Tag Archives: the arcade

A Damn Fine Cup of Coffee

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Relaxing at Agent Cooper’s desk with a damn fine cup of coffee from Schadenfreude.

When my father died, my sisters called to tell me. It was not unexpected and was, in many ways, a relief for him and everyone who loved him, but that does not lessen the loss or the finality of death. They gave me the news and I sat there, quietly stunned at how much more painful it was than Thought it would be. I think I whimpered, trying not to cry. So my oldest sister said, “Go make yourself a coffee. It’s a good thing. I’ll call you back after you’ve had a coffee.” I had to laugh to myself, because coffee as comfort is so very much the legacy of my dad, a first generation Swedish American.

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Such a messy desk! some of the mess comes in a great collection of clutter from Tres Blah at The Arcade that are must have pieces to turn houses into homes.

Coffee is a ritual for Scandinavians who consume more coffee per capita than any other people in the world. Most people in the US are familiar with coffee breaks at the work place, but in a Swedish American home, there are coffee breaks every day, when we would all sit down together and enjoy a good cup of coffee with some bread and cheese or some fruit or a dessert. And by all, I mean all. Children get coffee with milk as soon as they are old enough to hold a cup without spilling it. Continue reading

In Living Color

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How many of us have predominantly black, grey, and white clothing? How many homes have all white walls and neutrals with a “pop” of accent color? We don’t have achromatopsia, so why do we live like we do? Why are neutrals considered more tasteful than active, vibrant colors? 

Did you know that those classic white statues from ancient Rome and Greece were not originally white? They were painted and full of bright gaudy color. I wonder sometimes if the centuries of elevating their pristine monochromatic grandeur are why we are so shy with color in our lives today.
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I Am In a Land of Ice and Snow

The wintry weather is probably kicking me pretty hard by now, in my southern style coat. Luckily in SL I was able to keep warm thanks to Amitomo’s release for THE ARCADE. It’s even got a handy pouch for my passport. Which is PERFECT as I’m out of the US!

Now, I’m off to do northern things! Stay Pretty!

Gidge is Wearing:
Lashes: Amacci – Eyelash Tattoo 5
Beauty Mark: [PXL] Beauty Mark POS10 Dark SX
Neckware: AMITOMO.Bon Voyage Gacha 12. Passport Holder THE ARCADE
Jacket: AMITOMO.Bon Voyage Gacha 4.(F) Field jacket#4 M THE ARCADE
Camera: AMITOMO.Bon Voyage Gacha [RARE] Vintage Twin-lens reflex camera
THE ARCADE
Hair: Clawtooth: Audrey H. – Fat Pack COLLABOR88 March 2015
Hands: Slink Avatar Enhancement Hands V2 – L – Casual
Slink Avatar Enhancement Hands V2 – R – Elegant1
Body: Slink Physique Mesh Body V2.2
Skin: *League* Skin Erin Pale Mocha Blonde Chest D
Eyes: IKON Charm Eyes – Denim (M)
Pose: PRETENSE

Twin Peaks and Porn

The current round of COLLABOR88 has kicked off with an homage to one of my favorite stories – TWIN PEAKS. The actual name of the theme is MOONLESS NIGHT, and mood board hearkens to damn fine coffee and Laura Palmer’s compatriots.  Continue reading

Imagine If Jane Austen Got Angry

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This Spring session of The Arcade has one of the most exciting Arcade sets of all time. For once, it’s a good thing to get lots of commons while seeking your rare. You will need several pieces of the common wall to surround your manor house with a beautiful courtyard. Anyway, it’s just an extraordinarily complete collection with 2 houses, an outbuilding, landscaping and interior furnishing, even a well and a wooden cart. 

 

Yesterday was World Book Day. That, combined with the wonderful Primavera in Toscana set from 8f8 at The Arcade got me thinking about my favorite books of the past year.  What rose to the top was Elena Ferrante’s magnificent Neapolitan novels. Now, the novels mainly take place in a poor neighborhood in Naples, not in a rich manor home in Tuscany, but know, we Americans are supposed to think there is no difference, right?

Actually, the wall reminds me so much of the wall surrounding the Spanish military base where I was living with a Spanish family while attending my senior year in Algeciras, Spain. The one difference is that the wall in Spain had flowers on the top, trailing down the white walls. There were always two guards outside with a sign “Todo por la patria” on the wall next to the guard station. Can you imagine an American military base with a wall covered with flowers?

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I love the contradictions in this dress and coat from NYU. NYU specializes in minimalist design, the aesthetic beauty of a dress and coat coming from the lines and forms of the clothing, not from embellishment or patterns. The dress has this severe post-war austerity except that slit on the skirt is thoroughly modern and not the least bit austere.

John Freeman of The Australian wrote of Elena Ferrante, “Imagine if Jane Austen Got Angry.” The Neapolitan novels tell the story of two women, from their childhood to adulthood. There is a lot of anger in her novels, but also humor and love. They seem so raw and honest, as though the author cannibalized her life to tell the story, though we cannot know as Elena Ferrante is very private. Still, the narrator in this Neapolitan tetralogy is named Elena and plans to be a writer. In terms of the usual publicity authors relentlessly pursue, she said she did all she needed to do for her book, she wrote it. I love that!
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A Blogger’s Work Is Not Begging

I started out my early morning shopping and usual blogger work a bit earlier than usual today. I think of blogging both as my SL Hobby and let’s face it, it’s also a bit of a job. Some people role play families, some people role play being a space pirate, some people role play being a cabbage for all I know. I guess that makes my role play in SL being a fashion blogger.  I love it, I love styling my pixel self, I love the choices and variety of fashion – I love that high heels NEVER NEVER NEVER hurt my feet. I love being perfect based on what I consider to be ideal. I love that genetics play no part in how pixel Gidge looks. Continue reading

The Angel is in the Details

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They say the devil is in the details, but there is nothing devilish about this dress.

When Pixicat shared this dress as a Work In Progess on Plurk, I knew I had to have it. The details were so carefully wrought that anyone who loves great craftsmanship would admire the dress, whether it is their personal style or not. A lot of thought went into the design in ways to allow you to wear it as you please. For example, it comes with or without the white blouse, there’s a detachable bow you can opt to leave off, as I did. And then the lacy overskirt can be worn, as I did, or left off, as Gidge did in the previous post. On top of that, the lace overskirt it tintable so you could color it anything your heart desires.

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Three Eyed Cat Soup

The original title of this post was “If you go out in the woods today…” because it was going through my head while I was getting dressed. Then I went looking around on Honour McMillan’s blog for a good place to shoot and EXACTLY the place I wanted was found in a blog post by the same name. KISMET! But I figured, she just used that title, I know we’ve used it, I’ve got to come up with something new.

I realized I’m clearly headed to Grandmother’s in this outfit. Traditionally I’m taking her a basket of food as she’s sick. So obviously, in this version of the tale, Grandmother is going to be having three eyed cat soup. Right? Yum yum. Continue reading