NOH8 Avatars 27

Eeva Rasmuson-Waydelich

For more information about the The NOH8 Campaign and how to join it in SecondLife please read my previous post The NOH8 Campaign in SecondLife. There you will also find instructions on where to find the necessary duct tape and cheek painting free of charge.
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If you would like to be a part of the NOH8 Campaign on this blog please send me your picture (fullperm), I will be happy to post it. Name the picture NOH8 and your avatar name and drop it on my profile or send it to my email lundamats@gmail.com.

I got these picture of Eeva through my dear friend Kahvy Sands and I am assuming that he has obtained Eeva´s approval for publication on this blog. If that should not be the case please let me know and I will remove them a.s.a.p.

Swedish SecondLife Resident Honored

Billy bookcase birch veneer

Every month my buddy Benja Aquila elects a "LGBT Second Life Resident of the Month" on his blog Benja Aquila's Second Life.

This month he has elected a person with the following characteristics:

• Charming (Yup, must be Apmel!)
• Swedish (Apmel, definitely!)
• Man (Apmel is ALL man, for sure!)
• Famous blogger (Absolutely Apmel!)
• Friendly (Apmel again!)
• Patient (Oh yes Apmel for sure!)
• A very good conversationalist (Apmel! Apmel! Apmel!)
• Multifaceted (No one has more facets than my sweet buddy Apmel!)
• Successful blog (Hell yeah, Apmelito!)

and

• A better ambassador for Sweden than IKEA. (Ab-so-f**king-lu-tely, it can only be Apmel)

The only thing that confused me was "LGBT"so my first thought when I saw the list was, "Ah I have always suspected that my bosom-buddy Apmel was a closet case and now he finally see´s fit to come out, but why did he choose to do it on Benja´s blog? Sure, he is truly deserving of any honor he gets, but isn't he already more famous than the Billy bookcase or even IKEA itself?"

Go to Benja´s blog Benja Aquila's Second Life and tell him how offended you are by his oversight of appointing someone other than Apmel Goosson this month! Even if the man isn't LGBT, he could be gay-for-pay or honorary gay or something like that...

(P.S. Thank you, dearest Benja! XOXOXO)

The Other English Disease

Quite possibly meaningful
Chinese characters that I do
not know the meaning of

The Swedish language shares a peculiarity with Dutch, Finnish, Welsh, Thai, Maori and perhaps some other languages, it has a penchant for constructing compound words.

The effect of the English language's preference to split compound words and the introduction of word processing programs (mostly based on English originals) are creating havoc among Swedes, especially the ones who know written English.

All would be well if it weren't for the fact that when one splits Swedish compound words they often change meaning. The problem is called the second English disease, the first being rickets.

An example. Lets try this Swedish sentence
"En brunhårig sjuksköterska tvättar barnunderkläder" with split compound words we get
"En brun hårig sjuk sköterska tvättar barn under kläder"

The first sentence means, "A nurse, who is brown-haired, washes children's underwear", while the second sentence means "A nurse who is sick, brown and hairy washes children who are under clothes"

Another example is the word "rökfritt" and the split compound version "rök fritt" where the first version means that smoking is prohibited, while the latter version means the opposite and is an invitation to unlimited smoking.

Happy Birthday, Ziggy!

Hugs and kisses on you birthday, Ziggy, and may you have many more!


Forever Young by Alphaville


Let's dance in style, lets dance for a while
Heaven can wait we're only watching the skies
Hoping for the best but expecting the worst
Are you going to drop the bomb or not?
Let us die young or let us live forever
We don't have the power but we never say never
Sitting in a sandpit, life is a short trip
The music's for the sad men
Can you imagine when this race is won
Turn our golden faces into the sun
Praising our leaders we're getting in tune
The music's played by the madman
Forever young, i want to be forever young
Do you really want to live forever, forever forever
Forever young, i want to be forever young
Do you really want to live forever
Forever young

Some are like water, some are like the heat
Some are a melody and some are the beat
Sooner or later they all will be gone
Why don't they stay young
It's so hard to get old without a cause
I don't want to perish like a fading horse
Youth is like diamonds in the sun
And diamonds are forever
So many adventures couldn't happen today
So many songs we forgot to play
So many dreams are swinging out of the blue
We let them come true

Forever young, i want to be forever young
Do you really want to live forever, forever forever
Forever young, i want to be forever young
Do you really want to live forever forever forever
Forever young, i want to be forever young
Do you really want to live forever, forever forever
Forever young, i want to be forever

A Note Card From Dej

Yesterday I had an offline message from my brother in-law Dejerrity Mycron in my e-mail, saying that he had something important he wanted to talk with me about. Knowing me as well as he does, he also added that it was nothing urgent or bad.

