[Oh my Gawd! - Totally unOfficial Pet Peeve Thread.]

Peeve: Sometimes shopping the weekend sales feels like a chore.

[Oh my Gawd! - Totally unOfficial Pet Peeve Thread.]

Oh dear. The sky is falling again.

I DO wish it would stop doing that . . . !

[Lab Gab April 2024 - Comments? Discussion?]

Maybe everyone is jumping the gun a bit on this?

LL will be well aware of the impact a really strict or robust age verification system would have. I think this will be to a great degree window dressing.

But maybe we should hang on a bit and see what's down the road before lowering lifeboats.

[Resiliency In Second Life]

5 minutes ago, Jaylinbridges said:

NPR is the most left-wing section of PBS, with radio programs aimed at women and minorities.  Try to understand who the target audience is for this kind of social advice.

The interviewee for this program was Dr. Lourdes Dolores Follins, Ph. D., LCSW-R   Her degree is in Social Work, and not psychology.   She describes herself, quote:

"About Me: I am a Black, queer, cisgender psychotherapist who provides relationship therapy to Black, Indigenous, and other people of color who are LGBTQI/SGL/NB."

She tries to define resilience as an insult, and ties the term to Slavery, Colonization, and Indentured Servitude.  And then tells her patients that they are limited in their recovery because of White Supremacy,  and Capitalism (of course).  

She is fully booked and can accept no more clients.  I wonder why?

Maybe this "feel good about yourself and blame everyone else for your troubles" is healthy for her clients.  But it is aimed at a narrow and targeted audience. And not men, those terrible inept unfeeling "manslpainers".

🙄

[Make Us Laugh!]

Speaking of Vikings . . .

We were talking about Vikings, right?

[How does your avatar look today ?]

29 minutes ago, gothiccbabie said:

While it is QUITE a very lovely rack, the emotion, conveyance, and dedication shows clearly in the art you post. You care and you aren't just posting for the ***** of it. You really like and showcase your talent. I find myself coming here to see what you've posted along my other favorites. I'm quite a fan. Please keep showing your art you are quite talented! ❣️

Wow. Thank you again!

The main reason I post here is the people, who are supportive and wonderful. You're an exemplification of that. Thank you for making this worthwhile!

[How does your avatar look today ?]

43 minutes ago, gothiccbabie said:

The composition of this is so beautiful 

Thank you! I'm so pleased you like it!

I'll admit that what strikes me about it looking at it now is how impressive my rack looks. Amazing what lighting and an unlaced bodice can do!

[How does your avatar look today ?]

Oh dear. People, where are your lovely pictures????

Well, never mind. Here's another by me -- apologies for crowding them in.

It's in imitation of a much nicer work I ran across on Deviant Art, dating from 2009 and by an artist called Rust2D. I liked the effect, and wanted to see if I could replicate something similar.

[How does your avatar look today ?]

This shot was supposed to be something else, but it became this instead.

Oh well. Sometimes my pics have a mind of their own.

[Oh my Gawd! - Totally unOfficial Pet Peeve Thread.]

5 minutes ago, Ayashe Ninetails said:

Go peek in Your Avatar and see. I posted it all. 👀😂

Ah! Here indeed is God's plenty!

[Oh my Gawd! - Totally unOfficial Pet Peeve Thread.]

Just now, Ayashe Ninetails said:

I missed it. I've been staring at butt all morning. As one does.

Nice butt, I hope?

[Resiliency In Second Life]

Just now, Love Zhaoying said:

Everything past a certain point (* points at that point *) is open to interpretation, AND is one's faith-based opinion, AND is also "the absolute truth".

It's a wonderful contradiction!!! From certain perspectives (most easily illustrated from other religions), it comes down to whether one is addressing things from a "personal" point of view, an "absolute" point of view, using "hidden knowledge", etc. etc. etc.! 🙂

 

It is of course all very complicated, because words and ideas don't really "belong" to anyone once they have been articulated (I mean, in the sense that anyone gets to dictate how they are interpreted). Weirdly, this point keeps coming up in this thread, from the insistence that there is only one "true" way to understand Kipling's poem, to the equally questionable notion that prayers, scriptural texts, etc., are inviolable and can only be used or read in a way prescribed by a certain variety of belief.

