Within this world
there is, indeed, no path!
Even deep in this mountains
I have entered, heart set,
I seem to hear the deer cry!
Fujiwara no Toshinari
There is no path
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Author Archives: Cajsa Lilliehook
Cooking and Eating at My House
I live in Barnesworth Anubis’ Classic Brownstone which has a huge kitchen/dining room. I contemplated using it for a roller rink, but well, that would be silly. Instead, I have a formal dining table on one side, a casual nook for solitary meals and a fabulous kitchen. Here’s a tour of the space and the Christmas decor.
The focal point is the dining table and chairs from The Loft. They were released in October and remain a favorite because of the powerful statement their sleek style and form deliver. The come with gorgeous place settings and I imagine will serve well throughout the year. The NOMAD Baubles Tree from The Arcade is a modern and minimalist bit of decor and the Schadenfreude Festive Cheese Snack was a gift I found under the tree at The Arcade
I’ve tucked the Swedish dining table chairs and candelabra from Nomad into a corner for a less formal place to drink some coffee, read the paper or grab a bagel. The fruit bowl is also from Nomad. All of those items were released in November at Collabor88. The lovely red cuckoo clock is from Fancy Decor and was released in a panoply of colors at The Arcade. The washbasin planter and hedge are from Trompe Loeil and is also at the Arcade. The chalkboards I repurposed from floorplan and Willow’s Astrology Chart, replacing the chart with some chalk art I found on the internet and tinting the frames red. Many of the frames sold at events are modifiable and will allow you to replaced their pictures with your own and some, like this wonderful one will let you change the frame’s color and size. Over the table is a big chalkboard from Clutter. They have released several different ones for the holidays. Below that, you can see Trompe Loeil’s JOY letters, a part of the holiday decor collection at The Arcade.
On the left, you can see the black Christmas ribbon from The Loft for the Botanical Christmas tree at Tannebaum. I thought it would be fun to use it as a sculptural tree on its own. For me, it seems a fitting complement to the dining table and chairs. On the wall, you can see the sign I made using Riders Mesh Factory’s Neon font rezzer. Riders Mesh Factory makes all sorts of fonts and to make your own words, you just rez their contraption, and follow the directions in the blue window. They are really difficult directions like press Start and press Finish. The other decor on The Loft’s Baxter buffet that matches their Baxter table and chairs will be highlighted in closer pictures.
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Let It Snow…
The Cascades are expecting 20 to 40 inches of snow in the next few days. That is the best kind of snow. In the winter, I am all for letting it snow…elsewhere. But, Second Snow does not get cold, does not cause car accidents and does not make the stairs slippery, so I am happy to see it snowing in Second Life®. It was light fluffy snow, the kind that falls when the weather warms up so you can wear something like this lovely cardigan from Emery and not freeze.
Decorating the tree in the back yard and making a few snowmen made for a fun afternoon. For you snowmen manufacturers, there’s an entire kit of materials and end products from Sway’s at The Arcade and What Next also makes a lovely, well-dressed snowman which you can find at The Arcade, too.
I really love this cardigan which comes in five options at Collabor88 this month. The lovely long, casual hairstyle is also at Collabor88 from Exile. It is called Cozy Winter Night, but as you can see, you can also wear it on a chilly winter day.
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The Exercise Room
I am taking a short break after a lovely morning workout in my exercise room. The attic of my townhouse from Barnesworth Anubis is huge, light and airy, perfect for a playroom or, for singletons like me, for a room to dance, exercise and even chill with a book on the massage table after a workout.
From left to right: dust bunny . basket table @ The Arcade, tres blah- Cozy Winter – Space Heater (Rose) @ The Arcade fucifino.Orleans Collection Framed Art (Texture Change) llorisen // eclectic stacked cushions RARE (copy) [ zerkalo ] Magical Christmas – Tiny Tree @ The Arcade dust bunny . robin nest . silver @ The Arcade dust bunny . porcelain deer @ The Arcade PLAAKA FlowerVase Pink Cone @ The Arcade ::{u.f.o}::Swan Lake, Act1 – haning ballet shoes blue, purple, pink and white ::{u.f.o}::Swan Lake, Act1 – ballerina clock coral llorisen // eclectic hello sign RARE (copy) ::{u.f.o}::Swan Lake, Act1 – en haut wall hanging llorisen // eclectic hello sign RARE (copy) Tres Blah Glitter Sign ANE SLON SET – Frame 01 20.aisling. Rugs @ The Arcade 17.aisling. Cushion Stool@ The Arcade 16.aisling. Potted Plant @ The Arcade 21.aisling. Candles @ The Arcade Dutchie sequenced yoga mat blue
It looks like a movie; it sounds like a song
Pixicat has a wonderful ballerina skirt and bodysuit at The Arcade along with several darling ballerina globes to decorate your space. I was inspired to make a short video using the Resplendent Rose Ballet Barre that I purchased a few years ago. However, I have gone to the store and to the marketplace and cannot find it for sale any longer. If folks have recommendations, I would love to hear them.
