Baiastice recently released an adorable cozy winter set that goes well together but also works gorgeously for separates. The suede skirt and rich warm tights come with a belt that you can choose silver or gold version. The sweater is a double layer which includes a turtleneck. Continue reading
If on a winter’s night a traveler,
outside the town of Malbork,
leaning from the steep slope,
within fear of wind and vertigo,
looks down in the gathering shadow,
in a network of lines that enlace,
in a network of lines that intersect,
on a carpet of leaves illuminated by the moon,
around an empty grave –
What story down there awaits its end?
If On a Winter’s Night a Traveler is a short miracle of a book written by Italo Calvino. I am thinking of rereading it again for perhaps the tenth time. It’s written so beautifully it feels like poetry. In fact, the chapter titles, as you can see above, seem to make a poem. But the real poetry is the evocative language and the deep, authentic love of language that Calvino reveals.
The novel begins in a railway station, the locomotive huffs, steam from a piston covers the opening of the chapter, a cloud of smoke hides part of the first paragraph. In the odor of the station there is a passing whiff of station café odor. There is someone looking throughout he befogged glass, he open the glass door of the bar, everything is misty inside, too, as if seen by nearsighted eyes, or eyes irritated by coal dust. The pages of the book are clouded like the windows of an old train, the cloud of smokes on the sentences. It is a rainy evening; the man enter the bark he unbuttons his damp overcoat; a cloud of steam enfold him; a whistle dies away along tracks that are glistening with rain, as far as the eye can see.
From Chapter One of If on a winter’s night a traveler
Well I admit I might have the most spoiled Zooby baby in all of the grid officially now. She not only has her own bedroom in my house, but now I got her Christmas gifts and these were Christmas cookies shipped for me with love. Well, it’s Tymmerie Thorne’s fault because she gave me extras from the Woodland Gacha and then well, I was so excited about it. So I also got her a doll wardrobe and some dolls.
WHY SHOULD MY FAKE BABY NOT HAVE CHRISTMAS PEOPLE? Continue reading
Lacuna has released an adorable teddy set for the holidays in cool white and candy stripes.
I love the slinky smooth texture that is sexy without being too provocative or unladylike Continue reading
If there is anything you learn growing up in the land of the ice and snow, it’s that you need to stay dry and keep the wet cold off of you. Layers, and the right ones are the key. You’ll get cold, but you won’t be TOO miserable by the time you get home to peel off your frozen outerwear and warm back up.
Being warm is a bugaboo for me. As a child, we had a house with out insulation. After the blizzard hit, we spent many nights sleeping in every item of clothing we owned, on the floor in front of the fireplace.
So, I won’t be cold. Not ever, if I can help it. Continue reading
I am blogging early on a Saturday morning – 6:30 AM to be precise. Why so early? Mainly because heat rises. My downstair neighbor heats his apartment so much that the heat rising from below eliminates any need for me to heat, but also dramatically overheats my apartment. It’s 42° outside and I have the windows open and am wearing a little as a person can get away with open windows.
In my Second Life, I can dress more appropriately for the weather in a gorgeous new jacket from Legal Insanity. You know what’s insane? How gorgeous this jacket is, that’s what! I love the details, the cinched waist, the tie belt, the paid accents and inset, the bits of shearling peeking at the edges. It comes in plenty of color options and two prints, the plaid you see and a subtle chevron print. Continue reading
It’s time! Time to wrap up the SL Christmas and get those presents where they belong. The hours are ticking along and with RL time now at a premium, I know most of us will be seeing less of the grid and more of the people who really matter. Continue reading
Every year, Sissy Pessoa makes a few gowns for the round of holiday cocktail parties and balls – and every year they are stunning. This year is no exception. I particularly love Gemma, this gorgeous body-con ball gown with the sweeping skirt that blossoms from below the hips.
About ten years before my mother died, I discovered the perfect Christmas present for her that I was able to give her year after year. It was one she bragged about up one side of town and down the other. She just loved saying, “My daughter gave me a water buffalo for Christmas.” It just tickled her funny bone and best of all, she loved what the gift was for. Since then, more people in my family have taken to giving bee hives, chickens, pigs, goats and water buffalo for wedding presents, birthday and Christmas by making a contribution to Heifer International on their behalf. You still have time to check out the most important gift catalog in the world.
Heifer International fights poverty in the US and around the world by providing livestock and training so people can become self-reliant. Even better, recipients pledge to pay it forward, giving the first offspring to someone else in their community. It’s a great program and makes for fun, wonderful gifts. At least fun to talk about – because who gets water buffalo?
While my family was very poor when I was growing up, I seldom felt the pinch of poverty. For one thing, the county I lived in was one of the poorest in the nation so a lot of people were poor. Even with the casinos that have opened since then, a quarter of the population still lives below the poverty level. Poverty is relative, so with so many other people being in the same boat, it was just the way things were.
My parents made a comfortable life for us despite poverty with hunting, gardening, fishing and making everything from soap to candles to clothing. Nearly everything was hand made – even my hockey sticks and skis. And my winter coats.