SL AIDS quilt needs contributions

There is an AIDS quilt being put together. If you are interested in creating a panel for it, send JoshBear Sojourner a 2m x 2m x 1m all mods panel with a limit of 12 prims and he will happily add it. I made one, and Ricardito made one, and Rammy is working on one. The Quilt will be laying horizontal, but if you want to add some 3d to it, that's acceptable.

I went online and told Joshbear that I was going to blog it. so he gave me all the information.. which I will paste here (you can receive thes instructions by clicking on one of the large red cones in the area):

Here's what you've all been wanting... the details on how to make a panel for the AIDS Memorial Quilt!
First off, let yourself be creative. I found that making a panel was good therapy for me, and a nice way to get in touch with my feelings for my friend the panel was for. Don't worry about people judging your work (unless you really want to).
Second, the panel should say the name of the person somewhere. It's not a hard requirement, but that's sort of what the whole thing is about. You can also put the name of the person in the object's name, and write a little something in the description too.
There are two main ways to make a panel. One, make an image in Photoshop or GIMP or whatever you use for textures. Upload the image and put it on the top face of a flattened cube. That's it, you're done. The other way is to use the build tools to construct a panel in 3D.
Now, the details...
1) PG only. Please don't make panels that could only be displayed in a Mature sim. 2) Panels can use up to 12 prims. They must be linked together. The root prim should be the base or frame of the panel. 3) Maximum size is X:2m, Y:2m, Z:1m. (If you go over a little in height that's ok, we just don't want things to tower over other panels.) 4) No scripts(notecard giveror one rotation ok), particles, animations, spinners, etc. LIMIT 1 SLUPTIE..NO GLOW 5) VERY IMPORTANT!!!!!!!!Set permissions to copy/mod/trans. (Check all three boxes under Next Owner Can in the edit window.) 6) You can put a notecard in the object. We'll add a script to display the notecard when the panel is clicked. You can use the notecard to say something about your friend, write a poem, anything you like really. If you do, say "click for notecard" in the description.
When you are done, give the panel to me,Jase Byrne (drop on my av or profile).
Peace and brownies all!
Jase

Also the LM: Rainbow Fountain Estate, Hiaka (61, 158, 24) (I'm hoping this will take you there, I've never posted a SL link on internet before. if not, there are the coordinates.. I can give you a LM if you are interested.. go ahead and IM me)

This is JoshBear's home sim. He is generously using his place for this, and if you want to create a panel and need some place to do so, you can do it in the area. He says the quilt will be at Pride. On Hiaka there are some examples from years past. (Which I took a couple pics of). Also on his sim is a gay memorial and a gay history museum "on the hill" and also a shopping area, as well as his home (across the river).

I spent some time there tonight, and I thought it was worthy to spread the information.

