Bleeding Hearts

Bleeding hearts are my favorite flower. There is something so delicate and perfect about the blooms. The picture above was taken in my garden this afternoon.

"The Secret Talents of SL Residents"

I make lampwork beads and have a small studio in my basement, which has been largely ignored for a long time.  Glass is a funny medium.  Sometimes it does exactly what you want it to do and other times it seems to have a mind of its own and the chemical reactions inherent in the process can lead to unpredictable results.  Right around the time I joined Second Life my glass work was frustrating me and I became easily distracted by the opportunities presented by the virtual.

Lampworking is an expensive hobby.  The cost of glass and the materials you need to explore making things is not inconsequential. So, the combination of my own crisis of confidence, cost and the lure of meeting interesting people instead of sitting in my basement with my music resulted in me turning away from my beloved glass.  So, my studio sat.  It got lonely.  Since it is in the basement the crickets and spiders eventually squatted. Then my studio started to be a scary, cold place.  After a time I was actually afraid to turn on my torch and face the 2,000 degree fire.

Once a week I would go down to the studio and look at my tools.  I would think about lighting up the torch and then I would walk away and log into Second Life.  In retrospect it makes me sad.

I have been having extended conversations with a friend lately about creativity and the things that motivate us. The itch to melt glass got to be stronger than my fear of the torch.  So, last night I evicted the spiders and the crickets and spent a few hours at the torch.  Because a blogger is going to blog, I took some pictures and will share them after the break.

Sexy Succubus

I used to be Princess Chestnut but lately I have been feeling more like Succubus Chestnut.  You know how that is, right?

Wikiopedia defines Succubus this way

In folklore traced back to medieval legend, a succubus (plural succubi) is a female demon appearing in dreams who takes the form of a human woman in order to seduce men, usually through sexual intercourse. The male counterpart is the incubus. Religious traditions hold that repeated intercourse with a succubus may result in the deterioration of health or even death.
In modern fictional representations, a succubus may or may not appear in dreams and is often depicted as a highly attractive seductress orenchantress, in contrast to the past where succubi were generally depicted as frightening and demonic.

Urban dictionary is always good for a laugh.

Succubus

351 up, 54 down

buy succubus mugs, tshirts and magnets 1. One who leeches on and eventually completely consumes the very essence of man's soul, leaving an empty and shattered shell of what once was a free and ultimately superior human being destined for greatness. 2. Also known as 'bitch', 'heartless whore', 'evil slut', or 'lying cunt'. The evil spirit of these heartless creature is almost invisible at first sight; however, after a few months, one could find himself with: no money and no friends, lack of hobbies, little or no sense of reality, and/or self respect. These evil demons begin their hunt at age 14 and continue until they have successfully stripped one man of all his pride. "That fucking succubus destroyed my respect for women!" said Jimmy, "I just want to get laid now!"

The truth is, sometimes I get tired of my cute girl next door avatar and just want to be a badass.  I won't bother your sleep.  Most likely anyway.

Adorable, adorable WarBugs

This is going to be a short post because Blogger is being cranky today.  I was hopping around the grid today looking for something blogworthy.   I TPed to a sim quite randomly and came across Warbugs, which is a company that makes the most adorable planes.  Of course I got the Princess model for $190L, because I am Princess Chestnut Rau, right?  

 What is fun about this is that I had seen the strawberry Warbug in a sandbox once and I thought it was the most adorable thing ever but never managed to find the creator or the store. Today looking for something else entirely I found the place.  Lucky for you I am going to give you the SLurl so you don't have to rely on random  good luck.

Go.  Buy a Warbug.  Its a ton of flying fun in an adorable package.  

Remembering to remember

 Yesterday was a hard day for me.  I was edgy.  It was the last day of my mini vacation and you know how that goes.  I had all these plans for what I was going to do but what actually happened was -- nothing.  I slept and was lazy. I hung out in my house in my sweats with my kids.

Last night I listened to some music with friends in SL and it was fantastic to climb out of my virtual hole and see people I love.  The uber talented blues guitarist Komuso Tokugawa was playing at TriBeCa Blues and it was great to listen to his fresh, experimental take on classic tunes.  I was in a great mood, finally after 5 days of "meh."

 I started to play with images and what you see here is the result.  It is interesting.  As I played and played in Photoshop, letting my eye be my guide instead of my overactive brain I started to be happy.  Really, really happy.  It might have been the wine, of course, but I think it was the process of stabbing my inner critic until she STFU and creating something that pleased me.

When I was done I got a comment on yesterday's post from Komuso who basically said art is about the process not the product. Which?  Yeah, I knew that.  I am glad I finally remembered to remember.

