week since I returned from England, but having Monday off for Martin Luther King day, and then spending time yesterday watching the inaugaration of President Obama, it just seemed different.   Maybe in some ways it’s a relief because I was dreading something happening during the ceremony, but all went ok and the man gave a fine speech.  I really hope he will prove to be a great president, one who not only cares about the USA as a nation, but about the people, and also the world that we live in.  From his stirring speech he certainly has dreams of making big changes, and I truly hope that he can succeed.

While on the subject of the President, I saw this morning that the WHITEHOUSE.GOV web site has been redesigned.  Gone is the stuffy old fashioned web site, and in has come a sweet looking new blog, with the first of many great articles to come.  Yes there certainly is a fresh feeling in The White House already.

As for the weekend, I took my daughters out to the park twice, and to the beach (just to the boardwalk of course as it was cold), and we had a great time together. 

I also managed to create two new lenses on Squidoo.   The first I created on Friday night, having had a thought while reading about the new Twitterstorm lens format.  So I put together a lens about The Best Breakfast Food and so far it’s done really well, soaring into the Top 1,000 in a matter of days.  makes a change for me.

Secondly I thought it was about time to start putting together The Daily Joke for January 2009.  This is the twelfth monthly Daily Joke lens that I have created, and the first in a few months that has had jokes and not funny pictures.   It’s hard to find really good jokes that I haven’t used before, but having had a break I am finding some, and with the gap since the last one I created I hope to be able to use some of my newly learned lensmaster skills to make it look better.

Both Debbie and I have also been busy working on our blog (see below), and the traffic is increasing nicely, with lots of our friends from Squidoo and Tagfoot visiting.

HAVE YOU SEEN OUR NEW BLOG

Debbie (better know to some of you as Debnet) have a new blog, and we both invite you to join in the conversations there and to see what we are up to.   We plan to cover just about anything, from what each of us is doing while we are stuck 4,500 miles apart, to news, updates and information on trendy new items or web sites / software that we like.  So please if you have time drop in to see us at Off The Record.  Be sure to leave us a comment to let us know you were there. 

My SQUIDOO LENSES

My lens status as of today is as below:

LENS STATUS

Top 100: 0
Top 2,000: 4
Top 10,000: 7
Lenses: 74

NEW LENSES

The Best Breakfast Food
The Daily Joke January 2009

MY TOP 5 LENSES

1. The Best Breakfast Food
2. My Pet Peeves
3. Bournemouth
4. Zecharia Sitchin
5. The Daily Joke – February 2008

LENSES IN NEED OF LOVE – I AM LONELY – PLEASE VISIT ME

• Song Lyrics – Dire Straits – Money For Nothing
• Song Lyrics – Donna Summer – Bad Girls
• Song Lyrics – The Police – Walking On The Moon

MY SQUIDOO ANNIVERSARY

Today (15th January) is the first
anniversary of my joining Squidoo. 

It seems amazing that it’s been a whole year since I created my first lens, Religious Jokes, and many more lenses have followed since then, my first still performing well, but right now none of my lenses are in the Top 2,000, although traffic is still good.  

July 2008 saw my recognition as a Giant Squid, and my catalog of 50 lenses at the time was complemented by a number of Song Lyric lenses, which is deemed to be a cookie-cutter format lens and not enough original content, but I like to think that the format I created for my Song Lyric lenses is a little different to those that some lensmasters put together.  They might not always perform too well, since there is a lot of competition for this topic, but I think they look good nevertheless.

One year on from joining Squidoo, what are my plans?

Well, I would like to join the Giant Squid 100 Club by having 100 quality lenses, but having only 70 so far and 25 of them Song Lyric lenses, this is not a priority of mine.  I don’t have the time to devote all my energy to creating lenses right now, so the best I can manage is 1 or 2 lenses a month.

My main plans with Squidoo this year are to firstly keep up with my goal of creating a Daily Jokes lens for each month, the first of these being February 2008, so another anniversary is coming up once I get the January 2009 lens completed.  My second goal is to try to create some lenses that earn money, rather than just getting traffic to my lenses.  My third and final goal is to complete the lenses on my home area in England.  The only one that is complete so far is Bournemouth, and although this won the much coveted Lens Of The Day award and is still one of my top lenses, the effort and research it took to create such a lens is hard to repeat.   I do have a number of other shell lenses for my home area, and really look forward to seeing these all complete and with plenty of visitors.  It is after all a beautiful and unique part of England and indeed the world.  Actually I do have a fourth goal, and that is to complete the biography part of my lensography.  I have covered the period from my birth up to 1988, but from there it will need to get really detailed, and I may have to split it into two lenses – or more…  I really would like to do this though, and also add many photographs from along the way.  I still think it makes a fascinating read if you would like to learn more about me.

THE NEW BLOG IS COMING ALONG

The new blog that Debnet and I are working on together is coming along really well right now.