I will do a separate post about the studio furniture and decor. I wanted to focus on this lovely ballet outfit from Pixicat. When you watch the video you will see how flawlessly it fits.
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Save the Dates for Mahrathon 2016
Every year, my friend Maht Wuyts spends 26.2 hours DJ’ing nonstop to raise funds for Heifer International. It’s great fun and great music. Be sure to go to The Velvet, you won’t want to miss it.
Made of Star Stuff
“The cosmos is within us. We are made of star-stuff. We are a way for the universe to know itself.”
–Carl Sagan
We are so hard on ourselves. It seems a day does not pass that some friend or acquaintance says something harsh and critical of themselves. I do it myself. But really, with all our struggles and our challenges, why do we add to our burdens by turning on ourselves? After all, we are made of star-stuff and should shine as brightly as the stars we come from.
a balloon with a broken string
“I’d be smiling and chatting away, and my mind would be floating around somewhere else, like a balloon with a broken string.”
― Haruki Murakami, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
I wanted to be sure to choose the perfect lingerie for this new sheer tunic Zaara released at Collabor88. I had this great set from Luxuria for Fifty Linden Friday. It’s still available, just not 50 lindens. I love the colors and thought it a perfect set for my new tunic. It applies to both Maitreya and Slink bodies, so it’s very flexible.
Black Bantam, a new to me label, released this lovely Autumn Dreams Balloon Chair, a fantasy piece that I took for a ride on the Linden Ocean. Stacey Oller is the designer for Black Bantam and may be more familiar to folks under her fashion label Pink Acid. The chair contains several poses and animations for men and women (and kids) and comes in blue as well.
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The cultivation and perfection of human beings
In The One-Straw Revolution, Masanobu Fukuoka wrote “The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings.” Like many people, including our founders, he has this idea that only farmers do noble labor. This is all very nice and romantic, but there is an ugly side to it. We see that same idea when politicians call rural America the heartland or “real America” as though we city dwellers were inferior to them. Thomas Jefferson was even more explicit, saying working for a wage and was corrupting and industry would destroy American, meanwhile those who labor in the earth are the “chosen people of god” and the only people he thought should have political power.
The belief our founders had in the superiority of the agrarian life and agrarian people had profound effects on our Constitution. That belief extends to exaggerating the political power of rural states and rural voters in many ways. One Wyoming voter counts as much as four New York voters when voting for president. It is even more inequitable in the Senate, a Vermont voter getting counting 30 times more than a New York voter. The United States Senate is the least democratic legislative chamber in the developed world. The 38 million people who live in the nation’s 22 smallest states, including Wyoming, are represented by 44 senators. The 38 million residents of California are represented by two senators.
I think about these things when I am hopping about the grid looking for a nice place to shoot a picture.
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So this is how liberty dies… with thunderous applause.
The Instruments monthly showcase is featuring designs inspired by Star Wars this month. Among the designs, you will find this fabulous gown inspired by Padme’s outfit in Episode Three. Padme’s lament, “So this is how liberty dies… with thunderous applause.” seems particularly apt at this time when crowds of people applaud the creation of databases to track people because of their ethnicity and armed vigilance committees march outside mosques and call themselves patriots. I guess those people have not studied history (or watched Star Wars), a tabula rasa of ignorance on which the future of tyranny is being written. Of course, the Force is with us all to resist tyranny by resisting fear. We know what happens when fear inspires hate. It has happened before and if we fail to learn from that, we have only ourselves to blame.
I stopped at Winter Moon for the photos, since the dress is black and white, I thought black and white pictures would be great. By the way, I think the scarf that is part of the Padme dress may work well with other outfits. The Padme outfit includes the dress, scarf and sleeves that I am wearing as well as a crown, earrings and rings that I am not.