January 28, 2008

They just don’t build them like they used to

I was stood up for a lunch date on Friday. Hard to believe, isn’t it? I mean seriously, would you pass up a date to spend quality time with me? I should think not! The fact remains, though, that I spent forty minutes trying to distinguish myself from the other working gals in the neighborhood, hoping against hope that my date would show. He didn’t and still hasn’t returned the several calls I made to his cell phone trying to find out how we had missed connecting. Ah, I see! Your disbelief isn’t based on the fact that I was stood up. You’re just amazed that old skeet had a date. {{shrug}} It happens. I can assure you (offering the same defense used by all of the other working girls who stand around on street corners in the Waterfront District of old Honolulu) it was strictly business. The man was a prospective client who has the ability to send a lot of work my way, so I’ll forgive his faux pas should he ever get back in touch.

Our plan was to have lunch at Murphy’s Bar and Grill, the place to be seen at lunchtime in downtown Honolulu. Murphy’s is in the Royal Building, which is said to have once been the saloon of choice for a true royal, King Kalakaua. It was constructed in 1890 and has always served the spirit trade, except briefly during prohibition (though rumor has it that the choice goods were available in the basement even during that era.) It’s a lovely example of the architecture of turn-of-the-century Honolulu. These days it’s best known as the favorite watering hole of ardent University of Hawaii Warriors fans.

Across Nuuanu Street is O’Toole’s Irish Pub. It’s in the T.M. Foster Buidling, a similar red brick structure which was built in 1891, a year after The Royal. There’s remarakably sparse information about either building online. I’m a little more familiar with the T.M. Foster building because I inspected it about a decade ago. I’ve lost a lot of brain cells since then. What I recall most about that inspection is my fear as I inched along the steel I-beams that reinforce the attic and support the roof.

Next door to the Foster Building is The Nippu Jiji building. It was originally called “The Irwin Block” when it was built by sugar baron William G. Irwin in 1897. It was purchased by the Nippu Jiji Japanese-language newspaper in 1923. The newspaper’s founding date was 1895, thus 1895-1923 is represented on the building itself. It is built of blocks of volcanic rock and stands as living testament to the stone carvers and masons of days long gone. The high arched windows on the second floor are it’s most striking architectural detail.

Moving along Merchant Street from my starting point, I moved past the long side of the Yokohama Specie Bank Building which was built in 1910 (another source says 1915,) and currently houses a daycare and preschool. The architectural detailing has been well-maintained during the last century, as is best seen from it’s magnificent corner entrance angled toward the intersection of Merchant and Bethel Streets.

Spanning the entire block I had just walked, the old Honolulu Police Station Building has its entrance on Bethel Street, across Merchant from the entrance to The Yokohama Specie Bank Building. It’s a few decades younger than the others, having been erected in 1931.

“Business space” in Honolulu is most often encased in concrete and steel towers behind sheets of reflective glass. For the lucky few, it’s wrapped up in the very history of Old Honolulu. If we’re all very lucky perhaps I’ll be stood up again soon and can share more of these lovely gems with you.

Click any photo to go to my flikr page where you can see each photo in a larger size.

Technorati Tags: architecture, buildings, Honolulu, Hawaii, old Honolulu

January 27, 2008

My Wooden Spoon

I’m really excited about all of the great cooking blogs that have been popping up lately. In the past I’ve gone to some bigtime cooking websites when I needed a recipe or some other bit of culinary knowledge, but blogs give “real people” recipes and advice that is so much more in tune with the way most of us eat and cook. Lori’s My Wooden Spoon has only been around a few months and is already chock-full of great recipes, tips and advice that you can use even if you haven’t been to cooking school. I’ll tell you about some of my recent finds, but first I need to make sure you know about her big contest.