Love and Grace

I got a few minutes to blog.... Not much, but, well, you know. Do what you can...
Things happen so fast, in real life and in SL. It seems that when I have an opportunity to sit down to do what I want, there's an interruption of some sort of emergency. And what happens? what has to sacrifice? More often than not, it's my own desires that I sacrifice. Does it look like I'm not busy? Does it look like I'm doing nothing? Am I needed that badly that I can't even gather my thoughts for a few seconds?
O my, I'm rereading this and it sounds like "Poor little ol' me" syndrome. That's not my intention, really. Maybe I'm having an off day and just am venting. Who cares? this is on my mind, so I'm f-ing blogging it.
If you know anything about my RL, you know that I am a married man of 36 with two children whom I love dearly. You may also know that last year I finally came out of the closet ot my wife, then my parents and siblings. This past week I hit another "milestone" if you will with coming out. I told my 10 year old son this past Monday. Cub Scouts was cancelled, but we didn't know it, so we went anyway and sat in the parking lot of the meeting place. I had been meaning to talk to him for weeks about this, but I knew it would be difficult. A few weeks ago I told him that there was a particular reason that his parents might separate and divorce, but I didn't say which. later I told him that I was meaning to tell him, but I was a little "embarrassed" about it. (Not embarrassed in the sense that I was ashamed, more like an embarrassment that he could empathize with in his pre-teen brain). On Monday I told him.
I might as well have told him that he wasn't part of the family anymore. He didn't take it well. he hasn't wanted to talk about it with me, or with his mother, or anyone. I need to give him time to get used to it. Tuesday night I had a meeting out of town, so I didn't get home until his bedtime. The first time since he could talk that he didn't say "I love you" before I closed the door. Very sad, I know.. but it didn't break my heart.
It's because I am an adult. I know he loves me if he says those three magic words or not. I will always contitnue to say "I love you" to him for several reasons. I know he needs a strong foundation in me in order for him to make this adjustment. I know that my saying it will remind me that I need to be strong for him. I also say it because it is true. I do love him, how could I not? He is a significant person in my life and will always be that.
I know he is confused. He is already becoming indoctrined in this small-minded, sheltered community in the Bible Belt, which is not what I wanted for my children. He is past the age when "I love you" meant only one thing: Real, true love. Now he is understanding that "I love you" can mean other things. It can be used as a tool to bring people together or to put a wedge between them, or it can be used in a political sense, in which two people are vying for dominance. I can mean "I lust for you"or "I respect you" or "I am dependent on you". It can be trivial. "You got us tickets to see the concert tonight? I Love you!" It can mask horror "He beats me, but he says he loves me" It is often rationed out. Can you love more than one person at once? And is that love equal in amount and depth?
My son is starting to know there are many meanings to this phrase. Gone are the true, innocent days when "I love you" only means "You are a part of me that I forever want to care for", to be replaced with the racier, faster, slicker "I love you" of the grander world.
I love my son. I always will. No matter what.

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints,--I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life!--and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

The Tower

The Tower card, according to the little booklet that coomes with The Aliester Crowley's Thoth Tarot Deck says this: "Quarrel, Combat, Danger,Ruin, Destruction of plans, Ambition, Courage. Sudden Death. Escape from Prison and all it implies." This, on the onset, does not bode well for one who uncovers it. It appears that all one's plans are doomed to failure, loss of friendship, ruination. I harkens to Hurricane Katrina and Pompeii, and other natural disasters. One's gut reaction is fear and one's lasting impression might be worry and anxiety.

Looking at the card, one feels the destruction in the colors and the composition. Harsh reds and oranges stand out from distinct black, Sharp, pointed triangles forming teeth and flames devour a supposedly strong minaret while a fearful, angry eye watches in an neverending circle of destruction. The card was painted by Frieda Harris, a student of Aleister Crowley, and her entire series was exhibited in the Berkeley Galleries, 20 Davies Street, W.1 in London in July 1942.

The description of the painting follows: "Mars. Peh. Here is purification through fire, lightning, flames war. The open mouth at the base of the card alludes to the Hebrew attribution Peh meaning a mouth, the eye is the Eye of Shiva. The card is designed on the form of the carbon crystal, the figures falling from the tower ae made of carbon, the serpent on the right is the symbol of the active will to live, the dove on the left is passive resignation to death."

Mars is the guiding astrological sign for this card, as Mars is the governing body for war and destruction, and Mars is the Roman God of war (Greek Ares). In the ancient religions, War was as powerful and equal to any other natural force.

All of Ms' Harris' paintings of the Tarot are appropriate for the specific card, and The Tower is no exception. To uncover the Tower is to expect destruction and not only an end to projects, but a removal of them.

As I was driving home tonight from work, there were many controlled fires on the ranches flanking the highway. The tradition of burning fields is not a new one, the native Americans practiced this, and ecological scientists support this as it removes the old growth to allow for new growth and provides new nutrients for the soil. It seems destructive, but what it does is provide space for new constructs. It is our emotional ties that cause the dismay.

Destruction happens to all things. Nothing lives forever. Corporeal, spiritual, ideological and pedagogical routines must eventually be overturned to allow for growth. It is natural for this to happen and also inevitable. Death comes to all in Frogtown. What we must do is neither shun or be dismayed, nor should we feast in an unnatural obsession with destruction. Your house may burn down, and you may mourn that, but that's really all you can do. You pick up the pieces and move on.