We are managing to create posts on a number of various areas, and although the blog is only 2 weeks old, we are getting about 100 visitors a day, which is a good start I think.   I am hoping to get more like 1,000 visitors a day soon, but obviously it takes time for the readership to grow, and for the content to mature.   I do have plans for new pages on the blog, to cover seasonal product promotions, and also a list of other blogs, including Squidoo related blogs and blogs by Squidoo lensmasters.

Anyhow, if you haven’t seen our blog yet, or if you haven’t paid a visit lately, please find time to drop by, and if you like it, please feel free to leaveus a comment.   You can also subscribe to our posts. 

My SQUIDOO LENSES

My lens status as of today is as below:

LENS STATUS

Top 100: 0
Top 2,000: 0
Top 10,000: 9
Lenses: 73

NEW LENSES

The Daily Joke December 2008

MY TOP 5 LENSES

Zecharia Sitchin
Bournemouth
My Pet Peeves
The Lion Of Judah
The Daily Joke December 2008

LENSES IN NEED OF LOVE – I AM LONELY – PLEASE VISIT ME

Song Lyrics – Madness – Baggy Trousers 
Song Lyrics – Madness – Our House
Super Heroes Gone Wrong

FROM ONE COLD TO ANOTHER

I managed to escape catching a cold before I went to England for Christmas, dodged catching one while I was there, but lo and behold as soon as I get back to Florida, here we go – aah-choo!

You can read all about my pain and suffering on the latest post from Off The Record.  Please drop by and let me know you were here - comments always make me feel better

COME VISIT OUR NEW BLOG

I spent a lot of time over the Christmas break putting together a new blog for Debbie and I, and intend to use The Poddyland News here mostly for updates on our Squidoo lenses, however we will be covering a whole boatload of other topics on the new blog, and I hope you will come visit us.

OFF THE RECORD WITH DEBBIE AND TONY

My Squidoo Lenses

My lens status as of today is as below:

LENS STATUS

Top 100: 0
Top 2,000: 2
Top 10,000: 5
Lenses: 73

NEW LENSES

The Daily Joke December 2008

MY TOP 5 LENSES

The Daily Joke December 2008
Bournemouth
My Pet Peeves
My Claim To Fame
Religious Jokes

LENSES IN NEED OF LOVE – I AM LONELY – PLEASE VISIT ME

Song Lyrics – Dire Straits – Sultans Of Swing
Song Lyrics – Rod Stewart – Maggie May
Song Lyrics – Peter Gabriel – Sledgehammer

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY

Debbie and I hope that 2009 will be a good year for you all.
We wish you Good Health, Wealth, and that
all your dreams for the future come true.

We Have A New Announcement

After months of not finding enough time to put our own web site and blog together, the last few days I spent time researching new Wordpress Themes and finally found one that I liked.  A number of hours went into designing and configuring a blog for Debbie and I, but finally we are ready to announce it to the world, which is especially nice with it being New Years Day as well.

So please give a big welcome to one of the first new blogs of 2009 – Off The Record With Debbie & Tony

The Latest News

It seems like my two week trip to England has just flown past.   I only just arrived, and all too soon Sunday will be here and I will be headed back to the warmth of Florida, but 4,500 miles away from my true love.

Since it has been more than 8 weeks since she visited the US Embassy in London to apply for a visa and still hasn’t got a response, Debbie called them this week.  Originally she was told that they would let her know within two weeks.  Then she found out online that the waiting period is six to eight weeks.  On calling she was rudely told that if you were previously denied a visa that it could be between twelve to sixteen weeks!  This means that we can’t book flights for Debbie to come over to me in February for half-term (school holidays in the UK), and we still can’t be sure of when we will see each other again.  If she does get denied a visa this time, then we might have to wait until I can come over to England again, which could be July, which is not a pleasant thought.   So we are keeping our fingers crossed and hoping things will come right over visas for a change.   Either 2009 will be the year that things start to go right for us, or it will be a really difficult year.

Christmas here in the UK was wonderful, and my first since 1993.  If was spent fairly quietly, and started off mild, but the last week it’s been freezing outside, so we haven’t been able to take walks like we had hoped.

Last night, New Years Eve, we just sat in and watched television, while working on the laptops.  I have to admit that the fireworks display they put on in London was the best I have ever seen.  It just went on and on for a full 15 minutes, and was amazing to watch.  These displays are never anywhere as good on tv, so to be there it must have been stunning to see – but cold…..

I am going to sign off now as it’s time to grab some breakfast (coming up to midday already) and we have planned to give the car a wash as a New Years treat.

My Squidoo Lenses

My lens status as of today is as below:

LENS STATUS
Top 100: 0
Top 2,000: 1
Top 10,000: 9
Lenses: 73

NEW LENSES
The Daily Joke December 2008

MY TOP 5 LENSES

The Daily Joke December 2008
My Pet Peeves
My Claim To Fame
Song Lyrics – Dire Straits – Brothers In Arms
Bournemouth

LENSES IN NEED OF LOVE – I AM LONELY – PLEASE VISIT ME
Premiata Forneria Marconi
Song Lyrics – Madness – My Girl
Song Lyrics – Peter Gabriel – Spedgehammer