"To know how to free oneself is nothing...

...the arduous thing is to know what to do with one’s freedom”

So yesterday when I got up, I thought, "I don't have to blog today! I don't have to blog today!" As the day went on, it became more "I don't have...to blog today! I ... um... I don't have to blog today? OH MY GOD, I don't have to blog today?! WHAT AM I GOING TO DO!?"

Because, let's face it. I'm a blogger. I have to write about my life or I die. LOL! Okay, maybe not that extreme, but I like to write and share pictures from my SLife. But the good thing about it not being part of the 365 day project anymore is that I can share pics that I've taken previously. That makes it more fun!

A couple of days ago I remembered someone showing me the Sim Surround on the Marketplace. It's pretty cool! You know how on most private islands, it's just water all the way around and you're staring off into nothing? And you know how a lot of us have gotten off sim items to try to create the illusion of more ... MORE? Well, with Sim Surround, you can plop it down on your island and bam! You've got mountains and stuff!

[Oh. They should hire me to do their PR. Because you wouldn't respond to "Bam! Mountains and stuff!" ?? No one!]

Ulaa went in on it with me and we were the proud owners of some awesome winter mountains. Then we went snowboarding around the island because seriously? The mountains just MAKE it winter on the island.




Don't make fun of our boots. They go with the snowboards & we can't change them.

I am seriously in love with the mountains. Just in love. I look at them and squeal a little bit each time. They provide a lovely backdrop for my house too.




And just to share a couple of pictures I took and liked...

Ulaa the nose picking stalker. LMAO! I was AFK a little bit last night and when I came back, Aldwyn & Ulaa were on Skype laughing because she landed on the house outside the window and she looked like a big stalker.




And speaking of Aldwyn, I took this picture the other night and I love it like I love cake. And I do love cake.




Whew. I blogged. I feel better now.

Day 365 - If you want a happy ending, that depends, of course, on where you stop your story.

It all started with a bunny.




I started the 365 Day Blog Project last year on November 8th. As you can see...I didn't manage to post every day. Sometimes I was tired, but most of the time if I didn't post, I had a really good reason. A couple of weeks ago when I realized it was almost all over, I thought that I would end the project with a picture of me with the bunny I had sat with in my first 365 picture. I'd like to say it's got some deeper symbolic meaning, but it doesn't. I just thought it would be cute.

A year ago when I started this, I kind of did it thinking that I wouldn't keep it up. It was November, a month that is generally fairly bad for me. I was a little upset over some things, I was lonely, and it was just...well, it was November.

As the days went on, I started to enjoy posting a photo every day. I started looking up photoshop tutorials, asking questions, etc, in order to make my photos look better. Looking over the past year of photos, I can see a marked improvement and I like that. I also see a change in my avatar - going from a more "model" shape with an older skin [because I was doing more modeling at that time] to my current petite, but curvy, younger looking avatar. And I love her. I love my avatar. I feel pride for her every time I look at her because I feel like she is who I am inside, more now than ever before. She reflects the softness and grace that I have found within myself again.

The year was not without flaws. I missed days of posting while my mom was in the hospital. I lost touch with some friends. I left the modeling agency that gave me my start on the runway. [Okay, I don't regret that one.] I built up a huge wall around me after someone broke my heart. I took one brick down to let someone in and then had to double cement it later. I grew tired of posting. I didn't want to finish.

But the year was also very very good. I'm very happy right now. The wall I had built up was knocked down by a guy that had always been there when I needed him, even if I didn't know it. Someone that I didn't even think liked me all that much became my partner and I know she'll be one of my forever friends. I have been allowed to share in the lives of so many people and every day I wake up knowing that I am not alone, in any world.

Finishing this project means a lot to me. I have not really finished any big goals in ... years. I have left so much unfinished in my life. From redecorating to cleaning to writing to just doing any goal I have set for myself, I have found it hard to finish. I wish I could say why but I don't really have a good idea. Sometimes I think in a way, I have been scared of success. Because once you win? It's hard to lose. I used to understand it better as a teen when I was competing more, but somehow in my adulthood, I lost the knowledge. That's the nice thing about life, though. It's not always impossible to remember what you used to know. It's not always impossible to change, become better, happier, more joyful within yourself so that you can pass that on to others.

I'm happy to have finished this. To know that tomorrow, I don't have to do anything...it's nice. Maybe I can go back to writing posts like I used to. I can share photos without having to share photos. It's a good feeling.

This doesn't end my blog, of course. This ending is simply a new beginning. And maybe that's what I really needed to learn.

Thanks for sharing the year with me. :)

I have found that if you love life, life will love you back.
~Arthur Rubinstein

Day 364 - In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.

