I never did make it out tonight. If you read my last post, you know that I signed up for Squidoo earlier in the day (check that post for a more complete description of what Squidoo is). Around 8 PM I got done with my first article, or “lens,” for Squidoo, a tutorial on left and right English in shooting pool. I planned to blog for a few minutes after that, then hit a friend’s party at a condo on South Main, then go to a bar and do some tube top watching.
Instead, it’s 12:15 AM and I’m still sitting here at the computer. When I signed up for Squidoo, I was warned that it is terribly addictive, and it must be, because on a beautiful summer night in Downtown Memphis, I find myself inside my apartment at the laptop. That doesn’t happen very often.
(Hmmm, it just occurred to me, I have 180 beers in the fridge. Hang on, I’m going to pop open an Old Style. *POP* That’s better. Can you believe this is the first beer I’ve had all day?)
So anyway… I decided to start work on my second lens, and for that one I chose a topic I know well… my recommendations for restaurants to visit in Downtown Memphis. It’s divided into four sections:
- Where to go if you only have time for one meal
- Best places to eat dinner
- Barbecue
- Best places that serve breakfast/lunch only
If it’s well received I may go back at a later date and add more sections. I can think of at least two more, burgers and places that deliver. I have a feeling a lot of my Downtown Memphis Information pages may be migrated over to Squidoo sooner or later. They’ll reach a wider audience there, and it will bring more traffic back to my blog too. Plus I get paid for ad revenue on my Squidoo pages… I think I finally see a way to monetize my writing on the Web without subjecting my blog readers to a huge barrage of off-topic advertising. For the past year or so, I’ve had this feeling that my writing and other creative Web ventures would one day pay my way in life… but I never could figure out how that would happen. Now, I think I’m starting to see the light.
12:37 PM: Maybe I’ll go out to a bar now. Or maybe to bed. Or maybe I’ll start work on my third Squidoo lens.