Picture of the Day - 10

"One of Sixteen Vestal Virgins" Photography by Nikolai Warden

To see more of Nikolai Warden's pictures visit his Flickr stream here.

Picture of the Day - 9

"Stop The Hate"  Photography by Tek Karfield

To see more of Tek Karfield's pictures visit his Flickr stream here

500,000 Pageviews

Today is another landmark day for Bock in SecondLife as the total number of pageviews today passed 500.000 (since Blogger started the count on Juni 1, 2010).

If anyone had told me in the early morning hours of August 25, 2009, when I started this blog, that I would still be here almost five years later I certainly wouldn't have believed them. Anyway here I am, a little bit older and somewhat wiser, and still going at it.

In the beginning my readers were almost all Swedes or Scandinavian, which is natural because I blogged entirely in Swedish back then. After Ars passed away, and my blogging really took off, I slowly and over time switched entirely to English.

Today the blog's statistics tell me that my top ten reader countries are the following:

United States	153304
Sweden	93897
Russia	22480
Germany	17714
United Kingdom	15559
Canada	12463
France	10217
Netherlands	9748
Egypt	5730
Belgium	3197

I know of course that most pageview don't mean that people have actually read anything I have written, but some have and a few of them have come back to read more and sometimes even engaged with me and other readers in the comments.

My gratitude on this day goes to those of you who actually do come back for more, whether it be sporadically or regularly! Although I have often said, and it is true, that I blog mostly for myself and for my need to vent, nonetheless it is rewarding to realize that I am not shouting into emptiness. So thank you all!

Picture of the Day - 8

"Arabian Nights" Photography by Strawberry Singh

To see more of Strawberry Singh's photography visit her Flickr page. 

DJ Butch's Final Set - For Now...

Yesterday my sweet friend Butch Diavolo informed all of us that he, for personal reasons, had decided to go on an indefinite hiatus from SecondLife.

Butch's s final set before the break was at Q Lounge yesterday and many of his fans and friends came there to thank him and to say "au revoir", all of us adamantly refusing to say goodbye to a beloved friend and DJ.

Butch characteristically without shoes

Ziggy Starsmith

I have always found it extremely difficult to say farewell to someone who has meant much to me, someone who is close and that I care deeply about. Especially in SecondLife, where "taking a break" often enough seems to lead to quitting the virtual world altogether.

Of course I do not question Butch's decision. He is the only one fit to make it and I am sure that he has thought it through before coming to this conclusion, but I will miss him. Butch has always been extremely helpful, kind, caring, loving towards me, although I have gotten my fair share of his ever flowing sarcastic humor.

For now I am content with the reassurance that Butch is doing what he believes he must do and his promise to me that he will in fact attend The Elopement Party that I and Tomais are throwing on March 8th.

Ik vind je zeer veel en zal je missen, mijn vriend! Kom terug naar ons straks weer, wanneer je voelt dat je de energie. (Google Translated, so if it says I want your hot body pressed to mine, it is accurate!)

Garrett's & Houston's Wedding

Tomais and I had the pleasure of being invited to the wedding of Messrs. Garrett Smith and Houston Di Armani yesterday. It was a moving (What wedding isn't, with all the love and honest declarations of commitment filling the air?) and wonderful experience.

Following the old adage "a picture says more than a thousand word", here are a few of my snaps from the ceremony and the reception afterwards.

Ms. BM Oh, the no doubt sexiest and most daring officiant in any
world, in a  stunning gown that revealed more skin than it covered.

The benches in the hall were packed with a selection of the hottest men and women to be found in SecondLife.

Ms. Helene Dragoone, fetching as always

Mr. Kahvy Sands, one of the groomsmen and the DJ at the reception

The wedding party assembled at the dais

Messrs. Houston Di Armani and Garrett Smith, the two grooms

Ms BM Oh is escorted out by her trusted companion Mr. Kahvy Sands

Wedding guests eagerly awaiting for the dancing to commence

Thank you for a wonderful wedding and reception, Messrs. Di Armanis, my best wishes go to you both for a long lasting and happy marriage!

Ziggy Is Back!

It was only a few months ago that Ziggy Starsmith, to the dismay of his loyal and loving readers (of which I am one), tiredly declared that he was going to stop blogging full time.

The beautiful picture that Ziggy left us with in October, 2013

Since then we have only gotten a few bread crumbs tossed at us from time to time by the irate and erratic blogger, just enough to keep us from feeling totally abandoned and dying from mental and emotional starvation.

Knowing and loving Ziggy I, however, kept my hopes up and never removed his blog from my blogroll. Lo and behold, yesterday he came back to us - full force - with no less than five posts!

The blog has been slightly renamed to "Ziggy Starsmith On The Edge Of Second Life... And Beyond" with the declared promise of "brutally honest commentary of the virtual 3D world of Second Life".

Welcome back, buddy, I have missed your forthright views on the worlds as we know them!