Summer, Ephemeria & Cycles

And its September once again…

Where did time go?

Summer went by like a gush of wind and all its left are the tingling sensations in your skin, memories of what you felt in that brief moment in time.

It’s back to work now. Full time. Full projects. Full schedule. Plenty of deadlines. Some projects and wishes too. Fall is nearing by, with leafs lavishing the ground and stripping down the trees for the cold weather that starts to blow over us. Summer’09 is nearly a memory of the past. Good memories. Very good indeed.

Sure… the wall isn’t painted yet…

Sure… it was not enough…

Of course it could have been more…

But it was unique alright. And for that a treasure to keep.

Perhaps the end was more nostalgic then I wished it to be so. But in perspective it was inevitable to feel blue with the days passing and the realization of what was to come clearer every day.

It’s now over an year that Pumpkin & I met in-world. Over an year since we hooked up unofficially… and 53 weeks since we officially partnered inworld. That’s a whole year plus some spare days. It doesn’t feel like that long… but it also feels like it has been like that since ever.

We ended up hardly doing anything to celebrate the day with all the blues hitting us with the incoming summer vacations end… it was a pity actually… we did spend a hell of a great Summer and even feeling like an ephemera sensation, it marks a point in time I’m proud of.

Let’s see what time will hold for us in the meantime…

Afterall, from what I’ve heard… each year that goes by tends to hold an individual package of Summer inside.

Summer’s Almost Gone – The Doors

Summer’s almost gone,
Summer’s almost gone,
Almost gone,
Yeah, it’s almost gone.
Where will we be
When the summer’s gone?

Morning found us calmly unaware,
Noon burned gold into our hair,
At night we swam at laughin’ sea
When summer’s gone, where will we be?
Where will we be?
Where will we be?

Morning found us calmly unaware,
Noon burned gold into our hair,
At night, we swam at laughin’ sea
When summer’s gone, where will we be?

Summer’s almost gone,
Summer’s almost gone.
We had some good times,
But they’re gone,
The winter’s comin’ on,
Summer’s almost gone.

LotD 2009-08-16

I don’t like shopping nor do I care much about fashion… however, being in SL somehow awaken in me a new perspective of myself…

So, I do like shopping and I do like fashion to a certain extent… eh, go figure… anyway… my babe’s a expert shopper and helps me out picking out nice pieces that blend well together. Since there aren’t many good male shopping advices out there, I thought I’d give it a go. So, here’s my 5 cents.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/petrosmiklos/3827826892/

Outfit Details:
Hair: =IZUMIYA= Hair&Black Knit
Eyes: -Belleza- Eyes Magic Emerald B
Skin: >TRUTH< Francois [tan] [C]
Piercings: .:CoLL:. Charisma Lip/Nose Piercing Set
Necklace: M.R.M. Dog Tag #02
Shirt: *SL* V Neck Shirt Seal Brown 4
Pants: *SL* The Dude:Jeans Wrecked Darkblue
Sandals: Kalnins Sandals – Earthshine

Notes: Hair & Piercings were a free gift from DSN network. Shape was homemade along with plenty of input from my pumpkin fashion adviser

Sci-Fi and Fantasie Grid Wide Hunt… yeah right…

I’m not one to normally trash other people’s work… unless it really does annoy me, but this so called “Sci-Fi” and “Fantasie” Grid Wide Hunt… c’mon, you got to be kidding me!!!

Science fiction is a genre that involves (amongst many other things) the impact of scientific developments in society, which leads to such brilliant things as robots taking over Humanity, space ships, time-travel, aliens and so many other things…

Fantasy is even more broader (even Science fiction is a type of fantasy), though its generally used to coin a particular genre of fantastic medieval stories, ussualy involving dragons, fairies, knights, sorcerers and so on…

THIS hunt… well… it is Fiction alright… but not Science nor Fantasy.

Truth be told I’ve only been to 1/3 of the locations… so there’s hope an actual Sci-fi or Fantasy store may pop up… (Ok… I’ve seen 2 or 3 sort of sci-fi stores already … out of 30!!) But really… couldn’t they choose a PROPER name for a hunt instead of a misleading name?

