Day 156 - When You Hold Me Like You Do

My dear SL husband was out of town over the weekend. I always miss him when he's away! Luckily his trip was only a couple of days, and even though we'll go a couple of days without seeing each other on just a busy week, it feels different when either of us are totally away!

I'm not making much sense, am I? I REALLY should go to bed.

But anyway, he's home now, and I'm home now, and things are as they should be.

Day 155 - What makes it real?

Just prefacing this by saying this is an opinion post. My opinion. Might be yours, might not be. But either way, don't get all butthurt about it. Thanks. :)




So Gogo pointed us over to this post on NWN earlier today. Not for the article itself, but for the comments.

"I have such a hard time taking the whole fashion and models thing in SL seriously."

Well, who asked you to? No one.

"Why are there no blogs on SL vehicles or weapons?"

Because no one has bothered?

"Or rather aspiring for free promo clothes from the creators, isn't it?

Obviously you've never been a fashion blogger or you'd know that most of us spend a LOT of money putting looks together. Most of us are not blogging freebies.

"Most fashion blogs aren't even real blogs anyway: those bloggers don't express themselves, we never hear about their inspiration for this and that look. We never know anything about the blogger's personality (or probably the lack thereof). They just make a pretty photo and if we're lucky they tell us what they are wearing."

What makes a REAL blog?

Yes, writing can make a blog. It's like an online journal. Some people want to know you through your blog - what you do, what you think, etc. There are the fashion blogs where you see why someone chose what they did. But there are other blogs. There are photoblogs that show just a picture and credits. There are video blogs. There are microblogs [like Tumblr or even Flickr].

Now, personally? I do wish people would do more writing. I like knowing things about someone. I miss all the personal blogs where people talked about things. I know there aren't really that many left in the grand scheme of SL blogging, not like there was when I got this blog started. There are many more fashion blogs, and yes, I do wish people wrote more on their fashion blogs. But some don't and that's their business.

Having both a personal and a fashion blog gives me the opportunity to see both sides of the coin there, so to speak. Trust me, it would be EASIER if I'd just do a picture and some credits on my style blog, and I do it once in a while if I'm terribly short on time. But I'm not into fashion blogging for free stuff. MOST of us who have been doing this for years are not. Yes, you always get new bloggers who immediately want to be on all the lists and get all the things without doing any work. You'll know them right away. They're the ones who ask for "sponsors" [don't do that] and try to get invited to every single event immediately. They're the ones who fizzle out before most of them are even eligible to get on most of the fashion feeds.

Ask the long term fashion bloggers. We sign up for events only if there is an open call. Very few of us ever ask designers if we can get free stuff from them. Most of us are on the lists we're on based on our work or the friendships we have made - and we prefer it that way.

Personal SL blogging is so different to me. I can come in here and say whatever I feel like because I'm not on any feeds. I am more free. But there are days when I've done nothing in SL worth talking about. Days when all I want to do is a photo. And there are days, like today, where I have a lot to say. I get notecards or IMs sometimes from strangers who liked something I had to say, or didn't like it, or who just want to talk to someone. Let's face it, it's hard to make friends in SL these days, it seems like. With everyone either stuck on platforms or hating the club scene, it's not as easy to make friends as it once was. So they read my blog. They get to know a little bit about me. They feel like they CAN talk to me because, after all, I'm no different than anyone else. I'm sure other "personal" SL bloggers get the same treatment.

If there is a type of blog you'd like to see - WRITE IT YOURSELF. If there is not a blog for guns or cars or clubs or landscaping or people who love facelights, then you might have to write it yourself. Or you know what? If you're a creator of such things, read the feeds. There are several. You can even find a listing of them on this page.. Look at the pictures, read the blogs. Find who you think takes nice pictures or writes well and send them a notecard and a sample of your work. Ask them to visit your event or club. Just because someone never has blogged a certain thing doesn't mean that they never would. And if they don't? That happens, too, even to the biggest of designers.

I guess my point here is that just because a blog is bad, or uninteresting, or has no writing on it - it doesn't make it less real than any other kind of blog. It's just a different kind of blog, and there is always room for someone who wants to try their hand at it.

Except for the facelight blog. Don't do that.

Day 154 - Happy Housewarming!

So Ulaa's been living on Bluebonnet for like 2 years or something. Her parcel is where she makes all her Funky Junk goodness. But as any builder could tell you, sometimes your place is all filled up with your builds and you don't really LIVE there. You're just on a platform. Well, when a large parcel opened up on Bluebonnet recently, she jumped on it so that she could finally set up a home.

