Shopping As Therapy

In real life I don´t really like to go shopping but in SecondLife it is quite the opposite. Perhaps because the next shop is just a teleport-hop away. Bock is better way equipped for any and all occasions than his primatar will ever be.

You may remember - or not - that I recently called for my stepson Guyke Lundquist to come in-world and take me shopping so I would look cool while clubbing at the upcoming DJ World event.

Well Guyke is a true son of my Ars in the way he always responds when he hears me crying out for help. The past weekend Guyke came in-world, dragging his hug-meister extraordinaire Janttu Winkler along, to show me a few "hot-spots" in the Menswear department of SecondLife.

As we arrived at two of the shops he confessed to me, "I have everything from here! ...or almost..."

I have always found that shopping together with good friends in SecondLife is a bonding experience and also a sort of therapy, if you have similar likes and dislikes. This was a splendid session. Guyke and I chatted away while Janttu stayed rather silent in chat - but was perhaps more chatty on Skype with Guyke. Guyke, as always, was multitasking with esprit and forte.

Another confession was shared by Guyke during this session. We were in a shop selling great leather jackets. "These jackets - and everything else in this shop - take a lot of fitting", he told me, "but I don´t mind that. My favorite position is the pose stand!" Janttu was - of course - extremely quick to verify that statement.

At another shop Guyke told me they had great hair and slutty pants, which made Janttu ask "How are they on slutty hair?"

Whoever said Finns are slow? I have found that they can be fast whenever they wish.

It was great seeing them both again and I was - once again - reinforced in my conviction that appointing Guyke as my personal shopper is one of the most brilliant decisions I have ever made, in my first and second life.

I love you both, guys! XOXOXO

When I Start To (Break It All Down)

 

Erasure - When I Start To (Break It All Down) by Mute UK

Master suppression techniques were a framework articulated in the late 1970s by the Norwegian social psychologist Berit Ås to describe five means by which, according to her, women are subjugated to in supposedly patriarchical Western societies. Master suppression techniques are sometimes called domination techniques.

I believe in full and equal rights for women and men in all walks of life. I also believe myself to be a feminist. It is therefore rather upsetting to me when I get criticized for using domination techniques everytime I do not agree with a woman.

My disagreeing with her has nothing to do with her gender, but has everything to do with her opinions. Whatever gender the person I disagree with has, I will always feel entitled to criticize their opinions and I will use the same techniques for both genders.

It Isn´t Rocket Science

Kids can do it well, so can you if you only try!

Hey excuse me, but I am Swedish and hugging is our favorite pastime. We hug a lot, no one is safe anywhere.

I am getting totally disheartened by the lousy and sloppy hugging going on in SecondLife. I have only met two outstanding huggers, my Ars and my son in-law Janttu. Guyke is getting much better - much thanks to Janttu´s training , I am sure - and so is my brother in-law Andrey, but the rest of you desperately need lessons.

It really isn´t rocket science, as the headline states. Hugging just takes a bit of concentration and knowing who does what. So here is a short excerpt from the "Hugging 101" class at "The Lairds School of Animation" (a part of the BMcM Corporation)

1. Someone sends you an invitation to hug.(Sending the invitation and standing still is pretty much what the hugger needs to do.)
2. Check - and double check - who you the hug and decide if you want to hug the person or not.
3. If you do not want to hug that person, click the "Decline"-button and say something nice about why not in local chat. (I cannot stress enough - nice!)
4. If you however decide to accept the hug, follow these steps
a) Locate the person who wants to hug you.
b) Go stand in front of that person.
c) Make sure you line up properly and squarely in front of that person (not sideways, but facing them directly).
d) Check - and double check - that your AO (Animation Overrider) and any dance-HUD is turned off..
e) NOW - and not before - is the time to click the "Accept"-button.
f) Enjoy the hug, do not rush through it or stop it prematurely. Just go with the feeling. (If you feel that 1-2 minutes of your precious time is too much to sacrifice, it is better to decline the hug than cutting it short.)

Please note:
1. It is always the huggee´s privilege to decide whether or not they want to join in a hug or not but it is also the huggee´s responsibility to make sure that it turns out well by following the measures above.
2. The guidelines given above work for all animations in SecondLife (kissing, dancing, f**king and getting bitten by noob-vampires, whatever).
3. To avoid the noob-vampires, get the Garlic Necklace. Wear it and click the appropriate button and then take it off. You are now pretty safe from the noob vampires. (If you cannot find that necklace, send me an IM and I will send it to you.)

Hugs are healing!

Attaboy Rodvik!

Video streaming by Ustream

This video from the SecondLife Community Conference this year.(SLCC 2011) is going completely viral on the SecondLife blogs. It shows Rod Humble, CEO of Linden Lab (in our world better known as Rodvik Linden) giving his keynote speech.

Noob Rodvik is actually starting to gain my confidence. I like what I hear him say in this speech. Testing and bug-fixing are a priority for him, as are lag, usability and added value features for the paying customers.

Best thing is that Rodvik reveals he doesn't much like the Viewer 2 either and actually hates the sidebar like many of the rest of us!

Keep this up Rodvik and you may become my second favorite CEO. There is no one that can beat my dreamer Philip Linden, but they can come pretty damned close.

I Persist

Art by Stina Sunnesson

There I did a remake of my blog, just for the hello of it, and as you can all see I am persisting in staying away from the oh so popular black and gray themes on blogs.

I prefer the blog to be light, the background to the posts to be white for easier reading and I like green, so enjoy! (I may come to the conclusion that the background is too distracting in the long run but lets wait and see...)

I Switched To The Firestorm Viewer

I have been reluctant to switch from the Phoenix viewer because it has worked wonderfully for me. I have very seldom experienced crashes and almost never felt any lag expect when that must be expected.

Well with all the talk about mesh coming and how important it was to get ready for that change I finally dared to take the big step, especially after watching Jessica Lyon video tutorial four (4) times about how to configure the Firestorm to look like viewer 1. I also remembered the praises for Firestorm by my friends Ziggy Starsmith, my regular tech-head Vampi Twine-DeSantis and Sven Idyll.

So far everything seems to be working as promised, and I have all my stuff back in their regular locations on my screen. Next thing will be to see how it works for me when I am doing my thing, but I´ll leave that for another day.

What Are Words - Chris Medina

I thank my sister Millimina Salamander for pointing me towards this song.

"What Are Words" - lyrics by Chris Medina
Anywhere you are, I am near
Anywhere you go, I'll be there
Anytime you whisper my name, you'll see
How every single promise I keep
Cuz what kind of guy would I be
If I was to leave when you need me most

What are words
If you really don't mean them
When you say them
What are words
If they're only for good times
Then they don't
When it's love
Yeah, you say them out loud
Those words, They never go away
They live on, even when we're gone

And I know an angel was sent just for me
And I know I'm meant to be where I am
And I'm gonna be
Standing right beside her tonight

And I'm gonna be by your side
I would never leave when she needs me most

What are words
If you really don't mean them
When you say them
What are words
If they're only for good times
Then they don't
When it's love
Yeah, you say them out loud
Those words, They never go away
They live on, even when we're gone

Anywhere you are, I am near
Anywhere you go, I'll be there
And I'm gonna be here forever more
Every single promise I keep
Cuz what kind of guy would I be
If I was to leave when you need me most

I'm forever keeping my angel close