I worked in a commercial kitchen a few decades ago and I’ve been wanting a stand mixer ever since. They’re efficient and incredibly easy to use, but so expensive that I’ve never been able to justify getting one. Hamilton Beach makes one of the best available and Lori is giving one away! Click her graphic above to get to the contest details. The contest ends on January 31st, so you’ve still got time. If I were you, though, I’d go enter today so I won’t forget! This is a fabulous prize that I’m hoping to win for myself, but I promise I won’t begrudge you the win if it works out that way.

One of the features I love at The Wooden Spoon is Lori’s Tuesday Tips. I especially enjoyed the recent roundup of baking tips. I don’t care how experienced you are in the kitchen, you’ll learn something new and interesting from that post. I’ve been making frosting since I was a kid and only just learned (from Lori, of course!) that a pinch of baking soda will help it stay moist and keep it from cracking. I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks! Make sure you check out each of her Tuesday Tips posts. Every one of them will teach you something useful that will make your time in the kitchen a better experience.

My Wooden Spoon also features wonderful recipes, from appetizers to desserts and everything in between. I’m going to be trying her very own Hot Sauce Recipe soon. As a native Texan I know I’m supposed to love salsa, but I just don’t care at all for chunks of tomato and onion in my sauces. Lori’s recipe is blended smooth and gets rave reviews from all of her cowboys, so I’m looking forward to trying it.

My Wooden Spoon is beautifully designed and efficiently organized. Finding just what you want is easy with her “Courses” sidebar links. Recipes broken down by course, of course, but she’s also categorized tips, tools and cookware, so remember to check her site next time you’re ready to shop for something new for the kitchen. Go spend a little time at My Wooden Spoon. You’ll thank me for the best tip I’m offering today!

Technorati Tags: blogs, cooking blogs, cooking tips, recipes

Self Portrait Sunday for January 27, 2008

Today was Table of Contents day. We met at a Chinese restaurant up near UH this time, where we spent an hour or so enjoying tasty food and delectable conversation. We had three new members today. Each brings something interesting to the group, in a laid-back, Hawaii sort of way (none of us are the kind of frenetic mover NYC teems with.) Chocolate desserts are a part of our tradition but not generally a feature at Asian eateries, so we moved a block away to a coffee shop afterwards and spent another hour on lattes, decadent goodies and more conversation. There were several folks reading books at cafe tables, so each of us released a few books into the wild and carried a few home - a good day for TOC and a good day for Bookcrossing. I still need to make journal entries for my new acquistions and release notes for the books I freed, but first I’ll hop over to Digi-Cass to see who else posted a self portrait today. It’s not too late for you to join us. Just post your own self portrait, then add your link to the comments in Cass’s Self Portrait Sunday post. I’d love to see your smiling face there!

Technorati Tags: BookCrossing, meme, photos, self portraits, Table of Contents

Posted by skeet @ 5:22 pm • Photos, Meme • 7 comments  

January 26, 2008

Yay me! Yay me?

I woke up to some good news this morning. Well, kinda, sorta. I’ve been selected to be a guest blogger on the IZEA blog. I’m excited and flattered and, quite frankly, more than a little intimidated. It’s my first paid, professional blogging gig. That’s a good thing. It lends credibility to what I do here and could possibly lead to more offers through other outlets. I’m getting kind of old to be crawling around beneath houses and on attic joists for a living. Today’s announcement brings hope that I may someday be able to hang up my probe and flashlight and rely on something a little less physical than termite inspecting for my income. Sure, it’s still a long stretch from here to there, but at least I have my little pinky toe in the door now.

You’ll notice in the announcement post that Ted has certain expectations. He wants videos from Mr. Fab. Kissing booty is something Fab does very well, so we all know he’ll give Ted exactly what he wants. Ben Spark (Drew) already produces amazing photos every day, so there’s no way he’ll disappoint. I don’t know David Ponce but he’s only required to be “special.” I’ve just taken a look at his blog and I think he can be relied on to come across. Then there’s me. What does our fearless leader expect from yours truely? Apparently nothing much beyond a “unique perspective.” Perspectives are like backsides: everyone has one of their very own. Mahalo Ted. You’ve set the bar right there where I can almost envision myself reaching it. If I find myself lacking inspiration, though, could we go with the picture thing? I do pretty pictures.