And just like that...winter came to the island.




The Bluebonnet residents are pretty awesome. When some of them moved here, we were just a beach sim. That's all. Just beach. When I had gotten the island back in 2008, it was a beach sim and I kept it as such for a long time because...well, different reasons. But as the island became more mine, I started to get really sick of the sand. It was just too dry, too desert like for me. So I asked the residents if they would like to have grass for a bit. I kind of expected opposition. After all, they had all spent money to decorate for a beach sim. Their landscaping, their houses, everything was designed for the beach and would not look right in the middle of a green grassy sim.

To my surprise, they were all excited. New houses to buy! New trees and flowers and other things! I should have known, given how many bloggers lived on the sim at the time, that they would turn it into a huge shopping experience. LOL

So now we change for the seasons. Bright green grass in the spring, beach in the summer, darker grass for the autumn, and snow for the winter. I think everyone likes it. I haven't heard any grumbling about it and people seem happy to change with the seasons, so I guess that's how we'll keep doing it. :)

"When you live in Texas, every single time you see snow, it’s magical."
~Pamela Ribon

Day 363 - Would you like some coffee?

I recently moved into a new house, one of Ulaa's latest builds. It's much bigger than my previous house, and so decorating it is taking a little more time. I like big houses, but I will say that smaller ones are a lot more easy to decorate. Since the kitchen is just about the only thing that is actually done [well, I'm pretty sure it's done but you never know with me], I spend a lot of my time in there.




All kinds of sales and stuff are going on tomorrow, so I better rest up. I have a feeling at 1:11pm, I'll be knocking some glamazons over to get to what I need.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!! [Well...everyone in the States, that is.]

Let me see, what do I have to be thankful for this year? A lot!

I'm thankful that this holiday, my parents are in reasonably okay health. Last year and earlier this year were very hard and believe me when I say that I almost lost my mind because of it. But even though they have the aches and pains that come with arthritis and old age, neither of them are very sick at the moment, and for that, I'm so very thankful.

I'm thankful that I have a nice house and lots of food and a warm bed to sleep in every night. So many people don't have any of that, and I am truly blessed.

I'm thankful for Ulaa, for being my partner for the past ...um...6 months? 7? I forget, but even though it started as kind of a goofy thing, she's been probably the best partner I've had in all my SLife. And don't be dirty, it's not like that. :-p Well, unless you count the times we have food porn talk on Skype.

I'm thankful for Sophia, for always being there when I need her and for making my SLife very interesting. I think everyone needs a friend who is as fiercely loyal to them as she is to me. But you can't have her, because she's mine. :-p

I'm thankful for Aldwyn, who reminded me that not all men in SL will hurt me, or break my heart, or treat me like I'm beneath them or just some virtual fantasy doll. He made me remember that I'm worthy of being loved for just being myself, quirks, craziness, and all. Plus, he thinks I'm beautiful in all worlds, and you can't help but be thankful for someone like that.

I'm thankful for my friends for allowing me to share in their lives. Sometimes you don't remember how bad things were, when you look around and see how good things are, and I have them to thank for that.

And, like last year, I'm thankful for the readers of my blog. Whether you've been here with me from the beginning, or just recently started reading - thank you. And hey, once the 365 day project is over, I might even go back to actually writing something way more worth reading. We can hope, right? LOL!

Have an amazing and blessed Thanksgiving if you celebrate it, and if you don't, have a wonderful Thursday! ♥♥♥

Day 362 - And that's ALL I need!

About a month or 2 ago, I bought these "Punky Onions" from LISP. It was just a spontaneous thing. I didn't think I'd probably use them. But in the little time I've had them, they've become six of my favorite little things in SL.




If I ever sell my island [which will probably never happen], all I would need in a new home is 44 prims - for my 6 onions and my 2 bunnies.

In the words of Steve Martin... "And that's ALL I need!"

Oh, and my rose by Light Waves.

My 6 onions, my 2 bunnies, and my rose from Light Waves. And that's ALL I need.

Oh wait. I might need this...

/me wanders off...

Day 361 - Dirty old woman...you roll those balls!

This looks like a very cute, sweet picture, doesn't it? Like we're whispering sweet nothings to each other before we're about to share a romantic kiss.




Actually? We were laughing with Ulaa as I sexily ate fudge and described an episode of Paula Deen's show, watching George Carlin, and he attempted to go to bed for about an hour before I'd let him.

Lovely night. :)

Day 360 - The norm

Almost done! Almost done! ALMOST FREAKIN' DONE.

