June SL Bloggers Party

I have the privileged of hosting this months Bloggers Meet up. Me, Moi, Rors.....*bites finger nails*

Party kicks off at 5pm on Saturday 26th June - SL time. The gorgeous boys at WEEK-END Nightclub are generously letting us use their new and improved club for the night, and one of their talented DJ's will be spinning the latest tunes for us.

So if you blog about SL - in any way shape of form make sure you come on down and join in the fun. You can also find the bloggers over at Avatars United . Or you can IM Tymmerie Thorne

with your full avatar name and your blog URL and she will hook you up with a group invite.

Hope to see you all there.

SL Alphabet Snog-A-Thon

Just how many people do you know in SL? Friends of friends included. Do you think you know at least 26 people whose first names begin with each letter of the alphabet? Are you game enough to kiss them all for a chance to win over $4000L in prizes?

Well get the chapstick and lip gloss out and start smacking lips. Here are a few rules you MUST follow in order to have a chance at winning:

1) Locate 26 people. Their first names must begin with each letter of the alphabet ie: Adam, Betty, Calvin, David, Eelanor, Francis, George, Henriette, Ingrid, Jack, Kris, Luna, Madison, Nick, Ottis, Prue, Quintessa, Rupert, Steve, Tegan, Umberto, Vivienne, Wendy, Xavier, Yuki, Zander (There is an exception. If someone's name starts with numbers I will accept them as the first letter that appears after the numbers, ie 1980Ellie would be an 'E' entry)

2) TP to the set location where there is a pose already in place. Jump on this pose and get your camera at an angle that you are happy with. There is no specific background that needs to be included. But in saying that you cannot photoshop it out and apply your own. The photo must contain the background of where you are.

3) Before you take a snapshot - Follow these instructions. Click snapshot. When the menu comes up, if you haven't already, click on "more>>". You should see 5 checkboxes at the bottom with descriptions beside them. The one that says "show interface in snapshot' needs to have a tick beside it. Now when you take your snapshot your names will appear above your head. This is for your proof that you have found each letter of the alphabet. Get clicking you have 26 photos to take.

4) Entries can be submitted 1 of 4 ways:

1) Send a folder called SL SNOG-A-THON ((YOUR NAME)) containing the photos of you and the 26 leters of the alphabet. Screenshots/photos must be labelled with leters of the alphabet they are.

2) Send a link to your blog where you showcase your 26 letters of the alphabet

3) Send a link to your flickr where you showcase your 26 letters of the alphabet

4) Send an email with your screenshots/photos to arora.zanzibar@gmail.com

** All photos submitted must hve the names visible of both yourself and the other person so that letters of the alphabet can be confirmed.

5) Photos can only be taken between the dates 20th of June and 30th of June 2010. The sim will not be open to the public outside of those dates. All entries must be received by midnight 30th June 2010 SLT.

A little hint. If you are stuck for a letter join the group for free - Alphabet Snog-A-Thon (can be found in my profile in the groups section) and do a call out for a particular letter you are looking for. Someone may be online and looking for your letter too and be able to help.

The good bits.......

There is over $10,000L in gift certificate prizes up for grabs. The first three people, in order of receipt, will win 1st prize - over $4000L in gift certificates, 2nd prize - $2500L in gift certificates and 3rd prize - $1500L in gift certificates.

There will be three category winners also receiving $500L in gift certificates for Funniest picture submitted, Creativity in pictures and Readers Choice. I, along with 3 possible admins of the group, will select 10 pictures we liked from all entries submitted. These will be on display for the readers to choose which one they want to vote for.

There has been a flickr group created which you are all welcome to join. For those that enter their submissions into the flickr group there will be a daily prize awarded to the best entry. Obviously you have to enter your pics on flickr to be in the draw for those prizes.

Now for those of you that are in a relationship or partnered - there is no actual snogging required. The pose is non animated. And you don;t actually lock lips (well in all the avatars shapes and sizes I tried the closes I got was noses touching) in case you don't want to be kissing anyone other than your significant other. As far as I know this is the first of a kind challenge to happen in SL and if it is a success I will look at running it again another time. The picture below is an example of what yours should look like. Showing you the names in the picture.

