Second Life

Birdsong

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I know why the caged bird sings, ah me,
When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore,
When he beats his bars and would be free;
It is not a carol of joy or glee,
But a prayer that he sends from his heart’s deep core,
But a plea, that upward to Heaven he flings –
I know why the caged bird sings.

~ From “Sympathy” by Paul Laurence Dunbar

I imagine when most people hear the phrase, “I know why the caged bird sings,” they think of the iconic work by Maya Angelou. But the inspiration for the title of her book came from the quoted stanza of poetry above. What we often perceive as happiness and joy is just a mask for something deeper and darker. For unmet expectations and fears of who we are and the life we lead. The apparent good humour we display is a way of hiding the doubt and disappointment; it is the plea and prayer that we may someday be set free.

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But for each of us, there is that open window that is our motivation to keep on laughing, singing, pleading and praying. And just when the shadows are deepest, when we are laid bare, that is when a hand reaches out, unlocks the door and gives us our wings.

To be caged no more and sing the sweetest.

Pretty stuff I’m wearing:

Outfit: *Connors* TANK TOP SALMONPINK 1 and PANTIES SALMONPINK by Salah Axel
Necklace & Earrings: EarthStones Bullseye Gold Set – Smoky Quartz by Abraxxa Anatine
Hair: Analog Dog pause sangria by Queue Marlowe
Tattoo: Letis Tattoo :: Pink Rose :: Back :: 50% :: B12019 by Leti Hax
Eyes: Amacci Gaze Eyes – Ocean Blue by Carina Larsen
Skin: [PXL] Creations [PXL] JADE SK WineLight Lips MEB C2 by Hart
Larsson
Hands: Slink Mesh Hands (av) Casual by Siddean Munro
Feet: Slink Mesh Feet (Av) Flat by Siddean Munro
Hand & Feet Appliers: [ PXL ] Creations [ PXL ] Slink Hand & Feet Appliers SK

Pose: Pose: GLITTERATI – Backed up series by Katey Coppola (NLA)
Photo taken in reBourne Prefabs Bali house (furnishings included)

**Just an update on the Bali house I reviewed a few weeks ago. I received this house as a thank you for blogging the launch. I only saw the demo version and based my review only upon the finished build. Unfortunately, there were several problems with the rezzer after it was released and a lot of people were disappointed with their purchase. Danny has sent out at least three updates to rectify the problems. If you bought the house and are still experiencing issues with rezzing, the build or any missing items, please message Suite Sella in world. Despite the issues with getting it set up, I stand by my review of the house itself. It truly is stunning.

Memeception Monday Meme: Somebody Fix This!

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Today’s Monday Meme was a no-brainer for me.

I’ve mentioned this meme before (ok, several times). I originally saw it posted on someecards, and I instantly fell in love with it – it’s just so me. Or, erm…what I should be. I took a little creative license with the photo and actually gave it my own little logo 🙂

Just so you know what this is all about, here are the instructions Berry gave us:

Take a RL meme and bring it into SL. Or, if you prefer, create a new meme of yourself. Don’t forget to leave a link to your meme in the comments of this post if you decide to do one.

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I’ll be waiting for this unfortunate travesty to be rectified while I polish my tiara 😉

Pretty stuff I’m wearing:

Gown: GizzA – Gilda Gown – Mesh [Floral Pink] by Giz Seorn
Jewelry: Cae :: Dazzle :: Necklace, Earrings & Tiara by Caelan Hancroft
Hair: Amacci Hair Carol ~ Sangria by Carina Larsen
Eyes: Amacci Gaze Eyes – Ocean Blue by Carina Larsen
Skin: [PXL] Creations [PXL] JADE SK WineLight Lips MEB C2 by Hart
Larsson
Hands: Slink Mesh Hands (av) Casual by Siddean Munro
Hand Appliers: [ PXL ] Creations [ PXL ] Slink Hand Appliers SK

**I attempted to find the original ecard but since user cards aren’t stored permanently, it is gone from the someecards website 😦

Reflections Among The Flamingos

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Mirrored Reflection Take 1

This post is really just me playing around with a technique – using mirrored water in Second Life to create reflections. I had seen the tutorial by Strawberry Singh many times, but I had never attempted it before. But earlier today, one of my images from Flickr was invited to be included in the Magical SL Reflections group. I was captivated by so many of the photos there that I wanted to try myself.

I did go through the other tutorials listed on Berry’s page, and they were helpful. I am still having problems finding the right light settings (in fact, I actually tweaked one of the presets in Firestorm, although I can’t remember which one!) and I am having issues with jagged edges, even shooting at a high resolution (6144 X 4368). I discarded quite a few shots while I was experimenting and finally hit upon the one above that I felt was good enough to play with in Photoshop and finally, Picmonkey. I don’t love it, but I don’t hate it either.

I have now read through the comments (lol yeah, I probably should have done that first) and there are a couple of tips I may try out. And oops! – I was in such a rush to start playing with the photos today, I forgot to grab my credits (insert blushy face here). However, I can tell you the dress is by Rebel Hope and available at FaMESHed, the hair is from Emo-tions, my skin is Jade by [PXL] Creations, feet and hands are by Slink and I really don’t remember which pose I used 😦 Sorry! I promise to do better next time!

The flamingos have been wandering in the lily pads at our home since before we moved in. I’m grateful they didn’t fly away when I got so close 🙂