A Post A Year in the Making

I turn one in SL tomorrow. Oh my. Being "older" in SL has given me a reason to reflect. I also promised myself that, for once, I would actually voice my opinion in this blog, rather than my usual posting of events or personal deeds of the day:

ON CREATIVITY...
For those who did not know, I started playing SL a year ago because my RL mother was very very ill with breast cancer. I was distraught and very scared and found SL to be a beautiful place of endless creative possibilities...a diversion and distraction that helped me to cope with it all. Even now, building still calms me. I found myself wandering the gardens and beautiful quiet places of SL, which led me to Caledon. My first stroll through Caledon appealed to my history background and love of architecture and left me in such awe that I returned over and over again. I think Caledon contains some of the most intelligent and creative folks on the grid and I am proud to call myself Caledonian.

ON IMAGINATION...
SL allows me to truly make my imagination come true. A tiny flying/sailing ferret? Sure! Create a replica of an 1800s lighthouse or a turn of the century building? Why not? Recreate Victorian workers' clothing? Alright! For some, tea parties and titles, and others, steampunk inventions and thrilling adventures...there is room for all of it here.

ON THEME...
"19th c. Victorian/Steampunk". Hmm...what does that mean, exactly? And to whom? Steampunk can coexist with Victoriana. A castle next to a lab next to a Georgian mansion next to a Queen Anne next to a factory next to a brick rowhome or garden might be jarring, but it is still one's interpretation of what the 19th c. was. This is an "envisioned" 19th century with--to me--a touch of fantasy, not a historical re-creation. One could argue that Regency- or Edwardian-style builds and clothing should not be here as they are they are out of the "Victorian time period", much in the same way that anything 1900s would be. Are some things close to the time period (ex. 1910) allowed due to a possible acceleration of the timeline? Who knows? But having a self-styled "theme police" is not alright. One person's gingerbreaded painted lady dream is another's nightmare. In the end, the only one who can truly deem it totally unacceptable is Caledon's owner Guvnah Desmond Shang, not you.

ON TITLES...
I will state what has been stated before elsewhere...there are few titles that are out there now that are truly Guvnah/Nation endowed, such as the Knight (or Dame) of Caledon titles, and ducal titles. There's been talk upon talk about the glut of titles now, but I've always indulged Caledon's unofficially official title RP and tried my best to use them when appropriate. I don't mind. However, I have seen rank pulled and folks corrected before. I mean, really. Pardon me for being a "nobody" *laughs*, but in the end, I hope that all of us would be treated with respect and politeness regardless of whether we are peerage or not.

ON DRAMA...
A friend of mine calls Caledon "Days of Our Victorian Lives". Another once said, "A nation of nuts". There are some folks who thrive off of drama. I most certainly do not and don't have the time for it, and have seen friends truly hurt from being caught in the crossfires of it. I do not know if it is their RP or their RL personalities truly crossing over, but it seems to be so much easier for some folks to be hurtful or ultra-critical, if only to serve their own egos, but at what cost? It is all so unnecessary. I am here because it makes me happy. I don't have time to make others unhappy and hate when it's done to me.

ON CERTAIN ABSOLUTES...
Caledon will never be a small community again. It will never be like old times again. There are lots of new people. Get over it. Wishing for the "good old days" of Caledon by complaining and griping will not bring it all back. When I first came to Caledon, you learned the proper greetings, decorum, and culture from older residents. Instead of being so disgusted by the expansion, older residents should mentor new residents by actually trying to get to know them and teach them the same way that I did--from direct example--rather than shying away.

ON FRIENDS...
I thank my friends for being there for me and supporting me and my endeavors. I find you all smart, creative, wonderful, and giving and I am glad to know you. To those of you who I have yet to meet or know better, if you see me while out and about, do say "hello" as I look forward to making your acquaintance...

These are just my two cents as I creep towards a year not just in SL, but in Caledon as well...Huzzah Caledon! Long live Guvnah Shang! Here's to many more adventures!

