Tag Archives: kalopsia

In order for the light to shine brightly, the darkness must be present.

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In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be present.
Francis Bacon,the great scientist-philosopher wrote, “In order for the light to shine brightly, the darkness must be present.” The truth of this is demonstrated every time I work with projectors. They are brightest when it is darkest. I thought of this quote, though, in relation to this avant garde outfit from Liziaah. It explores form and texture and through its form, the interplay of dark and light. Released in deep, dark shades of aubergine, royal blue and black, the colors provide the darkness.
In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be present.
Explorations of form, curving shapes and an open back reveal the light of exposed skin made brighter by their relation to the dark, rich fabrics.
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and it’s hard at the end of the day

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And it's hard at the end of the day

When Sarah McLachlan wrote Angel, she was not thinking of the sort you might see in a Sunday school lesson, but one more like this perhaps. The song is about seeking comfort and escape from life’s pain through a needle, through heroin addiction to be precise. Inspired in specific by Jonathan Melvoin of Smashing Pumpkins who died of an overdose about 20 years ago, the more general inspiration came from McLachlan’s own experience of seeking comfort and reassurance from other drugs. McLachlan, when speaking about the song, seems to think the feelings of inadequacy, of insecurity, of alienation are part of the music industry. Personally, I think they are part of life.

And it's hard at the end of the day

there’s always some reason
to feel not good enough
and it’s hard at the end of the day
I need some distraction
oh beautiful release
memories seep from my veins
let me be empty
and weightless and maybe
I’ll find some peace tonight

in the arms of the angel
fly away from here
from this dark cold hotel room
and the endlessness that you fear

I thoughy this blood-tipped “angelic” gown paired with the needle-sharp Say wings from Glam Affair would be a great representation of McLachlan’s “angel” whose comfort is only temporary unless, of course, it is the final comfort of death. Incidentally, Maylee Oh of The Secret Store who made this gown also made a video of her weight painting and texturing it and while I have no idea what she is doing it is strangely hypnotic to watch.

And it's hard at the end of the day

The gown is a gorgeous brocade with a delicate blood tip. You see more red in this picture than the other because of the red projector I was using to light the scene. The wings are white and plum and the projector lights them as well. I actually selected the plum textures in the wings and tinted them bright red to go with the dress and the jacket.

And it's hard at the end of the day

My shoes are from Hucci and are incredibly elegant. I love how the leather comes to a point and echoes the feathers and the wings.

And it's hard at the end of the day

I always wear lingerie under my clothes. After all, sometimes when you TP in, your clothes seem to arrive a few seconds after you do. Luxuria is my go to brand.

And it's hard at the end of the day

A chose Truth’s Anouk hair style with the color-change bands and Donna Flora’s Julia set with rubies.

And it's hard at the end of the day

My makeup comes from Glam Affair’s newest release Mavi, a Lelutka mesh head applicator. I opted for the brightest, reddest lipstick.

Store info at Blogging Second Life
****SHOPPING LIST******
Poses: Di’s Opera
HUDS: AnyPose Expression HUD v1.0 – Wear Me
Slink Ankle Lock
Skin: Glam Affair Mavi Asia
Mesh Attachments: .LeLutka.Mesh Head-STELLA v1.1
Slink Avatar Enhancement Feet High & Handas
Slink Physique Mesh Body V2.4 (ADD ME)
Appliers: Flair Mani-Pedi 13
Glam Affair Mavi Asia
Luxuria Serpentine Red
Eyes: pc eyes by LL – shallow water – medium
Hair: TRUTH HAIR Anouk
Clothing: [Slink]The Secret Store – Avianna Dress – Blood Dip @ Collabor88
[Slink]The Secret Store – Harpy Mantle – Blood Dip @ Collabor88
Glam Affair – Sya Wings Plum @ Collabor88
Shoes: ::HH:: Hucci Minerva Sandal – Collection (Slink) @ Collabor88
Jewelry: Donna Flora Julia
(Yummy) True Fate Ring – Gold – Rainbow @ Collabor88
Location: Kalopsia Broken Floor, anc Bubbles

Don’t Tell Me the Moon Is Shining

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“Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.”

“Don’t tell me the moon is shining, show me the glint of light on broken glass,” is great advice for writers. It is attributed to Anton Chekhov who did write something pretty close to that. It remains good advice whether it is apocryphal or not.  It basically tells writers to show, don’t tell. Of course, some writers go overboard and describe every single thing in such detail that they have left themselves no room for emotional honesty or plot, but in general, as a reader, I prefer showing to telling.  It’s much easier with a picture, though, and in this one you can see the glint of moonlight on the waves.

“Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.” Chekhov

Of course, what you really want is the perfect blend of show and tell. You don’t want authors telling you what every person is thinking, you want them to trust you to figure it out from their actions and their words. Writers who tell too much insult our intelligence, assuming we cannot get the point without it being spelled out. Fashion blogs often just show, with pictures and very little else. I like to add a bit of telling to explain things like why I fell in love with the Moon Lounge from {anc} at The Arcade. No one loves props more than bloggers and I was afraid I would spend a fortune trying to get it from the gacha machine, but I got it on the first pull.
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Your Mission Should You Choose to Accept It

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Your Mission, should you decide to accept it....Your mission, should you choose to accept it, it to infiltrate The Arcade and capture one of the Tentacio synths and bring it back for study. The stasis net will come down at midnight, allowing the most intrepid and lucky to teleport into the complex. There will be many distractions, doing their best to draw you away from your assigned task. Do not waver.Your Mission, should you decide to accept it....

