Ok, I know I know.  Bad Blogger.  Haven’t written a word here in far too long.  Well, I’ve been busy and blogging frankly was the last thing on my mind.  So, now that things are settling back down I swear I’ll blog more regularly.  So what has kept me so busy you ask…

Building… I built a new house for Angel Square and I’m going to do all the furniture for it as well.  I’ve quite a bit of it done as well as the animations/poses in some of the furniture.  Not done yet but getting there.  The plan is to put it up on Xstreet when it’s done.  I’ll take some pics and put them in here when I have a couple of mins.

I’m also working on an urban skybox/shop space.  Right now it’s looking more like a shop.  Maybe 2 versions…..

I think I’ve gotten the structure of the tail down that I want to do.  Now it’s time to work on texturing and accessories.  The plan is to do custom orders for accessories/colors.  I’ll do ears to match as well.  If you’ve got an idea in mind for a tail you’ve always wanted but couldn’t exactly find, let me know.  If you don’t mind being a tester you’ll get a free tail at the end of this custom made to your request.

And the really big news….

Ioh and I got married last weekend.  The ceremony was beautiful, the church looked amazing, Ioh was incredibly handsome and both Dazy and Elise looked beautiful. 

It was a small service, just friends and family Sunday night at St Michaels in Midian.  The girls all waited at the den while I dressed and got ready(ie rezzed lol) while the boys were over at the church waiting for us.  I have to say my breath caught when the doors to the church opened and Elise and I walked in.  It was just beautiful.  The flowers Bianca had made lined the aisle and candles were every where. 

Having Elise ‘give me away’ just seemed so right and she was perfect.  I didn’t really know Elise prior to coming to Midian and joining the Catwalkers.  She has come to be such a close friend, she’s family.  So I had my Sister Dazy standing with me.  Dazy and I have been through so much.  She means the world to me.

Then there was Eamon.  He wrote the most beautiful service for us.  I couldn’t have asked for anything  lovelier.  He’s become a part of the family.  I couldn’t have imagined taking that step in front of anyone but him.

Ioh and I wrote our own vows and I couldn’t have been prouder to stand with him at the altar, say those vows and become his  Wife.

It’s been almost a week now and I couldn’t be happier.  Go check out my Flickr for pics of the wedding.  We’ll try and have a party for everyone soon as schedules allow.  Maybe something small at home.  

I’ve got loads of other news and stuff to stay tuned for some additional newness on the blog.

Promise not to disappear again for so long…

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.

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.

Valentine’s Day.  That holiday that is either loved or hated depending on your current status.  If your in a relationship(a good one) then you are likely to embrace the day.  If your not in a relationship(or in a bad one) your likely going to hate all the mushy lovey dovey stuff.

For the most part I’ve always felt it is a contrived holiday to benefit the candy makers and  greeting card companies.  This year is a bit different.  This year I’m in a relationship with someone whose company I enjoy, who makes my face light up when I see him and who I want to spend every minute with.  While I still think the holiday is overdone by card and candy companies, I’m jumping on the candy heart bandwagon.

Valentine’s Day celebrates love and affection.  Go as far back as the Romans and lovers and friends have been exchanging tokens of love and friendship in the middle of the month in February.  Whether it is a simple token of affection to a friend you hold dear or something more personal and thoughtful to a lover, it’s a day to celebrate the bonds we have with those we love.

We shouldn’t need one day to remind us to say "I love you" though.  We should say it every day.  Life is far too short and things change to quickly to let a moment go by without telling the people you care about how you feel.

So I’m taking this moment to say "I <3 You" to those who I hold dear.  They know who they are.  You all mean the world to me.   You’ve each touched my heart in a different way and I’ve changed, hopefully for the better, because of it.  Not a day goes by that I don’t think about each of you or try to make sure I at least say hello.

To Ioh…. You have stolen my heart.  I love you more than I could possibly say.  Your my last thought as I drift off to sleep and my first when I awake.  I love you…   always.

To all those who aren’t in a relationship and totally believe this to be an overblown commercial holiday – I hear you.  I’ve been there.  But Valentine’s day isn’t just for lovers.  It really is for everyone.  Tell your friends how much you care about them.   Tell your family what they mean to you.  Tell that designer whose clothes you adore how much you love their what they make.  Take the opportunity to tell someone you care about them. 

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!

P.S. -  Back to square one on the complaint meter.  Someone who shall remain nameless (Prad) pointed out a small rant I’d made.  So, back to the beginning – 1 day with no complaints!  Go me!  lol

I want to thank everyone who participated in the Charity Auction yesterday at C2P.  It was a lot of fun and best of all we raised a good deal of money.  I believe we had about 150,000L last night so a HUGE thank you to everyone!!

There will be a donation box out at the Crown and Pearl for anyone who wishes to donate but couldn’t attend yesterday.  Remember, last year we raised over 1 million lindens!!!!!

Every little bit helps and counts so if you can spare some lindens, put them in the box.

Thank you to Prad for DJing and assisting with the auction.

Thank you to Lands for all the notices and promotion of the event.

Again, thank you to everyone who donated or agreed to be auctioned off!

LOL I know, silly title but what else would say it quite so well?  See, nothing so there you go.