And part of the issue there is that people elide the boundaries between what you call personal point of view and absolute ones.

I am very far from suggesting that my reading of Kipling's poem is the only "correct" one -- I am very well aware that other, very clever people, have written reams on it, and on Kipling's own system of belief. That's the beauty of literature: it is susceptible to a nearly endless variety of readings (which, however, must at least be evidence-based to be valid).

I'd argue that the same is true, with somewhat different results sometimes, of religious texts. I am not at all conventionally religious, but I find scripture to be full of beauty and wisdom (and a few things that are neither). And I don't even believe in a personal god!

[Resiliency In Second Life]

9 minutes ago, Garnet Psaltery said:

 

Of course I don't own God, God owns me, but anyway my objection was that the prayer quoted was by a Christian, to whom God very definitely was not any other.

And so . . . ?

As I say, I think critiquing Luna's reading of such a prayer is well within the bounds of propriety, free speech, etc., just as I critiqued Kipling's poem, but you seem to be going a step further and telling her that she's not "permitted" to quote, interpret, or use it?

If I'm wrong, and you are merely critiquing her use of it, perhaps you might explain the basis of that critique? Beyond the fact that Luna is not "your kind" of Christian?

[Resiliency In Second Life]

10 minutes ago, Garnet Psaltery said:

Fine, but you reproduced the text of an actual prayer which calls upon God.  Would it be acceptable for everyone else now to reporoduce their prayers to indicate their ways of resilience?  Having said that though I'm not sure it counts if you don't believe in the God whom you invoke, or if you are your own god.

I obtain resilience in SL as I do in RL by calling on God, in belief.

Garnet, with respect, you don't "own" God anymore than you "own" a prayer, a psalm, or any other biblical verse. People have been reading, interpreting, and using the Bible in their own way for literally thousands of years; you are certainly in your rights to object to or critique a particular interpretation, but you really don't get to dictate The One True Way, nor is it at all appropriate to tell people that they can't access it unless they subscribe to your particular belief system.

Luna's approach to belief and spirituality is most definitely not mine, but I fail to see why it, whatever "it" is, is not every bit as valid as your own. How is this different from telling a Muslim, a Jew, or a Quaker that they are "getting it all wrong" and therefore shouldn't be quoting from scripture?

[Resiliency In Second Life]

19 hours ago, Luna Bliss said:

Is there anything you do to cope with difficulties in SL that you care to share?  I chant a lot, and that helps me feel more positive and so am resilient when encountering some of the negative people.

Sorry, Luna, I've realized that I forgot to respond to this.

As Cinn says of herself above, I actually very seldom feel the need for resilience in SL. Mostly, my experiences in-world are entirely pleasant, and the parts that aren't are trivial enough that I don't need a coping mechanism much more sophisticated than "Well, that happened. Now, what was I doing? Oh, yes . . ."

Occasionally SL can feel a bit too much like work, perhaps, particularly in the weeks leading up to a new show. When I start to feel that way, I take time for myself to be by myself: I'll generally work on my inventory, take a pic (which, really, is 3/4s of my SL anyway), or quietly explore on my own.

I don't think I'm especially resilient. Just lucky that I am seldom called upon to be so.

[How Does Your SL Look Today?]

3 hours ago, archangel969 said:

Your pictures are so atmospheric. Especially the lighting is perfect.

Awww! Thank you! it's mostly because I keep forgetting to pay the electricity bill . . .

Your theatre looks wonderful, btw. I will have to visit!

[Oh my Gawd! - Totally unOfficial Pet Peeve Thread.]

There just aren't enough eye roll and facepalm emojis this morning . . .

