"You’ve been given a sim of your very own to use for free for one year. However, there are 3 rules. It cannot be residential, it cannot be commercial, and it has to be open to the public. What do you do with it?"

I got excited seeing this question. It’s actually something I tried to do with BaileysReach, the island this blog was actually named in honor of.  BaileysReach was what is now called a Homestead and while it was partially my home, it was also a refuge for anyone who wanted to just get away and relax or escape.  My very good friend Rrishanna Regina landscaped the entire island and it was beautiful.  I hated getting rid of that island but I just couldn’t afford it anymore. So to get a sim tier free… well that would be fun. 

There are so many beautiful sims on the grid I think I’d rather do something totally frivolous.  I’ve loved fairy tales since I was a little girl, especially Cinderella.  If I’m totally honest, I liked the mice the best.   The whole idea that a poor un noticed girl could become a Princess is just about every little girls dream.  So, yeah this is my favorite fairy tale. 

My sim would be all about the fairy tales.  Cinderella, Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty, and Jack and the Beanstalk.  I know there are hundreds more but it’s only one sim!

I’m a decent builder but there is no way I could properly do these justice by myself so I’d enlist the help of some good friends who are incredibly talented, Prad and Rrish.  Rrish would love the challenge, Prad would laugh at me.  He’d help though, he likes a challenge. 

Once it was all built I’d open it up to the public to just hang out in or even to RP in.  Anyone could come and act out the fairy tale as written or rewrite it for their amusment. 

I’d want to make it a place to have fun, take pictures, explore.  I’d  probably hide some cool freebies all over the sim for people to find.  Like half eaten apples on the snow white side, glass slippers for Cinderella, beans for Jack and little red hoods for Red Riding Hood.  These would be items donated that fit into the theme.  Not so much a hunt but items to help enjoy the sim.

Well there you go… my idea for a sim that’s not residential or commercial.  If anyone reads this and wants to help me make this dream a reality, let me know!  I really do want to do this someday….

This BBBC challenge is a blast, I’m really enjoying it.  I’ve missed writing here and hopefully this is just the kickstart to get back to it.

Every couple of months a new topic, or one revisited, comes up that gets blogged and sends everyone into fits.  The most recent is again the Great Debate on Freebies.  Prad stirred the pot quite a bit with his post, Entitlement and loads of other bloggers have commented or written on their own blogs about it.  I’m not gonna debate the worthiness of freebies with anyone.  They have their place and use and if someone works really hard at making something and then decides to just give it away…. Well who am I to tell them they can’t or shouldn’t? 

There are many things in the SL economy that annoy me to no end but I’m not going to waste a lot of time complaining to the internet about it.  I stopped doing hunts ages ago.  If my friends are doing one and want company, sure I’ll hop my way around with them but I don’t feel compelled to continue.  I have to say though, I’ve found a few new favorite stores through these things so they aren’t all bad.  But saying that, I won’t waste hours and  hours going to hundreds of stores for stuff that I may or may not end up keeping.  Just as an aside, a list of all the participating stores in a hunt would be great because even if I don’t go on the hunt, I can always visit these stores later when they aren’t as crowded and can do some serious shopping.  Just sayin…

The problem isn’t the freebie in my mind.  The problem is the people.  The consumers who have gotten so engrossed in the ‘hunts’ that they have forgotten that these are actually stores, not just buildings holding a hunt a gift that you have to find.  The designers in an effort to improve sales or traffic or both keeping improving the free gift they give out or join more hunts.  The quality of some of the free gifts I’ve seen is just stellar so kudos to all of you for the higher standards you’ve set.  But when your freebies are so damn good, I don’t need to buy anything!  Then there are the bloggers.  I use the fashion blogs just like everyone else to see what’s new and for ideas.  No, I don’t like seeing something on every single blog and usually those items i’ll avoid.  At least for a few months anyway.   The point I’m making here is that we ALL have contributed to this feeling of "Entitlement" as Prad puts it. 

For me, freebies taught me how to build.  I took things apart, figured out how they were done and then tried to duplicate them.  Once I realized I could make a copy, well then I had to make my ‘own’.  I don’t have a store and I don’t sell anything on Xstreet but I do know how to make some stuff.  Clothing and shoes and hair escape me mainly because of the amount of photoshop time and patience and frankly skill needed that I just don’t have right now.  Right now I’m focusing on making some animations for myself.  When I’m happy with them, maybe I’ll sell them or give some away, who knows.  The fact is I learned how to do things by pulling other peoples work apart and seeing what made it work or how it was put together.  I also spent hours watching Prad build and learned sooo much from him, seeing how he puts something together.  So, the freebie served a purpose for me.

