I stopped caring
It’s funny when all of a sudden you realized you just stopped caring – not in a bad way but in good way. All of sudden you just stop caring about the things you really had no control over and still caused you pain. Elusive post? Perhaps. Is it temporary? Maybe. But oddly I just stopped caring last night and today about things such as who he is close to or why do some people hate me. You see, it really doesn’t matter because all that I really can influence or control is me. Letting go is powerful and very subtle all at the same time. So for today I can say this, I just stopped caring. YAY!
Fort Hood – My Thoughts And Prayers Are With You
I am not sure if this violating the boycott rules but I just want to post something about Fort Hood – a military base located in TX. In my mind this is bit bigger than content theft - Fort Hood is about a hour north of Austin and I have known people either living on base or living in the community of Killeen. One was actually a co-worker of mine at Dell. In case you don’t know what I am talking about earlier today eleven people plus a gunman were killed and 31 were wounded after the gunman opened fire at Fort Hood in Texas on Thursday, a Fort Hood spokesman said. In the event that any SL community members are on base or are a Killeen TX resident please know my thoughts and prayers are with you. Hugs and Namaste.
“In the midst of movement and chaos, keep stillness inside of you.” – Deepak Chopra
IT’S HERE, IT’S HERE – Lizzie Hair From Truth!
For shame Lizzie. Ah the nerve, Lizzie. How pretentious Lizzie. You have hair named after you and you blog it like some bitchy fashionista? HELLS YEAH, especially cause it looks so good haha. Yes the man, the myth or whatever you wanna call him has finally made some Lizzie hair and its such a beautiful mess just like Lizzie, YAY.
And yes its November 5th and yes Lizzie isn’t supposed to be blogging and yes shes a bad girl. And yes she did try to get it in before midnight Central Time but it is posted at 10:56 SLT so maybe shes okay, EEK. And right now she is thinking of Tenshi and all her efforts and she feels bad, she really does. And with the image of Tenshi and all the artist group members in her head she turns away in shame and cries and says ever so softly “but guys its my hair. I just wanted to blog my hair.” *sniff*.
So here it is folks the “Lizzie” from Truth, a lovely and messy braid look that just screams Lizzie, YAY. And oh yeah he should be releasing it today (Thursday) or Friday along with some other looks not named Lizzie – so soon, oh so very soon my friends. Okay that’s all and oh btw, there is now Lizzie hair at Truth, haha. So take care my friends and have a great second life!
- Hair: >TRUTH< Lizzie – carrot
- Skin: *blowpop* N2 Elizabeth -tone C- 7.2 Periwinkle 2
- Dress: ::SUGARCUBE – sugar by sugar dress ( beige )
- Glasses: (W) Wrigglesworths Opal Cat-Eye Readers
- Earrings: *GF*G Field Heart Earring
- Poses: Skanks-R-US
Lizzie Says: Lets Go Hiking!
Yodelayheehoo! Our Ms. Lizzie has been wanting to say this for sometime since acquiring her “Heidi” hair from Truth a few weeks back, ha! And with the weather in her real life hometown becoming the pleasant climate that reigns over Austin for 8 months out of the year, Lizzie has been doing quite a bit of walking and hiking in both worlds it seems. So with the thought of a brisk mountain stroll on her mind, Lizzie thought she would put the perfect hiking look together and venture out in to the wilderness of second life, YAY. So let’s take a look shall we?
Lizzie and Her Simple Fashion Post
Lizzie has been quite ranty as of late so she figured she would do a sweet and simple post today, YAY! And yes EVERYBODY AND THEIR DOG has blogged these new Maitreya scarves but today she will be a fashion follower instead of a trend setter and say – GO BUY THIS SCARF, LOL. And also has she told you lately how much she loves her “Sable” pigtails from Truth? Ha! Okay that’s it folks, have a nice day!