[How Does Your SL Look Today?]

Probably the least interesting, and certainly (*cough cough*) the least used of the rooms in my flat is my bedroom. It DOES feature the world's ugliest bed, that looks like it was constructed from old parts salvaged from a dumpster. I'm rather proud of it.

Comrade Antonova keeps hinting that I should be finding a nice young man, preferably a Party member, and producing sons and daughters to serve the Motherland, but . . . meh. Not all of me needs to be put to the service of the state, and there are definitely a few bits and pieces that I prefer to preserve for private, personal use only.

Anyway, the room is mostly furnished with hand-me-downs: some Ukrainian folk art, a PSI poster, books and knickknacks, a battered old wardrobe and chest of drawers, etc.

[Favorite Food / Food Items in Second Life]

16 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

Well, many live on coffee and cigarettes - and you look good enough to eat!

OMG, Love, I look like something the dog found under the back porch in this pic! But that's a very kind thing to say!

(In fairness to me, it IS nearly 5 and a half years old. I've improved with age!)

Also, disclaimer: while I am deeply addicted to coffee, I am not, in RL, a smoker -- I'm just drawn that way.

[Favorite Food / Food Items in Second Life]

Does this count?

 

[Resiliency In Second Life]

1 minute ago, Love Zhaoying said:

The challenge with these threads is to keep them "on topic for Second Life".

Here's an example attempt:

In Second Life, one's resiliency is inversely proportional to the number of Alts they use.

In Second Life, one's resiliency is reflected in the number of people they block.

In Second Life, one's resiliency is not related to their behavior.

Resiliency is only related to Second Life if one is applying RL "pop psychology" to Second Life.

 

I think resiliency is a very real attribute, and not just a pop psychology one, and it's very applicable to both RL and SL.

It's also a good attribute to have. What I object to is the suggestion -- which, frankly, I hear in the forums quite a bit in various forms -- that if one isn't "resilient," one is a failure, or at fault for being impacted by the bad behaviour of others, or other misfortunes that befall one. Someone harassing you in SL? Well, if you let that bug you, and don't just block and move on, you're at least as much at fault as they are!

We aren't all built the same way, and one-size-fits-all "advice" of the sort that this poem offers is really imposing values on others. Not everyone can be resilient, they can't just "toughen up," for all sorts of possible reasons. That's unfortunate, perhaps, but it's not something for which they are to blame.

Which is why I think "resiliency" is the least interesting thing that this poem communicates.

[Resiliency In Second Life]

5 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

Yes! A very contentious statement indeed.

Perhaps that is the point of the OP, to create contention and arguments?

I think this thread is very traumatic. So far it has touched on racism, insensitivity, etc. 

Is "resiliency" one of those coded complaints about Millennials that you see everywhere?

This thread doesn't need to be about racism at all -- that's a subject that was introduced by BJ. It's a red herring.

Insensitivity? Maybe?

I think the good bits I quoted above are very good bits indeed, and I hope they do embody at least some of how I behave in SL.

[Resiliency In Second Life]

2 minutes ago, Luna Bliss said:

So by that line do you think he means people who only dream without actually doing anything?  I for sure see those peeps in SL anyway.

I think that's pretty much exactly what he means. Kipling was very big on "action."

For me, it means less that than not getting lost in an illusory world produced by mere dreaming.

[Resiliency In Second Life]

Just now, Love Zhaoying said:

In Second Life, it probably just means nothing can hurt you so "get over it".

Yeah, that's kind of the point I was making near the end of my first post on this.

I don't buy that "nothing can hurt you" in SL. Nothing can physically hurt you, but we've all experienced, or witnessed, very real hurt happening here.

And I don't myself believe that merely "suck it up, buttercup" is an adequate response to that when it happens.

[Resiliency In Second Life]

Here are the bits of the poem that I think are applicable to everyone. They represent a reasonably good guide for at least parts of how one should live in SL.

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch

The rest, not so much. For me anyway.