The lovely button-front shirt is from Kunglers. The jeans are from The Plastik, they come in more colors and prints than I can count. I suppose the lyric is maudlin, but Mother’s Day is a hard day for me. I miss her every day, but some days are harder than others.
Sometimes I feel like a motherless child
Sometimes I feel like a motherless child
Sometimes I feel like a motherless child
A long ways from home
A long ways from home
Mijn Boutiques cat sweater seems made for me – the caretaker and servant of a black and white cat named Oscar.
My mom liked to say that everything you do should be done with love. It is one reason why I am so fond of the With Love Hunt an annual event that asks all of us to act with love. Creators are asked to create with love – making wonderful items that they will offer at a fraction of their worth. Bloggers are asked to blog with love and integrity, without giving away anything more than approved hints. Hunters are asked to hunt with love, without complaints about the nomimal 10 linden price or hard-to-find items. We may not all succeed, but we are asked to try.
This sweater from Mijn was certainly made with love, love for cats, for whimsy, for fun. And it came to my attention with love when a blog reader, knowing my fondness for Oscar, alerted me to this Oscarish cat. And yes, I am blogging it with love, love for my ridiculously entertaining cat and the fey spirit that creates such a fun sweater for me to enjoy and the diligent event coordinator who uses her skills to build community.
When I first moved to Portland, a gay co-worker asked me to participate in “Queer For A Day” an event organized by Queer Nation. I happily agreed, not realizing that meant all day. I blithely pasted on my florescent green and safety orange stickers that boldly proclaimed “Dyke” and “Queer” in huge black lettering and enjoyed my latte at Pioneer Square with all sorts of other temporary queers. Then I went to work.
Like many people in political activism, I began as a canvasser, one of those people who go door-to-door talking to folks about the issues and raising money to fund organizing campaigns. I had no fear of reprisals from my employer over my bold signage, but when I learned we were going to canvass in East County in a particular neighborhood we canvassers called “mean dog turf” my stomach began to churn. This was no liberal bastion of tolerance. I was terrified. My friend who had invited me to join the Queer For a Day action assured me that no one would blame me for taking off the stickers given the circumstances. However, I decided that gay folks don’t get to take off their gender orientation and truly, part of the purpose of Queer For a Day was to expose gay rights supporters to the un-fabulous reality of gay life – bullying, violence and homophobia.
So, I wore my sticker and approached every door with trepidation and anxiety. I did not suffer any physical violence other than some spit at my feet and only got a smattering of verbal abuse during the night. On the contrary, most people were very nice and friendly, supportive of the national health care campaign I was working on and curious and intrigued by my stickers and my explanation of the Queer For a Day concept. I did get warned away from particular houses – neighbors telling me that so and so was an OCA member (the virulent anti-gay organization responsible for several anti-gay ballot measures). I happily took their advice since I was not looking for any excitement. However, even though the night was successful and mostly uneventful, I have never forgotten that feeling of fear as I knocked on each door, anxious over every single encounter, afraid of verbal abuse, hatred, and violence.
Queer for a Day began as a lark to please a friend, but in many ways, it changed my life. I took the stickers off at the end of the day and returned to my relatively safe straight life, but I learned that night that tolerance is not equality. Human rights and human dignity are meaningless if even one person is denied them. If they are not innate and immutable, they are nothing more than privileges subject to the whims of those in power. I had been one of those Saul Alinsky style activists who believed that if we only sorted out the economic justice issues, oppression would lose its power, but I learned then, that oppression is not just an economic wedge, it is the foundation of political division and disempowerment. The oppression of gender minorities, women and people of color are the foundation of economic oppression, not the other way around. So long as we can be divided and disempowered by social wedges, the future is bleak.
It’s been about 17 years since I was Queer For a Day and a lot has changed. Not enough. There’s so much more to be done, but I am hopeful and optimistic and I am wearing purple for Spirit Day –. It’s much more fashionable than neon stickers and not nearly as frightening. As to why purple – I think I will just play the Lavender Song from 1920 for you.
I love the idea behind the Raid My Closet Challenge. With an inventory overflowing with far more clothes than I can keep track of and more shoes than a Jimmy Choo store, it makes sense to dig around in the inventory rather than buy something new. We all know that there have been great advances in the technology of clothing design and that there’s a reason some of the clothing moldering in our folders are not seeing the light of day anymore, but among those older clothes and shoes are gems that are just as good as ever.
GField made a gorgeous swimsuit for faMESHed. It’s sassy and oh, so adorable. It comes in four gorgeous summer colors so you always have one to wear while the others are drying.
I had to try out the fun pose set with props from oOo Studio for Vintage Fair – so I popped over to the Second Life Surfing Association’s sim and paddled out to catch some waves. Continue reading
Pose set, dress and hair can all be found at the Chic² event until June 24th
Lucy could have been talking about Keira Seerose, who was busily preparing plans for Vintage Fair as Chic², celebrating the second birthday of her Chic Management company opened to eager crowds yesterday. Yesterday, just a little over a week after the huge fundraising event Culture Shock closed. With one event after another, she proves again and again that if you want something done, as a busy person to do it.
I love Boom’s fabulous pastel ombre backless tees at Collabor88. The come in all shades of pastel and are as fresh as springtime. Before choosing this jewelry from Bliensen & Maitai, I tried on several other options, a couple of them falling so deep into my torso they were not even visible. This made me think it might be useful to share a few tricks for dealing with that dilemma.
There are a few options, some people try to cam inside the body and select the jewelry. I find that so frustrating because sometimes I can see the prim to select and SL will not let me select it because there’s another prim in the way. I used to go to edit mode and make my shape short, raise the necklace over my head and then restore my shape again. Not my favorite options. There are easier ways to do it.
I am mixing mesh pants with a system sweater and sculpts, assured that the system top with be firmly tucked in to my pants waist band. This sweater is from The Sea Hole and has a gorgeous teal and brown crocheted lace insert down the front. It comes with a rounded neckline. With all embellishment on the front, I did not want to add a necklace and decided to add this lovely brown collar scarf from The Secret Store.
The first time I ran away I saw
Faces in the dreams I heard
Voices in the storm they say
Uh, uh,… water falls
Uh, uh
Continue reading
No, I am not feeling blue, just wearing blue – and sitting on blue. The blue cardigan is from Leverocci. I picked it up when I was thinking my outfit from The Sea Hole looked a bit chilly for the weather we were having. The chair is from RnB and is a Wear Gray event item. It has 9 sit animations in it with a good mix of realistic male and female options. I love the retro styling. It reminds me of this fabulous couch I bought at a rummage sale that was that same electric blue and also a 60s vintage in pristine condition. I bet they kept it in plastic covers. It was 75 inches long and I loved it. Unfortunately, my dog would chew on the legs a bit, so I bought some bitter apple and sprayed the entire couch so she would leave it alone. Big mistake! I came home after work to a house with floors 6 inches deep in couch batting and fabric and the only fabric and stuffing still on the counch the little bits near the staples and upholstery nails that she could not chew off. It went from fully upholstered to wood and springs with one spray of bitter apple. When I saw this chair, I felt a pang of nostalgia for that magnificent couch and for that damned dog.
In less than four hours, Fashion For Life will be closing until next year. The vendors will be picked up and the sims will be dismantled and it will all go away, these beautiful builds such as this one that are all part of a monumental annual effort to raise funds in the hope of finding cures for cancer. Cancer is such a tricky bastard; it needs more than one cure. But the cures are possible; they can be found and it will take our concerted effort to find them.