*sigh*

With so many great fantasy & science fiction stores in SL… how did they come up with *these* … places? Seriously… It’s awful… avoid it. Unless you’re hunt addict and you have done ALL the other hunts going on this month…. and even so… hmmm, I’d give it a second thought.

So I’ve sayeth.

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PS: in case you still want to check it, you might want to check out Lexi Vargas blog, where he’s been compiling a hint list for this particulary hunt.

Virtual Dreams aren’t just made of pixels

A rendering of virtual personas or a projection of real emotions?

I have little doubts about it.

On SL Partnership Proposal Limitations

I claim to be a somewhat romantic person.

Of course that is open to discussion by those that suffer the consequences of my romanticism (or lack of it) so I won’t diddle about it much more then that. But asides from that small matter… one has tickled me for quite some time and I’ve been holding this thought in my mind for quite a bit.

In Second Life people can get partnered with another avatar.

Meaning something from being a casual couple, boyfriends, a couple, a married couple, fuck partner, soul mates, master/slave… heck, who knows what else? For me, it means that the other person is not just a friend anymore, it has grown way past that, and the two of us have become romantically involved… which in time can lead to share more and more things, living together and just let your imagination flow…

Anyway, my rant is about the process of asking for a Partnership in SL !

Sure, you can plan an all grand display of affection in-world for the big moment and ask your to-be partner the big question, or go for a intimate and felt display of emotion… either way, to make it official you need to inform (and pay a small amount) to Linden Labs so they can add the new information to both your profiles stating to the Metaverse that the two of you are now partners, for good or for worst !!

So… what goes wrong?

No, its not the amount you have to pay, its actually a quite symbolic payment you have to pay (10L$ each)… What goes wrong, and displays an apparent lack of romance flair from LL, is:

The amount of characters you can put in your partnership proposal !!

Yep. That’s true. You’re limited in space (and quite so I must add) to what you can say to your beloved one to ask her/him/it if they would like to partner with yourself. Having used that lovely form myself, that you need to fill in to become partners in Second Life, I’ve ended up battling with my own words and inspiration to find a way to say all that I wanted in such a crumpled little space.

I ended up just proposing with a teaser, and sending her a notecard with the full version later on.

It’s annoying to be cramped up in space when you wanna express your feelings. Feelings are hard to squeeze in to just a few words since they surpass simple words so easyly… maybe its just my verbosity, I dunno. I just can’t understand what’s the technical impairment of adding larger limits to a form that it is just used to send that very same text to the other persons’ email. C’mon…. it’s an e-mail, its not like you’re going to pay extra money for crossing the 1000 words per email… *mumbles a bit*

If not enough… you can’t access your proposal after sending it!!

GAH!!! Ok, maybe its just a pet peeve of mine, but I like to keep records of my things, things I wrote, things I’ve read and enjoyed, things with sentimental value… yeah, so I like to keep records of that, call me crazy. But noooo… you can’t access your proposal after hitting the send button. You DO get a lovely reply back (if your proposal is accepted, otherwise it might not be so lovely) from your loved one. And yes, that one I can safely keep in my email… but frankly: couldn’t they just add a tiny feature for you to recall it out too?

All I ask is:

• Increase the text space in the Partnership Proposal Form (we’re trying to propose for crying out loud!!)

and

• Don’t throw it to the trash (let us keep it for memory lane ! Please?)

Sincerely, one passionate SL Avatar

η σύγχυση των Ελλήνων

Hello. My name is Petros Miklos and I’m NOT greek.

.

Yes, I know the name sounds very greekish. Yes, I know Petros is a Greek name. Yes I also know what it means and I’m also aware of the subtle differences between the male and female versions of the name and them meaning something or thus being just a name… yep. Been told all about it.

This isn’t a complaint, nor a rant though. Just an explanation, since I keep getting asked over and over by every Greek that I encounter and isn’t afraid to IM me and ask. (And they have been more then a few, trust me…)

I actually got to know a couple of very nice Greek people this way, two or three even become friends of mine… sadly, I haven’t seen them in SL for quite sometime …

.

So… Why Petros Miklos ?

.

