According to Reuters, a declassified version of the latest U.S. defense-intelligence report on UFOs is expected to be made public in the coming days. I suppose it would be too much to ask for this to be the beginning of the discovery of intelligent life that swoops down and manages to breed the stupid out of people before I die of old age. The trend of Americans joining cults back in the 1970s seems to be returning with a vengeance. Everywhere I look, I see hollow-eyed parrots where people used to be. They live by the mantra that the only valid voices are the ones telling them not to trust anyone else, regardless of how insane and violent those voices get. I don’t think for a second that I’m more intelligent than the average person, but the playing field has been leveled considerably in recent years. Not to be dramatic or anything.
Credits [hair] tram L0325 [head] / HEAD / lel EvoX LILLY [skin] Nuve. Hailey skin browless (Lelutka Evo X) [eyes] AG. Fierce Eyes [lashes] from the Lelutka HUD [brows] Nuve. Taylor v2 Eyebrows black – Lelutka Evo X [tattoo] Nuve. Heart cheek tattoo L – Lelutka Evo X [shape] some random one I made
I recently finished listening to the 4-part series from the Wall Street Journal How To Build A Metaverse and while it was actually a great look at the early days of Second Life and its evolution, the ending left me with a bad taste in my mouth. It seems like every time someone does a review or report, their lack of knowledge and understanding of this virtual world causes misinterpretations galore.
“I’ve been thinking about whether I’ll return to the metaverse after this series is over, and I think I probably won’t be back. Not to Second Life and not to Meta’s Horizon Worlds, which if you ask me, has a lot of the same problems, but none of the charm. I just don’t have enough reason to be in Second Life right now. Reality has been feeling pretty rich lately….” “The metaverse is this thing I can slip into if I ever find myself wanting to tweak my reality, or just be someone else for a while.”
The conclusionary comments by the reporter made it sound like this was a ghost town haven for antisocial gamers living in their parents’ basement. Yea, it’s a form of escapism but it’s so much more than that. Maybe I’m feeling defensive because she missed the fact that commerce is a big part of the driving force behind the survival of SL, or that thousands of people are discovering real-life skills they never knew they had. Or maybe it’s that I myself am an introvert and terrified of trying new things in my first life.
Like all the rest, she over-simplified it. But even though she focused mostly on it being a replacement for personal deficiencies, she at least admitted the purpose people have for staying wasn’t always a lack of alternatives. Part 4 titled “Why Build A World?”, made me reflect on what world I built and also wonder what my true purpose is for being here. It’s changed over time, but something does always keep me coming back. At first, it was a stubborn insistence that I could, in fact, figure out how to dress my avi and walk a straight line. Then I started exploring and experiencing some seriously stunning imagery created by sim builders, which led to an attempt at becoming a photographer. I also learned that I actually enjoy managing people and projects. That was most surprising because I’ve always avoided that occupation in my first life.
As for wanting to be someone else, for better or worse the majority of us are our true selves in Second Life when it comes to how we show up emotionally and mentally. That’s reality. But we exist in our fantasy bodies, living in our fantasy houses. We dance our asses off for hours and don’t sweat. We command entire mountains to rise up and move to our will. We fly, teleport, and change our gender and species with a few clicks. It’s a heightened sense of reality, but a reality nonetheless thanks to the lifelike detail of the bodies, the landscape, and the environment as a whole. Because we’re only experiencing Second Life on a screen, however, there’s typically no confusion about the fact that this is an extension, not a substitute for real life. Knowing that our real-world physical and material qualities aren’t typically factored into what people think of us levels the playing field considerably. I think that’s what appeals to a lot of people. That and the safety with which we can try new things without fear of our body language betraying our embarrassment or disappointment.