All that being said, I’ll still grab a freebie that I see that is amazing or that I just simply have to have.  To be honest though, I’d pay for these items if they weren’t free. 

Instead of everyone getting angry with each other, designer and consumer alike, or attempting to point fingers or throw the blame around, why don’t you all start the designers consortium as someone suggested in Prad’s comments.  Get together and talk about how to increase business or traffic or marketing or PR.  Talk this stuff out together, ask your customers what they think, work together rather than against each other.  Get some folks together who know how to run a successful business in SL and RL.  Come up with new ways of doing things.  This is SL, if we can fly then surely there are different ways of marketing your product.

I’ve met quite a few designers in SL and without exception they are some of the nicest people I’ve ever met.  They are also incredibly talented and busy and smart.   I’d love to see a group of them get together to sort out some of the issues with SL business. 

Look what they accomplish for RFL every year….

Imagine what they could do for the SL economy….

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!

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 

Yep, new blog template.   Like it? 

See when you break your blog(you can stop laughing now), it’s an excellent time to make a new one and since I wanted to a new one anyway…

No, I didn’t break the blog on purpose.  Really, I didn’t.  Was totally an accident. 

I’ll thank Prad again though for not only fixing it but making this awesome new one for me.   You rawk dude!

I’ve heard quite a few people complaining about Alts lately.   What is an alt you ask?   An Alt is an alternative avatar, a second or third or fourth persona you create usually entirely different from your original avie.   I’ve heard of people having up to 10 other avies.

Why have one?  The reasons are as varied as the people who have them.   Business reasons, role play, to spy on a significant other, to hide from a significant other and on and on.   I will admit to having two alts.  One I rarely use that I set up to roleplay with and never got into and one that I created because well, sometimes you need another av for a photoshoot.   It’s a male av and I’ve yet to *dude* him up but I’ll get there.

The Business Alt:   Having a business alt makes total sense when you run a successful business.   Generally that av only logs in from time to time, handles the administrative things and logs out again.   This av isn’t usually hidden from anyone.

The Role Play Alt:   So, you wanna go all psycho in Midian or CoLA or any of the other roleplay sims.   Your very proper human av just won’t cut it though.  You make an alt in which to be whatever mutant or neko or vamp you wish to be.   Some people share this alt with their friends, some don’t. 

The I need to spy on my significant other Alt :  Ok so your dating/partnered/engaged/married and your significant other seems different.   You know something is wrong but they simply say everything is fine.   You don’t believe them.  You worry they are cheating.  What do you do?   You create an alt and then go spy on them.   Let me just say I’m NOT condoning this behavior.  Having been on the receiving end of it I can tell you it destroys all trust in a relationship.  I dated someone who had an Alt to spy on every girl he dated.  Some male, some female.  He even created one male av and used it to hit on me to see if I’d take the bait.  No, I didn’t.   My suggestion, if you think your significant other is cheating, ask them outright or end the relationship.   Spying is simply wrong.

The I need to hide from my significant other Alt :  Ok, so you’re in a great relationship but you want a bit of alone time.   Your other half just doesn’t understand why you don’t want to spend every waking minute with them.   You create an Alt so you can get some peace and do what you want.   Wanting some peace and being able to do whatever you like is all fine but maybe you need to have a heart to heart with the significant other rather than hiding behind an alt.

The I just want to annoy everyone Alt :  You’ve probably had one to many alcoholic beverages and think it would be a real hoot to create and alt and then go to your favorite hang out in your underwear and hit on your friends.   True story, happened at the Crown the other night.  Lands was kind enough to share the story with me.   I’ll refer you to Prad Prathivi’s  Rules of Second Life , SL and alcohol don’t mix.  It’s #49 on the list but do read all of them, they are quite funny and oh so true.

The I look better than I should only being 3 mins old Alt :  Do not try to tell me you’re a noob when you’ve got a Redgrave Skin, Diversity Hair, an outfit from Last Call(which is closed) and shoes from Shiny Things or boots from Bax.   Cause there is no way someone under 30 days has any of that stuff, especially from Last Call as they have been closed a while now.   You created an alt, transferred stuff over and are trying to be *new* again.   You know what, fess up that it’s an alt.  Trying to pretend your something your not is just silly, we see right through it.  

This concludes my little rant on Alts. 

No really, legit question.  Are you one of those people who bounces all over the grid checking out random sims?  Or do you have one or two favored places that you always go to? 

If your bouncing all over the grid how do you choose where to go?  What makes one of these places a favorite and worthy of inventory space by keeping a LM?  What makes a sim instantly unlikable?  When I’m bouncing around the grid I’m looking for an interesting place to take pictures.  Right now I’m seeking out sims reminiscient of the 40’s/old Hollywood glamour days.  If you know of any, let me know!  In fact, found a fantastic sim you want to share?  Put it here in the comments.  I’m going to start a page of favorite landmarks.  Just included a brief description with the slurl. 