Well… I had to pick a name… and I didn’t wanted to use my RL name, so instead I went with the Greek version of it: Petros . With that taken care of, I only needed to find a surname that matched the first name… Miklos popped up and I just knew it was a perfect match

.

And – ta da – here I am, proudly being Petros Miklos, a non-Greek with a very Greek name

Any more questions?

Just another year?

The year was 2008, the person… me.

I have to be honest and state that it didn’t had the most pleasant start of them all… I did spend the evening with friends, we were enjoying ourselves, watching a video together, food was abound, it was warm, blankets on the floor for people to sit and play cardboard group games and the mood was generally up and cozy. My stomach just wasn’t enjoying it all. Eh, too bad for me I guess. I ended up leaving early… or late in the night, depends on how you put it.

Eh… it was an odd year. Maybe it was because it was a leap year, I dunno. Not odd in a negative way, just felt like a cleavage point in my life. Allow to elaborate (if you haven’t fallen asleep yet):

On 2007 I started working, in the true sense of the word (ie: with a paycheck and a contract). When 2008 kicked in, I was still doing some work, but no money was purring in anymore… That said, obviously I had been looking for other jobs (the paying kind ones) for a bit. More on that.

On 2006 I stopped dreaming about an illusion I had in my mind. Many interesting things come from that … ahem… inspiration, but in the end I get that bitter taste in my mouth wondering: “was it worth it?” I dunno. On 2007 I pretty much forget that whole dreaming idea and just carried on doing my job… This year of 2008… it all sparked out unsuspecting. More on that too.

Now I stand on the verge of 2009 and I wonder what will the future bring me… alas… I dunno. But I’ve grown a bit this year. Learned lots of things. Did new things. Met new people. Met new ideas. Met new ideologies. And moved on.

As I said I started they year working but working pro-bono… not very inspiring, I must tell you. I went to a couple of job interviews, sent dozens of CV’s and the two most significant ones were: the one that made me travel half the country away (twice) for the said interview (where I was later on not accepted); and my short incursion to the Air Force, where they decided I had an unstable personality… (they did advise me to return next year and try again… to which I asked how could my ‘unstable’ personality change over an year?… to which they smirked and pretended not to understand the question) Assholes… fact is: I have a mind of my own and I don’t fit in their desired profile of an officer (ie: someone that as ideas and can think for himself) (( which is not always good, I’ll give them that))

Anyway, by June I was hired and started working, back to scientific research despite my efforts of making a run in a different direction. Guess destiny pulled some strings again. Eheh, in the end I have to say I’m quite happy with my job and research project right now. My boss is very cool and easy going, my lab partners are all very friendly and all with a great sense of humor. Work hours are odd sometimes, but we have enough freedom to coordinate our lives around it, so that’s pretty good too. Further more, one major article on sight soon, and … who knows, I might apply for a Ph.D. *shivers* let’s see what 2009 has to say about that…

On a more personal note, I ended up re-logging in to my old account in Second Life and revived a still noobie-looking Petros Miklos by late February. And the amazing thing was… I discovered my Second Life ! (after three account and nearly one year after my first trial of the program).

Needless to say, since most of this blog is dedicated to what I do online in Second Life… I did spent some time online navigating in that metaverse. I got a job working at Sweethearts (where I still hold a shift per week), I rented a skybox (a small floating flat), I updated my look reflecting more and more my real self, and expanded my horizonds regarding fashion. I met lots of people. Some went away, with others we diverged paths at some point… others stood around and still are for the long haul. Meanwhile I got a second job in SecondLife, working for a SL magazine named “FreeLife” where I was able to write about some of the hidden jewels I kept finding here and there on this wondrous metaverse of ours.

I had my first online romance, with Adora. It was unexpected and it open my eyes to things I didn’t not know much about it (to avoid saying nothing). It was short-lived in the end, but was intense never the less… and I promissed myself that I wouldn’t get in to another online romance.

