I must apologize.

Darlings, we all know how important it is to always act with great care and compassion at all times, and you know my own behavior is almost always beyond reproach.

Oh, how it pains me to admit that today, I failed in my most sacred, damely duties.

I lost my temper.

I traveled to a new town, Groenland Kangamiut, to see the sights and get ahead on holiday shopping. It was beautiful, but so cold! Of course, I was dressed for the weather, but still, I was scared my pearls would shatter from it! They were given to me by the late Duchess of Flavianiland, after all.

A porter was carrying all my parcels and luggage, and when we arrived at the train station, we learned the train was snowed under and would be late! I understand these things do happen, but what a nuisance! The porter wasn't too happy with the news either, and started mumbling and grumbling, and well... I am afraid I let him have it! My great grand-papa started out as a porter, and by golly - its a respectable job with a code of conduct! I sure gave him a piece of my mind!

The train ended up not being too terribly late, and my pearls did not shatter, and as he loaded my baggage onto the train I felt remorse for how I had yelled. So when he was done, I tipped him not one, but two crisp dollar bills, and patted him on the hand. I daresay the stunned look on his face showed that he was amazed at my generosity, and as the train pulled away, he waved with his poor, disfigured, one fingered hand.

I remain remorseful, and will think of this any time I feel frustrated, and try to let my nerves remain calm and cool - as cool as Groenland Kangamiut!

Wilmur Tries Sports

It didn't go so well.


Sadly, it was over almost as soon as it startes, so these are the only pictures I have for my memory book. One could argue that Naxos should have gone a little easier, with it being his first fight, but personally, I'm glad it happened. My poor nerves, worrying over my nephew!

My Return

Hello, darlings! It has been such a long time, but oh, the places I have been, the adventures I have had! I don't even know where to begin! But before I haul out the slides and projector and start telling tales, I must tell you! I am in such a stressed state! 

I arrived home from such splendid sights to see all my things boxed up! It seems that in my absence, Wilmur has taken a position as Chief Scientist with Salchicha County and thus, we must move. 

I'm not altogether unhappy about it, since I do have friends there, but I wish he would have given me some notice. His excuse was he didn't know where I was in order to contact me, and I admit darlings, with a slightly guilty conscience, I didn't really keep in touch very well. It's not my fault, really. Most of the time I didn't know where I was either! It's like when you're dancing and you get passed from one man to another, whisking around the room. Oh, how I miss a ball....

Anyway, on the first day of our move, Wilmur spent the morning in his lab working on some experiments. I am not sure what they are - he started to explain them to me and he lost me when he started talking about soil samples and minerals and all of that. 

Actually, darlings, he lost me way before the science talk. As soon as he mentioned 'sausages', my mind started to wander to my stomach. I nodded appropriately, and repeated some words he said to sound interested, but as soon as he was finished I headed out to find something to eat and explore my new hometown. I found a lovely thrift store that, sadly, wasn't open yet. A sign propped up said it would be open very soon, and its a good thing! One can find such treasures in thrift shops, and from the looks of it, this one will be a goldmine!

In the afternoon, Wilmur was allowed to leave work early to attend a Salchicha event welcoming new residents to Bangerblossom Drive. How nice it was! So many showed up! There were games and trivia and nice music courtesy of a nice young lady named Jessyca Teardrop. Apparently, Wilmur taught himself how to cook while I was away, and made casseroles for each neighbor. There were other gifts offered, also, and it seemed like everyone had a good time.

After the party, it was time to get to work. My goodness, what a mess! It will take us some time to  get settled- with both things and mind! Sammy Davis, Jr. Jr. was in a state as well. He didn't know where to go or what to bark at! He even saw a random, wandering chicken and my goodness, the racket! Thankfully, he seemed to calm once his favorite chair was delivered. He hopped up there and just watched as I directed and Wilmur hauled endless boxes up to our apartments. He'll need extra pampering at the doggy spa, I'm sure.

Change is inevitable, isn't it, darlings? But we take comfort in small things like a favorite chair or blanket, or a deep muscle massage performed by beautiful, strong male hands. It's those familiar things that help sooth the wrinkles of disruption change brings. 

Once we get moved in and put everything in its place, I hope you'll come visit! In the meantime, come explore Salchicha County.  It seems like something new is happening every day here. A new shop there, an event there. A party over yonder, a carnival just beyond. It truly is a special place! I hope to see you all soon!

Evolution

Change happens. We can't stop it, and even if we could I'm not sure we would.

