As many who may sometimes read our blog may already know, I’ve been quite ill with a weird flu or something. It’s kept me down for going on FOUR weeks now, and while I have improved, it’s very stubborn and I must return to the doctor’s yet again for a re-evaluation this week. Wish me well! It’s very tiring and frustrating, to say the least. I am better, but not over it yet. Whatever it is has amazing staying power, and I’m really weary of it. WHINE!

But, here I am, finally ready to at least participate in something fun for a bit. Perhaps there is hope yet!

As always, the fabulous Strawberry Singh – along with the wonderful Draxtor Despres, this time – has come up with a great Monday Meme. It fascinates me to take a look at how Second Life has challenged me, so here goes! Oh, and do pop over to Berry’s exceptional blog to take part yourself!

Meme instructions: Share things that you have learned because of your involvement in Second Life, either personally or professionally. Don’t forget to leave a link to your post in the comments so others can come by and read your answers as well!

• Photo Programmes – I use a variety of photo programmes to help me edit some of the photos I take in SL. I prefer the “raw shot,” using only the tools of the viewer, but have been known to play with resolution and framing outside SL. I have access to PhotoShop, but I’m still a wee bit hesitant to dive in properly. Who knows, though? Time will tell…
• WordPress and blogging – I once had a blog on Blogspot, but that’s been some time ago now, and it had nothing at all to do with SL; in fact, I barely knew SL existed back in 2007. However, I know about it now, and we launched our arts venue with a WordPress blog in January 2012. We like owning the domain name and being able to share some of the things we do at Ce Soir Arts – and otherwise. It’s fun, but since I’ve been sick, it’s gone completely by the wayside. I’m going to try to post weekly for awhile and we do have some exciting things coming up later in the spring. As Rachel Maddow says on her MSNBC show: “Watch this space…”
• Managing money – $L, €, and $  – No one – and I mean NO ONE – holds a candle to me in the shopaholic department. Just ask Aeon – or look at our garage for the tell-tale boxes of dinnerware, cookware, shoes, and clothing. Oh. And furniture. And rugs. SIGH! I sort of gave up my shopping addiction a few years ago, and have done relatively well with avoiding the shoppes and not purchasing on impulse online. In fact, I love online shopping because it’s so easy to comparison-shop and find real savings on sales; I NEVER pay for shipping. I worried that I would overdo it in SL too, and perhaps I have in the clothing department. (Well, OK, I have loads of homes and furnishings and landscaping pieces too…) But I regularly clean my Inventory and am just about ready to purge the majority of my older non-mesh clothing. Oh, I’ll keep some favourites, but a bunch of that stuff has got to go! Purging the Inventory is good for me in many ways and I can’t wait for spring to clean my RL closets again! SL has helped me with this…and having an arts venue and two sims to manage has taught me a lot as well; I enjoy working with artists and sharing beauty – and managing our schedule (which once was extremely busy – averaging 10-15 musical shows per week, poetry at least twice a week, and two full galleries with different artists each month) has helped me manage time much better than before. We’ve slowed the pace for personal reasons and are enjoying the new way of managing things. There will be more plays at the Theatre this year, perhaps more poetry, and always more art. We will continue to have the wonderful Russell Eponym (our Poet Laureate and Artist-in-Residence) reading poetry and playing his outstanding music each week – and MoShang Zhao will continue to deliver the CHILL every Thursday night. We’ll have more concerts with other performers, especially at celebrations for exhibiting artists, as well. It’s going to be a great year. Having to manage RL (which for us often includes travel along with work and personal life) AND SL has been quite instructive; one realizes his or her priorities soon enough. Besides, it’s FUN!
• My own art and artistic endeavors – I have an artistic side in RL – besides teaching, I love to write. In addition, I’ve enjoyed working with mosaics and needlework, enjoying keeping old crafts alive (such as tatting or lacemaking, candlewicking, and other sewing crafts). I love porcelain and am planning to extend my SL art in new directions, having explored photography for awhile. I combine my poetry and photos in what I call “Words & Pictures,” and I’ve shown some of my work at Ce Soir Arts – and have had one piece of photographic art at the wonderful Omagination Gallery this past January. To say that my artistic side has been sparked would be the understatement of the year. I’ll be doing some more “Words & Pictures” – with a little addition, here or there – this spring.
• Love – My Aeon and I came into SL at the same time (me only beating him in-world by 2 days). We have had SO MUCH FUN and have enjoyed the ambiance of our virtual world together. These explorations have opened new vistas for us as a couple who loves working together. We co-write and love doing that, and wandering about SL is GREAT for inspiration! We love what we do and we love each other…more and more. Amazing…and completely expected. <SMILE>