dancing – Ahuva’s Blog

The Spirit of SL

I have been determined to get inworld and visit some of the great seasonal sites as well as catch up – again – with friends. My day had been somewhat up and down. A VERY good up was news from my surgeon about my foot. *smile* His words were music to my ears: Push it Ahuva – USE that foot, wear shoes. At this point you’ll do more harm by NOT using than by OVER using it. Yes! Since I’d already managed to get into a pair of boots with 2.5 inch heels, that was both reward and incentive. *laughing* Those 2.5 inch heeled boots are my “flats”, btw.

Logging in I got more UP day. Hunter was on and we chatted for a bit. I don’t remember the last time we both were on with a few moments to relax and catch up. While we were saying “bon apetit” in parting, Patricia Anne logged in. Oh my, I don’t think PA and I have talked since perhaps the summer. Maybe even the spring. It seems like years. We had a great time chatting and catching up on both RL and SL. I’d been listening to Taunter while I chatted. She was singing at a formal attire venue so I had a chance to take one of my gowns out of inventory. 🙂 The risque brown one that would never ever work for me in the material world. Was lovely, as always, to listen to Taunter sing. When she was done, I headed to Fogbound, my home away from home when it’s NOT Friday night. (Then home away from home is Tribeca, of course.)

Once there, I saw more friends – Mae and Yanik. *smile* Bob was playing great Blues and the mood was perfect. Y joined me shortly after I arrived, so I got up to dance! We also had a LOT of catching up to do. I guess that’s true for me for all my friends. Since the last time I managed to get in was nearly 2 weeks ago, there’s a lot to cover.

As we danced I did the usual cam-around-the-room. I noticed a great looking pair of red boots. So nice, I thought I might like to find a pair for myself. I clicked on a boot and checked the object profile and took a screen shot for future reference. For the record: N&N City boots by candice OHare! I IM’d Alessandra, she of the lovely red boots, and told her I thought her boots were great! She said thank you and I said you’re welcome. I smiled, thought no more on it, and continued chatting with Y. Well. I saw an incoming box and checked. Alessandra had gifted me with a pair of the boots!!!!!! So generous! A simple compliment generating such a thoughtful gesture.

Yes, there may be griefing. Yes, there are trolls who announce unpleasant things in the local chat. Yes, SL has its share of not so pleasant beings. But SL also has the beautiful lovely people who reach out and make the world a happier place to be. Thank you SO much, Alessandra! You are a star!

Stepping Out

*Triumphant grin* I DANCED Saturday night!!!!! Yes, I mean my physical self, not my SL self. I had to go to the doctor on Thursday to remove 3 lingering stitches. I tried to put on a real shoe, but could not fit my foot in. 😦 I was wiped out and frustrated and tired on Friday, after PT session #5. I decided that I needed to “take back my life”. Before anyone argues with that phrase, I know it’s not a very accurate statement. But that is how it FEELS. I want MY life back. I want to be bustling about doing what I do, with energy, getting things DONE. (Oh my, there is NOTHING more satisfying than crossing items of a to-do list!!!) I decided the focus this weekend was going to be on return to “normal”.

Friday night was getting out of my “invalid sleeping setup” and getting back to “go to bed”. Saturday we met friends for dinner. A mutual friend was going to be playing with his band at that restaurant. We had a LOVELY dinner – great company with lots of laughter and talk. The band arrived with their usual “groupies”. *grin* Wives and friends. Our friend’s wife was there, also a good friend of ours.

The band started right out rocking with “Backdoor Man” and kept going. I was bouncing in my seat, wanting to be MOVING. My friend got up to dance with another of the wives and called to me – “You can’t dance at all???” Well. You know me. I thought “What’s the worst that can happen? I’ll try to dance and won’t be able to shift weight.” So I got up and danced. It was wonderful!!! Dancing is easier than walking. I can fudge the weight distribution much more easily dancing. The only “blight” was that I was wearing flat sandals. OOOOOOHHHHHHH – I WANT my shoes! I didn’t dance long. It only took one injudicious placement for me to decide that I’d had enough fun for the evening.