My Second Life is full of characters. I have Edith, an old lady diva, who those reading this page probably know pretty well. I also have Wilmur, Edith's diminutive nephew, who has also graced this scroll and is a primary character in my more recent flickrs. I also have Hiver, a fantasy character who is... well, I'm not sure what she is. She's ever-evolving. I also have a dog, a drag queen (doesn't everyone?), and a kid avatar.

I also have a 'normal' avatar - the Me in the mix, and the weaver of all the rest.

I'm a story teller. Everywhere I look, I see stories. Scientists ask, "How?" Philosophers ask, "Why?" Storytellers propose, "What if...."

I saw some varicose veins and an old lady skin and wondered, "What if...."

Second Life is a gorgeous world to have characters in. Edith was first, and I cannot tell you how much fun it was to dress her and prance her around. I know she made lots of people smile, which just made it more fun. Wilmur came along, and he proved to be just as fun.

Fun, but a lot of work. It's not quite as easy to squeeze an older, sagging  body with a big belly and no butt into that gold sequin ballgown and work it. Or take a scrawny, pale twig of a man and make him look dashing (because that's what he is, isn't he?).

Wilmur proved to be an easy translation to that mesh clothes, but Edith... not so much. Then came mesh bodies and then mesh heads, and well...

Change happens. In SL, some have resisted it completely and still rock their original bodies, and some have resisted partially, choosing to just use a mesh body, or just a mesh head, and that's great! One of the best things about SL is the freedom to do what you want. All are welcome.

But sometimes its fun to see where change takes you.

These ramblings is prelude to showing Wilmur's evolution. Where he started, and where he is now.


The beginning!

Wilmur in one word: diminutive

Wilmur in five words: diminutive, eccentric, genius, absent-minded, calm

He was always a foil to Edith, who is the exact opposite of him. Their separate eccentricities play off each other well. She dressed to kill, and he believed powder blue had to be irresistible to the ladies. As time went on, his personality started to become more defined, and he separated and became a strong character independent of Edith.

I always got a lot of "OMG You look just like Woody Allen..." comments when I took him places. It always made me cringe. I can't stand Woody Allen, for all the reasons that everyone who hates him has. I know that's who Wrigglesworth had in mind when they made the skin, though, and accepting that, I tried to change his hair and his shape enough so that he became more Wilmur than.. well, than someone else. Adding a beard helped.

I started experimenting recently with first a mesh body, and then a mesh head. It has changed Wilmur's look greatly. Where before he was a cartoon, now he's more real. I'm not completely used to it, but I still feel like he is Wilmur. He still feels the same, for the most part. His home helps with that. In his clocktower, all the textures are very realistic, so having a realistic character to move around the space feels more 'right'. I'm still wrapping my brain around it, so we'll see where it leads. It has been a lot of fun, though! Redoing all of his outfits has been very entertaining.

The Belleza Jake body works well for Wilmur. I've tried the others, but none could get the level of scrawny that I needed with Wilmur. I love it. I know it looks good as a less thin male too. Belleza just did an amazing job on the Jake body and putting it on Wilmur felt so perfect.

He isn't as old as I'd like, though. I've messed around with quite a few appliers, but none have done as much for him as I think he needs to go. Wilmur was intended to be in his mid 40s, and I'd definitely say his face here is more early 30s. I'm hoping more skins become available for older male avatars, and hopefully one will 'fit' Wilmur.

Yeah, he probably needs his brows recolored a bit. I'll do it when I'm not quite as lazy.

Edith is proving super hard. I have been trying, though. I have her body - Belleza's Freya is lovely for Edith's body, but her head... well, it just looks kinda rediculous having Edith's old head on a mesh body. I've been trying mesh heads, and some are doable, but... a skin simply doesn't exist for her yet. I think I will have to find someone willing to accept the challenge to make me a custom skin for her (anyone know someone brave enough?).

Anyway, here's where she is. Ignore the demo stuff and weird brows. I know it's messy, but I'm not committing to anything yet that doesn't fit her. The new LAQ head is nice, and I love that they added wrinkles as an option. They just don't age her as much as she needs. The whole idea of Edith came from some varicose veins with support socks that Missy Eriksen made. Edith would never get work done on her face, the same way she'd never get a tummy tuck. We are how we are, darlings~

Ideally, she'd look more like the Queen, Iris Apfel, but I'm not holding my breath.

I mean... come on....

That face! Those hands!

Oh well. I'm willing to wait. I miss Edith a lot, and I worry she just doesn't translate into mesh, but I'll keep trying. As I said, I think I'll have to find an angel willing to make something. Anything less, and she wouldn't really be Edith.

Anyway. Change happens.