Alright, things were getting serious for a few days there! In the spirit of diversity,?I'm gonna bounce back to the fun stuff that is consistent with the unreason of the season.

First, I'd like to mention that I had a favorable 1st experience modelling recently. I am now one of Aimee Weber's *PREEN* models, w00t! I was fortunate not to be coerced or abused in any way. Aim's philosophy includes the belief that her models just "be themselves", 'cuz if she wanted to be manipulative and controlling, she could just get a prim mannequin or a cloneav (and make them do naughty things, muhahaha). (I am quite certain Taco Rubio?enjoys my and Mistress's stills. :p)

I was recently visiting the sculptureshow thingamabobber in Zermatt. It's laggier than a <insert your favorite comparative simile here>, but if you can persist through that, you'll be rewarded by some really beautiful exhibits. A simple one which caught my biased eye was this stand, set up by Oz Spade.?Jerking towards it at a low frame rate, I finally managed to procure a questionable sort of refreshment. Note the number.

Connections are everywhere for me on Second Life. It's only fitting, then, that there is some sort of linkage between the aforementioned paragraph and the Create-A-Card Vendor that Kris Ritter and Malana Spencer have come up with. Note the card on the text, er… the text on the card. I was warned! Really though, the personalization on these kiosks is a nice touch. Customizability is very important in this day and age (witness the iMac —> iPod era!), and I was honored to have a sneaky peek of this device before it was set up publically. I just think it's awww so cute. An ace instance of technology making us more human.

Approaching Christmas Day, which is known by a variety of names to a variety of humans — I call it December 25th myself — I flew around gridwide?and took personal photos of a plethora of these Christmas trees, made by Stormy Roentgen. Fully sculpted and not flatly intersected "texture cutouts", these?primeating trees?are quite a popular sight in SL. Even if you've been travelling only an iota more than a salted slug, then you've likely eye-spied a couple with your av's peepers. Ubiquitous.

I haven't been a furry yet, but this comes close! Chancing upon a gracious fellow by the name of Chocobo Charlton, who is no doubt a connoisseur when it comes to these finally fantastic avians, he offered me an opportunity:?he granted me the power to transform into a big bird before I turned into a pumpkin and then back into Torleyform-denormalized. I took Chocobo up on his (its?) offer. Rumorspeak had been adrift about these mythical birds in SL?for awhile, and so, if you saw me on 2004.12.25 (Lindentime), skittering around and *wark*ing, you were not fooled! BUT 'TWAS A RARE SIGHT INDEED. ^_^ I took photos with a number of friends and strangers — soon to become amis, I hope –?when they were AFK. Pictured inset is moi in pink and alsopink Bedazzle boss Foxy Xevious. Hehehe. And the snap alongside that is ChocoTor?trying out a certain poseball at Aretias, home of the Amazon sisterhood! Chocobos do know how to have fun.

And speaking of fun, today I got to don a tutu and be a ballerina. (Nephi)laine Protagonist, always the veritable channelier of creative chaos, helped me to realize my dancer dreams. I pranced across the rooftops, feet as light as feathers, occasionally lagging but never crashing to the ground. Too many dreams die — this one just came more alive!

Gone fishin'. Now here's a funny one. Not that it's particularly less funny than what preceeded it, but it's just… funny. Strikingly so. I'll fill you in on a little OL?story that happened to me just before the Xmas hit: me and family went up to visit my Pa's grave. A fresh mint of snow covered the site, and as we approached to pay our respects, I walked nearer to the headstone, my feet starting to form indentations in the crisp, pure white blanket. Just before I could make any full imprint, however, I was startled by how slippery the snow was. I suddenly went crashing to the ground on my Dad's grave, sliding to the one next to it, and left two very distinct handprints indicating where I had pressed into the snow to stop my slide. The side of my body was wracked in pain but I let out a startlingly loud laugh — which unpleasantly triggered my hyperacusis. At this stage, I was so dazed that it was like… a dream. Fam thought I was pranking around and being disrespectful, but when it came time for little bro to come hither, he almost slipped and tumbled too. Maternal parental unit made the remark that maybe this was Dad's way of reaching out to me from beyond. Perhaps it was because I never went fishing with him enough, which now brings me to the present: this was the first time I went fishing in my second life. I enjoyed it! Thanks to King, Sweegy, and Loki for a good time had by all. Apparently the idea arose when they were at a buffet, which brings me to…

this, certainly encompassing the feasts that are appropriate at this time of year! I visited DavidDM Thereian after following a notice on the forums,?and he was most gracious and friendly. Food's been done before in SL, but I'd never seen a "food store" (what a crass way of putting it) such as this before. Apparently, him and partner Karamel Madison had a good thing going, and kept it going when they were encouraged to create more and more items of yumminess. YES, THEY'VE GOT A BUFFET TABLE! You can't really eat it, but it may make your mouth water. I haven't obsessed this much over avatizers since I spent time clinging to the yummies at the SL Public Library. Check out more info here and give the Karamel Kitchen a visit! I, of course, just had to go and suggest something "watermelon", and before beaming out, David gave me a nice stack of pancakes which I plan to do — well, what the Title of this entry says.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!