LindaJM's Portfolio of Lenses
Ranked #2,996 in Squidoo Community, #225,383 overall
Welcome to my forest!
I live near the Klamath River in the center of the Klamath National Forest in Northern California.
There's a local legend of a serpent that lives in the river. Some natives here claim to have seen it. There are also numerous Bigfoot sightings. Many people know me as a Bigfoot researcher because since 2005 I've been documenting sightings here.
If you ever come to the Klamath River, take off your shoes and let the warm, sweet water cover your feet. When you dip your feet into this river it is sure you'll come back to this sacred place once again.
I live on the outskirts of a small unincorporated town called Happy Camp. Here I've found peace, creativity, and joy. The forest, with its tall fir and ubiquitous pine, tangled oak and sprightly madrone, covers much of the northern end of California.

The Klamath River, about 4 miles downriver from my home
This lens has links to all the lenses I've created for Squidoo.Com - and will tell you more of the story of my life.
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Linda in the Klamath River Valley with Neo
'Neo' is what I call my Alphasmart Neo . . . a portable word machine. We writers tend to love them.
I also call my computer 'Dell', and my external hard drive 'Max' (Maxtor.)
I do a lot of my lens writing on Neo. It is handy to carry around, and since it isn't connected to the Internet, I don't get distracted!
What's New?
Slogans to live by...
...just a few thoughts that mean a lot to me.

1. Live and let live.
2. Go with the flow.
3. Serve mankind.
With that third slogan/motto/intention in mind, I was thrilled to be asked to help out here at Squidoo.
In April 2009 I was asked to be a Squid Angel. That's an amazing job - and intensive! It is more than just fluttering about with bright feathery wings. There are lots of lenses to monitor because we want the good, helpful, well-developed ones to excel (in lensrank terms) and the spammy, unfinished, repetitive ones to sink to the bottom of the drainage ditch.
I also accepted a mentoring position I applied for last December: Image and Video Mentor. Since I've had many years of webdesign experience I do my best to help others who are trying to put together media-rich, attractive lenses.
How I've helped out here at Squidoo
...I live to serve!
I'm no longer officially in either of these jobs, but I carry on the work.
Senior Squids
...older but no less bolder.
My blogs and websites
...I have a lot of them!
- Linda's Life
- This was my first blog. I started it in 2000 and abandoned it in 2005 when I moved a lot of blogs to WordPress. In 2010 I decided Blogger.Com was improved and cool, so I started blogging here again.
- The Freedom Journal
- Another of my original blogs - also abandoned from 2005-2010. I started this one right after 9/11 and used it to record my confused thoughts of the time. Now I'm blogging there about the many aspects of freedom, what it means to me.
- Linda Jo Martin
- I keep track of my content writing progress here, plus just chat about life, especially as it relates to my writing.
- Klamath Design: Starting A Home Based Web Design Business - Helping Web Designers Succeed In Business
- Klamath Design helps people starting a web design business. My tips for home based web design businesses come from my experience as a former web design business owner.
Creativity is part of my spiritual practice...
...what is life without creativity?

I believe that to complete the adventure of life we need to be able to do as the Great Creator does... we need to create. As denizens of the universe, this is our destiny, and to thwart that creativity is a danger to our own well-being.
So don't hold back - be as outlandishly creative as you desire to be. Choose a talent in the spectrum of diverse abilities and practice it joyfully until it mirrors your soul.
Festival of creative arts...
...I'm essentially a writer, but I get into other things too.
If you can harness your creativity long enough to focus it into one endeavor you will discover the joy of artistic success. I attribute a lot of my creative success to the fact that I no longer watch TV.
Books and Writing
...one of my main topics.
Spiritual sunshine!
...grateful for the life I've been given.

I'm into alternative spirituality, meaning that I don't subscribe to any of the great religions of the world exclusively. I seek the spirit independently and commune with it diligently. In my own way.
For thirty years I was a member of an organized religion. I graduated from that experience in the year 2000 and have been happier ever since. I try not to tell others about this experience much as I don't have any need to complain, and those that are still members of the religion would not appreciate my unusual view of it. So... instead of talking about that era of my past, I celebrate the present with my joy at being alive in this wonderful time.
Spirituality
...come celebrate with me!
A kaleidoscope of brilliant colors, mixed with serendipity and viewed with joy.
My spirituality lenses are listed here...
Charity
Charities I support:
My creativity / your creativity
...where better to learn?

A creative person learns and gets insight by viewing the creative works of others, thus I avidly pursue literary gurus, as well as music and song, cinema, and applied arts. From all these mediums I gain strength and ideas with which to pursue my own creative expressions of life.
The drawing to the right is my "Springtime".
My creative writing
I should share more of my short writing. Stay tuned.
Memoirs
Here's another category I hope to expand a lot in the future.
Emanations
...from a playful imagination.
We watch a DVD almost every evening...
...there are no movie theaters in Happy Camp
There are few things more pleasurable than leaning back in a comfy chair to watch a cinematic masterpiece!
Music - a gift of the heavenly spheres
...where human intuition blends with imagination and delight.
Music calms the senses and feeds the soul.
An amazing communication network connecting people around the world!
...the Internet!

In 1982 I walked into the Fosters Freeze in Sonora, California, and saw a brightly painted machine in the corner. This was my first encounter with that icon of virtual life, PacMan! Several quarters later, I was hooked, but that was only the beginning.
The next year I decided to go back to college. One of my first classes was Computer Science. I filled my mind with the history and inner workings of computers, and knew this would be my path into the future.
In 1985 I got a divorce. In my frightened depression and lack of security I gave some thought to the question of what I could do to support myself in the future. I analyzed all my skills, and realized I excelled at only one. I had to become a writer. Unfortunately I didn't have a computer at the time, but I had faith that when the time was right, a computer would come to me and it would help me in my writing work, whatever that might be.
Sure enough . . . a few years later, in 1989, I quit a job with the county and was given my retirement fund, and it paid for my first computer, a 286. I spent two thousand dollars on it! Can you believe it? Recently I bought a new computer - five hundred dollars. My, how times have changed!
During the nearly-twenty years I've been computing I learned a lot about the Internet including more than ten years webdesign experience. So naturally, I've got a lot to say about that!
Internetting my way around the world
...caught in the web.
This section is special -- it is only for people who put a value on communication.
The joy of social networking
...social media sites I participate in.

Besides Squidoo, I participate in Gather.Com and a few other sites like Digg, MySpace, Facebook, Stumble Upon, and Ryze.
...for the twitterpated.

A special shout-out to friends who have found this page by clicking on the link in my Twitter profile! Thanks for coming by! I'm happy you're here!
I have several Twitter accounts:
1. Linda Jo Martin - all about writing
2. Bigfoot Sightings - all about Bigfoot
3. Linda's Herbal - all about herbs and gardening
4. FightCPS - all about family rights
5. Independent Homeschooling - for homeschoolers
6. Geniyyah - spiritual topics
Please choose the account that best matches your interests so you'll be more likely to get tweets that aren't off-topic.
I'm a Giant Squid!
...and a member of the Giant Squid 100 Club.
Home, home on the range...
...where the deer and the antelope play...

I live in the center of a forest. It is a small, isolated community... so I may think differently than those of you who have to face the complexities of civilized life every day. I'm a vegetarian and natural foodist. I live in a little cabin-like house (some might call it a shack.) Forest fires concern me more than crime rates. I keep my expenses down.
Home, food, education
...a mish-mash of semi-related topics.
No matter how far abroad we roam there's nothing like the sweetness of home.
I'm vegan - and gluten-free
My herb garden
...flowers and vegetables too!
I'll be adding to this a lot during the coming months.
Justice and liberty for all... or so they said.
...my heart weeps for this country.

Despite the presence of a Sarah Palin lens in my portfolio of lenses, I am not and never have been a Republican - nor am I a Democrat. For most of my adult life I registered as a "decline to state" voter. More recently I've registered Libertarian.
Government, legal and public health issues, and politics
...I'm mainly interested in family rights.
When children are allowed to live with their parents who love them, the world will be back in balance.
What could be more spiritual than a walk in the woods?
...take a hike up the hill.