Embrace It

Crap told me I should stop worrying about producing good art and I should just embrace sucking.  That is one option I guess.  

I messed around with some older images I had today.  How is this for embracing it?   (They suck less if you click on them and view larger.)  

<3 you long time Crap.  You know just how to cheer me up.  ish. 

Past the Sell by Date

Things are changing for me.  Good things.

I am hatching a concrete plan for my tattoo.  Yep I'm one of those past the "sell by date" women of a certain age who say "fuck it" I am tired of pleasing the world. It is time I please me.

All I can say is - watch out.

Friday Night at The Pocket

I went to The Pocket tonight.  I was every bit as hard as I thought it would be, maybe even harder.  I am pretty sure I cried the whole hour.  Grief is so ridiculously difficult.  One minute you are fine, then the next you spill your coffee and you are sobbing but it ain't about the spill, is it?

Connection between people is tenuous and fragile.  Sometimes you can feel so close to a person and then they are gone.  The empty spot is never filled.  It just isn't.

Random collection of thoughts for a lazy Friday morning

 I have been phoning it in here.  You may have noticed. My heart is not in my 365 this time around.  I find myself going in world, searching to find a new place to visit, walking around for 5 minutes, thinking "yeah this will do" snap, crop, post. Blah.  There really is no point if I am not enjoying the process and if I am not providing you with quality content then its time to stop.  Especially since Honour is on a roll and producing the fabulous travelogue posts daily so its not like anyone needs me to be doing a lame job here.  Go.  Read Honour's blog.

Ok I feel better now.  How about you?

Having said that I did visit a sim today, of course.  I noticed two interesting things.  First there were people running around doing a "Happy Christmas" gesture endlessly and handing out an object that purported to be a Christmas gift, which they wanted me to wear.  Really?  Come on. First, I hate gestures. Hate, hate hate them.  Playing gestures says to me "I don't have anything interesting to say so I am going to seek your attention in any way I can."  Seriously, it might seem like running around a sim at 7am SLT and playing a Christmas gesture is amusing and for a moment it might be.  However, look around. This sim is a forest.  There are couples animations and people having quiet conversations.  There are bloggers floating on the water who are trying to come up with a single thought. Shut the fuck up.  Really.

Ok I feel better now.  How about you?

Have you seen these script counters people are putting out on sims?  I think its such a great idea.  Instead of ARC turning people into the "take off your prim" police, these nifty little devices tell people how much they are adding to the script load on the region.  I think this is a far better way for people to figure out what they need to do to improve sim performance.

And, I am quite proud of my numbers.  I am a green dot all the way baby!

Ok I feel better now.  How about you?

Visit the sim Orange Tree 

One of those days where nothing is ever the same again

Visit Garden of Dreams

Yesterday was a incredible day, in both good and bad ways.  I spent time with friends listening to great writing and soothing music.  I had conversations both terribly upsetting and incredibly intense.  I stayed up until the sun came up and then woke up wanting to do it all again.  I am enjoying a short break from RL work and SL is providing a much needed outlet for friendship, art, music and connections that would never have happened elsewhere.  I am tired, moved and really need a nap.  

Native Sunset

Visit Native Sunset

SL blogging and the incessant truth that haters are gonna hate

I missed blogging a couple of days.  Honestly, I had other things I preferred to be doing and the tedium of 365 and my OCD need to do things that I set out to do, especially when other people might notice that I am a flawed individual who sometimes fails, just wasn't enough for me to give a shit.  

Then yesterday my spidey sense told me I probably should pay attention because my name was being tossed around in the blogosphere.  Now mind you my blog was only tangentially related to what was being said and the controversy is not about me, nor am I "jealous" of the attention others are getting, which was suggested to me as well.  Is there such a thing as blog jealousy?  I guess there is but I am damn sure I don't feel it.  This blog exceeded any expectations I had for it somewhere about 2008 when I finally had more than 20 readers a day on a consistent basis.  So jealous of traffic, hits, attention, link backs?  Not so much.

My friend Myg told me way back in the day if I blog what I love and write for myself I can never be disappointed. She suggested to me that blogging for hits and dredging the blogosphere for link backs is a way for some but she didn't think I was that kind of blogger. It was the best advice about this project that I ever got and I never forgot what Myg offered.

Of course, for some people blogging is a job, a business. They do not have the luxury of ranting when they are pissed off or not writing when they have a tattoo to design and family and friends who's attention is more compelling than a stupid SL blog. They write because it is their job.  Some days I am quite sure that job sucks just like your job sucks some days and so does mine.  They have to keep their words fresh and interesting and they have to drive readership or the advertising dries up and there is no food in the refrigerator. That writer is doing a very different thing than what I do, certainly. I have written for money and while it is fantastic to get paid to do something you love, once it is a job? It is a fucking job.

One lesson I have learned, the hard way I might add, is when you create anything at all and have the audacity to put it out in the world, some people are going to love what you do and a vocal minority are going to hate you, your work and everything you ever did or thought about doing.  This hate is not restricted to your ideas or your images or your music.  No. This hate is personal.  It is not "I disagree with the idea you have expressed" or "I disagree with the way you conduct your life."  No. It is "You suck" and "You are a bully" or "You opinions are so disagreeable you should not be allowed to express them."

This is just fucked up people.

Hate some one's ideas? Say so. Mount a counter argument to disprove the assumptions they make and tear down their conclusions with every venomous word you have in your arsenal.  Leave the comments section with your smoking pistol in your holster and your head held high, lies and false conclusions in a steaming pile on the ground.  But, please do not undermine your own credibility by resorting to personal attack and insult because when you do?  You show the world the world that the biggest tool in your tool belt is not your intelligence and your ability to express your ideas with carefully chosen words. Yes haters are always going to hate, but is that really a valuable contribution to the conversation?

How about we discuss ideas?

~~~
ETA: I loved Miso's post and agree with just about every word. In fact, I was enormously flattered by what she wrote. My strong reaction here is mostly to people spewing hate for the sake of it on Twitter.

159 of 365 7 Days Magic Bakery

Come play with your food!  Meet rebellious robots and maestro bakers! Design, eat and trade your own custom pasties!  A rich, whimsical bakery theme park … there's lots to do!

More images and a SLurl after the break.

158 of 365 "Delicatessen Petrified"

Floating islands, like a Roger Dean album cover, idle over the sparse landscape — each containing a diorama of haunting and unsettling sculptures. Your fight-or-flight reflex will kick in as your brain struggles to make sense of these bizarre scenes.

More images and a SLurl after the break.

157 of 365

I saw a LM to Hangars Liquides today and I thought, wow its been years since I went there.  Indeed, it was 2008 when I blogged about this sim, which was new at the time.  A lot has changed over the years. Sims have been added, the city expanding upwards as well as north, south, east and west.

 This is one of those cyberpunk sims where the vast scale of the buildings force you to look way up in the sky so that you see everything. More images and a SLurl for your visit to Hangars Liquides after the break.

156 of 365 "Vader"

 Visit Vader

Still under Construction.

From the Notecard:

Welcome to The Fort Hood Resiliency Campus!

The Fort Hood Resiliency Campus program is the integration of Body, Mind, and Spirit to produce a balance lifestyle. It promotes a sense of becoming, changing, improving, and growing.

One of our main goal is to provide service and support to US Miltary Service Members and their Famly.  But, All are welcome!! 

Coming Soon:

Functional Fitness Cente- It’s time for a healthy make over! Change your life and improve your health by visiting the Functional Fitness Center for fun and exciting classes and programs that will have you feeling like a whole new person. With a vast array of exercise machines, yoga, Cross-Fit, massage therapy, and Tai Chi, it's evident why you should visit the Functional Fitness Center today!

Wellness Center- The AWC offers programs for: tobacco cessation, weight management, self-care, weight loss surgery nutrition, and fitness testing,

Warrior Adventure Quest-The WAQ is a vehicle to assist Soldier re-integration, empower small-unit leaders, maintain combat readiness, and rebuild unit cohesion.

Culinary Arts Center-  Have a party coming up? Cooking for someone? The Culinary Arts Center will offer classes on Starters, Entrées, and Desserts. 

Army Center For enhanced Performace-  The Army Center for Enhanced Performance (ACEP), founded at the United States Military Academy at West Point, has been developing Warriors since 1993. Employing West Point’s strategies and techniques for developing mental strength, ACEPs are now opening at installations throughout the country. Army leaders, units, Soldiers, and their Families will benefit from cutting edge, research-based mental strength education that provides the foundation for bettering performance.

Personal Financial Assistance Center- The Personal Financial Assistance Center (PFAC) works with Army Community Service (ACS) to proactively provide information and resources to educate Soldiers, Family members, Retirees and DoD civilians on matters of personal financial responsibility.

Spiritual Fitness Center-Any human being functions in three modes i.e. Physical (Body), Mental (Mind), and Spiritual (Soul). These three aspects of our lives are not independent from each other, but dependent and usually intertwined. They are reflected in our behavior, our relationship to others, and also seen in the way we respond to challenges and crisis. 

    Here at the Spiritual Fitness Center, we respond to spiritual needs. The Fort Hood Spiritual Fitness Center works in conjunction with other spiritual leaders on post and in the larger community to help individuals find serenity.

   We offer a place of peace and tranquility. It is a place where you can fade the outside world and tune in to your inner-self in a serene atmosphere where you can ask the Ultimate questions: 

                            Who am I?

                        What is the purpose of life?

                    What do I believe in?

            How does that make me who I am? 

Our real world location is::

31st & Battalion Avenue

Fort Hood, TX, 76544

You can Visit our website at:

www.hood.army.mil/resiliencycampus

155 of 365 "Veparella"

Veparella is a fantastic interactive art work by Maya Paris, with music by March Macbain.  It is located on a sim operated by Santa Barbara City College, Santa Barbara, CA.  It floats 1800 meters high in the sky and is well worth your time.  Grab the contents of the basket at the landing point, wear the contents and you become a superhero with a very special superpower!

More images, information and a Slurl after the break.

154 of 365 "The Arcipelagus"

Enjoy the Summer evening breeze, the rich Forest's scent, the powerful or quiet Sea and all the imagination and comfort it can bring to your eyes and peace to your senses.  Take a walk, listen to music or to the Sounds of nature and environment, play with time and sky environmental settings to discover which atmosphere fits you most.
Hidden Treasures and secrets may be found too...

I hope truly you enjoy your stay,
Wishing the Time flows slow for you,
Alia Baroque

More images, information about these lovely islands and SLurls after the break.

153 of 365 The Avatar as Art

152 of 365 Arab Gate

This region has been designed to resemble an old Arabian village surrounded by golden desert. As well as providing a community for Arabs and those interested in Arabic culture, it offers games, shopping, and plenty of architecturally beautiful places to explore.

More images and a SLurl after the break.

151 of 365 "Dark Moon"

 The crazy thing about blogging new places all the time is I sometimes lose track.  I will be wandering around a sim and think "have I been here before?"  "Have I photographed and blogged this place before?" I admit it.  My record keeping stinks.  Honestly, it is amazing I ever was able to write Chestnut's Choices, since I am not terribly good at keeping track of details.  Oh the irony.

 As I was wandering around Dark Moon, I had the feeling that I had been here before.  Perhaps the otherwordly vegetation reminded me of another place, from another time.  Perhaps I have seen other people write about this sim.  Perhaps I blogged it back in the dawn of time. Who knows.  All I do know is this sim is beautiful and I enjoyed it this morning as I was drinking dark French roast coffee and waking up.

More images and a SLurl so you can visit after the break.

150 of 365

149 of 365 Wednesday at Dawn

144 of 365 "Transubstantiation" by the talented soror Nishi

I am a big fan of soror nishi's art and her insightful commentary about the state of Second Life which you can find by following this link, or on my short list of favorite reads on the right hand side bar of this blog.  She has opened an new exhibit called "Transubstantiation" shown at the University of Western Australia, an organization which is one of the most generous patrons of art in Second Life.

Soror writes about the backstory to this work on her blog at this link and I encourage you to read what she has to say about "the law of Volumes and Lines" and how every prim she become part of her body and her psyche.  If you think that idea is overblown, then set aside your judgement and see what soror has to say and then visit her exhibit.  It is clear to me this explosion of color and form tells us a lot about its creator.  "Transubstation" is stunning and comes close to replacing soror's "Tree of Trees" as my favorite of her works.  I think Tree of Trees still "wins" but it is a close call.

More after the break, including a Slurl to get you to this exciting new art.

143 of 365 Random sim where I forgot to take the Slurl

No words.  Just images

142 of 365 Insilico West

If you have been in Second Life any amount of time you have probably heard about Insilico, which is a cyberpunk role play sim.  I love to go to the various Insilico sims because they are beautiful creations and I find new places to explore each time I visit.  Read more about the backstory and how you can get involved in the action at the Insilico webpage here.

The five-region floating city of Insilico is a haven high above the battered surface of the Earth below. Alongside many retail and residential areas, Insilico is home to clubs, bars, and restaurants. From the gritty tunnels of the Underground to high-rise penthouses, the sterile Gemini Labs to the dusty mining surface of Mars, Insilico is packed with plenty of places to work, play, and live.

It would take days to fully explore Insilico and certainly much more than one blog post is necessary.  I am just going to share a tiny taste of what I saw in a short time.  I strongly encourage you to visit and visit often.  I find myself back at Insilico often to take in the amazing builds here.

Below is the main entry to a nightclub called Atonement.  I can't be sure but I think there might be more sinning going on than atonement at this dark club.

 More from Insilico, including gratuitous nakedness, after the break....

141 of 365 "Loves and Dreams"

Yes, I missed out posting yesterday.  I have a little cold and just could not force myself to blog.  It happens. I am about to head to the office on a Saturday and don't have much more energy today, so this is going to be short and sweet.