Labors of Love

When the Much Honored Bock McMillan, laird of Southern Charm etc. etc., returned home yesterday evening after a 24-hour excursion to first life he was completely blown away, baffled and extremely excited, elated and exhilarated to see the work that his loved ones had been up to in his absence.

Southern Charm looked more beautiful than ever before. My loving family and friends had undertaken to perform some of the landscaping and winterizing on huge parts of the sim. Beautiful winter trees had been planted in many places, while the previous trees and plants had been lifted far into the skies.

I cried out with joy when I saw what they had achieved, and to be honest, I kept on yelling much of the evening as I noticed the details one after the other. Tears of happiness flooded my eyes repeatedly, but especially when I saw what they had around Ars' Memorial.

The hairs on my arms, legs, neck and back stood to attention most of the evening as I saw what my loving family had done. They know me and my tastes so well that I was completely overjoyed. I was much too happy to take many pictures, but I am using two were taken at my new ice skating pond (where the meadow used to be).

Thank you so much, my sweet darlings and lover, this was the most wonderful gift I could get. I cannot even imagine how I will ever be able to repay you.

And here is a bonus picture of Guykechen in snow.

More Than Third Rezday...

My wonderful, sweet and awesome sister Millimina Salamander first rezzed into SecondLife on December 6, 2008, which means that she today celebrates her... Ugh, I am terrible with really high numbers so let's just say she is more than three years old from this days onwards.

Millimina, photography by Kent Hutchinson-Laurent

Without the love, support and encouragement of this delightfully crazy, marvelously bitchy and superbly humorous woman my life would be dismal. Millimina always (Always Millimina, and don't you forget it!) gives more energy than she takes to everyone around her, and to me more than to most others.

Happy more than third rezday, my darling sister! Love you always!

Selfie I, photography by Millimina Salamander

Selfie II, photography by Millimina Salamander

Millimina á la Bjork, photography by Kent Hutchinson-Laurent

Nelson Mandela, 1918 - 2013

"During my lifetime, I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination and against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic, free society in which all persons live together in harmony with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." Nelson Mandela speaking on April 20, 1964, at the closing of the Rivonia Trial after which he was sentenced to life imprisonment. The picture was taken in 1990 on the day after he was set free after 27 years in prison.

Rest in peace, my hero!

Showing Up the IOC

"Principle 6, (is) a campaign inspired by the values of the Olympic charter, is a way for athletes, spectators, and global supporters to celebrate the Olympic principle of non-discrimination and call for an end to Russia’s anti-gay laws before the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

In Russia, you can now be fined or arrested for speaking publicly about gay, lesbian, bi or trans issues. The Principle 6 campaign uses the language of the Olympic Charter to allow athletes and fans to speak out against this discrimination during the Sochi Games without violating Russian anti-gay laws or violating the Olympic ban on political speech."

The idea is simple, powerful and a skilful use of tactics to achieve goals, because surely neither the International Olympic Committee nor the Russian hosts can have any objections to a part of the Olympic Charter being exposed like this.

Read more about Principle 6 on the organizations website (url).

Snogging & Ice Skating

Guyke, the clever boy, has set up an ice skating pond at his and Zigg's enlarged home. Tomais and I went there to try it out yesterday with the boys themselves, Butch and Helene Dragoone.

Tomais and I look good together, while
Ziggy in the background shows off with a daring posture 

Now both Guyke and Ziggy, who both are more experienced ice skaters, show off

Tomais and I try to escape to Guyke's & Ziggy's igloo for some alone time

...but we are kept under strict surveillance by Guyke, Ziggy and Helene

 

We don't care about their spying eyes and feel alone in a world full of people...

Thanks for inviting us over boys, we had a great time!

It's Official

Catching up...

There is so much happening in my lives now, mostly the second, that I have a bit of catching up to do.

I have started a huge landscaping project to update Southern Charm while still keeping it beautiful. The creators and gardeners have been busy the last three years and there are so many better and more beautiful trees and plants on the market now. It is also something I firmly believe Ars and I would have done gradually if he had still been alive.

To my help in this project I have forcibly enrolled the assistance of my boyfriend Tomais, my son Guyke, my brother in-law Dej and my dear friend the intuitive, sublime and brilliant - yet amazingly humble - builder Butch. They - sometimes with the assistance of other friends - have guided me gently in this new world of seasonal trees and plants and other beautiful things that can be used in modern SecondLife landscaping. 

I started by clearing of the old "flat" trees and only kept the old pine trees for the time being. Then I returned a shitload of stuff to the original landscaper, the original sim owner, former tenants and a few strange visitors that had somehow managed to rez things where they should be able to. This freed up almost 3.000 more prims (or whatever the modern term for this may be these days), so that I now have close to 6.000 prims to work with.

Next thing was the waterfall running from under the house. It got a major facelift.

I have slowly started replanting with trees that can be changed to any season with a single click according to my whim. It is awesome! Of course I will need different kinds of trees to, but so far I am going about this slowly.

Next thing will be to change the sims ground textures to winter, and in time get the other seasonal ground textures also. There are things I want to keep relatively close to the original design so I am going forward slowly.

And when I am not working on the landscaping I take time to smooch with Tomais and go out with friends and family.

Yesterday I took Tomais to visit with Ars at Mirromere. I warned tomais beforehand that if Ars didn't like the idea of me having him around he would most likely be ejected from the sim or get electrocuted by his own computer. Ars had his ways and means of showing how he felt...

However, Tomais was quite safe and nothing bad happened during our visit, so I am choosing to take that as an encouragement from Ars and that he after screening Tomais has found him worthy.

Later last evening I and Tomais went sleighing and skating at Calas Galadhon with Guyke and Ziggy. Ziggy has posted beautiful pictures of that enchanted evening here Ziggy On The Edge Of Second Life: A Night To Remember