First of all sorry for the mess. The past week access to my blog was “broken” and still is someway… Changed the hosting, switched from a self-hosted WordPress blog to one inside WordPress.com but using my own domain.

Since there are some restrictions in WordPress.com about what you can “attach” some of the slideshows, widgets or links may be missing, i’m working to replace them, or at least link them someway.

Thanks for your patience while i try to iron and reset the blog and for keep reading, commenting, sharing…

As the project is described in the blog itself:

Two Three Six Five is a glimpse into the lives of 365 different Second Life™residents around the world throughout the course of a year, and a literary model of the way their virtual and physical selves interact.

TwoThreeSixFive is inspired in the3six5, similar project but RL related. I was really interested in the project and i so wanted to be part of it, sent an email to Trace and… finally i was Mr. April 8th! You can read my post following this link, anyway here i paste it too:

A sound in the background makes me open my eyes… it was my cat saying: “Hey U, hooman slave, feed me nao”. I want to stay in bed for some minutes more, enjoying that sweet feeling of holidays. I look at the clock, it’s 09:10AM. I sit on my bed, trying to fix the world around me for a moment, I turn on the radio… some Jazz music playing. Phone rings, is my partner saying Good Morning, he has to work today.

I follow my cat and add some food and some fresh water to his bowls. He doesn’t even say “Thank You”, just submerge his head in the bowl, I imagine for a moment he is trying to catch an apple floating in a water barrel, that image in my head makes me chuckle. After having a coffee and a couple of cupcakes I turn on the computer. Some things to do, tomorrow I’m traveling with my partner to visit some friends and I need to get the boarding passes, just to get good sits. I say hello to friends in Plurk and log into Second Life.

It’s night in my sim when I log in, lights in my house are on (they work automatically). Some IMs coming, some group notices, someone special for me saying “Good morning”… I answer slowly, as when I wake up from bed I need to sit for a moment and try to fix the world around me. Where is that texture I uploaded? Oh, there it is! I play with the new “Shared Media” tool for a project I have in mind, doing some tests. I enjoy mornings in Second Life, all is quiet, calm… since is night in the US is easier to visit place that are normally crowded. The holiday feeling invades my Second Life too and all I want is to sit and enjoy a nice sunset.

Is time to log off for a while, things to do in my other life too. When I log off I wonder for a moment what my avatar does when I’m offline, what he explores… And I wonder if he wonders the same about me.

____________________

Raul Crimson is 38 years old and was born and lives in Barcelona, Spain. He works in Work-flow Management and in Users Support for business travel self-booking intranets. In Second Life he mainly experiments with creative possibilities (photography, blogging, some machinima, building, etc.) and owns a sim that finally became some like a “hippie commune” with some friends. Anyway some say his main occupation is “to look good”.

I recommend you to visit the blog and read the posts, they are interesting, fascinating… another way to see our fellow residents.

For a long time i wanted to pay tribute to the bloggers i really like, i know some time ago an SLBloggers Appreciation Week was organized… but well, i was not on time (as usually ) so i decided to make it by my own. There are some bloggers i specially like, sometimes for their style writing, or the topics they write about, or how they are personally. This series of posts starting with this one will have always photos of my avatar edited as i see them, the Raul Crimson version of them. Some say imitation is the biggest form of adulation, well, i don’t pretend to imitate them, is more to show how i see them, and well, i don’t pretend to adulate them, only to express my gratitude for the great moments of read they are giving me.

Winter Jefferson doesn’t use to wear wings, i know, is just a personal touch. From his blog Winter shares his opinions about fashion, his projects and his thoughts. Covering specially male fashion from his own angle, as he says he is “The only sardonic Australian Vampire knight fashionisto on the grid. So far.”

Is not only his really good work as blogger, for his blog and for the Rezzable one, is also his Plurk profile and how he is personally. Is somebody really respectful, sweet, always trying to help and with a good word for anybody. And, sincerely, when there’s so much drama and “bitching” around is always a pleasure to read anything from him.

This is my way to say thanks to him, for all those moments of enjoyment, for all the kind words and for all the help, crazy fun moments and conversations.

By the way, a friend mentioned this picture here it seems he is just too excited touching his chest, i presume i can’t stop being myself even i’m trying to imitate someone.

Linden Lab just published the winners of the Residents’ Choice Awards 2009.

First of all, congrats to the winners!!! Specially to Prad Prathivi, becuase he was voted as the best blogger!

Personally i think this awards were a really good initiative from Linden Lab, maybe some people may take them as a competition (as any other award or contest) but actually is a help and a push to the creators and bloggers.

Lindens have placed a “Winner’s Circle” (the one in the pic), go there (SLurl) and see the complete list inworld too.

Please, go to the blogpost and vote (for me, pleeeease), you will find there also SLurl to the stores, anyway, i’ll post here my images and story:

Raul Crimson – Library Worm

“Where is that book i’m looking for? That book…”. All the evening in the library, looking for one book, a really special one.

Finally he found it in one of the bookcases. The book he was looking for, the book he needed, the perfect one to cover what he was afraid to show.

He went out of the library, smiling with the book in his hand. Walking in the street, going to work, thinking about how useful that book will be.

When he started to work in the Stripper Club, he realized how good the choice and how well the book fit.

Did someone said that sex sales?

Vint Falken is one of my oldest friends in Second Life, i know her from forever i think, ha ha ha

She was made for me a really nice gift for this Valentine’s, as she said in her blog, no “amoureux” porposal, but is lovely to see it. She tried a sim-on-demand service in OpenSim and she asked for a temporary sim sith my name terraformed, viset his post to see all the gifts she made… i’m sure all the people with their names in terraforming are more than happy.

