Tag Archives: CAE

We have a need for enchantment

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“We have a need for enchantment that is as deep and devoted as our need for food and water.”

I am reading The Culture of Make Believe by Derrick Jensen. I think I will have to just buy this book and return the copy I am reading to the library. Like Wendell Berry, Jensen’s book is too rich in subject matter to just read. It will be one I want to go back to again and again. I am reading it slowly, pausing after each conclusion or big idea to think. The underlying theme is that by viewing our world as an object to possess and exploit instead of seeing it as this living, breathing subject whose existence is vital, we become alienated from the world and all sorts of other ills are natural consequences of treating everything as an object to own. The writing is beautiful and powerful and full of ideas that I want to remember. He wrote that ““we have a need for enchantment that is as deep and devoted as our need for food and water.”
I think this is true. Wonder and awe are thinks we yearn for and they are most often found outdoors in the natural world.

“We have a need for enchantment that is as deep and devoted as our need for food and water.”

There is wonder, too, in Second Life®, at the beautiful worlds and stunning landscapes of our virtual world. It is less powerful, but no less real. There is no fresh, brisk breeze with the restorative power of fresh air, but there is the calm and soothing joy of beauty. Take a walk at The Trace Too and the sights and sounds will entrance you. Now if only they could produce virtual fresh air.
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No, you don’t have to do that.

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Poetry should appear almost a remembrance

Helen Mirren gave an interview earlier this month that shocked some and made me happy. She said that she wished she had told more people to “fuck off” and it is not the first time. She once said if she had a daughter, that would be one of the first phrases she would want to teach her. As Mirren explained, “Unfortunately, at least for my generation, growing up (we didn’t say that) and I love the fact that girls are so much more confident and outspoken than my generation were. We were sort of brought up to be polite and sometimes politeness, in certain circumstances, is not what’s required, you’ve got to have the courage to stand up for yourself occasionally when it’s needed.”

I think a lot of us need to say those words more often. We often do things we do not want to do out of social expectations and traditions that really require a good fuck off. Of course, sometimes there are obligations and job requirements that just don’t allow us to say that, but then we have Second Life® and if there is any place on the planet where we should be free to do as we please, it should be Second Life.

That’s why I never feel bad about wearing clothes as I please and not just as they come in the folder. Of course, I don’t feel that is really saying “fuck off” to the designer, instead it is just showing that they clothing is more versatile that first envisioned. Of course, in this case, I think  wearing this dress differently than pictured in the vendor ad is intentional, otherwise, why would the designer make it so versatile.
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That’s how the light gets in

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“There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in.”

I love the music of Leonard Cohen. I have a playlist I love of Leonard Cohen covers and know nearly all his songs by heart. One of them, Anthem, is one of my favorites because although on one level it despairs of the world; it also calls us to act with hope. “Ah the wars they will be fought again.  The holy dove, she will be caught again, bought and sold and bought again. The dove is never free.” It is true, endless wars are a constant stream throughout history,  started by governmental leaders,  the “killers in high places who say their prayer out loud.”

But then there is the chorus.

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in.

Ring the bells that still can ring acknowledges that as bad as it is, there are still some things that you can do. Don’t let excuses stop you from doing what you can. “Forget your perfect offering” reminds me of Voltaire’s aphorism “The perfect is the enemy of the good.”  Do not wait for the perfect answer, the perfect solution, go with what you’ve got because good enough is better than nothing, and nothing is what you get if you wait for perfect. Everything we can do is going to be slightly imperfect, “there is a crack in everything” but it is those imperfections that reveal our humanity and “that’s how the light gets in.” I love how he asserts that it is in our imperfections that we will save ourselves.

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Symbiosis

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Oxford English Dictionary definition of Symbiosis

Oxford English Dictionary definition of Symbiosis

The relationship between designers and bloggers has generated a lot of conversation lately — and that is certainly preferable to allowing anger, frustration and resentment to bubble beneath the surface. For me, though, many of these discussions spend too little time reflecting on the symbiotic relationship between blogger and designer and that leads to an unnecessary and misleading polarization of the issue. Bloggers and creators should not be polarized, because they need each other and their relationship is symbiotic, not parasitic.

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Don’t get me wrong. I roll my eyes when I see increasingly prescriptive demands from creators, but I understand where the motivation for these demands originate. There are more and more and more bloggers everyday. It is clear that several, though not most, people who decide to blog see it as an opportunity to get free stuff. There is plenty of evidence for this from Flickr posters soliciting “blog sponsors” without regard to their own aesthetic to the fact that I, a blogger who has made exactly two projectors for sale, get random notecards asking me to add people to my blogging team. Hah!

If you are sending me a notecard, you have not looked at what I make. If you have not looked at what I make, you don’t care about the quality or creativity or any of the other reasons someone would want to blog another’s items. You just want stuff.

