The Votes Are In

The winning set, #3

After some complains in the past about my eyes, I - finally - gave in and in the post "Bock´s Eyes" offered my friend Kandinsky Beaumont a choice between four different sets of possible eyes for me. I promised her that I would wear the eyes she selected until at least November 1st, 2011.

I also gave my readers a chance to voice their opinions in a poll. 

Well the votes are now in. Kandi favored Set #3 and eight voters (42 %) of the nineteen voters in the poll agreed with her, so those are the eyes I will be wearing until the date mentioned. 

Six voters (31 %) preferred the eyes I have been wearing for the past two years, Set #1.

Three voters (15 %) told me I would look stunning in any of them (Love you, guys!) and one voter each (5 %) preferred Set #2 and Set #4. To my great relief no one voted for the option that I would always look ugly.

I didn't vote in the poll, but I have been wearing Set #3 for a week now and am actually getting to like them a lot.

The Gays Are to Blame

To my own shame I must admit that I found this on the other side of the Atlantic even if it is from a Swedish television program. Joe Jervis and his Joe.My.God. rule once again!

This is from a very popular sing-along program that is aired on one of the Swedish (Public) Television channels and was sent during Stockholm Pride this year.

I particularly love the line, "We need to have enough morals for double-standards!"

If subtitles do not appear, click on the "CC" button at the bottom of the player.

Sometimes I Miss Him More

After a long struggle I think I can now safely say that I have finally come to accept the fact that my Ars is no longer with me. And that he will never come back to me.

Please don´t get me wrong, I still think of him several times a day, but happy thoughts when I see things he made to make my SecondLife easier or more beautiful. Like when he ripped the stairs out of our house and installed a system of teleportation instead because I have always had a hard time with stairs, still have. "Actions not words!", huh?

On those occasions that I flew off the handle about something or other that had occurred or that I was interested in doing - not at all few occasions I can assure you - he was the best at talking me down and talk things through before acting. Delaying me, was what I called it but didn't really mean that because in hindsight I could see the necessity. How some people could choose to give me the nickname "the most patient man in all of SL" is way over my head.


And I still miss him badly, but sometimes I just miss him more. Like these last few days; I have so missed having him to share my thoughts with and my reactions to what is going on around me. Ars and I were almost constantly in communication with each other, with the possible exception during his sets when we only talked if he wanted it. Otherwise we talked all the time and everywhere, even when we were not in the same place.

Ars calmed me, he made me think rationally and not just do and go or try anything on a whim. He respected me enough to hear me out and I did the same for him in those few, very occasions that he needed it. So sometimes I do miss him desperately, even though I have succeeded in gathering sweet people around me who try hard to fulfill his role for me. I will forever be in their gratitude, but it´s still not the same.

Contemplating

Today was a very slow day. Even if I woke up early and read the newspaper and a few blogs I then went back to bed and slept to-and-fro almost all day.

I have been thinking about the developments over the last few days. My reactions to what happened in the group chat that led me to write my post about "Hatred" and other peoples reactions to that post and of course my own reactions to these reactions.

There are mainly four persons that stand out as honestly trying to give me an understanding of why they are upset with either "the main character" a.k.a."the culprit" or "the witch" in all this or with me and my post. Two of them in private conversations in-world, one  the day before yesterday and one today. Another one has given me a clue in a comment on my blog today and one in a post on her own blog (this is the first and only time I have actually seen any close to specific complaints about the main character in all this.

The rest who have voiced opinions have done so in a manner that is totally useless to try to interpret if I want to understand what they are reacting towards in my post. They just vent unspecific anger at me.

I haven´t come to any conclusions yet, I am sorry to say. This is a very tangled web and I am not even hopeful of untangling it altogether, just to my own satisfaction.

Cold Star

Celestial Wrath

Click to enlarge (Bock himself doctored this picture found on the Internet.)

"Celeste" (a.k.a Blanche Argus with the blog "Blanche´s Arena") is angry with me for my recent post "Hatred".

As usual with "Celeste" she isn't really clear on what her objections are. All the same she seems to try to make me responsible for people quitting SecondLife and stop blogging. I don´t know anyone who has left SecondLife or stopped blogging because of me or anything I have posted.

However, I had a very long, good, openhearted and honest talk with another avatar the evening after I had posted "Hatred". That avatar was clearer and more specific about it´s objections. I am still digesting what we talked about and will most likely post something when I am good and ready. 

SecondLife Makes Premium Better

Today I got a mail from Linden Lab, owners of SecondLife, informing me that they were now making SecondLife better for those of us with a Premium Member account.

This is of course a start to follow up on the promises made by Rod Humble, CEO of Linden Lab, at the recent SecondLife Community Conference 2011 (SLCC 2011) of adding value to the Premium accounts.

My main reason - although not the only one - for having a Premium account is to be able to hold land directly from Linden Lab, i.e. the Southern Charm sim that Ars and I bought together before he passed away.

"September's free Premium-only gift is an interactive furniture set that includes a sofa, tables, plants and lamps to make your home feel cozy. Each light turns on with a simple click! Don't like the color or texture of the furniture? Click it to change the look!"

Even if I don´t intend to get the customizable furniture set and do not need a Linden Home or access to a Premium Only Sandbox I do think it is a good idea to offer the paying customers some benefits and I am sure that those that only have a Linden Home must need a Sandbox to build. As Linden Lab says in it´s message "...this is only the beginning".

I am confident that something will be offered in the future that will suit me better.