To be honest, I Wish It Were a Lie
A report went out over the weekend that a young woman who was the part of our second life fashion community has passed away. Of course, with this being the internets questions will be raised. But I am going to be honest with you – I really wish it were a scam or a lie. I am sure you are wondering why would I want that – I mean it would hurt her close friends she has made in second life deeply if it were revealed to be a lie. And yes it would and it would be awful. But the real reason I wish it were a lie is because this young, young woman would still be out there, somewhere, living her life and hopefully being happy. So for that reason, I wish it were a lie. Hugs to all of you.
Please Stop
Please just stop. Please stop trying to vilify the efforts of others who are trying to make a difference. Yeah people have conflicts and issues and fights and drama but when someone is trying to do SOMETHING about a subject people love to bitch about, just stop and try and see the bigger picture. And if you don’t like what they are doing, why not take a piece of what they are doing and do it better or join in with them in an effort to work towards a common goal. Dell made a better IBM if you really think about it – so why not make a better group if you feel as though the group you are bitching about is doing it wrong or is ineffective or is selling a PC for too much money, LOL. And yeah maybe there is already one group devoted to said issue but what really is wrong with two or twenty or a thousand groups – if they are all working to make a community better than whats the big deal?
*This cryptic rant was brought to you by Lizzie Lexington and does not reflect the views of her many alts. Have a nice day.
Yes Hell Has Frozen Over – Lizzie is Working with Tenshi
Yes my friends you heard it – Lizzie is working with Tenshi, EEEK. No she hasn’t returned to Shopping Cart Disco but instead she was asked by Ms. Vielle to participate in a new group focusing on the dreaded subject of content theft, Dun, Dun, DUN! Seriously though I am proud to be participating in The Artist’s Voice which was originated by Tenshi a few weeks back and was formally introduced to all of the blogosphere in a recent post on SCD. I am sure you are now asking “Lizzie what exactly is The Artist’s Voice and why should I care.” Well my pretties, The Artist’s Voice is a group dedicated to the education and awareness of content theft, with the focus being on education. And why should you care? Well since you care enough about fashion to read blogs, you should also care enough to know that content creators are having their work stolen every day via copybot or 3rd party viewers for the most part. And since you care enough to read my blog to find out where you acquire the items Lizzie likes to wear you should care enough to know that this affects all creators. These talented folks have taken the time to make lovely things to adorn our pixel parts and as a lover of fashion you should be willing to support them by not buying or accepting copied or stolen goods (was that explanation wordy enough for you, LOL).
Now for Lizzie, The Artist’s Voice is not a witch hunt group – she is not interested in blogging about who stole what from whom or who copied whom or whose ass is fatter – well maybe that, ha, erm no. She will leave this type of coverage to the lovely folks over at SCD – Tenshi and her gang will be more than happy to receive your notecards on these subjects, ha! Instead Lizzie in her blog will continue to be more interested in fanny packs, asshattery for fun and pretty pics, thank you very much, LOL.
Okay all kidding aside, for Lizzie her focus in The Artist’s Voice is about educating the consumer and making them aware of the impact of stolen content. And with this in mind I am the pseudo chair of TEAM CONSUMER, YAY. And what will Team Consumer being doing? Well to start off my intention is to focus on the newbies of second life – meeting with them in infohubs, newbie community locations, etc etc and helping them understand and learn how to identify stolen content. You see, I really enjoy working with the new folks and if in my interactions with them helps them not only learn about content theft but also second life in general then this will be a Win-Win for all, YAY!
