Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all my wonderful friends in both Second Life and in real life. I love you all! You are my family that support me in all ways. I wish you the best in this upcoming 2010 year. 

Truth hurts. Truth discovered is even a worse kind of pain. But, I have found pure bliss in finding truth even when it is not pleasant. The air clears. The smoke is blown away. And, what is left is a profound clarity that brings strength. That is faith.

Faith can be born in religion or in one's own heart. I have found my strength in my faith. I am strong. And each time an adversity is thrown in my path, the experience makes me stronger. That is my lesson today... I believe in angels.



and I really do love ABBA! giggles...

2009 is almost over! I can not believe how fast this year went. This year was a blur of activity where I expanded in different ways. WETLands and RiverLand were opened to the public where the two regions are basically a hangout with water as the primary element. You can go rafting, swimming, surfing, hiking, exploring and view beautiful art from the SL community. Love is a primary theme as we avis love to be together as friends or couples.

The music community is definitely one of my favorite places to interact. But, I also discovered as a seasoned old avi, that even the dj's, live musicians wear several hats in world. They are artists, builders, creators and marketers.

The Second Life community is an artful one. I am claiming without any hesitation that Second Life is the greatest venue in the world for music and art. No where on the planet or the metaverse is this as apparent as an event held in SL. Musicians from all over the world click on that button and enter in the virtual world to present their art and music to an international audience.


And we, the audience can be sitting in a bathrobe on the couch listening to a musician from Australia, Canada, USA, UK, Spain, France, Mexico, Argentina, Brasil, or anywhere on this planet. It is mind boggling to even comprehend that there is no longer a limitation to the audience, no limitation to where a venue is held.

Music can be brought to our doorstep without any regard to nationality, race, creed, politics or geography.  Ohhhhhh, and that is the sweetest life possible for all of us who love music.

*smiles*

The madness of grouping and collecting them in Second Life is hampered by the limitation that Linden Labs imposes on each of us. There is a reason for that, though. With an inventory load that surpasses any reasonable upload, a friend's list that looks like the CEO of IBM's rolodex and 25 groups... well, anyone want to venture why our avis are lagging.

I found so many resources on the grid for cool Halloween makeup. The gothic applications really work well for the avis this ghoulish season. For those of you who are morphing into scary avatars, you won't need this. Just search Grendel's Children for those costumes. But, some of us will be mimicking the look in real life that we apply to our avatar. Here's a nice way to change your RL self, and then party hard in-world with your avi.

I just saw Jackie Greene in beard and long hair. What a difference! OMG! From sweet boy singing Americana (I mean, I remember when he was a teenager...) to this very sexy man looking... well... seasoned with life experiences under his belt...



He did a very low tech recording in his bedroom just a few months ago. I really like this song. It's Jackie Greene all the way, but it also has a nod to more contemporary music with his signature Americana-isc, folkie-indie spin.

Enjoy the video and pass it around. Jackie was dubbed by the New York Times as "Prince of Americana." A heady title indeed for such a very young man. But, as all his old friends and family members watch, we see a young man who deserves his fame and his rewards.

And, he's playing at Crystal Bay this weekend in Tahoe, California... a gorgeous setting for a gorgeous boy/man with a heart of a poet and the soul of a troubadour. <3 U Jackie!

Ahhh... just finished another video project with my best friend, Aoshi. He is a videographer and photographer in real life. (Makes a mental note: gotta learn how to do this video thingy...) So I just uploaded it to my youtube channel. It turned out cool. 

I was soundly reminded of why I am in Second Life... yah, I am a corporate avi... but why, be there unless I am having fun. SL is fun, peeps. Don't forget that. Not just the parties, but the place itself. Crazy places and sims created by builders who don't give a shiz about being cool or trying to impress. They just do it out of passion.



I saw old friends last night and silliness prevailed. Nebulosus' Bunnyken avi came out, and we pogo'ed through three sims on a pogo stick. More inventory items were attached until none of us looked like our normal avatar self.



Then Mr Widget called with a shout and we ended up at Nuclear Winter. The abandoned playground of broken toys set against a stark background of gloom. Here, we bounced for an hour to his mash up of music. Someone became crab creatures with a dance that matched. And the panda cart was a hit as it circled aimlessly bouncing into all of us. I was in hysterics, laughing, as we talked smack about everything.



Hase Klaar sent a shout. I like this dj. She's cool. Her hippy, sippy look in direct contrast of her edgier attachments gave her a look of combat-zone-ready-attack-60's-radical. She was spinning a hard trance set. Nico's Home was decked out in full psy glory. He passed out a gift to all... a mesmerizing, brilliant star shining so bright that it was blinding. We continued to pogo up and down.



When we got home, we collapsed into each other's arms. Laughing, we talked about how much we loved it in Second Life. How much we had forgotten to put away the business part and just enjoy it. This upcoming season is Halloween. I can't wait to morph again.