Credits (left to right, top, down): [Con.] Lag Poster [Vile XXX] – Chesterfield 3 Piece Sofa [Con.] Forbidden Poster Fancy Decor: Salvador Table (on table) HIDEKI – Domino (on table) Mithral * Tiered Cactus Planter (Pack C) (on table) hive // stay hydrated . decor BUENO– SEA Signs-Beaches KraftWork Hanging Clothes Clutter . Summer Dress Pride Nutmeg. Grungy Clothing Rack / Long Apple Fall Wall Mounted Skateboard – Wood {what next} Hanging Guitar (Chelsea) Apple Fall Signed Vinyl in Frame Apple Fall Pride Flag – Pansexual Pride tarte. astronomy prints Neon Dreamz – Gen-X [Vile] – Anime Gaming Poster Hanger (from [Vile] – Vile Ink Studio Back Drop) [Vile] – VL Gamer Gaming Table with Equipment [Vile] – VL Gamer Gaming Chair Black Leather ADULT Second Spaces geeky powerstrip with cords 7 – Wall AC Unit (Outside) tarte. hanging spider plant draped cloths unlined from various Nutmeg furniture [Vile XXX] – Chesterfield DS Bed Apple Fall Shoeboxes Nutmeg. Sunroom Purse draped cloths unlined from Nutmeg furniture Nutmeg. Concrete Bench PG [Vile] – Vile Ink Studio Back Drop
Credits (left to right, top-down) KraftWork Accordion Blinds Mithral * Plant Display Tray (Gold) {vespertine} – potted hibiscus / yellow {BE} Vintage Books Apple Fall Books – Arrangement 10 Fancy Decor: Pieter Cabinet (black) Nutmeg. Disarray Wooden Candlestick x2 Mithral * Green Oxalis Triangularis (Pack C) Silence. – Hendricks Dresser Apple Fall Leather Basket w/ Fabrics Mithral * Wall Bar Plant Display (Black) Fancy Decor: Prescott Sofa – brown leather Granola. Lil’ Sprouts April Group Gift 2019. Apple Fall Pearl Inlay Frames 220ML – Iron Kiss Sculpture – Onix BALACLAVA!! Books [vertical A] BALACLAVA!! Books [horizontal A] dust bunny . sweet dreams . fiddle leaf tree {wn} Can of Cola – dispenser x2 (What Next – from {wn} Pizza Time set) Junk Food – Microwave Popcorn Apple Fall Period Coffee Table Apple Fall Jute Rug – Diamonds Mithral * Monstera Adansonii (Diamond Pot) Eclectica- 40’s Wall shelf x2 Apple Fall Books – Arrangement 10 Nutmeg. Powder Room Radiator hive // macrame hanging plant . neutrals [FOURTH WALL] TV Speaker Apple Fall Vintage Gallery Original Poster – Ephemera [FOURTH WALL] Curve Multimedia TV (Stand) Apple Fall Plan Chest x2
Look. I love fall. I love leaves changing colors and sunsets filtered through a light fog. The air gets thinner and crisper and easier to breathe. Sweaters and thick socks and mint tea await me when summer ends. I do look forward to Fall in Second Life too. But why do we have to start selling the shit in the middle of summer? Has global warming caused it to overstay its welcome after just a few weeks? I’m not mad, and I’m technically not really bitching, but c’mon. Stop trying to make Fall happen. It’s not going to happen for another 3-4 weeks! Love you all.
I started this picture with the idea that I would do a more lighthearted swing dancing thing, but I couldn’t find a decent pose. I was listening to a song from 2016 that blended the classic swing sound with a more contemporary beat and got these lyrics stuck in my head (song below credits): When you’re up When you’re down And there ain’t no love around So I found a reason to wear this gown from Just Because.
Credits: [hair] tram H1116 hair [dress] JustBECAUSE Amelia Gown [backdrop] anxiety %bachelor [table] Apple Fall Hammered Occasional Table – Iron [tea] {af} Lemon Tea [smoking stuffs] [ kunst ] – Ashtray v3 set / Full pack [mic] GCD – Vintage Microphone with Stand (V2.3) [pose] SEmodeling-35 w/adjustments to head position
They say the chances of being killed by your cat are low….but never zero. That about sums up the tone I can imagine poetry taking if it was created by cats. That’s not a random thought, it’s due to the title of this book: I Could Tear This Shit Up: And Other Poems By Cats. Very fitting. Aside from their destructive nature, nocturnal chaos, and the fact that the Polish Academy of Sciences has declared them an invasive alien species, most of us aren’t in the slightest deterred from loving them more than humans. I have them in Second Life, but it’s not the same. No 3 AM gagging or layered slices on skin in various stages of healing. Mesh KittyCats just herk and jerk from one benign movement to another and have zero capacity for staring unprovoked daggers into your soul. I had mine rezzed for a whole year and he never once made me question my life choices.
I’m wearing: [hair] TRUTH / Friday [top] .BF. Babelove White Top [shorts] ELEVEN – Yuyi Short [socks] TETRA – Warm socks [glasses] [Z O O M] BVLG Sunglass [tattoo] Lotus Love Leg TaTToo [CAROL G] [book] e.marie // library book – poems / [coffee] Serenity Style- la buvette Capuccino Mug
Man, I wish I had a plant-filled reading room like this in the real world. So much life and so many stories in such a small area. Cozy and safe and only enough room for me alone. I could sit there until the sun goes down reading Kurt Vonnegut and pretending to not be living through such a weird, chaotic time.
I do have enough plants to consider parts of my real-life house jungle-like though. I have high ceilings and hardwood floors and tons of windows- the perfect environment for houseplants. Unfortunately, all those old windows weren’t so great in the summertime when the heat would seep through the glass and rise up to gather in my little pandemic office upstairs, where I spend most of my days lately. The rest of the world probably doesn’t realize it, but summers in the Pacific Northwest have become nearly indistinguishable from any other area in recent years. After last year’s heatwave, my landlord finally caved and installed central air conditioning. It’s been life-changing.
Fellow 80s lovers: you probably thought I was referring to the Billy Joel song, but no – it was Slaughterhouse Five. The song is a vapid, maudlin tune about doomed relationships. The novel is a satirical and poignant antiwar story about a doomed American serviceman in WWII who finds himself “unstuck in time” after surviving the firebombing in Dresden. Here’s the Billy Joel song anyway, because who doesn’t love Billy Joel? Assholes, that’s who.
