A new shop on ... don't laugh .. Rich Idiot Island

So much has happened since the last time I wrote. I have a second great location for my shop! You'll have to come visit.

Here it is, right on the main square on Rich Idiot island (http://slurl.com/secondlife/Rich%20Idiot/144/122/35).

Yeah, it's kind of a goofy name for an island, but it's a wonderful place on the Alliance Information archipelago, about six sims east of Info Island International.

In contrast to my shop on Elysian Isle, which is a lovely intimate boutique, this new shop is gloriously spacious. It has a high ceiling, rich wood panelled walls, and big etched glass windows in front. There's enough floor space to hold a dance, which is exactly what I have in mind one of these days soon.

I've tried to make the shop feel comfortable, despite its size. Of course I want people to come and buy my clothing, but I'd also like to have them just come to relax. If you need a break, come on in, put your feet up on one of the soft couches, and have a glass of wine. Bring a friend.

You may have noticed that my friend Katt Tomsen, who makes that gorgeous microprim jewelry, no longer has a display in my Elysian Isle shop. That's a long story. She has her own shop on Rich Idiot now, though, right next door to mine. So, you can pop in and see her full line while you're visiting me.

There are other nice shops on the square too, and more coming this spring. Rich Idiot is still growing, so you'll have to visit many times to keep up.




One of the first places you'll want to visit is The Distillery -- a great 1920s style dance club in an old warehouse down by the beach. They have a regular schedule of live music and literary readings, and the decor is fantastic. I can't resist showing you two or three "atmospheric" photos I took as the sun was going down this evening.





Don't these shots look like something that Edward Hopper might have painted? I just love the way light plays in here.

While we are down by the water, let me show you a couple of nice beachfront houses. I wish I could afford a place like one of these in RL.

They have open, airy architecture and a wonderful view of the water. The far one has a nice spa, too.

The beach is right here, with clean white sand.
Oh, while we're here, let me show you two bathing outfits I made last week, as sort of a celebration after finishing the move-in.

They're both rich Oriental prints. This first one, in deep ultramarine blue, is a one-piece suit. I think the short, asymmetrical sun skirt I made to go with it looks very chic, don't you?

If you prefer a style that shows a little more .... um .. you, then you'll want to take a good look at the other one I made. It's a bikini, this time in a warm Oriental floral print that will make other people on the beach sit up and take notice. It comes with a sun skirt too.

You'll find both of these outfits in three locations: on Elysian Isle, in Cybergrrl Oh's boutique (Athena Wares), and in my brand new shop right here on Rich Idiot Island.




Enough about that for now. I want to show you one more neat place on Rich Idiot Island. Ready?



It's an absolutely monstrous yacht named -- what else?-- Rich Idiot.


It's moored off the east side of the island, just down slope from my shop, and it is gigantic. It has lots of room on deck, and several spacious, wood panelled rooms below deck where you could sit all day sipping rum and coke, or whatever your pleasure is. Look at this bedroom ....

Wouldn't this be a deliciously decadent way to travel?


You know ... the owner is out of town, so I don't think he'll mind if I check out that hot tub on the fan deck .....



Ahhh! I'll be a while, so just show yourself out. I'll catch you another day, OK?

A Hispanic afternoon

¡Buenos Dias! Maybe you remember being here before. This is Mi Pueblo, the cantina on Info Island International that is the main attraction in the Spanish region of the island. I brought you here very briefly in November, but we didn't stay long enough to look around, so I decided to come back for a second visit.












The cantina is a simple adobe building, like many that you may see in Mexico or parts of the American Southwest. The walled courtyard is a pleasant place to sit on a sunny day -- when isn't it a sunny day in SL? My friend, Marimar, also puts seasonal displays here, so it can look very festive.

Let's go inside ....

I could sit here for hours sipping margaritas. This is such a comfortable place. Marimar has hung colorful paintings and photographs on the walls, as well as some lovely woven and pottery artwork. Many of them will offer you a notecard if you ask, giving information about the place or the cultural significance of the piece.


This is also a wonderful place to dance! The audio stream is all Latin music, and Marimar has hung a large mirrored dance ball full of intricate dances animations. I can't resist the chance to do a cha-cha!



Oh, and the bar not only serves delicious margaritas but you can gorge yourself on cheeses, taco dip, and other scrumptious things to eat. All low fat, of course. I think I'll just sit here for a while and take a few bites ....



















