pagesbyike 11/25/15 pagesbyike 11/25/15

Travel: What Happens in Vegas!

Secret: Whenever I plan to drink any amount of alcohol I usually eat a fine, piping hot meal of Eba and whatever soup. Laugh if you will, it's the truth. Lol. I've found that it keeps me from getting easily tipsy. Well, guess who didn't have Eba in Vegas. Yours truly.

Next thing you know, you wake up and one person is missing

Therefore the drinking was kept to the minimum, the starkest minimum. The point of Vegas was to celebrate our amazing friend's birthday and it was so much fun, it also coinsided with the 4th of July weekend last summer. It's definitely a city worth visiting, complete with torrid weather conditions, all the souvenirs a tourist could dream of, bubbly traditional cabbies (no uber, take note), too much food, way too much and first time opportunities to try and discover new things.

There were many instances that I'd say to myself, "hmm, that was a first!" Vegas was a great bundle of new experiences for me. Here's to new experiences, Eba and the birthday boy!

FIRST GAMBLE

Gambling is pretty addictive.

My friends and I were stuck on some titanic-themed slot machine clearly targeted at women and Leonardo Di's fans in general (there were some men there too *blank stare*). I won $10, then lost it and more. Everytime you win something the machine bursts out singing the bridge/chorus of My Heart Will Go On "Near, far, wherever you are......" and the clanking of coins overwhelm you, causing so much euphoria. Then in two minutes you plug your winnings back in and it's all gone!

Conclusion: Last time gambling ever

FIRST CIRQUE DU SOLEIL

Cirque du soleil is special. They create stage performances inspired by circus activities, street entertainment and some other mysterious (very very mysterious) elements. I had no idea what was going on most of the time. Lol. All in all, the experience is the value added. When I was done though, I felt like I had experienced a different aspect of life. The bizarre aspect and it was quite sensational.

Conclusion: Maybe I'd see another cirque show, one less abstract. Good luck to me finding that.

FIRST SINGING TAXI DRIVER

Imagine it's 3am, you are in a taxi and your extremely chatty taxi driver decides to break into a song at the top of his voice-then he sings another-then another-then another. Half way through, he pulls out his harmonica (mouth organ) and it's now a full-fledged concert! It was quite entertaining, maybe not suitable at 3am. At the end he demanded a fee for his performance! Lol!

Conclusion: Everyone is Elvis in Vegas.

HIT ON BY A GIRL FOR THE FIRST TIME

Words failed me indeed. I was at a pool party so we were all minimally clad. She begins to chat me up. I just always imagined I'd be off limits to lesbians. Why? I don't know. Maybe because they say they can tell if you are straight. Maybe she's a beginner, still getting that sensor tuned.

Conclusion: *blink*

FIRST TIME WEARING A CROP TOP

Crop tops make you very ab-conscious, i think it's a good piece as long as you wear it to appropriate places. Definitely not to meet his parents.

Also, maybe more suited for others than some of us though. (Tip: if you are self-conscious, try them with a pair of high waist bottoms)

Conclusion: Haven't worn it since. I'll try again next summer

FIRST KARAOKE

While I have a video of considerable length showing this extraordinary incident, I will be unable to put it up because there were other participants involved. Lol! It's safe to say we were the backstreet boys and girls for the night and everyone thought we were awesome!

Conclusion: karaoke is best served sober. Then you have no excuse for your behavior. Nope, no blaming it on alcohol, all your innate issues spew forth lol! And forth they did spew that night.

Have any fun Vegas experiences; karaoke experiences, fun taxi driver experiences? Share below!

World's largest chocolate fountain- The Bellagio

Photo II with flowers; Vegas turned me into a flower-backdrop kinda gal

All you need for fun in Vegas, this fab lot

Big Win for the birthday boy! ......which we proceeded to spend on a good(bad), greasy dinner

Chances you'd be married by night fall with a chapel in the hotel basement

Brides dressing room (Photo credit: Demi Eni-Olorunda)

Groom room (Photo credit: Demi Eni-Olorunda)

Shot down the aisle! (Photo credit: Demi Eni-Olorunda)

pagesbyike 11/5/15 pagesbyike 11/5/15

Become a Blogger in 5 minutes!

