It’s a journey … that I propose … I am not the guide … nor
technical assistant … I will be your fellow passenger …
Though the rail has been ridden … winter clouds cover …
autumn’s exuberant quilt … we must provide our own guide-posts …
I have heard … from previous visitors … the road washes out
sometimes … and passengers are compelled … to continue
groping … or turn back … I am not afraid …
I am not afraid … of rough spots … or lonely times … I don’t
fear … the success of this endeavor … I am Ra … in a space …
not to be discovered … but invented …
I promise you nothing … I accept your promise … of the same
we are simply riding … a wave … that may carry … or crash …
…The advantages go on and on In the middle of the sea. As the centuries have come, they’ve gone In the middle of the sea. Days arise to be replaced, Lines are drawn and lines erased. Life and death are but verses in a poem. Out there blood flows … Who knows?…
The lyrics, from Stephen Sondheim’sPacific Overtures, tell of how Japan was in the years before Commodore Matthew Perry broke the ban against foreigners and trade with other countries in 1853. His “four black dragons” — American steam-powered warships — arrived in a land very much like the world you find in Taka no Sakura, a build of a classic Japanese village from the feudal period. Other things seem to float at times — like a beautiful strapless dress. Prism offers us the new Carolina dress, a lovely strapless cocktail gown in three different colors, with rich patterning on the overskirt and bustier, and a jewel-buckle belt.
…Here we paint screens, Plant the rice, Arrange the flowers, View the moon, Exchange the gifts, Plant the rice, Arrange tomorrow like today to float,…
Simplicity seems to be called for here, and so I choose one of the simpler sets of jewelry from Lazuri — still chunky and substantial, but much less heavy than other of her collections. It is HUD driven, like most of her pieces; each one can be controlled individually, or you can click on the necklace to change the metal and major gems on all pieces simultaneously.
…Slide the screens, Exchange the poems, Stir the tea, Exchange the bows, Plant the rice, Arrange tomorrow to be like today, To float….
The hair is from sYs, and is a lovely progressive style, while the makeup and nail polish goes along with the blue dress and gold jewelry.
Contact Sheet is an irregular column of selected photographs and portraits from Residents of Second Life and other virtual worlds. All rights to featured images are reserved to the artists under appropriate copyright laws. Click on the links as necessary to go to the required blog, Flickr or Koinup page. Please go to these artists’ pages in any case to leave comments, (as well as comments here), if you have an account on the appropriate service.
Suggestions are appreciated; please send descriptions and links to me by in-world IM, notecard, E-mail to harper.ganesvoort@gmail.com, or leave a comment below.
NOTICE: Some of the photos/links may contain nudity. Viewer discretion advised.
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“…Armansky’s star researcher was a pale, anorexic young woman who had hair as short as a fuse, and a pierced nose and eyebrows. She had a wasp tattoo about an inch long on her neck, a tattooed loop around the biceps of her left arm and another around her left ankle. On those occasions when she had been wearing a tank top, Armansky also saw that she had a dragon tattoo on her left shoulder blade. She was a natural redhead, but she dyed her hair raven black. She looks as though she had just emerged from a week-long orgy with a gang of hard rockers…..”
Stieg Larsson, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Lisabet Salander has nothing on this model, in Magissa Denver’s lovely photo Puhi~ The koi fish. The unknown model sports a full-body tattoo of a leaping koi on her back; very lovely, elegantly posed. The Asian theme here is enhanced by the woman’s Japanese hairstyle and the buildings she faces as she shows off her adornment to us. You could study this for an hour and not get tired of it….
Copyright 2013 by Magissa Denver; all rights reserved.
I made a short visit recently to the four Asian sims — Japan Kanto, Japan Chubu, Japan Kansai and China Sichuan — looking as ever for new places and builds. These four regions, forming their own small Middle Kingdom, are located west of the Mainland Continents, and are lovely for the most part. I had a wonderful, relaxing bath in the hot springs of a ryokan, then clothed myself appropriately and went off to wander.
Japan Kanto is more commercially oriented than the other sims, but there are still great spots for photo work. This SLurl won’t get you precisely where I was when I photographed myself; yet it’s still worth a stop, and you will surely find your own locations to shoot.
As an aside, that is me in the photo; I have, beyond my more alien skins, at least 7 ethnic shape/skin combinations that I use around characters I write about in some short stories. This one I call Keiko; I’m unsure if anything here is still available for sale, so I’m not including the details. (I really should trot out the other shapes/skins more often.)
The need continues in Japan for the survivors of the huge earthquake and associated tsunami a little over a week ago. Please consider purchasing a copy of my friend here, made by the Lindens for relief contributions. 100% of the proceeds goes to the earthquake effort. There are six different bears, three sitting like this little guy and three you can hold and hug, and they are available at three different price levels: L$300, L$1,000 and L$3,000.
Please read these two articles, by Cajsa and Wicca, and then open up your virtual wallets if you can. Many of us have SL friends from Japan; I have three myself, the “Three R’s” of Ruriko, Rudyn and Ruby, all of whom have reported in safe by now. But there are others who need our aid, and getting money to groups who can assist is one way of doing so.
The day after I got back in business with a new desktop — in fact, less than 12 hours after getting it hooked up and running — news came in of the earthquake and tsunami in Sendai and nearby regions of Japan. I have at least two SL acquaintances in Japan, and I can only hope at the moment that all is well with them. I’ve sent an E-mail to Ruriko, with no response as of this date. She’s labeled her Flickr account as “off line for a while,” so she may not even be picking up messages.
We can do things, both in RL and SL, to help the victims of this huge catastrophe. You know the best ways in Real Life to help out, but here’s how, thanks to Linden Lab and with a heads-up from Hamlet Au, to help virtually. Unlimber your virtual purse and travel to the marketplace. You can pick up some of the famous Linden teddy bears, dressed in a Rising Sun T-shirt, for three different prices: L$300, L$1,000 and L$3,000. More information here at the Second Life blogs.
I’ve just joined up with SLExchange for shopping, and I spotted an interesting kimono/skin set there. Following the trail backwards led me to the site of Aoharu, who have a very nice line of kimono for both men and women, and may be working on samurai items in the future. If you have a taste for going Japanese, check it out!
Second Life® with Harper, Conan, Jem, Diana and Morgan
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Please consider donating, especially in times of disaster, to Episcopal Relief and Development, a worldwide ministry of the Episcopal Church in the United States. 100% of your donation goes to relief work; no administrative costs are taken from contributions.