Me, being a great landlady and her best friend, I decided to make her a housewarming cake. I didn't have time to make one for her myself, so I ran out to buy her one.




What? It totally counts because I wrote on it myself AND topped it with something I made. I'm sure it's totally tasty!!

Day 153 - If You're Happy And You Know It...

I've been ridiculously into Skyrim for the past couple of weeks. I didn't think I'd ever be into this game this much. But well, I guess give me a few cheats and some funny mods, and I'll play anything.

But, I always make sure my playing time is done by 10 or so because that's when Aldwyn is able to be in SL and I have to be a good wife and not make him a Skyrim widow! Tonight we were sitting around and I told him I needed to go to SLink to try the new mesh hands. I didn't expect to feel like I really needed them because I actually kind of like my regular hands and I like my nails from Izzie's and I love my wedding ring. But well, these were so very cool, my very awesome husband bought them for me!




They're just so cool and come in all kinds of different poses and you can mix & match. ALSO, I can wear my wedding ring with them! But I don't think I'll use them for more than just pics probably since to wear my rings, I have to adjust them for each different hand position. But I do just love the hands! Now if Siddean would just make more nail tints for them.... :)

I'm all freaked out because of a big storm that's going on over my head right now so I think it's time to go bury myself under the blankets and pray that it passes soon.

Day 152 - I'm taller for once!

I was going to do this pic for the style blog, but once I got to overly photoshopping things, I figured it belonged in here. And I'm really tired, so that's that for today!

Day 151 - Every Day, Every Hour Has Come To This.

We're just hanging out on the couch tonight.




Did I ever mention that our 1 year wedding anniversary was last month? The both of us forgot! I know, shameful. We'd remembered a few weeks before, but on the actual day, I had appointments and he had work and it was one of those things where because we hadn't planned anything, the day just kind of slipped by.

A whole year of partnership! Ulaa and I were partnered for over a year [15 months, 1 week and 1 day, actually] so Aldwyn and I have until December 27th to beat that record. I'm PRETTY sure it'll happen. Pretty sure. :-p We've already been together over two years. That's like 10 years SL time, right?

This past year has been probably the happiest of my SLife. It's not just him, but the SLife we've built together, the friends we have, etc. Every day, it gets a little better. I can hardly wait to see what the next year brings us!

Honestly, I couldn't have asked for a better SL husband. He's never given me a reason to be mad at him, or not trust him, or anything like that! Two years into this whole thing and we've never even had a fight! It's not that we agree on everything because that would be impossible for any couple, but it's just that we communicate well and we know what the other can and cannot give. It took us both many years and many other SL relationships in both our SLives to find this out.

And I think that's the advice I'd give anyone starting out into a new SL relationship. Learn right away what their limits are, and know what your own are. Become friends first. Go slow. Don't force things. Take things as they come. Roll with the punches. There are days where you won't get to talk much and days where you can spend many hours together. Enjoy each moment.

[Oh. Also, talk on voice and webcam verify. Trust me on this.]

Anyway, that's my anniversary post. :) If he doesn't dump me for being totally crazy before December 27th, I'll do the "Omg, my longest SL partnership ever!" post.

Day 150 - October Lights

I was just setting up outside to take a picture tomorrow. I just liked this angle. :) I'm going to bed now, but I wanted to show the pic.

Day 149 - In this one horse town, I wanna stay right here.

I haven't been in SL too much in the past week. Last weekend it was rainy here, and I was a little bored, and so I decided to play Skyrim again for the first time since probably January. I didn't expect to get all into it! I thought it would just be something I puttered around in for an hour or so before I went on to something else, just like last time. But nope! All kinds of into it.

But I missed my SL. I missed just wandering around our parcel. I mean, you don't put work into building a home and not spend any time in it, right?




I want to be more social in SL again. We had this discussion on plurk the other day about how most of us are suffering from the same kind of mental problems. Like, I've been diagnosed with depression and generalized anxiety disorder. Combine that with the fact that I'm almost painfully shy, and being social, even in SL, is not always easy. Especially this time of year when my seasonal depression hits. But I figure if others have the same things I do, then why shouldn't I put myself out there more again? Maybe they're just as scared of IMing people to chat as I am. Maybe it would brighten someone's day to just know that someone else was thinking of them. Who knows?

Anyway, that's all from this side today. I am heading back to Skyrim to find a staff or something crazy.