For me, educating consumers about content theft is personal as well as community oriented. I have had two close friends impacted by stolen content – one of these friends is Artoo Magneto of Akeyo and the other is Truth – someone whom I respect and admire for his talent and outlook on life. Artoo, in particular, has been impacted by content theft repeatedly but in recent months it has gotten worse. Sometime last spring I was given a folder labeled “Akeyo Dances”. At first it didn’t alarm me because I for one already had the dances and secondly it came from someone we both knew from the electronic clubs. But after a couple minutes I found it odd this friend had received trans/copy dances from Artoo so I decided to look at the dances a bit closer. Quickly I discovered the creator was not Artoo. I advised the mutual friend that these were indeed stolen dances and immediately IM’d Artoo and talked to him about the dances. At the time of these conversations last spring, he didn’t want me to blog or discuss the stolen content with anyone because he wanted to avoid spreading the word that the dances were out there floating around and he hoped to also minimize the awareness that animations could also be copied. So per his wishes, I kept quiet.
Unfortunately The Lab has been less than responsive in assisting Artoo and his requests of having the dances blacklisted. But after the Rebel Hope sim copybot drama and the subsequent blacklisting by LL as also reported by Shopping Cart Disco, I went back to Artoo and asked him to contact Rebel Hope for advice and guidance which he did. Rebel then advised Artoo to get in touch with Tenshi and get the word out about the animations, particularly in light of the fact the a member of a freebie group with close to 3000 members sent out a group notice with the dances attach for all the members to save. And with Artoo’s blessing, the Akeyo copybot incident was reported by SCD, YAY!
I would now like to share a bit about Artoo. I have known him for almost as long as I have been in SL and a he is one of the kindest people I have met in second life, hands down. He is funny, articulate and very talented. He is a master of sculpts and he is devoted to live motion capture for his animations. He really is one of the good guys my friends and I hate to see all his hard work passed around like it has been. So if you have received any Akeyo animations for free – please check the creator and if Zack Francois or mustang Letlow is listed as the creator, do not pass them or better yet delete them.
Okay enough ranting for today – this post is long enough as it is, LOL. But I just wanted to share with you what the nerd girl is up to in SL besides her never ending search for most fabulous fanny pack or hair with braids, YAY. And yes I do have pics taken and I promise my next post will be about fashion. And oh before I go, I would like to say for all the world to see the following: Thank you Tenshi for looking past our issues and asking me to be a part of The Artist’s Voice. Is says a lot about you and your leadership skills for you to acknowledge that you and I can work together for the good of the community. And no I am not kissing her ass, I am sure I will piss her off again at some point in the future, LOL. So with this being said, this post will come to a close and as always take care my friends and have a great second life.
Lizzie says: My Second Life, My “Id”
Naughty, naughty Second lifers LOL. Yes this is a Lizzie rant but what would your week or month be without at least one Lizzie rant. Unfortunately this rant is not about asshattery on the grid, it’s about me and how I am changing. The thing is I really think I am moving into a better place emotionally and it has led me to step back and take a look at myself and my behavior over the last, oh wow, almost 3 years now since I joined second life. I have said and done things that I never would in my regular day-to-day existence: I have been less than nice at times, talked out of my ass and occasionally acted like a 9th grader. After my fits of emo as I would call them, my normal reaction would be to wonder why. So I decided to put my psychology degree and almost (LOL) masters to use, which of course makes me an expert on human behavior (not) and start a bit of self-analysis.
For some reason Freud and his concept of the “Id” screams at me in regards to my behavior and the behavior of other within the context of a virtual world. Does the virtual world environment tap into or bring out the more “Id” parts of our personality. Does this virtual curtain we exist behind allow us to be much more primal in our interactions with others. Now I am sure many of you are familiar with this concept of the Id but let me provide a nice, clear definition courtesy of our beloved Wikipedia:
The Id comprises the unorganised part of the personality structure that contains the basic drives. The id acts as according to the ‘pleasure principle‘, seeking to avoid pain or unpleasure aroused by increases in instinctual tension.[3]
The Id is unconscious by definition. In Freud’s formulation,
It is the dark, inaccessible part of our personality, what little we know of it we have learnt from our study of the dream-work and of the construction of neurotic symptoms, and most of this is of a negative character and can be described only as a contrast to the ego. We all approach the id with analogies: we call it a chaos, a cauldron full of seething excitations… It is filled with energy reaching it from the instincts, but it has no organisation, produces no collective will, but only a striving to bring about the satisfaction of the instinctual needs subject to the observance of the pleasure principle.