Building in Raglan

Raglan holds classes that are not just open to tinies, but for biggies who'd like to do things like build too. I found a place next to Miss Lisle at Tiny U. ...And built a lean mean tiny sky racing machine!

Elle: Steampunk Supermodel

I had a great time posing for Miss Autopilotpatty Poppy's "Exotic Women of Caledon" shoot that will be opening in an exhibit at her gallery in Tamrannoch Feb. 10. No flying flaming pianos involved in this shoot! You all know of my love of all things steampunk (something about cogs and gears turning that just makes me sigh), so I couldn't help but to don my goggles and leather dress and pose in SteamSkyCity's north hangar. ..not to mention that the golden amber of the metal there is gorgeous...There's also another part of this shoot involving lace and roses, but you'll just have to wait until the exhibit, now won't you? *winks*

Inebriated Sheep and the Whiskey That Caused It

A Steelhead town meeting would not be complete without a touch of weirdness and lots of "hoooo"ing...And drunken sheep like the one Mrs. Qinan-Pinion was riding, accompanied by her bottle of Jack Daniels (long story...)
You can imagine that after a meeting like that I was quite content to sit quietly for a moment at Laval Point...

How to Be A Muse

I love helping folks work through ideas...suggesting things and coming up with plans and such that'll make things easier for them and for folks interacting with them. My mind is always clicking...anyone who knows me knows I'm a whirlwind of ideas. I even ran a SL classified for "Personal Muse Available" once on a whim. I actually got a response *laughs*.

I came inworld late tonight, so I thought I'd continue to help Mr Webb get his workshop in SkyBeam all sorted out. That one's truly a work in progress so I'll let you know how that goes. He says that it is funny how I sigh a lot...

Dragons and the Coming Bunneh Revolution?

Wandered Regency as a bunneh for my Sunday stroll...
Stopped by the aerodrome and showed Flight LT J8ke "Flash" Hawker my gorgeous beautiful steampunkily wonderful Raptor...Then he showed me his 290 prim zeppelin...oh...my...
Stopped through Carntaigh to celebrate Duchess Gabi's appearance on SLCN. The lovely dragon, Puff Mariner, was holding a board in her mouth saying "Play my song..."
Went to work my aether muse magic for my curmudgeonly dragon inventor employer Mr Dominic Webb. I did not know that a bunny attack would be part of the job description...how does this keep happening to me?

Australia Day!

I had fun exploring the new residential sim of Raglan Commons. So creative...Went to the Cay to attend the Primbrokes' Australia Day celebration... Where I joined Lord Primbroke and Dia as drop bears and we danced our tiny tails off...with VB ales in hand!
Oh my! Is that Lady Primbroke swinging from that hoist?! We all had a really good time. You can check out Miss Connolly's site for moving picture footage!

A Burns Supper in Loch Avie

A traditional Scottish Rabbie Burns supper was held in Loch Avie this evening...I thought I would accompany LordAlbert to the dinner and put on my best Caledon tartan dress for the occasion. Hmm, I am surprised Lord did not wear his kilt. I suppose we were coordinated...Capt. O'Toole presents the haggis to all, as Col. Somme plays the bagpipes...
A selection of traditional Burns dinner dishes such as haggis and neeps...
As the proceedings were held in Voice, that SL marvel often does inexplicable things to me and caused a crash. Upon my return as my human self, I found a seat at the table among my Steelhead neighbors and was delighted to see that so many of them had turned out for the event. Afterwards, there was a ceilidh in the snow-covered observatory lawn and I managed to get a dance in with the Doctor...

An Interesting Evening of Dancing and More...