We all know I’m usually at the Crown.  Big surprise, I own the place.   Even if I didn’t I’d be there though.  First the island is beautiful thanks to Rrish and the Crown itself is unique and beautiful and special, thanks to Prad .  The people are what really make it special though.  Our regulars are a right bunch of nutters but let someone come in asking a question they’ll get as many replies as there are people in the bar.

So that’s my SL.  A bit of wandering and a lot of time at the Crown and Pearl with interruptions for shopping(no prad, we can’t have too many shoes ) and visiting.

What’s your SL????

Seems there is controversy everywhere these days.  Whether it’s the Open Space issue which some people are still grumbling about or it’s IP rights and content theft or it’s the media’s portrayal of SL as a place of sex and gambling and all things evil, controversy is everywhere.  It seems we all find some hot topic to blather on about, throwing our opinions into the cyber wind and hoping for a reaction.

For some, they want to stir the pot, make people think and just maybe someone will DO something.  Others stir the pot just to do it.  Get everyone fired up and walk away watching the explosions from a safe distance.  Then there are those who will jump on the bandwagon as it goes by but would never lead the band.  I’ve got a favorite saying, *Lead, follow, or get the hell out of my way*. 

There are natural leaders and natural followers.  If you watch closely you can pick out which is which.  The natural follower is the support system, the cheerleader the one happy to hold the banner of the leader.  The natural leader speaks and people listen.  They go in a direction, people follow.  These are the people stirring the pots, creating the controversy.

Controversy isn’t always a bad thing.  In some cases, it’s necessary.  Think of all the changes in our lifetimes, name one that didn’t start as controversial.  Prad’s post yesterday about magazines is a perfect example.  He certainly stirred the pot but if the magazine community in SL uses it to take a step back and look at their own magazine to improve, then he’s helped to accomplish something.

Lands is also touching on some heavy subjects here .   These will not be popular subjects with a lot of people.  Let’s face it, none of us like having it pointed out that we are doing something wrong.  Especially when we know deep down that we are doing something wrong.  I’ll leave the debate of that topic to her.  I’m just as guilty as everyone else of *downloading* and I’m not going to justify it or excuse it because in actuality, I can’t. 

I think good honest debate is a good thing.  Keeps us thinking and reasonning, questionning and searching for answers.

The one thing I’d like to see more of though, less backstabbing among bloggers.  Perhaps the fashion blogosphere is saturated and now everyone is kicking and scratching to keep their corner of the world.  Maybe it’s because designers are sending their review copies to EVERY blogger.  I just know that I don’t like to see one blogger trashing another on their blog.  It may make you feel better but think about your readers.  What image are you presenting to them, that you are happy to trash someone else so openly, so publicly?  Why should I read your blog if that is how you handle conflict?  I don’t like it and I’ll take a guess that a lot of other people don’t either.

It’s been a year since Prad, Kendra and I opened the Crown and Pearl.  In that time we’ve had ups and downs.  Days when we thought it was for nothing and others when we couldn’t believe the generosity and love from those we call friends and family.

It’s been a long road but one that has been the best ride I’ve been on.  Tonight was the Black and White Ball.  So many friends old and new came by to celebrate, to dance and to try and break the sploder. LOL  I DJ’d tonight, 4 hours worth and had the best time.

I wanted to say a special thank you to everyone who came by tonight.  But I also wanted to say thank you to a few people who without their love and support I wouldn’t be in SL.

Landsy:  Although our friendship is fairly new, silly girls we are , you’ve been a source of strength and laughter on some of my darkest days.  I don’t know what I would do without you to talk to, without your shoulder to cry on.  Thank you, you’ve no idea  how much you mean to me.

Ari:  Two years have seen a lot between us.  You are my dearest friend.  No matter what life throws at us, I’ll always be there for you.  You’ve heard me laugh, cry and yell.  You’ve seen the good and the bad and through it all, we’ve always been friends and always will be.  Love you hon.

Prad:  What is  it that brings two people together that are so very different and yet become the closest of friends.  You’ve taught me much in the past year and a half.  I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again here, some day I’ll see you in the news for some amazing thing you’ve created and be able to say, “I knew him when…”.  There aren’t enough words to be able to say Thank You enough for everything you’ve done for me.  Love ya kiddo.

There are so many people I could single out and say Thank You to for everything they’ve done, said, inspired in me.  For all of you, Thank You.  You all mean so very much to me.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the last year at the Crown and Pearl.  I look forward to seeing what the next year brings us.

See you all at the Crown!

Love,

BL