This is open to anyone and everyone. You don't need to be a photographer to enter. As long as you can take a snapshot that is all that counts. But if you want to go in the draw for the creativity or funniest, then dress up, mosh your picks so you have more than one snapshot on a texture. Creativity is limitless. Have fun and enjoy the sillyness of the SL Alphabet Snog-A-Thon.

BBBC 2010 - Day 6

Today’s topic: If this is your first BBBC… What did you get out of your experience? Do you think it will change the way you blog in the future?

It's official...my cherry has been plucked. I am a BBBC virgin no more.

I'm not sure that I got anything really. Apart from an immense headache at trying to think if I was still in my time zone or if I was a day ahead of behind to America and which challenge day we were up to.

I have to say when anything comes up in SL and it's at such and such a time on x, y and z days....I get so lost trying to calculate the differences in times.

I think I just realised that no matter what is going on around SL, in our minds with our friends and family...there is always something to blog about. Be it 2 sentences or 200. And there is always someone out there that will read it.

As far as changing my blogging habits in the future......yeah I think it has. As per the above paragraph I realise that I don;t always have to be so critical of myself. I may not be the best blogger around, I may not have the same tastes as everyone else.....but I love to share..so share I will.

BBBC 2010 - Day 5

Today's Topic - Blogger's choice! Write about anything that's on your mind!

Well this is definitely going to step on some toes.....but like the topic says...anything that's on my mind, and this has been on my mind a lot lately.

I have been seeing a lot of talk around the traps of late in regards to relationships, both SL and RL. Do you mix the two? Are you and your RL partner both in SL? Are you partnered to each other or have an open relationship? Does your RL partner know you play SL? Do they know you have an SL partner. so on and so forth.

I'm going to sound hypocritical here, and it is only because I have been in the situation that I am about to talk about and seen the hurt it causes which is why I now do not like it. But each to their own, we all have our reasons for what we do and I am not about to judge someone for why they do it, I just personally would not.

Married people in RL who have relationships with other people in SL. Is it because you have a very open relationship in RL and this is seen as exploring/swinging? Is it because you can't get from your RL partner what you can from an SL one? Do you not see it as cheating on your wife/husband?

Each way you put it doesn't sound all that happy/inviting to me. And it was only after having two, well actually three but I'll get back to that one, failed relationships in SL that my eyes were opened to this. I just thought of SL as a game. We're just pixels having fun running around a grid. What's the harm in it? My last two previous BF's in SL were both married in RL. One hid his activities in game from his partner, the other hid various activities but the partner did know he was playing SL.

Technically.....I was the mistress. There is no other way of describing it. People have often argued it with me that it's just a game you technically did not have an affair with a married man. But can most people honestly say that their emotions are that shut off that they don't feel any sort of connection to the person they are dating in SL? There really is no other way to look at it other than the married one is cheating on their partner, I guess unless it is an open relationship and both parties know about the other partner in SL/RL.

Then you get ones like my technical third failed relationship. It was one that started on lies. He was seperated from his wife. I didn't feel guilty being flirty with him. Our relationship ended up going RL. I guess maybe the wife wasn't happy that he moved out of home to move in with me. Yeah I felt every emotion under the sun of guilt. However our relationship was based on the lies he was telling of being seperated when in fact he wasn't.

I guess I'm going to cop some backlash over this. I know quite a few people in world who are married in RL and have different partners in SL. I generally mind my own business and let them do their thing, notice I said 'generally'. Call me two faced, call me a hypocrite, what ever you like. I'm just like a reformed smoker/alcoholic at a party bitching to all the drinkers/smokers how it's bad for them etc etc. But it's only because I have been there, I don't like what I did, and I don't want my friends to get into the same situations I did or give up their normal RL moral values for the sake of companionship.

Bring on the comments.......

BBBC 2010 - Day 4

Todays Topic - Is your avatar more or less your current biological age? Do you portray a younger avatar, or older? Why is this?