Always Forgetting the Title

okay, I've put it off from two blogs now.. I have a picture of my centaurian armor. Drum roll.....
In this pick I have my bow. Recently I also bought an huge double- handed sword. Have been practicing with Opacus at his home, and at Seven Islands with both the bow and the sword. I've always been a pretty good shot with the bow, and tested myself by shooting at 45 meters, which is pretty far. Unfortuneately I didn't keep score, but I did pretty good. The swordplay was new to me, and I wound up getting hit more times than hitting (it seemed). but after a while I think I got the hang of it. Still pretty green with the sword, though. Practice practice practice!

Opacus and I are really getting along fantastically, I can't believe how lucky I am to have met him! He is a greeter at Avilion, and even though I have to put a shirt on, no one has yet told me to hide my privates, (which I like to call my publics, lol). He's sweet and kind and cute and strong and imaginative and sensitive and sensible and has a great sense of humor and adventure and style and perspective.

/me smiles and is at peace.

Here's a pic of him at his post in Avilion:You can see why I'm so infatuated, right?

What Can Happen in a Week?

It's been a little while since I blogged last, and I have to say that time in SL is very strange. One year is like 5 almost. One evening seems like a whole week, sometimes. It's a great way to extend one's life, lol. It's hard to imagine that I am about a one and a half years old, seeing how far I've come. I've learned a lot, experienced a lot, experimented a lot, and made many dear friends whom I never would have expected to even meet without SL. So despite the lags and rhinocerous-like inventory system some of the other pitfalls, I am very happy to have SL in my life. I do catch myself sometime in RL doing some SL stuff, like when commenting on fb or whatever, sometimes I might type "/me is happy to hear this" and expecting my name to pop up automatically, lol.

Great things have happened to me since I last blogged in. I've slowed down on club-goings recently, only attending one of Tiger's Islands after-contest parties, which turned into a Pretty in Pink theme. I haven't been to Premier for a while, or Atlantis, or IBGC, or some of the others I went to almost regularly. This leaves me a little sad, because I'm missing out on some good times with some great people. I do not want to lose touch with anyone, and I fear that may happen. I hope not. There are lots of good people.

One sad note. Aasha Aeon passed away in RL this past week. I did not know her very well, but I've met her at some of Chiaroscuro's events and still I will mourn for her. She was an artist, and her gallery is found on Sephoria. Her partner is Lorant Criss, and he is preparing a memorial service for her, sometime this next week. Greville has decided to keep her house intact as a tribute to her, which I think is a very fine idea. I wish I could have known her better.

In my last post, A Return, I mentioned that I was re-establishing my fantasical roots. I had been a satyr for a very long time, and when clubbing, I'm hooman. Lately I've dusted off the centaur av and have been doing that for a while. I mentioned the armor, which I still haven't taken a pic of for my hard drive (oy vey!) I've gone to Avilion a few more times, and the other night I discovered a very active fantasy community in The Seven Islands (Isles?, sheesh, I should take better notes), which is light rp, which I much more prefer. OCC's are fine, anachronistic talk is fine, etc. all you have to do is be playful. Seven Islands is connected to a massive fantasy continent, (guesstimating 25 sims) and I hope to do more exploring. I've met many new friends and this new arena seems to have given me a revitalization with SL. Last night I met up with Rammy and Opacus at one of the campfires there and we met many of the residences and regulars. It was a little hard, because we were trying to talk about some RL stuff, but it was excellent to meet the people too, so after juggling seven (I think that's a record for me!) IMs and keeping up with local chat which was filled with 4 different conversations, I was exhausted and a little lost, but happy.

One other thing has done the same thing. In my last post, I mentioned a cute little fae. That cute little fae has done something to me. He has stolen my heart! and I ain't pressing charges. After Rammy logged off, Opacus and I went to his new home, which still has cardboard boxes strewn aboutand looks mostly like an immense beach, and we walked around, and I carried him on a long beach run (as I was still centaur) and we reached the top of a hill. I was very tired from all the socializing earlier, but I wanted to spend some time with him alone, and this was the perfect opportunity. We held each other, and we kissed, and then....