Tonight was spent like most of my nights are spent. Hanging out and talking on Skype with Aldwyn and Ulaa, as she builds, he does what he does, and I look for an outfit for the style blog. Remind me never to do one of these "blog every day" things for the style blog again, okay? In here, I can force myself to talk about something, even if it's lame, and throw down a picture and it's all good because this blog isn't on any feeds. LOL

Oh, right, picture. Here you go. :)

Day 359 - SO OVER HIM

As much as I adore him, I'm over Aldwyn pretty much every other day. Today is one of those days because he's going to see the new Harry Potter movie and I am not. TOTALLY OVER HIM.

In fact, so over him, I went to our cabin and threw out his dog.




He said it's a good thing we don't have a prim baby.

Oh, don't worry. Rocky and I are still totally cool with each other.




I'm still mad at Al, though.

Day 358 - Put that there!

Decorating is hard work!

Day 357 - Matchy match

Sometimes it scares me how on the same wavelength Ulaa and I are. We met up on the island earlier and ... we matched. LOL!




I'm getting tired, so that's all you get today. :)

Day 356 - Dear Linden Lab - again.

Dear Linden Lab,

Um. Hi.

I decided to try your new viewer. I've been happily using 2.1.1 for a while now, but as you know, it's good to keep up. But there is a problem. Can you see what the problem is?




I'm having to wear sunglasses inside my house because I can no longer turn local lighting off. Do you know why I can't turn it off? Well, it appears that someone believed that no one ever used that feature. That someone who believed that? Oh, they were wrong. Wrong.

Very many of us turn off local lighting. We all have our reasons, but taking photos is the biggest one. And if you wanted to take it out of the preferences, I suppose you have your reasons, although those reasons are not cool for the rest of us. But could there be at least a debug setting so we could fix it? Because right now, we have to turn off basic shaders to get the lights off, and then that leads to water that looks like this:




Not cool, Linden Lab. Not cool.

Please fix this as soon as you can. The fate of nice photos everywhere depends on you.

Love,
Ali

PS: Sorry about creating lots of accounts tonight. I got a little crazy picking funny names. Don't judge.

Day 355 - Chuck Norris only has one hand... the upper hand.

I took this photo last night but before I was able to post, my internet died. So it's not my fault that it was late!!

We're still in the process of fixing up our winter getaway. Ulaa has created an adorable little cabin for the winter, and so we moved to that one instead of the bigger house we had up there before. But in the middle of decorating, which I really didn't feel like doing for once, we got a little silly.




My very little used alt, LaChola Mexicola, was dancing for Señor Al. Ay Papiiiiii. LOL! I updated her shape and changed her clothes after this was taken. She'll sit quietly now until probably next year, or until I choose to take her out to play with her again. Pobre LaChola, que siempre será fea.

Day 354 - So lucky :)

So Aldwyn and I have been together for 5 months now. If you're surprised, it's okay. Some of my friends on plurk were, too. We didn't go super public with it at first. How many times have you seen people who have only been dating a week in SL shoving their new relationships in everyone's faces, only to have it not work out a month later? We didn't want to be like that while we were still getting to actually know each other. For someone like me, who has always had her SL relationships pretty open from the get go, it was nice. A little hard sometimes, since it's just in my nature to write about everything, but it was nice. :)

He's been pretty wonderful to me. We talk all the time. He's always interested in what I'm doing or thinking, but he never demands to know more than I am willing to talk about at the time. He's not jealous when I talk to other guys, or attempts to keep me away from my friends. He's very encouraging about anything I want to do, and he's very understanding about my quirks, of which there really are many. He never judges me, or makes me feel bad about myself. It's just so very effortless with us and I almost didn't expect it to be. It's true that you can't judge all men by the ones that have hurt you. They're not all the same. Not all of them will treat you badly.

One of the funny things he's been pretty awesome about is the fact that I'm partnered to Ulaa. LOL Yes, I have a wife and a boyfriend! I think most guys would have demanded I get unpartnered at this point, but Al doesn't. In fact, most of my nights are spent with the both of them, either all of us together in world, or at the very least in a Skype conference. I'm just really lucky. :)

Al and I don't live together. He still has his land and of course I have Bluebonnet. But he asked me tonight if I'd like for us to set up a little private getaway for the both of us over on his land. Sure! We decided that it should be snowy and we have a cabin that Ulaa built. After moving the cabin up in the air, and after he threw me off the platform a few times [SO OVER], we got the basics set up. Ulaa joined us and with all the snow, we got in the Christmas mood.

Um. Well, kind of a slutty Christmas mood. Ho ho ho, inDEED.




