06 October, 2007

oh, brave new world....


Monkicat Giha


Where have I been? Yes, yet again, I've neglected my blog. Not intentionally, life just threw me a boomerang and I went after it....but its' path brought me back eventually...

So, to answer the question, I've been exploring that strange world called Second Life. Some of you may have heard of it, some of you may have already entered it. I had heard of this Second Life through the media - can't remember exactly but on and off for the past year and a half or so. It went in one ear and out the other. Then one day, while thinking about what to do it popped into my head to go check it out. I did, and so my life took a little turn...and so for the past few weeks I haven't done a stitch, haven't looked at my blog. Second Life is a virtual world, a world created by the residents themselves. Everything one sees, can do, and experiences in Second Life has been created and made possible by a human being like you and me. You start off with a generic avatar, learn a few rudimentary basics to get you started and off you go! Even though I officially started the end of June, I didn't really get into it until quite recently. It was so overwhelming at first! Then with help from total strangers (avatars dressed in black capes, fairy wings, or just in jeans) I began to learn. Now I've made friends from all over the world, laughed until my belly ached, and had serious discussions. I've even joined a wonderful groups of quilters! We recently came together from all over the world for a show and tell of our quilts. Good fun that was!

Now, I have a home, first alone, now sharing a bigger one with a real life friend of mine who lives in France. I, or actually, my avatar was found pretty enough to become a model with a modeling agency. While that's going on, I've been looking for more serious work and am most likely to begin in a week or so, and earn money. Yes it's strange, but Second Life, or SL is much like the real world and even though many call it a game, there's so much happening that is real that I've come to realize that this is bigger than I thought! Oh yes, there are people there with the only goal of picking up someone, or creating havok, but SL is so big, I haven't come across any trouble yet.

I haven't made up my mind about SL yet, but for now, I'm enjoying exploring the brave new world, a world that for better or worse is on the threshold of the way we may live and relate in the future. It may not be through the SL platform, it may be evolve into something else, and although I feel strongly about the importance of relating to each other in the physical world, this may be the direction we are going in whether we want to or not. In the meantime, I'm going to move among the natives, like David Attenborough and observe...learn...ssshhhhhh....!

05 October, 2007

SBQ of the Week: October 3, 2007

Suggested by Jennifer

What are your favorite online stitching supply sources?

There are many I like to browse through and some that I have ordered from, all have given me very good service, especially since I live in the Netherlands and the places I order from are primarily in the States. However, since I'm living here, I would like to support as many shops here as I can and this two, by far, have the most items that fall within my interest and, more importantly, great service! The first is the "Handwerkboetiek" (or literally translated, "Handwork Boutique"). They are way in the North of Holland more than 2 hours drive from me, so I do my business with Annemiek on the phone. She's quite knowledgeable, even knew a pattern I was planning on working ONLY by the threads (Au Ver A Soie) that I asked for! I trust her blindly with color choices, and what she has chosen was always perfect. Brilliant.

Then there's "Kunst en Vliegwerk". This shop specializes traditional cross stitch patters, such as quakers, red and white work, reproduction samplers. With Lonneke it's a pleasure to chat, discuss, and her advice is always on target.

These are my favorite stores in Holland, stores that not only carry what I want and need, but always go that little bit further to educate, explain, and enjoy to talk with their customers about our favorite past time. It's just another pleasurable part of the craft...!

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