A hard-rocking, fun-loving chick. A DJ, a wife, a mother. A sister, a friend.
Mandy is another of my sisters of the heart. Because of our time zones, I don’t get to see her nearly as much as I’d like to. She rocks and she makes me laugh and smile. She’s tough as nails on the outside while soft and tender inside. She loves Queen, quirky humour and being in love.
Mandy Moo, I love youuuuuuuu! ♥
About a week ago, I received an IM from a stranger while I was in Second Life. Or so I thought. As it turns out, one of my friends’ account had been hacked and not only had the hacker stolen money from her, he had also sent strange messages to her friends and deleted all of her groups and names from her contact list. She got a text from a recipient of one of these strange messages, and since she was on her way to work at the time, had to try to deal with Linden Labs on her mobile while trying to get there on time. They froze her account and opened an investigation.
When she returned home, she used an alternate account to log in and start the process of rebuilding her friends’ list and re-establishing herself as KC. She has tried to create this avatar as closely as possible to the original. KC is fiery, outspoken, funny, irreverent, fiercely loyal and a bit hard-edged in her appearance most of the time. But she’s also a DJ, and part-time fairy. We tease her when she actually wears a dress, but when she does, she’s feminine and you see the softer side of KC.
During the weekend, KC IM’d me and said, “Peep! I need a profile pic!” Unfortunately, I was in the middle of shooting my wifey’s wedding and couldn’t do it at the time. But tonight I logged on to find KC there and asked if she would like me to do her profile pics. She said yes, but not very enthusiastically. It seems that today she received word that her account had been re-established and the money stolen from her would be reimbursed. She was thrilled until she logged in, only to find that her entire inventory – four years worth of high-quality items – was gone. Deleted. All she had, literally, was her shape and the skin on her back.
She was obviously devastated by this news. To find out her main account was back, only to have her returned to the status of a noobie all in one fell swoop was depressing. So she did the only thing she could – she decided to start building her alt back into a semblance of KC, but with a personality of her own. The two are similar, but not identical.
While I would be crushed if this happened to me, I am looking at the silver lining for KC. She has the opportunity to reinvent herself, starting fresh, and proving to the malicious person who thought they had destroyed who she was, that she has the strength and determination that will allow KC to rise, slowly but surely, above his petty attempt at harm.
Here’s to you, KC…and your new beginning. ♥
Odd title for a post? Well, it’s an odd relationship between Cyn and me. We met in Second Life at a club we both used to frequent (and where I worked for year). We were casual acquaintances, only talking in local chat until one night, I bumped into her in a shop where we were stalking Lucky Chairs. (For those unfamiliar with a Lucky Chair, it is a chair that generates random letters for a period of time. If the initial of your first name comes up and you sit on the chair, you win the prize displayed). At some point, a noobie (a new resident of Second Life) came in and said, “I’m new.” Cyn said, “I’m not,” and we both laughed. The noobie then asked where he could open a box. Cyn replied (truthfully), “At a sandbox.” The noobie, obviously not believing her, unwisely commenced to calling her names that would make a trucker blush. Before I could even type, “Uh oh,” Cyn, who just happened to have a giant frying pan in her hand, walloped him, sending him flying across the store (NB: this does not cause permanent damage to the person being…umm…fried). Through fits of laughter, we bonded as he came back time after time and she took random potshots at him whenever he got within range. To make matters better or worse (depending on your perspective, and ours was of near-drunken laughter), I invited a friend to come grab a prize when her letter came up. Unfortunately, she landed between Cyn and the noobie as he made an appearance, and she ended up in the line of fire, eventually coming to rest in a neighbouring store. By this time, I, at least was at the snorting stage and my sides ached for days.
That’s just a bit of background, and the story goes on. How I came to be Cyn’s wifey (and she mine) occurred another night in the club. At the time, I wore a titler – floating text over my head that allows other residents to change what is written there at random times. I was away from my keyboard (AFK) when that opportunity arose. Cyn grabbed it to title me “Cyn’s Wifey”. And each time it came up throughout the night, she quickly changed it to a variation of the theme.
That was almost two years ago, and although our paths have diverged and we don’t see each other as often, Cyn will always be my wifey.
This weekend, she got married in Second Life. I actually met Tristan, her husband, the first night they danced. She asked me if I would take photographs of the wedding, and I happily agreed. My gift to my wifey, Cyn, and the man who has made her life a joy.
And finallly, my signature wedding photo:
May you always be as happy as you were on this day, my wifey.
Now, get Tristan to go make us a sammich 😉
Pics by Peep 