I do not disapprove of a blogger contacting a designer. I have myself. However, I only do it when that designer speaks to me with their creations. When a designer’s work stands out from the crowd. When I have worn it and blogged it and know I love it.  When their work suits my taste and the way I think about clothing. Yes, then I will read their profile to learn how they recruit new bloggers and follow their instructions. I may be one of the “old guard”, but I still follow instructions. The key point though, is that I only ask if their work is something I would still wear and still buy, if and when I can afford it, whether they added me as a blogger or not.

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You Can’t Go In Here

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I think everyone’s mom but mine had that room, that perfect living room. The room where things matched, and were coordinated, where things got dusted.  We never had that room, we had chaos and messy and mismatched furniture.

When it came time to buy my own house in real life, having that room wasn’t much of a priority to me either – I coveted a proper dining room. But secretly I’d love to have a room where everything is as it should be. Where guests can drop in and you have no worries about what scary things might be hidden in the couch. Continue reading →

White and Black

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Snapshot

 

 

I was playing with lights and shadows using a single narrow line of white light for my projector. The background prim is white and the blackness comes from wind light set to 100% black everything and bringing gamma down to 0. Then the only light there is comes from the projector. The thin sliver of light in the dark made me feel very noir

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I love the modernist simplicity of NYU’s new Thalia coat. Eschewing all the usual outerwear detailing, the epaulettes, the fabric belt, the stitched edging and the rows of buttons, its design details are a simple notched collar and a single button. This is simplicity at its most stark and striking. I wanted to maintain that sensibility in styling and kept to a monochromatic palette of white with touches of black and silver. I chose cigarette pants from One Bad Pixel for their clean and simple lines.

SnapshotI added a fedora (color-change) from Argace that I have had for ages. I also added a touch of whimsy with CAE’s lovely Blizzard earrings in silver.

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My pumps are from Glamistry and are as chic as can be. The come with a color change HUD that allows me to select the color of the metal (silver, copper and gold) and the platform, heel and body separately. However, I did not go for parti-colored shoes with my monochrome mission. There’s a lot of intelligence behind the Glamistry brand – which allows you to add color components to your HUD so if you kick yourself for buying just one color, you can add more later without proliferating your inventory with pairs and pairs of shoes.

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My skin choice is Sia (FairTales), a new release from Glam Affair for Collabor88 that features soft and ethereal makeups, several with bright, fun colors.

Store info at Blogging Second Life
****SHOPPING LIST******
Poses: Ma Vie
Skin: Glam Affair – Sia skin ( Fairy Tales ) – Asia 08 E
Eyes: [UMEBOSHI] Eon eyes dark Green (med)
Lashes: Mon Cheri *MC* “Falsies” Eyelash
Mesh Attachments:
Slink Avatar Enhancement Hands – Elegant – XSmall L
Slink Avatar Enhancement Hands – Elegant – XSmall R
Slink AvEnhance Feet High XS
Mani/Pedi: FLAIR
Hair: *ARGRACE* Fedora Hat “Wild curl”
Clothing: ::1bp:: Cigarette Pants S White
NYU – Thalia Coat, White
Shoes: Glamistry : GALLA Heels
Jewelry: Cae :: Blizzard :: Earring

Bedazzled or Shoe Glue Is Magical

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When long-time model Fuzz Lennie told me she had begun designing for Zanze and had just produced her first dress, I had to see it. She has a great sense of style and exquisite focus on detail and I was eager to see what she was going to make. All I can say, is wow! if this is her first, I cannot wait for her second. This dress spoke to me on another level though, reminding me of one of my favorite gifts I gave for Christmas.

It was several years ago, back when I had my very first job in political organizing – working for the mission more than the money. My “discretionary income” was close to nil and in choosing between getting the NY Times of a telephone, I opted for the Times and walked two blocks to a convenience store for phone calls. So Christmas would have to be frugal and I would have to make gifts. Well, I grew up on frugal Christmases with homemade gifts, so that was no problem.
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Staying In…… in VoguE

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If you plan on staying in, the Boudoir Collection at VoguE has a good selection to choose from for your “needs”.   And for mine… I chose Dracy.  Its mesh, but a see through chemise lets your gorgeous shape show through.

Dracy - Vogue

Wanna see more? Turn the page…..
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Princess Wannabe….. maybe….

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I didn’t even KNOW I wanted to be a Princess until I got to Fit for a Princess!  I found this cute dress  from Moon Amore and fabulous jewelry set from Cae.

Fit for a Princess

more pictures… keep reading….
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New at VoguE

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I got a notice yesterday about some newness at VoguE. I hadn’t been there in a while so I figured I’d pop over and take a look….. and there before me was some of the cutest summery lingerie. I just HAD to show you!

Vogue 1
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