The theme for Collabor88 this month is StoryTime and the creations showcased are a rich display of folkloric traditions and influences. There is a lot of embroidery, a lot of beautiful colors and rich traditional fabrics. Sissy Pessoa ran with the idea into a more modern direction with this gown and capelet. It has all the traditional flower forms, but the dress itself is quite modern and made even more so in the sheer version.
This sign, a riff on the Borg’s mantra,made me laugh. I always just point out the Borg dies in the end. But I laugh because where I grew up, we competed against Fertile in sports and other competitions. More amusingly, Fertile happens to be just about 25 miles from Climax, another town we competed against. When you’re in high school, such things are hilarious and even to this day, pranksters add distance to Fertile signs to the “You are Entering Climax” sign and vice versa. By the way, whoever ordered “You are entering Climax” is my hero. That sign is gone now, replaced by the much less amusing “Climax Pop. 300” sign. Not that we weren’t without our own embarrassing names. A few miles out of town, there used to be a glorious road sign, “Bullshit Valley, Next Left” That was the name of the valley. That was the sign. When I was home this summer, I saw it has been “cleaned up” and now reads, BS Valley. I was disappointed. I did not live in Bullshit Valley, alas, and my dad only took that left hand turn every few years just because it was a pretty route, though it was gravel not tar. The road to Bullshit Valley is paved now. I am sure there’s a metaphor there somewhere.
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Our web site was down. Somehow there was a virus in the database. Is that not the strangest thing? I don’t know if that would affect readers or not, but thankfully it’s been fixed.
I shot these pictures last week. I was still shocked by the Orwellian phrase “alternate facts” that in a healthy society would completely discredit the people who promote them. But, since people no longer distinguish between fact and opinion, alternate facts seem to be growing. Aldous Huxley, though, had the right idea. “Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.”
Just in Case the President Forgets What America Stands For
Due to an undemocratic constitutional defect, the person the American people did not want has assumed the presidency. While he remains in office, we must resist to limit the damage. For some fun virtual resistance, I formed a Flickr® group called Avatars Against Trump. Please consider joining and adding your contributions. It’s a brand new group, but it’s already getting some great contributions.
It is not limited to Second Life®, so people who play other online games with content generated by their users will be able to contribute their screenshots and photos. There is another virtual resistance group on Flickr, the Body Language Challenge inspired by Aria Watson’s first life series of photos.
By the way, I am so proud of Linden Lab™ standing up with integrity and humanity against the immigration ban.
There’s so many things to resist as the regime is wreaking havoc everywhere you look, but folks need to pick their battles and pick their strategies. It is okay if resistance is chaotic and unstructured. It is okay for resistance to be fun. Resistance should be fun! It is about serious threats and is serious business, but when resistance is powered by joy, it lasts longer and is more powerful. Joy is resistance.
There are many groups organizing resistance and you should choose the ones who appeal to you. There are many issues which need resistance, you should choose the ones close to your heart. When resistance is dispersed and decentralized, it is harder to attack and dismantle. Let resistance be surprising, unexpected, spontaneous.
If you want guidance for small daily acts of resistance, there are a few web sites.
The best thing is to find local organizing groups to support. You can do this at Indivisible Guide. This connects you with a new group of like-minded people who can lift you up when you are feeling despair. It will also be more fun to resist in a group. People learn a lot of skills volunteers with community groups and if you’re protesting, you will be out in the fresh air–which we need to enjoy while we have it.
Meanwhile, show some virtual resistance at Avatars Against Trump. If you do a blog post, please add it in comments. (They are working again.)
“When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it–always”
Mahatma Gandhi
Yesterday, three million women and men marched in every state and on every continent in the world. Every continent, even Antarctica. In 51° below Kotzebue, Alaska, people marched. In sunshine and rain storms, desert heat and arctic cold, people gathered to resist. Of course, the naysayers mocked and dismissed. “Resistance is futile,” they quote The Borg, an implicit confession of corruption. They forget, the Borg is destroyed in the end.
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Every month I write a couple articles for ECLIPSE Magazine. The January issue is out and I encourage you to check it out, not just for my own efforts (which include the cover story on Mischief Managed and the regular Voices from the Grid) but for a fascinating article on art, the exciting fashion spreads, and all the other great articles.
Resistance requires strength.
Sari-Sari released a set of ballet poses with their exercise equipment for Collabor88
Epictetus wrote in the Enchiridion, “The things in our control are by nature free, unrestrained, unhindered.” We control our own actions, words, opinions, what we like, what we don’t like, and what we want. If we stick to what we control, he suggests, we are free of restraint. It is when we try to influence the things outside our control that we are trapped. It’s good advice. The difficulty is figuring out what we can control.
That’s been on my mind a lot. There’s a lot I don’t like happening, but what can I control? I can choose despair or resistance, that’s up to me. I need to focus on what I can do, not what I wish would happen. So even though I feel like kicking more than an exercise bag, I will instead focus my mind and my heart on resisting despair.
Blueberry / Show Time / Maitreya – Nel Shoe
Hey, hey, oh playmate,
Come out and play with me
And bring your dollies three
Climb up my apple tree
Slide down my rain barrel
Into my cellar door
And we’ll be jolly friends
Forever more, more, more.
Pizza – Nightspot [Red] Tailcoat and {Luxuria} Lia Bodysuit – Applier *kale green*