When I logged in we met and talked a little. During the conversation he brought up the subject of the upcoming third anniversary of Ars' passing. I had already been thinking about that so we were on the same page. We both agreed that a casual get-together of Ars' immediate family and friends on Sunday March 10 would be the best. Weekends are better because it alleviates some of the hassle with coordinating the the timezone differences between Australia, Europe and America. The time was to be settled after I had spoken with Sarco to see what would work for him.

After settling that business, Dej told me that he had been in the middle of writing me a note card to clarify the important matter he wanted to talk with me about as a basis for our talk, but he gave me no clue as to what the subject was going to be. He also told me to remember that he loved me when I was reading the note card.

With growing anticipation, but no major worries, I left him to finish the note card and went to Oliver Elton's Valentine Show.

At Oliver's show was approaching the end, I received Dej´s note card and started reading it.

It was one of the most intensely personal and deeply moving messages I have ever received, in any of my lives. The message was loving, caring and extremely considerate. It had me in tears from start to finish.

I will never share the bulk of it with anyone, but this is an excerpt from the end of the note card that also shows the essentials of what Dej wanted to convey to me.

"... . But grief has to end, and we cannot torture ourselves all of our lives. We're all human, and all humans die.

We lost Ars almost 3 years ago. Some days I see you sitting all alone at his memorial and that makes me so sad. Ars would want you to move on, and 3 years of grief is enough for anyone. I suggested a remembrance service next month because I think you need to say a last goodbye. (***) isn't coming back, neither is Ars. You need to move on with your life, you have so much love to share. 

You have to let him go, and no matter what you say, you haven't done that yet. And I say this from experience, that's why I wrote all I did above. I know how much you loved him. I understand the pain because I went through it 6 years ago. And you know I loved Ars too. But it's time to let him go, Bock. You have to say goodbye. 

I know this is not what anyone wants to hear, but I write this with love and the best of intentions. We'll always remember them, but we have to let them go."

Unlike the previous time two years ago when a stupid "shieldmaiden" (who did not know me or care for me and whom I despised intensely) blurted out on her blog that it was time for me to let go and move on, this came from someone I love and trust, someone who I know loves me back and someone who also knew and loved Ars.

I knew I had to come to grips with what Dej was asking me to do. The subject was not something I had not thought about, but you must understand that for two and a half of my first three years in SecondLife my Ars had been the absolute center of my universe, in both lives.

When we discussed his message to me, I told Dej that I was grateful to him for writing me the note card. for sharing his experiences and that I had remember that he loved me while I was reading it.

I saidj, "I have always needed 'separation time', unlike others I cannot go from one to the next, it makes me confused."
Dej said "Babe, the whole point of my note....it's been 3 years now. We have to move on"
I agreed and said, "Yes, but that doesn't mean we throw ourselves at the first possible option that arrives. And I KNOW you don´t mean that."
Dej answered, "True enough. I just want you to be happy"
To which I answered, "I would say I am happy now, sweetie, happier than in a very long time. I am just going to enjoy life and see what happens."
Dej told me sternly, "No. We make things happen, with our choices and our regrets and mostly with our hopes.  Seize the moment, throw caution to the wind and take a chance that your heart could be broken again. (...) Because sometimes, things work out.  But you'll never know if you don't try :) It's ok to fall in love again."

I am still thinking about what Dej wrote and said. I realize that what he told me is true, but I am still not sure if I am ready to fall in love again. It gives me some food for thought.

Oliver Elton's Valentine Show

I have encountered the talents of Oliver Elton three times in a very short period of time.

The first occasion was at Miss Wigstock 2013, where Oliver was the stage designer and one of the entertainers. The second time was at Messrs. Garth and Mitch Raleigh-Underwoods´s wedding where Oliver was the entertainer at the reception party and the master of fireworks. Today Oliver was an entertainer, a set designer and the master of fireworks.

The main set was magnificent and reminded me of the scenographies in the musicals from the late 50' s and early 60's. The talented Oliver loves "larger than life" productions and has charisma enough to carry it off.

Although he is quite a small person, he has a large presence even in his huge sets. He is like a glamorous Edith Piaf, if you can imagine such a strange creature. Today he offered his captivated audience a string of love songs - of course - mostly alone but in two songs with the support of Juve, the winner of Miss Wigstock 2013. It was a highly memorable exhibition of excellent showmanship and the audience was thrilled throughout the show.

The European Trade in Horsemeat

(via guardian.co.uk)

More than 60,000 tonnes of horsemeat was traded by European countries in 2012. This data, from the Eurostat internal trade database shows exports of Equidae over the year - that is, 'horse-like' animals, such as horses, donkeys, mules and asses. Roll over the buttons on the left for details of where each country received its equidae from.

To interactive map of the Weuropean horsemeat trade 2012.

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While considering how I have been lied to by the manufacturers and traders of meat over the last 20+ years I am on the verge of becoming a vegetarian.