I attended a "Victorian Ball" in the full Activ8 sim as part of an author's book promotion. Being Caledonian, it is always interesting to see others' views as to what constitutes "Victorian". Some Caledonians and Babbagers were present and we had a rather amusing time. Here I am dancing with Lord Otenth... Doc Mason and I could not stop laughing at the comments going on around us...such as one woman's assessment of her friend's cleavage. And the Victorian dress prizes were a staggering 20K - 50K! If I knew I would've definitely worn something different! You can read the doctor's rather tongue-in-cheek coverage of the Ball HERE...
Sir Zen was able to acquire a ticket for me to a sold-out performance of the ZeroG Skydancers. If you have never been to one, I cannot quite describe the experience except for the word "amazing" so if you hear about tickets being available for another, GO...
I ended my evening sitting on my dock talking to Gryffin about all sorts of things...mostly art, relationships, and life. It's always nice to have good friends to talk to in here, isn't it?

Solarya Cogs and Elder Gods Attack!

Was in Solarya...look at the wonderful steam and gear and cog workings beneath the central park! Oooooo...Earlier, Mr Enoch wanted to show me some monsters he had created for the October Country sim's Lovecraftian-style town. Given my past experiences testing his inventions, you'd think I'd be leery by now. But noooo...I was promptly eaten by Dagon...
And attacked on a bridge by Cthulhu!!!

Playing My Spanish Guitar

I purchased a Spanish acoustic guitar by Mr Robbie Dingo the other week and finally got around to playing it. It plays a very pretty rendition of Francisco Tarrega's "Recuerdos de la Alhambra" and allows you to click through to the next song segment rather smoothly for SL. I had to practice a bit to get the timing of it down. I would love it if more songs are made available for it, as my typist is such a novice player herself and enjoys being able to play such things inworld. If you'd like to see a moving picture of me playing it, Prof. Messmer made a lovely one that you may view:

Roasted Seagull and Impressive Airships...

Yes...My resident seagull on my Harborside lamppost is afire. Oh dear those lamps get really hot! Prof. Messmer and I watch a huge airship hover over the Connolly Airfield from the roof of his Penzance home. Oh joy...SL rezzing issues!

Flashy & Fashion

Thought I would take Flashy for a gallop through Harborside and Steelhead City...Which somehow turned into a gallop UNDER Steelhead City...
Afterwards, I attended the Taupo fashion show. My, I have had a busy weekend shop- and show-wise! You may view one of my pieces being modeled HERE.

Victorian Style Fashion Show Moving Picture!

Here is a moving picture of my 1879 Revue BlueBrown dress in the Victorian Style fashion show!

Sailing on the Firth

I was feeling rather Renoir-ish look-wise and went sailing on the Firth with Prof. Messmer on his yacht. You can see his video--which is so much prettier in Windlight HERE...

VictorianStyle Fashion Show!

Some of my pieces are featured in a fashion show hosted by the Atlantis Modeling Agency this weekend...Here is show announcer Lady ShayLee Greenspan wearing my Regency RedGold...
Rezzing was a bit of a problem for me, but you can see Duke Regent Kintyre modeling my Alex waistcoat ensemble...

It was well-attended and I was glad for the opportunity to have my work presented...

Fashion Fittings and Porcine Spit-ting

I had a fitting with my lovely Brazilian model Melinda Emms for the Taupo sim fashion show at 4 pm SLT on Sunday...Later I attended the Luau/Hawaiian night in Steelhead to shake off those winter blues!
Myfanwy Davies and Searra Weatherwax came as tourists...
And even some Kool-Aid men came and partied!
Many a folk who have gone afk in Steelhead are probably clapping about this bonfire...

In a Purple Mood...

I was in quite a mood (as I am not cheerful all of the time) and took to brooding high in the sky above Morgaine at Mr Silverspar's beautiful ice castle...I soon had Miss Burton over to Laval Point for a fitting for a fashion show in the sim of Taupo on Saturday. She looks lovely in my BlueBrown dress...
...and in my Regency RedGold one. Here we are at Adam n Eve, shopping for shoes...
Sir Tele then invited me over to his new forge build at his home in the Cay. He will be offering weapons and fighting systems and hopes that Caledonians will stop through and enjoy them!