Anyway, sometimes just the thought of social interaction wears me out. Mostly it’s because I’m weird and animated and full of dad jokes and 90s movie quotes, and when I get comfortable around people, that only intensifies. Don’t get me wrong – I know how to read a room (usually). The problem is that I don’t know how to stop people from dimming my light and I’ve become pretty anti-social over the years in a misguided attempt to avoid it. That’s probably why I love taking pictures in SL. I can spend hours alone rearranging the scenery and testing windlights. It’s fulfilling, even if I regularly can’t refrain from being overly critical of the outcome. Like, for instance; is the lighting right on this? Does it actually look like early evening? Is the whole scene too dark to catch your eye? Do I look like an awkwardly posed mannequin? Do I look sad or wistful? Do I look like a boring basic bitch? You get the gist.
On another note; I love all the gowns Annie Melson makes, but I never have excuses to wear them since I’m just as anti-social in SL as I am in the real world. So here is the Farrah Dress, for no other reason than to commit it to my flicker for posterity.
fashion and stuff [hair] TRUTH Forever – Brunette [dress] Just BECAUSE Farrah Dress [earrings] Cae :: Bauble :: Earring [bracelet] Kibitz – High bracelets – onyx [holding] Diversion – Wine Glass (from the Wine O’Clock Pose Pack) [pose] Lyrium. Sora Static Pose 1 (with the left arm adjusted for holding the wine glass)
Decor Literally, all the plants are from Mithral. Ariskea[Harmonia] Sofa Fancy Decor: Bradley Coffee Table Nutmeg. Easeful Chamber Tea Cup (on coffee table) West Village Spring Tulips – Yellow (on coffee table) Nutmeg. French Cafe Journal Stack / 1 (on coffee table) Bermont. Medium Wicker Baskets (under coffee table) shoe decor: Essenz – Aruba (Deco 2) (this is an old group gift – I don’t know if it’s still available) ReKa. Still Life / 1 ..::THOR::.. Love is Love Tote Foxwood – Little Collie – lay [Con.] Gable Patio Chair – Yellow outside: Pseudo– K-town Building (this is an old gacha – I don’t know if it’s still available) the building I’m in: Atelier Burgundy . Artist Loft
I want to disappear. After the last couple of years of the American right declaring with righteous indignation their refusal to accept what they perceived as their human rights being stripped away, why was I not surprised at their celebration of overturning Roe V Wade? Because this is the kind of blatant hypocrisy I’ve come to understand is the backbone of their entire identity. I could have sworn just a decade ago that conservatism meant normal stuff like lower taxes and less government. That’s somehow morphed into paranoid conspiracy theories, fanatical blind loyalty to one man above everyone else, and a total dismissal and distrust of science and education. Didn’t these nutters used to only exist in small pockets, hidden away in sparsely populated rural areas? I don’t know – maybe they’ve always been this prolific and simply got much louder and far prouder when one of the dumbest men in America fell ass-backwards into the presidency and gave them a voice. I don’t even want to think of what my country will look like a decade from now when my niece becomes a legal adult. Not to be dramatic, but life in the U.S. has become so beyond parody in recent years that I wouldn’t be surprised if they find a way to devolve our society right back into the ’50s.
Anyway, here’s a pic.
Credits (left to right, top down) [Con.] Summer – Lawn Chair (at the Fifty until July 10th) LB_BeachPalms hive // beach ball Sway’s [Evan] Roll Up Window Blind – Wide . Natural [-BLUE SKY-] Wall Surfboard – Mandala Decor DRD – Boho Fish Shack – Bouy Bunch – One hive // gone fishin clutter Apple Fall Spring Parasol LISP – Bobble Deck Chair – Full Blue hive // no lifeguard sign [Con.] The Plate Collection – Connecticut (at the Fifty until July 10th) [Con.] The Plate Collection – Washington (at the Fifty until July 10th) [Con.] The Plate Collection – N Dakota (at the Fifty until July 10th) Apple Fall Sealife – White Clam Shell, Wall Mounted Apple Fall Sealife – Sea Star, Wall Mounted DRD – Boho Fish Shack – Sign – Two DRD – Roady’s Biker Bar – Wall License – New York DRD – Roady’s Biker Bar – Wall License – California DRD – Roady’s Biker Bar – Wall License – Old New York DRD – Boho Fish Shack – Bouy – Three DRD – Boho Fish Shack – Paddles Apple Fall Captains Wheel – Burnt Ash Nutmeg. Hose Pot DRD – Boho Fish Shack – Bouy – Two Nutmeg. Serene Poolside Towel Basket AF Stepladder Table Nutmeg. Home At Last Chair and Shirt DRD – Boho Fish Shack – Bouy – One .: Bee Designs:. Summer Gacha Floatter 1 LB_BeachPalm Serenity Style- Pacific Floating Cabin (at Uber until July 22nd)
[hair] Wasabi // Carol (for Pride at Home) Apple Blossom // Luna Top TETRA – Chill Shorts (at Equal10 until July 5th)
the Shameless Shopper 