I love that he dresses up with us. LOL

We didn't get much set up except the house and a few landscaping things, so tomorrow will come furniture and getting it all prettied up. I'll have pics of that later, of course. :)

Day 353 - Oh hi, guest!

As I mentioned in my last post, I was going to use the browser SL while I was in world and go meet up with my guest avatar. I don't know why. I just...wanted to.




I pushed her around for a while but there's not much you can do with a guest. They can't accept friendship offers, or shop, or anything. Boring. :-p

But I still like her pink hair.

In Your Browser!

So you know, the whole "omg, SL in your browser!" thing has been talked about for a while. Personally, I always thought it sounded like a bad idea and I'd way rather have an IM service I can use with SL when I'm not in SL, or a better way to manage inventory & notecards while offline. But who listens to me, right?

Today I saw they opened up the beta for the browser thing. You can check it out over here if you wish to. You will NOT be with your own avatar. This is very very very beta and you'll join the world as a guest even if you put in your SL email.

These are straight screenshots from my computer. I didn't edit anything at all. Also, I didn't quite go in order with some of them because I just realized that I should have taken a screencap of the start-up page, and at one point my internet flickered slightly and I had to get a new guest avatar.

Okay, so, you go to the page and you are forced to watch this kind of cheesy little video while everything loads up. It makes SL look pretty damn fun, actually.




Just so you know, you won't be the first to discover music. Music was discovered a while ago.

After the video and everything loads up, you'll be asked to put in your email so you can start it up. No big deal, but they will send you an email after you log out so if you don't want the email, I guess use an account that you never check.

You'll show up as one of the default avatars, but if you press the avatar button, you'll be able to change into...well, one of the other default avatars. I chose the "Female Cosplay" av because I liked her pink hair. Oh, you also do not have a name at this point either. You're just a guest.

After choosing my avatar, I clicked on the Destination button and decided to go to the Eiffel Tower. Because why not, right?




[You might want to click through to go see the bigger size of the photo on Flickr.]


You cannot teleport anywhere except whatever is in the Destination guide, you do not have any inventory, and you can't take your clothes off. You know I tried!! So if you're thinking that you could use this to get your SLex on while at work - not in this beta. In fact, I don't think you can even private message anyone. At least, I did not see the option.

Oh, also? I realize this might be a big part of SL and maybe it's better to throw it at a newbie first thing so they know what's up, but I'm not QUITE sure that Linden Lab wanted this to be part of the new user experience.




Welcome to SL! Come get a Master!

I went to a few other places but there's just not a whole lot you can really do at this point. And hey, it's beta, I get it. I didn't expect to even be able to move, actually, so the fact that I could run around was pretty good. I did try to dance at some 80s club but that was a no-go. I could sit in a chair, though!

One of the funny things to me was the teleport screen.




Really, SL? You're getting dressed? Why bother? Most of your residents don't.

Anyway, it's kind of fun to just be a super-noob in your browser, but don't expect too much right now. I'm going to attempt to run it in my browser while I'm in world later to see if I can get a better photo of the guest avatar. But hey, give it a try. New stuff is fun to play with.

Day 352 - So close, yet so far.

Hmm...I feel like I skipped a day. In fact, I believe I did. I need to get on a better sleep schedule. I'm starting to lose and gain days here and there. lol

I have to stay busy tomorrow.

I was out trying to shop tonight and found these kitties sitting outside of a store. How could I resist taking a picture with them?

Day 351 - Dear Diary...Today there was this sheep.

Another night out with Aldwyn & Ulaa. We were hoping the sweet DJ from the Tropicana would be playing again, but she wasn't, and the DJ they had was pretty bad. So after a couple of attempts at other clubs, we ended up at Neva Naughty, because there's always something to laugh at there.

Although I took other pictures during the night, this one made me laugh so freaking hard, I couldn't help but use it for today's post. :)




Seriously? Who WOULDN'T want to hang out with us? :-p

Day 350 - Ay Papi!

Fun night! Ulaa, Aldwyn and I decided to go out to see what trouble we could cause. [Okay, I'll admit it, I kind of wanted to find someone to pick a fight with. I was in that kind of mood.] We got dressed up and went to Frank's, but that was DEAD BORING. I mean, boring with a capital B and that stands for BORING. Except for the squeals of "Oh my god, what is she WEARING!?" [and in one case, "Oh my god, is she NAKED?"], it was dulllll.

[We were nice. We did IM the naked girl.]

I said we should try to find a Latin club, and Ulaa found us the Tropicana! And it was fun! The music was awesome, the DJ had a beautiful, sulty voice that made everything she said sound utterly sexy, and it was just a good time. We didn't talk to anyone there except ourselves, but it was really fun. I definitely think we'll be back.

