RFL Day 2: Dancing at Alice

I missed the closing ceremonies in the morning, but came in later on to a post-relay celebration at Lunar and Tensai's stunning Alice sim, which has great things like this sculpted neon dragon...
Like an Asian Steampunk surrealist painting, Alice is filled with mindbending imagery such as windmill blades and floating tiles and, of course...flying trout!
And even a mecha-caterpillar smoking an electro-hookah...I spent most of my time dancing with my very good friend, creator and builder Eclectric Breitman, catching up as we talked about creativity and life...
But of course, I always have a dance saved for my favorite elf...
A lot of Alice's build will be incorporated into Steelhead's sims. If you haven't seen Alice, go ASAP as it has to come down on Wednesday.

RFL Day 1

From 4pm to 5am EST I ran the SL Relay for Life to benefit the American Cancer Society. My RL husband actually suggested Pinocchio as the theme for what became Steelhead's fun "Pinocchio the Automaton"-themed campsite...You can see my "Island of Lost Clanks" in the foreground of the pic above, but I also created this whale airship surrounded by flying trout...So many old friends came back just for today, like Lapin and Darkle, who I talked to for at least a half hour before hitting the track!
We always try to have someone at the campsite to cheer folks on as they go around--like Hawc here in his "Purple Cancer Eater" avatar...I think the organizers did a wonderful job with the track's design this year--a simple oval--and they had great TP stations and sim status markers so you could jump to the next one easily. Sure, there was lag, but nowhere near as bad to me as the past 3 times I've run this...I ran most of the track alone. While I actually enjoyed the group chats for the "company", I use the time to reflect. I will not deny that by the time of the luminaria ceremony I was feeling a bit emotional. I sat down by my Uncle Jack's luminaria at Lunar & Tensai's beautiful Alice sim and they played some pretty song on the main RFL stream and I cried...I got back on the track afterwards and when I finally made it back around to the Salmons campsite, I joined Lunar, Tensai and Denny Kozlov in some walk and talk laps...I love the walk n talk as you don't need to direct yourself (Lunar was the puller) and the conversations as we walked were fun. We made it back and was greeted by Softpaw...80731.7m and 13 hours later I needed to stop. We all raised over $200K USD and should be so proud of that. There is purpose for this as so many of us have been touched in some form by this disease. For those who are currently going through treatment...have hope. For survivors and their loved ones...stay strong. I love you Mom, Denise and Robert. I miss you Uncle John, Uncle Jack and Aunt Rose...

A Waste of Time?

A RL friend recently asked me "Don't you feel you are wasting your time playing video games in lieu of doing something creative instead?"

In addition to SL, I play Aion and also love console games (I have a 360 and a PS3) that I enjoy playing with my sister. I'll admit that we even wear matching headbands and have an absolute blast together! Call it family bonding with controllers in hand. That's not a waste of time to me.

My answer to my friend was that I enjoy it, it makes me happy and I'm good at it. I also told him that I suppose the time he spends watching lots of TV shows and movies and dissecting them to death online is time he could spend doing something creative as well, such as his own artwork. How is gaming different than any other hobby? Some folks like to read or scrapbook or make duck decoys. I like to wield a sword or run amok as a tiny bunny sometimes. Big deal. To each their own. I'm sure as hell not going to knock what brings someone joy.

If I wasn't doing anything creative at all in RL I could see the problem, but the funny thing is that I find inspiration from my gaming instead. It fires up my imagination and can help with a story or something I wish to draw. And my SL friends, for instance, have been just as supportive and encouraging of my RL creative endeavors and get on me if I slack.

Besides, as the artist Auguste Rodin once said: "Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely."

New Builds in New Taloo

My friend Eclectric Breitman, maker of the Ollipog tiny avatars, has been busy at work in New Toulouse creating new builds to be placed throughout its sims. He invited me to come along on a tour of them and here I am standing on a balcony of one with Gabi and Francesca Alva. They really are nice and will stand out among the other builds already in place in Taloo.

A Moment of Speechlessness

That is all I need to say.