This post took me about 5 minutes to read (and 2 weeks to write, lol), hence the title. I need to take out time to appreciate bloggers out there. They work really hard to ensure they provide the best quality for their readers , spend a lot of time getting posts together and usually don't go to bed until they know they got it right, only then, do they permit themselves to plop down on their with a smile on their faces because they know they have made someone's day. So, here's to bloggers out there!

I have been blogging for about one year now, actually 11 months. I seem to have fallen in love with it. From sourcing for a creative urge to sitting down in my space to build and design; watching responses and blog statistics; finding ways to be better; encouraging new and fellow bloggers; posting; interacting with all my great readers; giggling with people who send me private messages. I love it all and i'd be crazy not to encourage others to blog. Some people say it's therapeutic- the writing bit. I don't know about that, maybe, but I do know it's fun and challenging! Here are a few things i have learnt over the last 11 months both first-hand and second-hand, which have helped me on this super-exciting journey. Enjoy!

Set your vision and goals

A question i had to answer at some point on this journey was; what do you hope to achieve from blogging? My honest answer was and still is to provide a space where we all can be life/relationship hackers, unfazed by life's curve balls, which it throws at us all the time. Pagesbyike was created on that vision and serves as resource that draws from science, God, experiences and real people to provide its community with hacks! Understand what your vision is and run with it. Set goals to achieve this vision, then plan.....

Map out a blog plan

Something bloggers might struggle with is the consistency of putting up posts. We have other responsibilities that require our attention, of course and your readers completely understand....not! Lol! If they love what you write, they probably want it everyday, every hour even! Drawing up a blog plan to work with and setting deadlines, makes blogging much more tangible and manageable. I have learnt to always plan ahead, 3 months ahead. Having an idea of what you'd like to blog about ahead of time, takes out the initial nerve wreaking frazzle of the "What do i post?!!!" situation.

Choose your subject matter

Write what you know but also test the waters. There's so much stuff to write on. Choose something that you are absolutely passionate about, not merely just interested in. I am super-passionate about making better life decisions and continuous self-improvement but i am interested in food recipes. I would gladly read food recipes off another blogger but i might not last a week blogging about recipes. Know you passions and differentiate them from your interests.

Don't be obsessed with statistics

O, the statistics!! I remember my first month writing, i think I was my only reader, lol and of course Ed. I'd check the blog metrics and there'd be only two counts for visitors. Needless to say, it was quite discouraging but Ed would always say "Just write", I don't think there's anything more inspiring than those two words. It outweighs all the technicality and stats and helps to focus on the right thing; passion.

Know your audience

It's helpful to know the demographics of your target audience. Some blogging platforms provide the geographical locations of your readers (blogger, squarespace). Blogger provides a very comprehensive geo-location analysis of your audience. When we were on blogger, sometimes, i'd see readers in Russia, Senegal or Alaska! It was terribly exciting and it helped me understand that i had to be more dynamic with my writing. Knowing your audience helps you tailor your posts to their needs and interests.

Help me tailor yours, send me a message here!

Respond to all comments

From my statistics, i can tell you that less than 10% of readers comment. If some readers from that very small percentage choose to comment, honor their comments with a response. Also, as a blogger, make it a habit to comment on other blogs. My friend says its like a sowing a seed, it will eventually come back to you too. Another reason is that your comment encourages those bloggers and it may also direct traffic to your blog if you leave an interesting comment.

Do give aways!

Giveaways are a great way to engage your audience. True, there may be people who just stop by for the freebies but hey, haven't we all. No judgement. My first giveaway is coming up soon! Watch out for that...christmas might be coming a little early this year!

Thank you, to all those who comment ever so frequently!

What is your favorite blog? Are you thinking about starting a blog? Are you a new blogger? What are your main challenges? How long did it take you to read this post?