Howdy!

So, um. Let's see.

Hair fair, hair fair, hair fair, HAIR FAIR.

I will be following up with a nasty post about idiot blingtard primified inconsiderate bitches posthaste.

And, um.

HAIRFAIR.

I need more monies.

Just my little attempt at some peace in what seems to be a very not peaceful world of late.

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Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender,
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even to the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons;
they are vexatious to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs,
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals,
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love,
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

-Max Ehrmann

I wandered through the afternoon and evening yesterday in a delightful happy pink fuzzy cloud, flitting from friend to friend, giggling and cooing and smiling and dancing and feeling as if all were right with the world.

It's a new day today, but I think it's gonna be a good one.

To You, and You know who You are, thank you.

Jolie Fleur

Originally uploaded by Rosie Barthelmess

Yay!

You all know what a fan I am of the Fleur skins, well, here's more twittering and carrying on about them.

They're having a sale right now, and a contest. And, I won! I submitted a picture of myself wearing one of the skins that is on the discontinuing list, Soiree. My picture was selected out of this week's entries along with two other beautiful shots to win a L$500 gift card to Fleur. That picture up there is the one that won. You can see all of the entries here on the Fleur blog. Congratulations to all the winners!

In other news, I had an absolutely lovely day with Daman today, as we toured one by one each of AM Radio's builds. I know Izzy is doing a series on them, so rather than fill this little post up with all of the details, I'd encourage you to go over and check out hers.

And, I'm still deluding myself into believing I can make some jewelry here and there, so here's a picture of my latest attempt. It's already being reworked into v.2. LOL. It's primitive, but I don't mind it.

Coming up this week: RL work! And RL work! and RL work! And some RL work!

How about you guys?

OH! I'm DJ'ing at Geeks & Nerds tonight at Lounge of Dreams, plus my regular sets on Monday 6-8, Thursday 4-6pm rock set at Freakheim Funeral Home, and Friday 80s night at LoD. Hope you can come by and say hi!

I've been a bad blogger in general, having neglected to come in here and not having a whole lot of time to read around my friends on the blogosphere and find out what's up. RL's been kicking my butt a little, but that's okay. We all need a good buttkicking sometimes.

When I did go snooping around today though, I was sort of surprised to find the hullaballoo about shapes.

I stopped by my good friend Chestnut's blog and found this post in which she discusses her avatar shape, and I leaped from there to some other folks with their thoughts on the same subject.

It struck me as funny, because Daman and I had a totally unrelated, but fairly indepth, conversation about political activism and cultural activism, which led to a discussion of our particular individualities in SL whether that be height, weight, skin color, or clothing.

It's already being discussed a gazillion ways out and about so I won't go into it a huge portion here, but you know I never reject a chance to speak my mind, right?

In reading through New World Notes about the subject, I noticed that someone made the comment that "I don't think embracing the flawed real [world image] over the ideal digital [world image] is a good idea at all."

What if I don't consider myself flawed? That's where people have had some confusion -- and here I can only speak for myself although I suspect I'm not the only one who feels like this -- as to why I have a heavier avatar.

I didn't do it to make any kind of a statement, it was just the natural thing for me to do. As a noob, I hit the ground running with zero SL experience, and made myself shorter than what I then found out to be average, and plumper than what I found out to be average. And I got teleported into a busy club where lots of people asked me if I knew what I had done, and I decided to keep it. I felt comfortable.

Rosie looks somewhat like me, and that has just sort of manifested itself over time, but I'm not a fat activist, I'm not seeking any kind of political motivation or cultural revolution. I truly appreciate it if designers or others go out of their way to create things that are *easier* for me to use or fit to my size, but if they don't that's okay too. I don't think very many of us plus-size avatars are on any kind of crusade, we're just being who we're comfortable being.

I have some very close friends in SL who are 6' tall model-esque shapely toned women who IRL are under 5' tall, or are overweight, or aren't even women. I am 38 years old IRL, and Rosie is a lovely whatever-age-we-all-are-in-SL every single day without one wrinkle or sag. I have friends who represent themselves as every version of neko, fur, human, nonhuman, up, down, right, left, or inside-out. But they're comfortable and I accept them for who they are, which is all I think we should really be doing.

Not everyone's choice of avatar has something to do with making some kind of a statement. Some of us just are who we are.

Some days I'm a tiny pink elephant. Some days I'm a mermaid. Lately, most days, I am a bear neko with ears and a tail. I can change my clothing to fit my mood, wear a different avatar to express myself if I'm so inclined - and I do.

I'm all for the unrealistic, I think it has its place. Heck, to me Rosie is even unrealistic -- she can wear 4" heels and corsets all day and her hair is always perfect, her face is impeccably made up even when her typist is in her jammies in a ponytail sipping coffee, and she can fly. But isn't that just all part of the fun?

Oh my god, I made earrings!

Originally uploaded by Rosie Barthelmess

Okay, many of you have heard that I claim not to be able to make very much beyond a plywood box or a one prim picture frame (which is in fact just a modified plywood box).

THAT HAS ALL CHANGED!

I've been dinking around with the idea of making some jewelry for my bear ears, since I am wearing them constantly. And, so, I did! Thanks to some hints and a little direction from Noirran Marx, I moved forward and just decided I'd decorate myself.

So, here's a picture.

Hooray, my first real created content?

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee!