The past couple of days have not been the best.  Ioh and I were supposed to get married this Sunday.  However technology has intervened and the wedding has to be postponed.  Ioh’s laptop died.  He’s taken it in for service but while he waits, he has no internet.  No SL.  No email.  No IM.  Nada.  He could be offline for up to 2 weeks too.  He borrows pcs when he can to email me but when you are used to seeing and talking to someone every day, when your life has become tied to theirs, you miss them when you can’t be with them or see them.  I really miss him and it’s only been a couple of days.

Last night though…. last night was awesome.  I had sooo much fun.  Doing what you ask?  Well the girls in the Pride threw me a bridal shower.  Elise asked me to meet her at the church, she wanted to talk to about Rena.  Well we did, for a few minutes but then she told me about some mysterious package left for me at the den.  What a surprise to walk in the den and see them all dressed up, big spread of food, the Congratulations banner.  To say I was choked up is an understatement. 

There was much laughter, LOTS of champagne, cupcakes and chocolate and of course the stripper.

A big Thank You to MJ for taking one for the team and getting his groove on.  Seeing your blueness shaking itself all over the den brought tears to many eyes.  No really, it did.

It was a fun wonderful evening.  So thank you ladies(and gents cause Arre was there as well) for everything.  You all mean the world to me. 

The pictures will be up on flickr later today.

If you think things look different around here you’re right.  Theme change happened last night.

A few other changes as well… the site has moved.  It’s now www.baileylongcloth.com   .  Well it’s my personal blog so that only makes sense right?  And since I moved it, time to change the look.  And just to really confuse you all, change the email address too.  Leave a comment if you want the address and I’ll send you some mail.

It’s a new beginning for the blog.  I’m going to try to write more often.  Mostly I’ll be writing about SL, may even post some pictures. 

So, there ya go.  New theme for the blog, new address.  Drop me a comment and let me know what you think.

I had an interesting conversation with someone last night.  I’ve not known them long and until recently had never really spent much time talking to them.  I don’t know how it started but we’ve talked a lot recently about everything, SL, RL you name it.  I’ve always liked her but after the discussions we’ve had lately, I’m happy and proud to call her a good friend.

So, last night we’re talking and she tells me she had been intimidated by me when we’d first met.  What???? Me??? I was shocked.  I consider myself the least intimidating person in the world.  In fact, had anyone asked me, I would have said the same about her.  I didn’t ask why she thought that and she didn’t elaborate either.  We’re beyond that, at least I think we are.  She and I will talk more, maybe I’ll ask her why she thought that, maybe not.

Well her admission to me got me thinking.  It’s not the first time I’ve had someone tell me they were intimidated by me.  It’s happened a few times come to think of it.  I didn’t understand it then, don’t understand it now.  I’m the least threatening person I know!  I know I tend to be quiet in large group chats.  Mostly cause if I’m talking I can’t keep up with everyone else. LOL  Not to mention I’m also multitasking.  There are only so many hours in the day and with most spent at work with acess to NOTHING, that means when I’m  on the PC at home, multi-tasking.  I can photoshop while in SL or do homework so just cause I’m quiet, doesn’t mean i’m sitting on my side of the monitor thinking of ways to plot your eventual downfall.  With the exception of a few people I usually/generally like everyone, talk to everyone.  I’m kind and friendly to noobs.  I don’t go off on people and get all uber bitch.   Usually after talking to me for 5 minutes they’ll say “Hey you aren’t the bitch “so and so” said you were”  or “Wow, your actually nice”.  It’s really rather odd when someone says that to you. How on earth do you respond to something like that?

So why am I intimidating?  It’s a totally serious question, for anyone who knows me in SL.

EDIT:  At Lands’ request I’ve removed her comments from this post.

This is for my other feline friends….

You Are a Black Panther

You see through people. You understand others’ motives and plans. You have a knack for predicting the future. You just know what people are going to do.People are attracted to you. You are naturally able to influence other people’s thoughts. You have the charisma to be a beloved guru or dictator. It’s all about how you handle it.

It’s that time of year again… the Relay for Life Kiosks are up, events are starting to be advertised and the teams are plotting and planning for the big Walk in July.

This is my second year participating in RFL.  Last year the Crown had a team of it’s own.  We started way late into the process and I had NO clue what I was doing.  Between Prad and I though we got stuff built(Ok he built, I watched and ran around getting stuff to be raffled off) and got people from the Crown involved.  We didn’t do too badly all things considered.  We raised money for a good cause, that’s what matters.

I don’t know too many people who haven’t been touched by Cancer.  I know my family has.  It’s an awful disease but we keep raising money and we keep fighting for a cure.

This year Dazy decided to get a team together in Midian.  Midian as a city has never participated before, at least not that I’m aware of.   Well, she got it together and created a team that I think represents all the factions in Midian.  At the end of the day, Midian is RP and IC drama should stay separate from OOC(I say should but that is another post).  Well we had our first event on the sim a week or two ago, and wow it was a success.  We raised over $100,000 lindens.  Not sure what that is in dollars but it’s a decent effort for only a few hours of time.  We crashed the sim, not hard to do in Midian and had a lot of really good, fun roleplay as well.  The best part, was seeing all the "citizens" of Midian getting in on it.  No one but the sim admins and team/participants knew about this and everyone got into it.  It was loads of fun!

There are more events planned, I’m not going to say what or when, cause that wouldn’t be fare.  Just hang around Midian, you’ll find out. 

There is a store on Angel Square selling RFL items made by members of the team.  Pretty cool stuff too so come down and take a look.  There’s a kiosk to donate too as well if your so inclined.

The team had a meeting last night.  We’ve raised a lot of money for a first year team.  Dazy is doing an amazing job!  Stay tuned for updates here and hopefully look forward to a Catwalker blog coming soon.

Alicia at Ch’know? posted this on her blog and had to give it a whirl myself.  So… how big is yours?

Your Ego is Small

You are quite humble. You try not to spend too much time congratulating yourself. You’re proud of who you are, but you’re also secure. You don’t need to brag.You see yourself and others in a pretty realistic way. You appreciate strengths and faults. You respect people and believe that you can learn from them.

Time rolls on, people change, circumstances change.  What was once important to someone no longer is and it’s replaced by something else.  Friendships made change and evolve in time. 

I’ve seen a lot of changes in the past few months, some wonderful, some just odd and some that make me sad for the way things were.

I think the hardest change to deal with have been the people who have disappeared.  People change yes.  Priorities change yes.  Commitments are made and taken back, promises made and broken.  Bonds formed and wiped out.  It happens, I know that.  It doesn’t mean I have to like it.  If someone I’ve known for 2 years suddenly disappears without another word, I’m going to be sad.  Especially when I’ve been there for them when no one else was.  I end up asking if my friendship meant so little to them.

Why don’t I contact them you ask?  Well yeah, I could.  But when you realize every communication with them was started by you… yeah you realize they obviously DON’T want to hear from you.  So you start to wonder what you’ve done when you realize so many people you thought were friends are gone. 

It’s then that you decide that it’s time for a change and a change you find.  You find someone you love who loves you.  You find a new group of friends who are happy to have you around, and new activities which you are totally enjoying. 

So, what’s wrong with all of this?  Maybe I’m too sentimental but I don’t like losing people who were close to me.  One thing I realized however, I can’t keep blaming myself for not having spoken to or seen them.  The lines of communication go both ways.  If they had wanted to hear from me, or were curious about what I was doing, I would have heard from them.  I can’t continue to beat myself up.  I’m busy too.  I have feelings too.  So I’ll just close those chapters and move on….

I’ve seen sims that were beautiful and strange disappear leaving us with only our pictures and memories.  I miss some of these places.  They gave me a sense of peace whenever I’d visit to take pics or to simply just wander around enjoying the beauty of them.  Some disappeared before I ever had a chance to see them and now I have to be content with the flickr streams of others.  My own sim, BaileysReach is gone.  I thought I’d miss it but I don’t.  Being up there on that island made me too isolated.  I like people, I like to be around people.  Sitting on that big sim alone made me lonely so I rarely was there.  So I moved back on to Angel Square.

Speaking of Angel Square… I’ve had the pleasure of owning the sim for over a year now.  I don’t regret buying the sim for a minute.  Oh I regret certain things that were done in the beginning but buying the island… never.  I think it’s time to celebrate this.  I’m going to be making some changes to the blog (I hope) and the sim in the next couple of months so stay tuned….

I’ve not written here in awhile.   In all honesty I’ve debated keeping the blog going at all.   I’ve changed since I started this and in order for the blog to continue to serve a useful purpose it has to change too.   Well, change it will.  Starting today…

Roleplay in SL can be anything from slaying dragons to chasing down a rogue vampire to having a child or even being a child.   If you think for a moment, to some respect we are all roleplaying in SL.   Our avatar is generally much different than we are in RL.   We do things in SL we’d never do in RL.   And before anyone gets in an uproar saying that their avatar and the person behind the keyboard are the same…. When was the last time you flew to the grocery store?   Exactly.  So like I said, in SL we do what we can’t/wouldn’t do in RL.  Some go a step further and roleplay within SL.

I never thought I’d be roleplaying in SL.   I’ve had friends who have been heavily involved in roleplay, Midian specifically for a long time.   They all tried to get me to join them and I was never interested.   I didn’t see the attraction.  Nor did I want to.  Well flash forward 2 years and one of my closest friends is RPing in Midian and asks me to come check it out.   Having reached one of those points in SL where everything seems to bore me I agree.   At the very least I’ll take some pictures.  We’ll I spent about an hour with her that night.  Next day I joined Midian.  I was hooked.  I joined the Catwalkers, went thru training and became a full Catwalker.   I’m sorting out what role I want to play in the Pride.  

In the process of joining the Catwalkers I sold some land to a few fellow Midianites.   Who could know that one of those folks would become someone very very special to me.

Ioh bought the land right next to me.  He was a Catwalker and had a bit of a reputation as a ladies cat lol .   He was nice enough though and I was happy to have him as a neighbor.  How it happened I don’t know.  We ended up roleplaying a bit in Midian together.   I loved every minute of it!

Over the course of the coming days he and I got to know each other.  We talked, we kissed, we ….(I’ll keep this a PG blog ) 

I fell in love with him.  I adore everything about him.   His kindness, warmth, honesty, trust, humor, intelligence are just a few of the many wonderful things about him.  I’ve had relationships in SL before, but none that can even compare to the way I feel about him and the bond he and I share.   He collared me at the end of January.  Huge step for me, to give someone else that kind of control is a big deal and not something I’d do lightly.   We partnered the next day.  We’re getting married at the end of April, in Midian.   It’s been a whirlwind but a wonderful one.  I’ve never been happier.

If it hadn’t been for roleplaying in Midian I’d never have met him or any of wonderful extended family in the Catwalkers.

The next time someone asks if you’ve ever roleplayed or if you want to, instead of saying no right off the bat, go follow them around a little, see what it’s all about.  Afterall, Rrish did and she’s enjoying herself.

So, as you may have guessed, the blog is going to be more focused on what Bails is doing in SL.  Whether it’s role play in Midian or DJing at the Crown. Which I’m doing tonight by the way.

First off, I know this post is probably going to piss someone off.   That said ….

It’s been commented on and discussed through out the grid, the forums and the blogosphere, Linden Lab is moving the hardcore adult content off onto their own continent.  Ok.  What gets moved, how, defining *adult* etc all have yet to be done but LL is inviting residents to participate in the discussion about it.  This is a good thing in my mind and something they’ve not done well in the past so good for them.