Here is some of the artwork I was telling you about ... including a colorful painting of dancers doing the tango, a very atmospheric photo of Chichen Itza, and another of the ruins at Machu Pichu. There's a lot to learn here about Hispanic culture.




There's a fine park outside the cantina too. The centerpiece here is a magnificent tiled fountain. I like to sit here on a park bench and relax while I do some of those pesky maintenance jobs that are so easy to put off -- like cleaning up my inventory. The sound of flowing water is soothing ... almost enough to put me to sleep....



No, I mustn't stay here and daydream. Too many things to do.

Thank you for coming with me again. I'll look for you again another day.

By the way, this Summer Butterflies dress is very much like the Ivy Sun Dress I was wearing the other day when we visited the Bridge of Stateless People. It has the same two-skirt feature, which makes it flow beautifully on the dance floor. Look back at that cha-cha picture. See what I mean?

The fabric for this dress is a gently two-toned blue and lavender, covered with hundreds of tiny colorful butterflies. It's in my shop on Elysian Isle, of course. Go see. ;-)

A New Visit to the German House

On one of our first visits to Info Island International, I took you to the German House, in the extreme southwestern corner of the island. We didn't spend much time, though, so I've been meaning to go back again and give you another chance to see what's there.

You can tell we have arrived because the flags of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland -- the three main German-speaking countries -- are flying out front. This is an interesting building, combining elements of late 20th century architecture with some traditional beam and stucco features.

Let's go inside.

The theme in the German House is art, literature, and music of the German-speaking world. It was designed as a place to learn about the place of the creative arts in cultural history, either by individual exploration or as part of an organized class or seminar.

The first floor is a reception area, suitable for a gathering over cocktails or wine and cheese.

The emphasis on this floor is on the visual arts, but this poster offers an overview of writers who have shaped literature in the German-speaking world and beyond. Let's see, I can recognize Anne Franck and Hermann Hesse ... Karl Marx ... Berthold Brecht ... Johanna Spiri .... hmmmmm.... If you get tired of guessing, you can click the bookcase here and get a list of all of them. You can get the poster too.

I have always enjoyed paintings by Gustav Klimt. This one, a portrait of Emile Flöge, is one of my favorites. She looks very elegant indeed. Do you think there is a resemblance ..... ?

Other artwork here by Dürer, Klee, and Kollwitz, for example, may be familiar to you. Here's one that you may not know, though.

It's a very nice late Renaissance painting by Lucas Cranach the Elder, entitled "Rest on the Flight to Egypt." I had never heard of Cranach, but I discovered that I could get a lengthy biography on him by just clicking on the painting. That's true of any painting on this floor, by the way.

I truly love the second floor, which is where you find the Musik Salon. There is comfortable seating here for a seminar or a small performance, and the walls are lined with portraits of composers and performers. As with the paintings downstairs, each portrait is designed to offer a long biographical sketch of the person.

This is an impressive collection of men and women. Beethoven, Bach, Mozart, and Brahms are here, of course, and so are Strauss, Schubert, and Handel. The 20th century is represented by Schonberg, Berg, Klemperer, and Weil, among others. One of my favorites, and the only woman among the crowd, is Clara Wieck Schumann. She was not only an accomplished composer, but a highly regarded performing pianist.

Speaking of performance, this is also a place to do a little performing of your own. I do not have Clara Schumann's talent, of course, but in SL anything is possible. All I have to do is sit on the piano bench, touch the keys gently, and ....

it's amazing! I can play Für Elise almost effortlessly! Oh, I knew all those piano lessons would come in handy some day.

I hope you enjoyed this visit. Please come back again, and bring a friend, or maybe a whole group of friends.

A Home for Stateless People

Hi! It's good to see you again. Are you ready for another short visit to Info Island International? I want to show you someplace special today.

Before you say anything ..... yes, I'm blonde. When I got up this morning, I decided to wear this nice green dress, which you haven't seen before, and it just felt like a dress to wear with blonde hair. I don't know why ... it just did. I love the way you can make decisions like that in SL.

Anyway, here's the special place. It's the Bridge of Stateless People.