Technorati Tags: blogging, Izea, paid blogging

January 25, 2008

AnAmigo - for pets and their people

AnAmigo.com is a new online community for pets and pet lovers. Now, if you know anything about me at all, you know I had to check it out. I found everything for the pet-centric family (like mine!) all in one place. I’m used to Hawaii being under-represented in service directories, but when I entered my zip code and clicked on the service tab at AnAmigo, my vet clinic was the first entry that headed the list. My pet supply shop was on the list, too, as well as a dog trainer that a friend of mine has been looking into. Impressive. The site captured my attention right away, and I hadn’t even gotten to the best parts yet. Each pet can have their own page at AnAmigo to show off their stuff. It took me just a few minutes to create a page for Lance and upload a whole slew of photos.

You can create a family of profiles if you have multiple pets. The profiles are segmented into cat, dog and horse pages, so it’s easy to to find what you’re looking for as you begin to build a community of friends. I’ve already found another beagle fan and will go hunting for other Hawaii pet families next time I visit. People in the family get their own profile pages, too. I made a major goof when I was creating mine. I accidently allowed some personal information to go public and was not able to edit my mistake once I’d found it. I sent off an email to support asking for help. Since it was already past dinnertime on a Friday in Hawaii I didn’t think anyone would be able to help me until Monday. I was surprised and impressed when I got an almost immediate response and my problem was solved in less than half an hour.

Even though the site is fairly new, AnAmigo is already making a name for itself in certain lofty circles. They hosted a launch party during the Sundance Film Festival and hooked up with Paris and Nicky Hilton, Nicky’s boyfriend David Katzenberg, Perez Hilton, Felicity Huffman, Simon Rex and Jack Black. Don’t let the glam crowd intimidate you, though. AnAmigo is a place for all pet lovers. It’s a free service and has much more to offer than I can describe in a single post. Go check it out and create your own family of profiles. Make sure you let me know when you get set up. Lance and I would like to invite you to be our friends!

Technorati Tags: AnAmigo.com, pets, online pet communities

January 24, 2008

Four Foods on Friday #14

It’s time to play with our food again! Val invites one and all to play Four Foods on Friday every week. It’s really easy. Just write a post on your own blog answering the four questions below and let Val know in her comments. She’ll give you a linkback when she does her roundup post of all the answers.

#1. Bacon. Chewy, crispy or burnt?
Chewy, please! I had pancakes and bacon for supper last night.

#2. Mayonnaise or miracle whip?
Mayonnaise!

#3. What green vegetable is used in Italian Wedding soup?
Hmmmm! Giada De Laurentiis uses endive, but I found several sites that call for escarole or spinach. Yeah - I cheated!

#4. Share a recipe that you use Italian sausage in.

Shoot! You caught me without a recipe again. I use it in marinara, soups and sometimes mix it with ground beef for meat loaf, but I don’t have recipes for any of those handy & it’s way past my bedtime. For meatloaf, use your favortie recipe, but substitute Italian sausage for about a third of the ground beef (too much will make it greasy.) Serve with red sauce. How’s that?

Technorati Tags: food, food blogs, meme

Game O Love

Most of you know that I’m pretty much an old fuddy-dud. It’s been - well, let’s just say that it’s been well over a decade since I’ve been a player in the Game O Love. I still celebrate Valentine’s Day, though. My son’s birthday is at the end of January, so I’ll be sending some Valentine’s goodies in his birthday package. I finished my shopping today, so hopefully he’ll actually get the package on time. He and his girlfriend will get some chocolates and other little tokens of my love for them. What can I say? We’re a sentimental family.

