Wednesday, December 16, 2015

BiSL Joins "War on Christmas"

Yesterday the Editor-in-Chief of Bock in SecondLife, the Much Honored Bock McMillan, laird of Southern Charm*, and his royal consort Tomais Ashdene, duke of Erat, sent out their seasonal greetings to family, friends and acquaintances.

The greeting on the card is also a proud political statement in which they declare their position in what Faux News (a.k.a. Fox News of America) has dubbed "The War on Christmas".

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This year's card was photographed by Tomais Ashdene, with Bock McMillan ordering about and giving unhelpful advice and suggestions which was for the most part patiently and wisely ignored by the photographer.

*) For a full and correct list of the lairds present titles please see this post.

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Picture of the Day - 411

To be surprised, to wonder, is to begin to understand.
"To be surprised, to wonder, is to begin to understand." by Skippy Beresford

If you wish to see more of young master Skippy's photography, please visit his Flickr photostream by clicking his name under the picture.

Saturday, December 12, 2015

Special Music Video for My Brother Dej



[Dej:]
You wait, little boy, on an empty stage
For fate to turn the light on
Your life, little boy, is an empty page
That men will want to write on

[Bock:]
To write on

[Dej:]
You are sixteen going on seventeen
Baby, it's time to think
Better beware, be canny and careful
Baby, you're on the brink

You are sixteen going on seventeen
Fellows will fall in line
Eager young lads and roues and cads
Will offer you food and wine

Totally unprepared are you
To face a world of men
Timid and shy and scared are you
Of things beyond your ken

You need someone older and wiser
Telling you what to do
I am seventeen going on eighteen
I'll take care of you

[Bock:]

I am sixteen going on seventeen
I know that I'm naive
Fellows I meet may tell me I'm sweet
And willingly I believe

I am sixteen going on seventeen
Innocent as a rose
Bachelor dandies, drinkers of brandies
What do I know of those

Totally unprepared am I
To face a world of men
Timid and shy and scared am I
Of things beyond my ken

I need someone older and wiser
Telling me what to do
You are seventeen going on eighteen
I'll depend on you

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

The Summer of 2015, Part 2: The Struggle

I am a privileged man, born into and raised by warm, loving, caring and accepting parents who created a stable nuclear family with no major dysfunctions. I am socially, materially and financially comfortable with a job I love. I don't suffer from any health issues or conditions that incapacitate me or require lifelong treatment. I have never starved, never been abused and never beaten. What do I have to complain about?

The answer is obvious, nothing really because I am most certainly among the 5% of the world's population who are best off. So I am aware that there are billions upon billions who are worse off if we were comparing or in a suffering contest. But we aren't, are we?

Just writing this post makes me feel petulant, childish and prissy, so please bear with me. With all my fortunate situation, I have still not been happy this whole horrible year.

I hate death!

Death means someone I love leaves. And not only that they leave me. Being left makes me very angry. I have never learned how to relate to that in a good way.

So my father died in January and my mother went sort of crazy for a while after that. I haven't grieved my father's death properly yet. I haven't shed a tear yet, instead I have been sort of balancing and "coping". Whether this lack of reaction is due to my antidepressants or not, I cannot say.

The reaction I have had instead is fatigue and tenseness and being antisocial. I am so tense that I actually gnawed through two perfectly healthy teeth and a tooth implant in my sleep. Now it seems, I may have damaged another one despite the fact that I now have a tooth guard. The fatigue and anti-socialness leads to me withdrawing from the company of almost everyone, except those who are closest to me.

Although the worst bit seems to be over now, there is still a way to go. And I will make it, thanks to myself, my Tomais and my friends in first life and in SecondLife. 

Monday, December 7, 2015

Picture of the Day - 410

I'm Gonna knock on your Door
"I'm Gonna knock on your Door" by Jordy Zipdash

If you wish to see more of Jordy's photography, please visit his Flickr photostream by clicking his name under the picture.

Sunday, December 6, 2015

The Summer of 2015, Part 1: The Implosion

"Implosion is a process in which objects are destroyed by collapsing (or being squeezed in) on themselves. The opposite of explosion, implosion concentrates matter and energy. True implosion usually involves a difference between internal (lower) and external (higher) pressure, or inward and outward forces, that is so large that the structure collapses inward into itself. An example of implosion is a submarine being crushed from the outside by the hydrostatic pressure of the surrounding water. Also, it is helpful to note that due to the processes that cause an implosion, the object reacts from the inside out." From Wikipedia: Implosion (mechanical process).

To be continued.