Today I did a lot of house chores, cleanup, winterizing, bills, laundry. It’s the to-do list scenario. I’m getting things DONE and back in order. AND – I actually fit my foot into my boot. I can’t actually WALK on it, but the swelling is down sufficiently and there is just enough flexibility to make me think that perhaps by January I will indeed be back in my steampunk boots!

You put your right foot in, you put your right foot out, you put your right foot in and you shake it all about…..

Cutting Loose on a Weeknight

shhhh. Don’t tell anyone. I slipped inworld, met a friend, and spent the night dancing. Ahhhhh. That felt GOOD. We were listening to Taunter rock Key West.

Introducing: The Fogettes

From the smallest beginnings, incredible acts are born. *grin* It was a typical night at the Fogbound. DJ Evanrude Anton was spinning a FANTASTIC mix of blues for us. Lately Evan has been bringing his dance HUD with him for those who are not in the mood for the club’s dance balls. I was perched on a bar stool, lost in thought, when I realized that I was being nudged. It was Aubrey, I believe, who was inviting me to join in the other dancers. It looked like great fun so I accepted an invite from Evan.

It did take us a moment or two to get synchronized, but we soon had the hang of it. *grin* Synchronized dancing is one of the cheap easy pleasures of SL. For those of us who grew up watching Motown dancers, chorus lines on Broadway, the Rockettes, getting to dance in synch with others is having childhood dreams come true.

Women joined the group, left the group. Notice that the only man dancing was DJ Evan himself, although the bar stools filled with avid viewers of the floor show. 🙂 It’s funny how even when they don’t have to do anything, some guys STILL won’t dance. 🙂 You are missing out, boys. Women love men who dance.

I took lots and lots of photos – they are all up on my Flickr stream. So now I’ve been a Vonette and a Fogette. Can my career as backup singer/dancer be far behind????

You Need Arms to Dance

Some days I really don’t feel like having someone mess with me. I try to be nice, helpful. But…. that does not give you the right to presume. This is an abbreviated version of our conversation. No, his name is NOT BadBoy. I might not have gotten nasty and rezzed my knife had he not added the “hard” to “kisses”. It’s one thing to be happy and kiss and hug. It’s another to kiss hard. Still, I might have thought I was being unduly harsh except I read his profile. Lots of BDSM and slave training there.

BadBoy: Hi Ahuva. Question. Am I wearing clothes?
Ahuva: you are still a cloud. you might want to clear cache, logout, and login to the Pooley sim. i hear that is a good place to try to settle cloud and inventory issues
(a few minutes pass)
BadBoy: ???
Ahuva grins. you appear to be a humanoid
BadBoy: A clothed humanoid??
Ahuva laughs. blue jeans, boats, gray shirt however, but def clothed
BadBoy: Whew….. leans close and kisses you, hard
Ahuva backs off. tsk tsk
BadBoy laughs
(Ahuva rezzes knife.)
Ahuva smiles sweetly. next time i knife you
BadBoy: Hey, I was happy!

I think Pink said it best: I’m not here for your entertainment.

When Chestnut Plurks

Slowly but surely my health is returning. About time, too, I say. Last night I was taking a break from my book, catching up on Plurks, emails and the like. Then THE plurk posted: Chestnut listening to Kyle Beltran at Tribeca…. Come dance with me.

When Chestnut invites me to dance with her, I can’t refuse. Apparently, neither can Sean. Within minutes, there we were. (Okay, to be fair – Sean was there, but not dancing. *grin*) Dancing with Ches, listening to Kyle, laughing with friends. A lovely evening. 🙂 Thanks for inviting us to the party, Ches!!! ❤

Dancing the Night Away!

Saturday night’s alright for fighting (according to Elton John), but Friday night is for dancing the night away (according to Ahuva). I started the night at the Music Park at Prim Economy, listening to Komuso. Ah, Ko, I love starting my weekends with you!!