I just can say <3<3<3!!!

Image by Vint Falken, licensed on a Creative Commons license.

Had to rent some server space for a personal FL project and i thought this was the right moment to do it. For the moment is a bit a mess, still have to reorder the categories, have to import the links (that’s the first to be done!), have to update the header… but the good things are all the permalinks are now redirected here, all the posts have been imported and i feel here more free to express myself because i have a total control over the tool.

After being blogging the last 18 months i’d like to say thanks again to you, reader, to all the ones who comment, and to everybody that helped me… oh! and to the WordPress.com team for helping me with the permalinks.

Someway BareRose is a “newbie welcome” place, is possibly one of the first stores i ever visited in Second Life and still go there from time to time.

Ok, i should say it, the place is laggy as hell, the vendors are placed maybe too high and takes a century to rezz all textures, but although that is one of the most worthy stores. The products are mainly orientated to Fantasy but still you can find some “formal” or “casual” outfits.

Let me show some of the outfits i have from BareRose, they are not specially bought for this post, just had them some time ago.

And they are only a selection of my BR outfits! I love them all, but have something for the one down left, the Hell Fire, love the jacket, is fully sculpted and nicely done.

Sure everybody can find an outfit for him at BareRose Tokyo (SLurl), so go there and show your favourite outfits!

Then the question was: “What prize?”, well, i love to take SLphotographs so i though that was a good idea. Roxette and me met for a photo session and that was the result:

Someway is a personal portrait, or how i see Roxette. She is a really sweet and fun lady, and the photo session was a total delight, i know modelling may be a bit boring and she was really patient. I made also the pose thinking in her. Also took this close-up:

I think her eyes look gorgeous in this image. Also added here some hair brushes in Photoshop, just to add more effect, but wanted to be “discreet”.

The best thing is she liked a lot the images, sincerly i was a bit worried to ask her to get naked for the pic, but she was just relaxed and we both enjoyed the session in the company of Osiris Pfalz who was there with us.

Again, thanks to Roxette Wise, and thanks to all the people who comments, who shares points of view.

As Vint suggests i will try to be as honest as i can, specially with myself. I just use some of that applications: Flickr, Koinup and YouTube, Twitter and Plurk, and finally, this blog (and some related stuff, like the SLbloggers group in Ning). Well, Second Life too, but this is kinda different and i’ll tell you why below. I didn’t want to be in other social networks like Facebook or Myspace (even i have an account there that i never use) because i considered just to much to can enjoy them.

The use i give to that services (some purely social networks, some not) are:

• Flickr, Koinup and YouTube:Well, that are spaces to share images or machinimas i make myself. Normally i don’t do them professionally, are just ways to express myself. Also are a good place to learn and share knowledge. About the social use, well, i met great friends through them and are useful in collaborative projects, specially with Flickr groups. Anyway, i’m not using much lately the social side of this applications, possibly because the specially high possibilities of Drama. Is sad becuase i’m sure i’m missing a lot of nice creations, but well, need some “drama holidays”.
• Plurk and Twitter: That’s kinda different, is like a mix of ramblings and (mainly) a way to stay connected with some people i met there. Also i use them as a way of “promotion”, well, is that may sound bad, i mean i tell there i published a new photography, a new machinima or a new post. At the same time Plurk is the place where i’m having more doubts. I love to follow some people i met there, or in Twitter, and i consider friends (you know who you are ), but that hundreds of “responses” or “plurks” of people i don’t know or i don’t have contact is a bit… how to say it… stressing. Possibly is my fault because i didn’t selected my “friends” there correctly and i feel Plurk like constant flow of information where is difficult to select what is important for me. Also that “Karma” think makes me uncomfortable, someway pushes you to a competition, but well, i don’t care much about my “Plurk karma”. Twitter was easier to follow for me and sometimes i think i should cancel my Plurk account and go back exclusively to Twitter. Another thing that surprises me of that applications is that you have better “response” rates at comments like: “Good morning, people” than to any serious rambling or micro-blog and that driven me in a subconscious way to keep just saying small and even empty “plurks” sometimes. So Twitter and Plurk seem the be things i should reconsider.
• This blog and SLbloggers group in Ning:Someway this blog is the extension of my Flickr stream in the sense a lot of times i use it to write about a pic and what i wanted to tell with it. Also is a place to express myself, to write all what my Second Life makes me think about (well, not all actually, i keep some things to me ). A place where i tell stories, where i talk about my dreams, projects, hopes… sometimes is like a friend that listens so good! Maybe is my more “honest” side, even that doesn’t mean i always write super honest and dramatically important posts, most of the times are just about stuff or places i like, little jokes, protests, whatever. I don’t limit myself about what i say here, just tell my mind in the moment i write the post. The only thing i don’t use to talk about (even i love it) is SLclothing, there are enough (and really good) blogs about that. The SLbloggers group in Ning is a useful tool to be in contact with the SLblogosphere, just that (btw, thanks to Zoe Connolly for creating it).

But the question remains… What is all that for? All that applications, social networks, all that are related to my Second Life, so possibly there is the answer. Let’s redo the question then: What is Second Life for?

And now the answer: Because is my life too, I don’t have two lifes, i have one with different sides and one of that sides (SL) is important enough for me to talk about it, even exclusively sometimes. Part of that side of my life is creation, that’s why i like to share it; part of that side of my life is friends and people, that’s why i like to be in contact with them. That part of my life helps me to understand all together, gives me another angle over my full life because connects me with people from all the sides of the world with a lot of different ways to see things. Second Life is a technological tool where thousand of people from all over the world are sharing at the same time love, hate, creativity, friendship, drama (sorry, is included in the pack) and much more.

OMG! I <3 SL!!!