If I win Overstock.com’s “Game O Love” they’ll get something more substantial. You know about Overstock.com, right? It’s the online store where you can find bargain prices for almost anything you can dream of. I’ve been browsing over there today and discovered they even have a pet category where I can get a Valentine’s Day present for Lance the beagle. They’ve got a great Valentine’s shopping guide for those of you who need a little help picking the perfect gift. I skipped right over that, though, and went straight to “electronics” because I know just what I’d like to win for the kids. They’re both TV addicts. My son watches a lot of sports and the two of them have several weekly shows they watch together. Wouldn’t it be great to surpise them with a new TV for Valentine’s Day?

Don’t you think this Panasonic 37″ Plasma Display TV would be perfect? It’s not just a TV. It’s all set to go with seamless integration in virtually any AV, PC or interactive environment, so they can switch over to their game console when they’re not watching Prison Break or the Speed Racer DVDs I sent for Christmas. Yeah, I think that!

Now it’s your turn. What would you like to win in Overstock.com’s Valentine’s Day Game? It’s really easy to enter. Just click on any link in this post, enter your email address and you’re done. Well, except for the shopping part. You need to decide what you’d like to win. Maybe some home gym equipment you can share with your love? Jewelry or designer accessories for the special lady in your life? Sports collectibles for the man who rocks your world? The contest starts tomorrow (which is already today for most of you) and runs until February 11th, so if you’re my secret admirer you’ll have time to find me the perfect gift. Hint: check out their Worldstock handcrafted items. Anything will do - really! I’m not hard to please.

Technorati Tags: contests, Overstock.com, shopping, Valentine’s Day

January 23, 2008

Confessions of a no-niche blogger

I blog about stuff. My blog is one that is identified as personal or general, one that doesn’t have a central focus on a particular niche. There are a lot of advantages to being a general blogger, the primary one being that everything fits so you can write about whatever you want. That doesn’t necessarily mean that you should write on every topic, though. After a blog has built up some content it begins to develop a voice. That voice reflects the interests of the bogger and attracts a following of readers. To be successful as a non-nich blogger you need to identify your voice and concentrate on creating content that reflects the personality of the blog - your personality (for what is a blog but a public proclamation of ones own viewpoints and interests?)

I think the biggest mistake that general bloggers can make is to try to shoehorn inappropriate content into their blogs. It’s a mistake I’ve made numerous times, and one that I need to guard against. I did it last week when I blogged about Skeet porn. The post described what I called the fluke factor, the phenomenon which occurs when a serch term brings you traffic that wasn’t actually looking for your site. If I’d stopped there I probably would have had a much more successful post. Instead I went outside my own realm of interest and I bombed. I redirected the focus of the post towards the manipulation of search engine traffic - definitely outside my areas of expertise. My wording was awkward and my ineptness showed. I rambled on for almost 1600 words trying to clarify things that I don’t understand very well myself. I confused my readers and I suspect that very few of them read the whole rambling wreck.

That was a wakeup call, reminding me that I need to be true to my blogging voice. I’m a good storyteller - I know this because me readers say it’s so. Some of my most popular posts have been stories about my family, about growing up in the South and about life in Hawaii. I’m addicted to hidden object games and visual puzzles. My fanaticism shows and my readers respond to it with enthusiasm. Cooking has always been another of my passions. I don’t share many recipes, but when I do I almost always tie them to stories about learning to cook as a child or why the dish became a family favorite. My readers relate to those stories and it’s particularly gratifying when they respond with similar memories of their own. Supporting childrens charities and advocating for the homeless are important parts of my life. When I posted about the Keiki Slippah Wish Project I was astounded at the response. I should not have been. The most ardent fans of skeet’s stuff read my blog because they have interests similar to my own. They responded so generously to the needs of children in Hawaii that the project was able to expand to include the homeless children in my own community. Gardening, stories about my dogs and essays inspired by photos have also attracted new readers and kept them coming back for more.