Next I headed off to join a good friend at a party, where Satin Xi was DJ’ing great tunes! The contest of the evening was Best in Black. I went through about 3 outfits before I arrived there. But everyone around me kept changing outfits so I did as well! *grin* Hey – girls just want to have fun.

From there, off to Tribeca Blues, where Calli was DJ’ing up jazz and blues and songs of love and loss and a little lust. How could I resist? The room was full of good friends and great music. So I convinced Dale to dance with me. Dale and I have been keeping a photo album of our dances together – we both enjoy dancing so much. Dale’s pics are soooo much better than mine, so I stole this one to share. Is that great hair action or what?

Today, the good times roll on, albeit in RL. It’s spring: warm, sunny, gorgeous, perfect. The following has been playing in my head all morning. Extra credit if you can identify the VERSION, not just the source. *grin* By the way – if you use Google to get this – you are cheating. 🙂

For, lo, the winter is past,
the rain is over and gone;
the flowers appear on the earth;
the time of the singing of birds is come,
and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;

CnP Turned 2!

I love the Crown and Pearl. I love the place, the people. They throw the best parties. I wandered over the other night, feeling a bit down. BD was DJ’ing, friends were there. We all got on one chim and danced. Soon I was smiling and feeling great and having a wonderful time. So imagine what it’s like when they make an EFFORT at throwing a party.

This weekend was the 2nd anniversary celebration party. Four hours, 4 wonderful DJs: Bailey Longcloth, Aribeth Coronet, Rrishanna Regina and Bailey Dazy. Each took a different decade, starting with the 60s. Each did, as always, a fantastic job. I must say, however, that BD really got the most difficult task – the 90s. I ask you – was there ANYTHING worth hearing in the 90s??? *grin* As I typed that, I realized that one of my favorite songs is from the 90s: Rod Stewart’s “Rhythm of My Heart”. The party was going great, as to be expected. Folks changed attire with the decade. Then we hit the 80s and Honour brought out her Michael Jackson outfit. You KNOW what happened THEN. *grin* We all lined up, put on our Thriller AOs and the Crown and Pearl Dancers were born!!!

By the time we moved into the 90s, it really didn’t matter that there was no decent music worth mentioning. *grin* We were having so much fun and BD found the few good songs, and we danced on into the night.

The complete Thriller line-up and other shots are all up on Flickr.

Only at the Crown and Pearl

I confess – I wrote this a few weeks ago. *grin* The last few days have been very very hectic for me in RL – not much time to be inworld or blog. But I’ve been thinking of you all….. And I can’t wait to get back to the CnP and all the cool DJs!

I love the CnP. It’s the only place I know where I can dance to the sounds of Frank Sinatra one day and be watching Lucy arrive on a sheep-drawn litter the next. I met my first troll there the other night. 😦 I was actually trying to have a serious conversation with this avatar, when I was warned by another that it was simply a troll passing as an av. *grin* Live and learn. Once you understand that someone is TRYING to make you angry, is deliberately saying hurtful things, those things lose the sting. Mostly my times at the CnP are joyous times filled with dancing and laughing with friends. I love introducing my friends to the CnP. Many of them find there way back there even without me. It’s just that kind of fun place. Yeah, there are a lot of in-jokes. *grin* But you get used to them and start understanding them in no time at all. So come dance at the CnP with me. You never know what you will see there.

Sinatra Night was simply lovely. I know my usual taste runs to Pink and Nickelback. Or Von Johin and Noma Falta and Komuso. But I do love ballroom dancing and Rrish was spinning all the oldies: Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, June Christy, Julie London and more! It was a wonderful time dancing with Greaper, Jolt and Rrish. Mowgli kept us company. Greaper had to leave before Rrish was done but Dale logged in and so I got to keep spinning and twirling!

Happy Rez Day, Oura!

Oura had her first rez day this week! We celebrated by hitting as many events as we could in a limited period of time. 🙂 We both love live music and dancing so you KNOW there was going to be a lot of that!