Initial reports from our reconnaissance missions are available disguised as a shopping guide. Do not be fooled by its benign appearance, it is produced at considerable risk by deep cover operatives working within the system.
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The Mystic Blue

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all the manifold blue and joyous eyes

Out of the darkness, fretted sometimes in its sleeping,
Jets of sparks in fountains of blue come leaping
To sight, revealing a secret, numberless secrets keeping.

Sometimes the darkness trapped within a wheel
Runs into speed like a dream, the blue of the steel
Showing the rocking darkness now a-reel.  

And out of the invisible, streams of bright blue drops
Rain from the showery heavens, and bright blue crops
Surge from the under-dark to their ladder-tops.

And all the manifold blue and joyous eyes,
The rainbow arching over in the skies,  
New sparks of wonder opening in surprise.  

All these pure things come foam and spray of the sea  
Of Darkness abundant, which shaken mysteriously,  
Breaks into dazzle of living, as dolphins that leap from the sea
Of midnight shake it to fire, so the secret of death we see.

…D.H. Lawrence

all the manifold blue and joyous eyes

Who does not love the brisk fresh air of the seaside, the glittering waves that sparkle and catch the sunlight, scattering miniature sun sparks across the landscape. How lovely, then, that Ariskea made a floating bed for us water lovers to cast off and float away, dreaming of happy things in the sunshine and listening to the steady rhythm of the waves. Ariskea also released lotus flowers which technically prefer still fresh water, but Second Life habitats are more forgiving.

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I have loved the stars too dearly

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I've Loved the Stars Too Fondly

Though my soul may set in darkness, it will rise in perfect light;
I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.

Most of us have an atavistic fear of the dark. It makes sense, many animals hunt at night. While we may hunt by day, at night we are the prey. I have always loved the dark, though. During the day, the lake I grew up on would be busy with people fishing and waterskiing. I have had more than one daytime close call with a speed boat driven by reckless people who never think to look for swimmers. I loved to swim in lake at night when the boats were silenced and sleeping, put to bed for fear of being run aground in the narrow lanes between the islands. While there might be a few hundred people on the lake during the day, at night I was often the only one. Of course, it was never quiet. There were the frogs, crickets, owls, timber wolves and best of all, the loons, all competing for lead vocals in the nightly concert.

We were in the country so the moon and stars reflected and refracted in the waves. I would swim toward the ribbon of moonlight even knowing I could never catch it. I suppose it was my own brand of recklessness, swimming alone for hours among the stars, but it was magical, too. Sometimes I pulled out my canoe and paddled so i was lined up with the moon’s reflection and then jumped in, diving down to the touch the bottom of the lake which never got much deeper than forty feet. I liked the deep water where the lake bottom was made of marl rather than muck or clay. Something about swimming in utter blackness captivated me and I never felt afraid.

I've Loved the Stars Too Fondly

I miss living by the lake and going swimming. Lakes in Oregon are glacier fed and not really suitable for swimming. That has not stopped me, but in water that cold, you can’t laze about in the water and drift. You can’t lay back and let yourself sink into the inky water and pretend you are floating among the stars.

Of course, standing on Kalopsia’s broken floor is not exactly sinking into inky depths either, and I am standing, now swimming, but I am eagerly waiting for sun to set and for the evening chorus to begin. I am with cranes instead of loons and they are paper (from DDD for Collabor88), so they will be unaccountably quiet. If they could speak, however, they would rave about my adorable dress from ur.favorite.one (u.f.o.) that is at Collabor88 this month.
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Summertime

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The living is easy at Collabor88 and at June’s Arcade. With all sorts of summer offerings like fresh cut, juicy watermelon, ripening pears and big juicy strawberries, all of which can be found at the 8f8 Green Grocers Gacha at The Arcade. I get hungry just looking at it. I suspect it looks better than it tastes, though, since it is made of plywood.

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Screen Porch Summers

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I loved to visit my “Aunt” Harriet. She was not really my aunt, she was my Mom’s cousin. However, with me the youngest of the youngest and her the oldest of the oldest, she was a white-haired senior citizen when I was a baby. She was an avid gardener and by avid, I mean she and her husband had a two acre garden. Even better, their next door neighbor was a corn farmer which meant acres of corn field to play hide and seek.

All that gardening meant a lot of canning which meant a summer kitchen. It was a mid-sized outbuilding near the garden, shaded by Norway pines with screens instead of windows. There were wooden awnings over all the windows that could be shut for the winter or in heavy rains, but were raised up to provide even more shade and the free movement of the breeze through all the screened windows that filled all four walls. There was a huge galvanized sink and a wood stove for canning, tables for cleaning, trimming and lots of shelves going from the floor to the bottom of the windows but never high enough to block them. This meant their house did not get heated up by the steam from canning in the heat of the summer. With the kitchen so open to the air, the summer kitchen never got steamy. There were also a few fold-away cots so when I would get to stay for a week, I got to sleep out there. The canning was usually done by noon, so it was not hotter than the house. It was a bit of thrill to be able to be alone out there. Spooky, but safe. Continue reading →

Mirrors of Beauty

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I ran the gauntlet yesterday, getting my stamp card completed for ENCHANTMENT. I may actually end up going back and picking up another item and running it again, as there was more I really loved at the event and hey, lovely free gifts are good. But for this morning, I’m having trouble getting moving even with my little dog Spike reminding me we need to get going.

He’s a pushy little bastard to be sure.  Continue reading →