This is kind of a tricky one for me to answer. Biologically RL me is newly 32. The way I act/talk/feel I am still in my mid 20's somewhere. I see age as just a number. I don't think your age has to define who you are. Just because I am in my 30's it is pressumed that I should be married/engaged or happily partnered, living comfortably, have a job, act like an adult etc etc. Well I'm none of those, sorta.

Let me expand a bit (this blog may take on some aspect of an RL blog more than an SL blog at first) I was married once upon a time. For 7 years. so as you can imagine from just those two sentences I was married at a young age, 21 to be precise. I always felt I was 'older' than others my age so my friends were in their thirties, my then husband was 7 years older than me, we had the house, the dog, the jobs.....we had what I hear my friends talk about these days as what you should have at my age. well that ended a few years back and I realised that I didn't have to be what society depicted as suitable for my age. So I'm just me. I don't own my home - I live with a friend. I have no job at the moment - some days I hate this some days I love the sleep in. I love to muck around, have fun, laugh, talk like an idiot, joke around with my friends - more like a 20yr old would. The only thing I sort of have from my earlier list is a boyfriend - he just happens to live on the other side of the world.

SL me is very much just like RL me. To the extent that I don't have the amazon tall, anorexic with perfect skin and perfect hair. I'm at the height I am in RL (which makes people say I am a short ass or a child in SL), I am curvy and out of proportion, I wear my hair messy and tend to have male hairdos (since I have a typically male hair cut in RL) and I muck around, joke with friends, talk like an idiot etc etc.

It's a bit of a tricky subject with me, anything that involves the "is the RL you like the SL you". Dress standards, size, shape, hair colour, skin blah blah blah. I hear so many people say things like their avatar is just like an extension of their RL selves and they are both the same.... my avatar is just like in the real world, what you see is what you get.....I try to make my avatar look just like me since it is me driving it.....etc and so forth. Yet half of those people have avatars that are 8ft tall, and as skinny as Kate Moss. So when I say I am like my avatar, and my avatar acts the same age. I actually mean it. The only difference would be I don't have all the cool clothes in RL or live on a beautiful beach with a gorgeous house. One day though.....one day.

BBBC 2010 - Day 3

Today's Topic - How hard do you think it is to find a relationship in SL? If you have an SL relationship, have you met in the physical world? Would you meet them? Do you think it would change your SL relationship if you met?

When I first joined SL - some years back - I was in an RL relationship and did not look for one in SL. I was happy just wandering around like a noob, RPing, dancing meeting new friends etc. When my RL relationship ended I found myself spending more time in world to distract myself and spent more and more time with a friend which turned into an SL relationship, which in turn ended up being an RL relationship. We ended up partnering in SL and still continued to log in together and talk to friends, RP and what not.

I guess I answered all questions in one. Yes, I would meet my SL SO if I felt the relationship was strong enough. I don't think the online relationship changes much. I guess the only thing that changed for me was the amount of time I spent logged in.

I am currently in an SL relationship and although I have not met him in RL, I will some day soon. I don't really class our relationship as an SL one because we technically got together outside of SL and had not even met in world at the time. The joys of friends introducing friends through plurk and skype. But now that we have met in world we don't tend to leave each others sides for all that long. Unless we go shopping and I spot shoes somewhere then I will abandon him at the drop of a hat to go in search of a bargain.

The only thing I can see changing for us online when we finally do meet, is the amount of time we will spend not logged in. The only reason we both log in at the moment is to see the other one. But most of the time we are in skype. I guess for long distance relationships like ours, and others that I know, SL sort of serves as a way to 'be with each' when you can't. It may jut be pixels sitting on a cuddle poseball...but sometimes that's all it takes to turn a frown upside down.

BBBC 2010 - Day 2

Todays Topic - Write about three positive things going on in your Second Life.

Well I can think of two straight up. Going to be a challenge to think of a third. So while I think about that let me tell you about 1 & 2.

Positive #1 - In one word.......Bill. I have had my fair share of ups and downs with relationships in SL. Some were good, some were horrendous and others I can sit back and laugh at with the ex knowing we are better off as friends.