We started the evening at the Art Box. Dale blogged about this recently. It is a wonderful build and a lot of fun! Oura had been there earlier in the day and enjoyed it so much she insisted we go back so that I could try it. We picked Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks. One of the many nice features of Art Box is the background/description they supply for the pictures.
A Sonnet of Love / Rob Hefferan.
Rob Hefferan is an extraordinarily talented figurative artist & portrait painter, born in 1968 in Warrington, Cheshire, England. For Hefferan, realism is about bringing an awareness of the everyday in a very beautiful and optimistic way. Specialising in the female form, he says “”I aim to capture the character and soul of the sitter and to freeze that moment forever”.
Nighthawks / Edward Hopper
Edward Hopper, born 1882, was a prominent American realist painter, his piece ‘Nighthawks’ being generally considered Hopper’s most famous painting, as well as one of the most recognizable in American art. Painted immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941, it reflected the sense of gloom prevailing in the country at the time. However, the portrayal of modern urban life as empty or lonely is a common theme throughout much of Hopper’s work; he said, “unconsciously, probably, I was painting the loneliness of a large city.”
The Art Box ‘Nighthawks’ set was used in the creation of a machinima film intended to capture this sense of isolation in 3D. The film is on YouTube here: Nighthawks

From there we jumped to the Gallery of Light at the Crown and Pearl. Bailey Dazy is displaying her photography there this month and the opening for the show was that night. Besides being a fun person, gorgeous Neko and great dancer, Bailey is a resident of Angel Square and a DJ at the Crown and Pearl. About herself she said: “Second Life photography is a passion; it’s something I truly enjoy. When the mood strikes, I shoot… and I often enjoy what I see.” You can see Bailey’s photos at the CnP or on her Flickr site. Much as we wanted to stay and keep partying at the CnP to the tunes Bailey Longcloth was playing, time was working against us if we wanted to hit the live performances.

So it was off to Noma Falta rocking SL from Wiseguys. I love some of the dance balls I encounter. I don’t know about you, but I have NEVER done backflips or splits while I am dancing in RL. In SL, however, I can bend like Gumby. Better. 🙂 So Oura caught these pics of us dancing on our heads. It helps when there is no law of gravity. By the way – if you notice the improved photo quality, that is because Oura took all these pictures. *grin* The difference is immediately apparent. Yay Oura!

While we were at Toby’s I found out that my friend Bob was DJ’ing at Ruby’s, rocking with the blues. Okay, I love the blues. I wanted to hear Bob DJ’ing. So although it hurt, we left Noma early and went to Ruby’s. I don’t think I’ve ever been there before. I like the dance floor and the synchronized dance balls. Faust had caught up to us at that point and he was partying alongside us. *grin* I think I’ve mentioned my good friend Faust before. Check out his cool hat.

We were having a great time at Ruby’s, dancing up a storm. But we were racing against the clock still and needed to make Von Johin’s concert at Ruby’s. *grin* Never a dull moment in SL. Von was great as ever. Faust saw someone wearing a green dragon on his shoulder and fell in love with the dragon. Faust IM’d the gentleman, who told Faust that the dragon was found in a hunt. I mentioned this to Oura. LOL. Oura not only KNOWS everything, she probably HAS everything in her inventory. In this case, she did NOT have the dragon, but she did know which hunt and which store. I am happy to say that Faust was able to track down the proper hunt and find the prize and now sports a dragon on HIS shoulder. *grin* It takes so little to make some of us happy. My dear friend Nat often has a bunny on HER shoulder and it always makes me smile.

The evening was getting long at this point. Von’s sim was full and Jonah couldn’t tp in to join us. I decided that perhaps it was time for me to call it quits – I’d already done quite a bit of adventuring on the road earlier in the day. So we timed it well and I tp’d out and Jonah was able to tp in and join Oura and Faust. I headed home to get tucked into bed and sleep, in preparation for a new day of partying!

Happy Rez Day, Oura! I hope you had as much fun as I did! I’m so glad we’re friends! Ahuva ❤ Oura.