Sidebar: You know I love Wikipedia – I can get lost in it for hours, haha. And yeah some of the info is bit suspect but for basic definitions of well known theories and topics its really not a bad source for basic introductory info. Anyway sorry, let me get back to my point, YAY.
The Id, I think, is instrumental in our actions and reactions in a virtual world. We do and say things that we may not say in the regular world due to the anonymity, lack of social constraints or because its easier to take risks in saying things that one may not say in day-to-day life. Boundaries are not as clear and not as healthy. In some instances it’s not about building a relationship or a partnership, it’s about meeting needs. In simple terms we are a bunch of Ids roaming about the grid LOL. Okay, yes I am generalizing but I am trying to be funny, ha!
In looking at my own behavior I can see how I was very much an “Id”. In my mind my needs were not being met in the real world so I turned to a virtual world to compensate. The issue wasn’t the virtual world or the people in it – the issue was me, plain and simple. But this is the thing, I like SL – I like taking pictures of my avatar, I like chatting with friends, I like listening to the electronic DJ’s, I like that SL makes me happy. So because I can’t change the behaviours of those in second life, I had to change me – my behaviors and my outlook in regards to both lives.
So last summer I began the process. I made a huge effort to change my way of thinking about myself and the world around me. I began reading Deepak again, LOL, and practicing Yoga, I even watched the Secret haha (Lizzie waves to Oprah). I also made a conscious effort in my interactions with others and not just those in my “circle of trust.” I would walk around with a smile on my face and I would say to relative strangers, such as the barista at Starbucks, the cashier at Randall’s, things like “Have a Nice Day” or “thanks so much for helping”, blah blah blah. I became the happy, cheerful Pollyanna that so many people hate, ha.
And not only did I change some of my outward behaviors I also worked on my head so to speak: Everyday I would tell myself things like “I have value”, “I have worth”, “I am in charge of my destiny and my outlook”, “Live with Passion” (wait – no LOL eek “live with a passion” is what a friend says, but hey its a good self help saying so I am stealing it from him)! And with all honestly I am really beginning to see a real change in my way of thinking. Yes my friends, I am now officially on the way to becoming the next great Self-Help Guru,” NOT! YAY for being less Id!
Okay yeah feel free to say “Yay You” in a droll sarcastic tone, ha. But guess what I can take the heat. And yeah I still may get catty and bitchy from time to time and I won’t always be a Pollyanna. And yes I will still occasionaly fixate and obsess on the actions of others and drive myself crazy with a million “why” questions. But cut me some slack will ya, I am not perfect. And the quicker I see that in myself and allow myself to be less than perfect, the happier I will be in the long run. Okay, I will shut up now. I promise I will do a fashion post later tonight but I was too tired last night to do pics. So with that being said, Hugs my friends and I will chat at you later!
Lizzie forgot to credit her lovely poses from Sunflower!
As you well know Lizzie is a big fan of posemakers and in her last post she neglected to send kudos to Helianthus Mesmer of Sunflower Poses, EEK! And if you read Lizzie’s blog you will see that in the past she has credited Helianthus but this time she oopsed! You see Helianthus shares shop space with one of Lizzie’s all time SLers, Morgan Kincess of Digital Eyes and fell in heart with Helianthus’s poses through Morgan. Sunflower poses are full of life and are definitely not for the faint of heart photographer in SL, LOL. So please check out Sunflower along with Lizzie’s other beloved pose shops – Olive Juice, SMP, Pudge, Pffiou, Snook and Miyoko Magic. Lizzie has others she knows but she is not in world at the moment to check her animation folders. Okay that’s it for now. Hugs all and buy poses!