As my lovely friends will attest I’ve been suspiciously absent from the Crown and from their IM windows.  I haven’t even bugged them for new Gallery photos although they will get that poke later when I get home.  Hint hint

So, where have I been?   I’ve been roleplaying in Midian  and I’ve been hanging out with a very special neko that I adore and who adores me.  We partnered last weekend and I couldn’t be happier.  We talked that night about having a wedding ceremony, he said he’d do it if I wanted it.  He offered, is this guy great or what….  So, we’ll be having a wedding and a christening at St Michael’s parish in Midian.  Details will be forthcoming when I know what they are – lol.

I know I said I’d never get married again in SL but this is different.  He’s different.  I’ll spare you all the soppy details.  He knows how I feel about him and that’s all that matters.

The Crown and Pearl Charity Auction is this weekend.  We’ve had quite a few people sign up to be auctioned off.  It’s a good cause, Cancer Research so come out on Sunday and bid on someone or just dump some lindens in the donation box.  The Auction itself is Sunday at 1pm SLT at the C2P on Angel Square.  Join the Crown and Pearl group for updates on the auction and all the other great events and DJs.

The Gallery of Light theme should be changing this weekend.  The new theme is Respect.  The artwork I’ve seen so far is amazing.  We have a new addition to the gallery; Elise Capalini.  Welcome Elise, we’re happy to have you join the family.

The Angel Square market/mall is open and starting to fill in.  If you are looking for store space let me know.  Come down and take a walk through the gallery and the stores opening, there’s some truly cute items there.

So that’s what’s new and notable in my world for now.

Quick update:  I’m 3 days without a single complaint!  Woohoo Go me!

Well it’s that time of year again.   Time for the Crown and Pearl’s annual charity date auction.   That’s right, the regulars and staff are putting themselves up on the auction.   What do you get if you out bid everyone else and “win” one of these awesome folks?   You win a one hour date.  What you two do on your date is up to you.   We don’t wanna know.  No, really we don’t. 

So how does it work?  Well if you’d like to be “auctioned” off, then contact me by Thursday and I’ll add you to the list.   The you need to come to the C2P(the underground club on Angel Square) Sunday February 8^th by 1pm.   You’ll go up on the auction block and the winning bidder gets a date with you by paying the donation box.  

The event is always a lot of fun and we raise a lot of money for a good cause.  Last year over the course of a week we raised over $1million lindens for Cancer Research.   The event was dedicated to DeeDee Fadoodle, a regular of the Crown and Pearl and resident of Angel Square.   We lost DeeDee last year and she is sorely missed. 

If you can’t participate in the actual event, the donation box will be left up for a few days and you are welcome to throw some linden love in the box.   All the money raised will go to Cancer Research UK, we aren’t keeping a penny of it.

So you wanna know who is being auctioned off right?  Well, we’ve got 2 of SL’s hottest Male Avs, I’m not saying who.   I hear there is a rather sexy cat or two up for auction as well as a several other lovely regulars and staff.

If you want all the details you need to be in the Crown and Pearl group so sign up if you aren’t yet.   You’ll get all the details and notices about the event.

I’ll thank everyone in advance for their support for this very worth cause.

As the end of 2008 approaches I thought it might be nice to make a list of what has happened this year.

Some were happy events, some not so happy.  Some I’d like to forget and some I never will.

It’s been an interesting year.  Let’s see if 2009 is just as interesting.

2008 Events

Got married

Got divorced

Bought Angel Square

Bought Baileys Reach

Crown and Pearl moves to Angel Square

Crown and Pearl hotes charity Date Auction 

Crown and Pearl raises over 1Million Linden for Cancer Research

Crown and Pearl moves to Crown and Pearl

Crown and Pearl turns 1 yr old

BL hits the airwaves as a Crown and Pearl DJ

Aribeth and Hell give birth to Seren

Prad has his first art show at the Cannery, followed by his second at Twilight

BL, Aribeth, Prad, Rrish, BD all turn 2 

Bailey Dazy becomes Catwalker Wrath

Prad closes Amodica in order to re-launch in 2009

Fireworks at the Crown and Pearl

Nuclear war head blows up the Crown and Pearl(Prad!!!!) 

Gallery of Light Opens on Angel Square

Crown and Pearl hosts Uncover Magazine Launch

Crown and Pearl hosts CRY America Charity Event

Landsend Korobase has 1st showing at Twilight Gallery

It’s been a busy and wonderful year.  Thank you to everyone who has helped make 2008 so fantastic!

Love you all….

Bails <3 

The Gallery has been open for a month or so now and I thought it was time I talked about it for a bit.  Why did I allocate space on my island to a Gallery which doesn’t contribute to my tier payment you may ask?  The answer is simple.  There are so many talented folks who are regulars and DJs at the Crown and Pearl that I thought what better way to show that then to open a Gallery for them to show their work.

Each artist displays one piece of artwork based on a theme I determine.  In the future I may ask each of them to choose the theme.  The current theme is *Dreams*.  You know the song from Cinderella.  Dreams are wishes your heart makes…..  Well that was my inspiration.

Every couple of weeks the theme will change.  I’m not telling you what the next theme is.  You’ll have to wait and see. 

Currently the artists on display are:  Ryker Beck , Natalya Homewood , Prad Prathivi , Bailey Dazy, Aribeth Coronet , Landsend Korobase , Hellspawned Xingjian and myself.  New artists are welcome to join the Gallery.  Just drop me an IM or notecard in world.

Stop by and see the artwork by these very talented folks.  If you like what you see, well why not drop them a note and tell them.