Tag Archives: Grouse Grind

A New Challenge: Squidoo

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So I was browsing LinkedIn Q&A’s and came across a recommendation for a site called squidoo. Well, there was no way I could see a word like that with a hyperlink and not get sucked in. Here’s what I found:

The idea behind squidoo is that everyone can be an expert on something, so anyone can build a page, or “lens”, about it using their own knowledge, web-based sources, rss feeds, content from Amazon, Flickr or YouTube. The first lens I saw was by a woman who I found on Twitter – mynameiskate – who built one on cool laptop bags. I kid you not, it’s an entire page on some really cool laptop bags! Oh the irony. Anyway, the point of this is awareness. The more a piece of content is referenced on the web, the more likely it is to be popular, the higher the search ranking. Here is the description of a squidoo lens, as posted on the squidoo site:
  • An insanely easy-to-build, single page online.
  • Your signpost about something that matters to you.
  • A place to recommend your favorite stuff.
  • A popular way to get found more on the web.
  • A free (yes, free) way to earn a royalty. For you or for charity.
  • Word of mouth at your fingertips.
  • Squiddylicious.
  • Something you should have if you care about getting the word out, about selling something, about changing minds, about sharing info, or if you just love to create, express yourself, and play.
About that royalty… the revenue from the Google content ads on the squidoo lenses get paid out however the author of the lens chooses: they will pay to the general squidoo charity kitty, to the charity of choice of the author, or directly to the author in cash. Brilliant idea for generating a user-base.
So anyway, I got to thinking, what do I know about? Well, interestingly enough I know all about the Grouse Grind and am, in fact, mandated to spread the word about it. So why not build a Grouse Grind squidoo lens and see if it does anything for search engine ranking and increased visitation to the Grouse Mountain website. You really have to check it out to understand it. It basically just amalgamates a bunch of information from wherever you find it in one place. I do think this particular page now has to be the most informative single web page about the Grouse Grind anywhere on the internet.

If it makes any money I’ll consider it commission ;)

First Grouse Grind in 3 Years

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Well today was the day. I haven’t done the Grouse Grind since before I got pregnant with mini-man, nearly 3 years ago. Life is different than it was back then, and I’m in WAY worse shape lol. Now that the grind is open for the season, I figured I might as well try and work this in to my regular life.

I’ve decided to try and do the grind once a week for the summer. That would make my complete exercise regimen one Grouse Grind, one 90 minute hot yoga class and two kickboxing classes each week. I never was a big fan of going to the gym with all the other gym rats, so I have to keep things fun.

Anyway, I started out at 12:10pm today – had to take advantage of nap time in order to fit it in. It wasn’t as bad as I’d thought it would be, despite people looking at me oddly given I kept stopping to take photos. I realized that I didn’t have much in the way of Grouse Grind photos to use in my work, so I might as well take some. Who knows if they’re any good. Posting them here will be the first glimpse I get of them.

Here’s the view from about half way up:

So I’ll shamefully admit my time was roughly one hour and 16 minutes. It’s a far cry from my pre-motherhood days of 53 minutes, which I’d thought was still relatively slow. And there was this guy who was much like a gazelle who kept bounding up around me and then waiting for his friends… I’d pass him while he waited and then again he’d spring up and past me taking what seemed like 3m leaps. Crazy. I’m not built like that, and I never will be, but that’s okay.

Here’s hoping this Mother Nature’s Stairmaster can whip my booty into shape this year.