Love lost - Love found. I may have lost more than I have found, but when this one found me I was taken by surprise as I had given up all hope of finding anyone 'normal' to hang around with of the opposite sex in SL. I gave up my sim, closed down my little shop, said goodbye to friends and had stopped logging in, only keeping in contact with the SL world through my Plurk friends. You are my knight in shining armour Bill.

Positive #2 - Operation Squeegee. I watched the news one late night recently and sat in horror as I saw the oil spill in the gulf just spewing out into the ocean. Thinking of all those poor animals, marine plants and surrounding areas that are going to be affected by such a tragedy. A friend, the awesome Further, then made a comment in Plurk about wanting to do some sort of fundraiser to help out with the oil spill recovery and I found myself jumping in and offering whatever I could to do to help. A week later I'm now known as the Merchant Wrangler for Operation Squeegee and it gives me the warm and fuzzies as more and more merchants send me their notecards wanting to be a part of this awesome event. It's sad that a spill like this is the reason we are all getting together for a sale, some music and entertainment. Then you think about the money that is going to be raised over this 2 week period being sent to the nominated charity - The National Wildlife Foundation - and how it will help save in some way the destruction seen in the gulf. Thank you Further for being the brainchild behind Operation Squeegee, and more importantly thank you for allowing me to be a part of it and help in my own small way.

Positive #3 - Ok well as I said in the beginning of this post, I was having trouble thinking of a #3. And at this stage in the blog post I still don't have one. My Second Life is not that existent these days. There are two reasons I log in when I do and they are mentioned above. If it weren't for Bill and Further I dare say that 'Arora Zanzibar' would be dust and a memory right now.

Ahhh there you have it - my positive #3.......Good Friends. Having friends like these two means I am still around to blog about my SL. If I wasn't here then I wouldn't be doing this challenge.

The BBBC 2010

What is 'The BBBC 2010' you ask. Alicia Chenaux posted The Big Bad Bloggers Challenge 2010 on her blog, and who am I to pass up a challenge. I was supposed to be using this blog for a 'picture' a day but what with RL having it's annoying habit of interfering I have been rather slack in that venture. So this is going to kick start me back into doing it again. With this challenge taking a week to complete I will aim to post a picture with each day I answer the bloggers challenge questions. And after the BBBC - well I will be on my own challenge to keep up the posting of pics from around SL.

So here goes............

Today's Topic: Why did you become a blogger? How has it enriched your life?

Becomming a blogger is not something I thought I would ever do. I may have the gift of the gab and be able to talk under water with a mouthful of wet cement and marbles, but I never saw myself as the 'writing it all down and sharing it' type of person. That was until I was introduced to a dear friend of mine, Marnix.

You know the first time you meet someone in SL - you check out their profile, read about them to see if there is any conversation starters in there, check out their pics to see if you have things in common etc. Well I did just that and friends also told me about his blog. Being the curious ....maybe stalker type.....person that I was, I went and checked out his blog. Now I may be the odd one out here, but I went to the oldest post first. I wanted to read from start to finish to see what made this guy tick. See how he had grown, or not, during his time in SL. And while sitting there reading I found myself cracking up laughing at his strange rantings,trend followings, chicken escapades and rather interesting dress sense.

Press fast forward and jump a few months down the track I got the nerve to start my own blog. It was after talking to him one night that I decided to show the SL World that I could be a blogger. I looked around and blog hosting sites, found layouts to mix and match to my style, I got caught up in the moment of "OMG I'm now a blogger". I then sat back and stared at my screen thinking to myself "So what now?" That answers my 'Why'...I was inspired by someone that was just as much an everyday, down to earth, comedian in their own mind as I was. If he could do it, why couldn't I?

That was around November last year. I have changed blogs since then and started second ones, helped manage others and been an avid reader of many of my friends blogs. I still don't class myself as 'a blogger'. I have a blog - sure. I write my thoughts, ramblings, shopping finds - when I remember. But I'm still just Rors. I don't think being a blogger has really changed me all that much. I do find my shopping addiction has slightly gotten out of hand though