I don't know. Maybe I was very tired from the activities. Maybe my defenses were down. Maybe I actually spoke what I felt (which is odd for me, I'm usually pretty reserved about expressing my feelings) because my new life is allowing me to enjoy myself and do for myself. I have no regrets at all. I thought that I might, Was it too soon after breaking up with Rico? What about my other friends whom I have gotten very close to? Do I really want this?

Yes. Last night Opacus and I became offical boyfriends. And my heart sings! do not know what is around the corner, not entirely sure how this come to be, but in the moment, now, Opacus is my steady, and I cannot wait to see him again!

A Return...

I haven't been to many clubs of late. A couple here and there, but not much. Lately I've re-established some ties to my fantasy roots some. For the past week I'vebeen making armor for my centaur, and I've visited Farhaven and Avilion and Glimmer. I've been hanging out more in Chiaroscuro as well. I've rediscovered my spellfire bow, and have even thought about dusting off my old wand.



Not really sure why we do what we do, but here's a hint for mine: cute li'l blonde fae named Opacus. I met him on Chiaro maybe three weeks ago, when Iwas hanging out with a few friends. He just walked up in his gorgeous deep blue skin (from Fallen Gods, not that I'm endorsing them or anything, just if you wanted a reference.) He was so kind and sweet and unpresuming. THAT's the kinda guy for me. Not pushy in the least. Each night I've been looking to seeing him more than the next night. THAT must mean something, eh? And when I found out he was based in Avilion, I had to do some thinking: How was I to get to Avilion?



Avilion is for serious RPpers. I am not into serious RPing. I like to play with my persona, but I don't like a lot of the rules that are imposed on Rping. Like dress codes. ick.. In Avilion, everyone must wear a shirt. Uh.. ok.. I'm a satyr or a centaur, most of the time, and they don't wear clothes. But read the rules... Crap,, so I've been centaur and I put on a medieval type shirt. Looked stupid, felt constraining.. Tried another one. Nah.. I couldn't get it. So, I thought about the Narnia movies, and remembered the centaurs in those often wore armor. Hey, that'd work ok. so I went to building armor. (I'm not done.. hopefully sometime this week I'll be finished. I'll take a pic). I also went searching in some of the medieval shops for a decent shirt to wear under the armor.. I finally found one, but the polace was so laggy that I wound up buying two sets because my comp froze right after I clicked "buy" and I was so frustrated I hit the "buy" button again. Grr... fortunately it wasn't too expensive. But since I wasn't done with the armor, Opacus and I went to Avilion he in his fae outfit and me assatyr with (grr..) a shirt and pants on. I felt like a kid on school picture day, tugging on my collar and itching my pants. But I wanted to visit his home, so I did it.



Avilion is beautiful. There are many hidden corners and wide open spaces. Very romantic place. And active too. There was a drum circle going on at the time, but we avoided that,as there were some niches that Opac wanted to show me. I'll go again, I'm sure, and I want to show off my centaur armor, for def.



When does someone decide when the person they are with is the one they want to be with? I really want to know. I wasn't really looking to hitch up with anyone, but I do know I want to spend more time with Opacus.

Random Album Art

Last post I put up were about odd album covers.. Currently on facebook, I got a link about creating your own random album.. I'm gonna share mine here. I'm including the entirety of the note, so you could do it yourself.. Some of the ones I've seen are pretty good.



1 - Go to "wikipedia." Hit “random... Read More... Read More”or click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:RandomThe first random wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.



2 - Go to "Random quotations"or click http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3 The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.



3 - Go to flickr and click on “explore the last seven days”or click http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.



4 - Use photoshop or similar to put it all together.





(regarding #4: I used Microsoft paint, as I don't really have a good photoshop program)



Here's mine:



Some of these are pretty cool.. This one is so-so. lol.. but it's totally random!