I tried to get a picture of the 3 of us, but Al always managed to have his leg in a weird position as I snapped pics. :-p

Day 349 - Shop 'til you drop

I swear, I just cannot skip any more days. If I keep this up, I'll be into December before it ends, and technically, I should have finished this on Monday. :-p But life happens, you know? And daily pictures were not always possible. I wish they could have been, considering usually when I didn't get a picture done, it was because something was totally sucking in my physical world. But hopefully...hopefully...I'll be able to finish this up on November 26th.

But, back to today. I dragged Aldwyn around with me while I shopped. Poor guy. I'm a fast shopper so he was having to race after me. But after all the shopping was done, we both had a chance to rest. Rest is always necessary after a hard day of shopping. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

Day 348 - Cranky girl is CRANKY

I had so much trouble in SL tonight! Oh, it wasn't SL's fault really. I was having internet issues in other games and stuff. But ugh, it was so frustrating. I just wanted to put together my style blog look and be done with it, but I just couldn't. See this?




This is totally not the look I was going for today.

It did finally calm down but I was crankypants for ages. Of course, I think I was crankypants before that, but whatever.

Day 347 - NO YOU!

Usually when Ulaa does vendor ads, she likes the houses decorated. And that's where I come in, because I loveeeee to decorate new houses! Tonight we decorated one of her new houses that is soon to be released. Here's just a glimpse of the house. But it's soooo cute. You guys will want it!




And yes, we do dance while we do this stuff. Who wouldn't?

Speaking of dancing, keep your eyes open for the biggest and best joint rez month party ever that will be coming up this month! It's gonna be FUN!

346-365

Good day. I bought lots of new dances. Al had to sit around and watch me dance. I'm about to pass out at the keyboard, so goodnight!

Day 345 - Community Food Market

I stopped over at the Thanksgiving Community Food Market earlier tonight. There's some cute stuff there to buy, like this bag I'm carrying from Duboo. I don't know if more people are going to set up or not, but maybe?




The money raised goes to the World Food Programme, which is pretty cool. So go do some shopping for a good cause and get some really cute stuff.

I've been pretty cranky most of the evening, so it's definitely time to put myself to bed.

Day 344 - And then he hit me!

The best nights are the nights I spend with my Ulaa and my Aldwyn. We went all over the place tonight, shopping, laughing at fug, and talking on Skype.

But then Al started with, "Well..." and I said no. No. Do NOT start that talk with me, because I knew it was going to lead to, "I need to go to bed."

No.




But he was mean and hit me upside the head and went to bed anyway. MEAN.

So Ulaa and I decided that because he was sooooo mean and went to bed, we got all skanky and went to laugh at some really...really...bad strippers.




Fun times!

Day 342 - Alcatraz

Did you know there's an Alcatraz in Second Life? I didn't either. If it's all made to scale and stuff, I have no idea. But I found myself there earlier tonight when I was scouting out locations to take photos.




There wasn't a ton to do out there, but I guess you could go play and try to shoot people home since damage is enabled. I found myself in a ball. It was timed and I had to stay in mouselook for the 5 minutes I was stuck in there.




Reminds me of someone I used to know.

Anyway...Alcatraz. It's in a big sim grouping of San Francisco sims. I don't know if they have Linden Lab there built anywhere, but there is the "EndsUP" club, which, just based on the name, I think is probably more for the men. It was pretty packed according to the mini map, so I didn't go in. My end stayed down.

I have a busy day tomorrow, so I'm off!

Day 342 - Must be sticky

I went to see some of the new Maitreya hair tonight. I like their hairstyle but they often look really bad on me because very few have bangs and my head is so weirdly shaped, Maitreya hair often gives me fivehead. Heck, sometimes sixhead. But I got sidetracked by this guy.




I... yeah, I don't know why he had papers stuck to him. But he did say later he liked my dress. So I guess he has taste somewhere.

Day 341 - The bunnies thought I was funny!

So, okay. I was planning a really great picture. It was going to be very sweet. Me, sitting with my animals on the hill, all of us looking blissful and happy. I was even going to find a great poem or a nice song on youtube to add to it. It was going to be marvelous!

But...here's the thing. I think it's the most hysterical thing in the world when my avatar falls down. Probably because I think it's funny when anyone falls down, as long as they're not hurt. I haven't sit on the ground with my AO much, so I didn't know how the sits were. One of them had me spinning on my butt and it looked like I fell. So forget the sweet picture!!




I laughed and laughed and laughed as I snapped pics! Sometimes you can't be deep or promote some great message of well being. Sometimes you just have to laugh over stupid things!