Just imagine... you cross the road to the trailhead, take a deep breath of pine-scented warm air, and start your trek up the steep side of a hill. The trail winds through the trees, from sunlight to shadow, with forest twitterings penetrating that stress that surrounds your heart.
You stop for a moment at the switchback, lean against an oak, and look around at well-shaded ferns that climb up the hillside beside the trail. This is the moment of truth. Will you forge onward, or turn back, never knowing the view from the top of the hill?
Step outside and what do you see?
...a lot of adventures, waiting for me!
Since I live in an area known as "The Home of Outdoor Family Recreation" it is only natural that I'd participate!
Are you a time traveler?
...I'm just curious - is it really possible?
The odd, the unusual, the amazing - these things tweak my imagination.
Your comments are welcome
If you're reading this lens, I'd like to know who you are. Please leave a comment to tell me about yourself.
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Nanny
Oct 1, 2010 @ 12:00 pm | delete
- cool
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ToriqKusuma
Sep 27, 2010 @ 11:47 pm | delete
- Good and UseFull Lens, I like this
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missbat
Sep 26, 2010 @ 2:17 am | delete
- A beautiful lensography. Love the pictures! Keep up all the great work you do here on Squidoo!
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EbonyHaywood Dec 28, 2009 @ 11:34 pm | delete
- fabulous lens! you rock!
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Tipi
Oct 30, 2009 @ 9:10 pm | delete
- This lesography could take me much time to get back to, so I will bookmark it in mine and return when time permits. Blessed by a Squid Angel!
Susie
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pepys
Oct 1, 2009 @ 7:33 pm | delete
- Hi Linda,
I came here from your Boomer lens, and prior to that from your Videos About Family Rights and CPS Cruelty lens.
I started on a journey following a subject but continued by following a person. I love that when it happens. Sometimes words have great meaning as they echo around inside us until we find similarities and these bring up images and sounds and even smells.
So, to keep it simple, Hi, nice to meet you.
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bloomingrose
Aug 20, 2009 @ 1:11 am | delete
- I adore you! What an inspirational life, and what a great lensmaster! I wasn't born with a modem in my mouth - so the Internet can be daunting. But seeing what creativity can be expressed keeps me going, grinding past those technical problems that could stop me if I let them. I have also participated in NaNoWriMo, and who knows - I may yet write a middle school novel!
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marsha32 Jul 23, 2009 @ 11:16 am | delete
- Nice to meet you :) You have been very busy here on squidoo! I clicked and already follow you on twitter.
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Val_Bonney
Jul 18, 2009 @ 5:45 am | delete
- Hi Linda - I know, from reading your work elsewhere, that all your lenses will be well worth reading. Now that I've joined Squidoo too, I look forward to indulging myself in the pleasure of checking out your lenses as often as possible!
Great list of titles - so varied and all fascinating topics. Great achievements, well deserved!
Val xx
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ChapelHillFiddler
Jun 20, 2009 @ 7:44 pm | delete
- Well, I visited this via your "least popular" list, which I loved. And it's nice to learn more about you. Bye for now -
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Heather426
Jun 14, 2009 @ 3:50 pm | delete
- love this! 5* lensography
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Jewelsofawe
May 24, 2009 @ 11:04 pm | delete
- Wow, so many good lenses. Great lensography!
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2Eklectik
May 7, 2009 @ 4:47 pm | delete
- Thank you for having this great information all in one place.
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nightbear
May 1, 2009 @ 8:41 pm | delete
- Wow, what an impressive, huge collection of works. Very impressive and I absolutely love the picture of your river. It is so serene. Congratulations on being an angel. I am looking forward to getting to know you better.
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Jewelsofawe
Apr 17, 2009 @ 8:53 pm | delete
- Congrats on squid angel and now mentor too!
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Graceonline
Feb 3, 2009 @ 1:31 am | delete
- Wow, this is an impressive collection of lenses and topics. I want to read a bunch and am bummed I found this late at night and have to, MUST, sleep. I'll be back because I know, if just reading about your lenses keeps my attention, the lenses themselves have got to be good. I think I'll start with Save on Gas--Ride a Bicycle and My Least Popular Lenses--and Lessons I Learned ...
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Jewelsofawe
Nov 12, 2008 @ 11:36 am | delete
- Great lens. I found you from you blog posting on the squidoosphere
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JanetG Oct 18, 2008 @ 7:19 pm | delete
- Hi Linda, Lots of wisdom here. Thank you. I found you thru the Muse Writers Conference. Looking forward to reading more of your articles and blogs. Thanks.
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eccles1
Oct 11, 2008 @ 3:01 pm | delete
- the Klamath River Valley is beautiful !!
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rms
Oct 8, 2008 @ 4:26 pm | delete
- Congratulations on becoming a Giant!
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spirituality
Oct 8, 2008 @ 4:00 am | delete
- Congrats on a well deserved Giant Squid title ;)
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mosaic
Oct 7, 2008 @ 10:08 am | delete
- Congrats on becoming a giant!!
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OhMe
Oct 7, 2008 @ 3:22 am | delete
- Great lensography and that is a great badge sitting up there in your profile. Congratulations.
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Joan4
Oct 6, 2008 @ 9:45 pm | delete
- Oh wow! What a badge! Congratulations! Giant Squid!
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dc64
Oct 2, 2008 @ 3:55 pm | delete
- Nice lensography, and I like the picture where you live, it looks so peaceful. Thanks for your kind comments and lensrolls on my ...Foster Child lens. 5 stars for yours here!
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by LindaJM
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