Then destiny itself, or some other prankster (still trying to figure out whom) decided my lonesome days would be short lived as well and Summer, my current partner, my friend, my lover, my confident, my inspiration and company for the past 5 months, come in to my life. It was, again, unexpected. But here we are, still together, sharing dreams and ideas, thoughts and emotions… and I’m glad we are

With all this, and as Summer kept stating, my life soon started to merge with my Second life. At some point it becomes just an extension of who you are, just another facet on our life. I created this blog, and wrote about some of the experiences I had in SL. I had much more to tell, but, alas, I don’t write it all in here.

The thing is… My life changed… even if just a bit. Second Life provided a whole new World to explore and still be able to maintain a regular ‘normal’ life alongside with it. Allowed me to meet new friends abroad. Allowed me to experience things I would never be able to do if I was to keep myself in my home->work->home routine.

Eh, don’t get me wrong. I did quite a few things beside working and being online on Second Life. I started conducting a chorus since April (something I have little to no experience doing, but I’m winging it as it goes). I sung in the chorus that participated in the worldwide event from our church that took place here this time, which kept us singing for a couple of months non-stop with intensive rehearsals. Along that, we had some other minor events in our city with similar activities (just on a much smaller scale). I went to visit Expo2008, spent time with family, spent time with friends, met new ones, made some interesting developments at work, got a fresh new view on my own personality, learned a lot about people this year too… still much more to learn about that though, and even more about myself too…

hmmm…

Quite a busy year actually…

Odd… I started writing this and I had this idea that it would be a quite short resume of the year … and now… now I look back at this and I see so many details in these few lines that have so much more to explain and tell, that if I did so… well, I’d probably still be writing by the time the clock marked 12 o’clock midnight on 31st of December…

Summing it up… it was an unexpected year. Little of what happen I expected it to happen. In fact, I didn’t saw most of it coming my way until they hit me in the face !! eh… go figure.

Time seems to have an incredible timing for certain things… other times… well, we’re just impatient.

Predictions to 2009? eh, no clue whatsoever…

See ya all there

A bird told me

So I sort of kept my promisse.

I stated that there would be no party. I refused requests for suprise parties. I’ve kept my end of the bargain and no posts on your rez day…

BUT…

That was yesterday already on my watch… so…

HAPPY (belated) REZ DAY SUMMER SWEETY

Summer, my tender sweet love

My big sis, Katerina’s Rez Party

Its been a week already since my SL sis first rez day party, but it’s still a memorable event to write about, especially taking in to account the great gal she is.

Katerina Manamiko, my SL sis, my great dear friend, also known as Kat, or the General Manager of the club we work at, Sweethearts, first rezzed on the 11th of November of 2007.

Through countless perils we come to meet each other at Sweethearts where we both started working around the same time there, when Sweethearts was just a brewing idea on the minds of Charity & Dilbert. We’ve been there from the early beginning, and despite not talking every day with each other, when we do talk, we tend to share deep emotions between each other.

Moments have come, hard to undertake all on your own, where we have counted on each other to wind out and spill out what was trapped inside us. I thank her for that, for being there when I needed her shoulder… I only try to be there for her as well when she needs it too…

Hmmm… well, what I mean to say is that I’m really happy to have met you Kat. Getting to know you has a person as been a amazing experiment and I hope you can keep shining your light with all of us for many many more years to come. You’re a kind, giving, selfless person, always putting other before your own interests. Sometimes people don’t understand you (way to many more then I wished for you) and fail to see what a shining star you are. My only wish is that you may find you path to happiness soon and that life will ease up the burden you often carry all by yourself…

Love ya sis

On the meanwhile, here’s some pics of the party Sweethearts setup for our beloved Katerina on her Rez Day. Me and Summer were there and hope we spiced up the party a little bit, making it a memorable day for you Kat.

*big hugs*

Katerina Manamiko

Me & Summer @ Kats Rez Party

there was CAKE!!!!

View of the party

I should still be on strike…

I should still be on strike, ‘cuz after all, after the appeasing responde from M Linden regarding the Open Sim situation, the masses seem to have settled… eh, let me laugh a bit…

Morons…

Frankly… did anyone actually read what Our illustrious and most excellent leader of the free Second World wrote?!?

Well, you can read the original version -here-

Or…

You can read the translations -here-

…

then we’ll talk some more…