The common thread that runs through all of those topics is that they reflect my own personal interests. The same can be said of my most well-received sponsored posts. Stories about growing up in the rodeo culture and my son’s love of baseball generated keen interest in my sponsors’ sites and resulted in effective advertising for them. Those early posts taught me a valuable lesson. When I inject my voice into a sponsored post I produce something that works for my blog, works for my readers and works for my sponsor. Any post that doesn’t satisfy all three falls short and should have been reconsidered before I hit “publish.” While it’s tempting to snatch up every money-making opportunity that comes my way, it’s more satisfying at the end of the day to know that I’ve produced something I can be proud of.

As a relatively new blogger I still have a lot to learn. I’m an avid reader of “better blogging” articles and tutorials. The lessons that have had the biggest impact, though, are the ones I’ve learned through trial and error. Delving through my archives brings those lessons into focus and allows me to assess my own strengths and weaknesses. It’s helped me to see that my voice is my biggest asset. Do me a favor, would you - slap me around a little the next time you see me forgetting that.

Technorati Tags: better blogging, blogging

January 22, 2008

Tuesday Teaser photo verification

I started off the year stumping my players. I think there’s a tiny possibility that I’ve swung too far in the other direction, so I’ll need to spend some time this week coming up with a fiendishly puzzling photo to use for Tuesday Teaser next week. Congrats once again to Lori at A Cowboy’s Wife, who was the first to provide the correct answer this week. Hmmmm! I already owe Lori a linky love post and there are two others that are past due. Mahalo to my winners for their patience. I’ll try to get back in step before the week is over. Or maybe I should just give everyone some Lillian Vernon coupons instead, ya think? Nah, I think we’ll stick with the linky love posts.

Mahalo to everyone for playing. I’ll work on giving you a rougher challenge for the next time!

Technorati Tags: contest, contest winner, photo contest, puzzle

Tuesday Teaser for January 22, 2008

Can you identify the item depicted above? Just take your best guess and post it in the comments below. If your guess wins, you’ll get a nifty prize. Here’s how it works:

1. Write a comment giving your guess as to what the item is.
2. First person to identify the item wins.
3. The author of this blog will be the sole judge as to what constitutes a correct answer.

What will you win?

1. The author of this blog will write a LINKY LOVE POST (review) about the winner’s blog (commercial sites ineligible.) The LLP will contain the url for your blog plus at least two deep links and will be posted here on Skeet’s Stuff, a PR4 PR2 PR0 (bah google!) blog. Skeet writes good reviews.
2. The winner’s name will be entered into a drawing for a $10.00 gift card from Starbucks or Amazon.
3. Drawing for the gift card will be held on or about February 1, 2008, and will include all weekly winners for the month. There are five Tuesdays in January, thus the maximum number of people who will be eligble is five.

Other stuff -EDITED - PLEASE READ!

1. All comments to this blog are time and date stamped. The winner will be the first person (according to time and date stamp) to provide the correct answer. Guess as many times as you please, but please place each guess in a separate comment.
2. No hints will be given.
3. Answers must specifically identify the item. For instance, if the item depicted were to be a button on a remote control, the answer “something electronic” would not suffice.
4. Decisions of the judge are final. Don’t argue with me. I won’t answer.
5. I will attempt to post every few hours as to whether or not a winner has been declared, but I am not continuously at the keyboard so please be patient.
6. Entries must be posted before midnight on Thursday, January 24, Hawaii time (GMT -10, approximately forty-eight hours from now.)
7. This is intended to be an ongoing feature at Skeet’s Stuff. If you or I lose interest it will cease to exist, but all qualified winners will get their prizes.
8. Skeet’s Stuff is a do-follow blog, so you get some link value just for commenting.
9. You do not have to have a blog to enter. Your review can be donated to a charitable or non-profit site if you don’t have a blog or just want to share the love. Sites to be reviewed are subject to my approval. I’m not harsh, but I’m also not interested in donating space to a radical political non-profit site or a blog that is dedicated to porn. Commercial sites are ineligible and comments with commercial links will be deleted. If you would like to advertise on my site I’ll be happy to discuss your needs and my fees.

Additional Notes:

10. Let the fun begin!

Technorati Tags: contests, photos, photo contest, blog contest