Granted, this decision doesn’t affect me personally as my sims are Mature but are not part of the "adult" business.  However I have to ask why everyone is in such an uproar.

First, I have to ask why is this such a problem?  Don’t themed areas do better financially?  If your looking for something isn’t it easier when you find it all in one place?  Now I’ll admit that being told "where" I can put my business might piss me off.  But at the end of the day, if I want the business then I’m going to go where the customers will be.  Look around the grid and you’ll see this is true.  Stores of a certain type will gravitate to the sims that will support them.  The Vampire focused sims have stores filled with vampire teeth and skins etc.  I’ve not been to the primarily furry sims but I’d imagine the same holds true for them.  I do spend a lot of time in Midian and the few stores there certainly support the nature of the sim.

Second, haven’t people on the mainland been bitching and moaning about all the sex clubs/shops/billboards/etc popping up next to their pretty little homes?  I’ve heard the complaints about LL not providing appropriate or any zoning rules on the mainland and how it affects land prices etc etc.  Well, ok, here’s some zoning rules.  I’d think you’d all be happy.  That sex club that you see everytime you sit on your porch won’t be there.  No idea what will move in but it won’t be a sex club.

Now we know the teen grid and the main grid are going to merge.  We also know that kids have been on the main grid for as long as there has been a main grid.  A good many of them are more mature than some adults I’ve met and I’d hate to see them go.  I also know I’ve spoken to a lot of parents who wish they could interact with their kid on the grid.  That seems reasonable doesn’t it?  Parents should be able to see and interact with their kids on the grid.

Some people are going to make a fuss about creativity and individual freedoms and how this isn’t RL etc etc.  LL has and will always do what it feels is necessary in order for it to survive and flourish.  How many people have complained over the past year about the bad press SL gets when everyone thinks it’s all about sex and porn?  Well you can’t have it both ways.  Either LL takes steps to improve it’s reputation and make SL usable to everyone, or it dies eventually because no one will take it seriously when all they hear about it is the sex stories.

Some will say "but we’re all adults we should be able to do what we want".  Well you still can.  Yes, if you want to buy something in world from a specific shop you may need to be age verified.  What exactly is the problem with that?  Is there a reason you don’t want LL to know any personal details about yourself?  If you’ve ever shopped online, then someone knows more personal details about you than you know.  If you don’t want to age verify there is always xstreetsl.

Really folks, at the end of the day, this isn’t going to be that big a deal to the majority of the population.

I’m being a curious kitty today. 

If you have a blog, why do you write every day?  Do you write every day?  I understand the fashion blogs and all the rest that are similar in that they have a singular focus.  But if your blog isn’t one of those why do you do it?  I have my reasons which can change often.  At times it’s because I have something to say and others it’s a need to simply blather on about nothing in particular but to record the words, to write. 

It’s been a while since I wrote a post every day.  It’s not that I don’t have enough to say, I certainly do.  It’s more that I don’t want to say it out loud, for everyone to hear.  Somethings really are better left unsaid.

So why do you do it?

Ok, here’s another one.  Why are you in SL?  What brought you there?  Why are you still there?

I’ve been in SL over 2 years now.  Started when I was home sick one day watching Good Morning America and they did a piece on it.  I logged right in and was hooked.  After a month I was starting to get bored when someone who would end up being one of my best friends dragged me off to a wedding.  I’ve been around ever since.  Sure I’ve had moments where I thought I’d pack it in.  Times when I’ve been so bored and disallusioned I thought what’s the point.  Then something would strike me and my interest would be sparked again.  My interests have changed in the 2 years since I first logged in.  My skills have improved, my circle of friends has grown.  I’ve tried things I never thought I would.  Some I enjoyed, some not so much.  I’ve met wonderful people and I’ve met some not so wonderful.  Each new experience has taught me something. 

So, why are you in SL?  If you’ve been around more than a month what made you stay?  If you’ve thought about packing it in, what made you stay?