My good friend Hypatia developed the concept. It is a magnificent suspension bridge, spanning a quiet lake in the extreme northwestern corner of the island. In a sense, it is an architectural metaphor for the challenge of reaching across the gap between people, or perhaps connecting people who have no home to the lands on either end of it. However you want to interpret it, Hypatia designed it as an homage to that people who have no nation or lands to call their own.


Let me back off a distance and let you see the whole thing from the air.


That's the welcoming area just beyond the far end of the bridge. It has changed a lot since our visit there a little over a month ago, so I'll have to take you back again. Beyond it is a new social center, where we will also need to visit some day. To the right, next to the ALS headquarters building, is the large Fusion Stage, which we use for performances. And out of the picture to the left is Info Island, where the main libraries are.


So, let's walk across. Walk slowly, though, because every few meters there is a conspicuous blue ball, begging for our attention. This one says "Resources on the Stateless." If you click on it, you will get a bibliography of articles and URLs where you can explore the topic of stateless people carefully.


The next ball offers information about the Hill People of Thailand. Beyond that are similar balls for the Roma, Palestinians, Kurds, and other people who have no uncontested homelands in the world.


Other balls on the bridge explore the concept of statelessness itself. "What does it mean to be stateless?" "Can a stateless person be a refugee also?" "How many stateless people are there?"


On this island, where we celebrate the many languages and cultures of the world, this bridge reminds us not to forget that there are cultures and languages that have a shadow existence, and whose people are often ignored or rejected by the world community.


Looking back from the east end of the bridge, we see the China Cafe and, beyond it, the sim owned by San Jose State University.


It's an impressive park, don't you think? When I lead people on a walking tour of the island, I like to end here. More than any other single region on Info Island International, this park makes me contemplate what it means to have a culture, and to belong to the world community.


As I said when you arrived today, this is a special place.



< < < < > > > >


You can find this strapless dress in my shop on Elysian Isle. It's called, simply, "Ivy Sun Dress." I went a little nuts creating the fabric. It's a soft spring green, covered with ivy ... very restful ... just the dress for a bright, spring afternoon. What you're going to love most, though, is the way the skirt flows. It's actually two skirts: a solid flexi underskirt and a filmy overskirt that almost move together, but not quite. They look wonderfully soft as you walk and ... oh, you have to see what this dress looks like when you dance! Very feminine. ;-)

Konichiwa!

The Japanese Garden on Info Island International is our destination today. It's a lovely, walled garden on the west side of the sim, just south of the China Cafe.

You may enter the garden from the China Cafe or through gates in either its east or south side. The walls, as you see in this photo, are traditional wood stake constructions. I love the sheltered, private feeling that they generate. The world outside seems so distant, and the garden so peaceful.

Some of the beauty in a Japanese garden comes from the planting. The trees here look as if they have been tended lovingly by generations of gardeners, skilled in the art of bonzai and having a sensitive eye for balance. Each one has been carefully placed for maximum visual effect.

There is also magic in the use of water to define space. The heart of this garden is a grouping of landscaped islands, surrounded by a shallow koi pool.

You step from one to another across arched bridges or patterned stepping stones like these.

This would be a very nice spot to hold a seminar or meet with a few friends for tea. The ring of benches here on the central island would be just the place to discuss the code of Bushido, or perhaps share ideas about ikebana, the Zen-inspired art of floral arrangement.

There is also a ring of cushions in another corner of the garden, and a tatami mat in yet another spot where you can sit quietly and meditate.

Or if you are inspired by less philosophical thoughts, perhaps it can simply be a place to escape from the busy world for a few moments. If you are at all like me, you treasure small, quiet places where you can hide and forget the pressures of daily life.

I like to dress to fit the mood of places we visit together. For today's visit, I made this lovely oriental outfit, which I have called "Japanese Garden," in honor of this special place. The fabric of the blouse is a bold, floral print on cream-colored silk. I did not design it myself, as I usually do, but found it among a wonderful collection by designer Adaarye Shikami, and could not resist. Isn't it beautiful?




The trim around the collar and sleeves is gold silk, bordered by a narrow line of deep red piping. I also used that red for the delicate buttons that close the blouse and, of course, for the long flexi skirt. That skirt, which drops almost straight from the waist, flows sinuously when you walk in it. The effect is marvelous!

I am going to rush now to get it in my shop on Elysian Isle before you get there. Sayonara!