How I Decorate/Celebrate @ Christmas

Last year was my first memory of Christmas but I must take you to Halloween 2009 to begin this story. I had been an orphan at St. Michael's and won a Halloween photo contest in Midian City (only rule was the pic had to be taken on that sim). When I arrived at the Art Gallery to see my entry on display, 2 women were looking around. One of them offered to buy me a meal and after enjoying our time together, she asked to adopt me and I accepted. I settled into her penthouse apartment there and was very happy til she met a Gorean man one month later. Instantly, Mama fell head over heels for him :(  When she moved into his home, I was not allowed on his adult sim so I became a throwaway child on the streets for Christmas. This season is not an easy one in Midian City but the only homelife I had known was in that hardscrabble region so I hung around hoping to find a warm parent like the one I recently loved. One day, in my wandering, I came across Santa just relaxin' in a seat....so I leaped onto his lap with joy! Apparently he was off duty and did not appreciate my disturbance so he spanked me :(

                                 

Needless to say, I became fearful of Santa after that. But one day, Sister Darkness (at the orphanage) told us Santa would be coming to visit in neaby Apocalypse the following night. She said he had someting for us and we all became excited for the event. But after a long, long, wait literally "chillin on de street", Scary-Santa sneaked up on us from behind. He was grimy and skinny and apparently in a diet-rage as he was packing heat: Never ever did we imagine what he would have for us would be bullets! I ran way and hid out for de holidays.                                



Christmas Tree Lighting

Last night was so special in many ways. The tree lighting event in Little Wonders was sensational, especially with the live singer Samm and Rockefeller Center (who made the woww golden statue?) and um....what else am I forgetting?....um....oh ya, SANTA. haha, I dint really forget him as I neber do. The highlight for me though was to have a parent attend a school function for me. I neber had that caring before. Early yesterday, my newly adoptive Dad asked about the ceremony. At the time, he was shirtless but sported some tattoos. I said: "Dad, please dress nicely as you cannot wear just tatters and tats!" LoL he arrived at Little Wonders in his magnificent flowing cape and brought along my hilarious-has-us-in-stitches blue-haired uncle all pimped out in his blue tux and carnation. hehe now I was underdressed, what can I say? Except ty for coming. <3 When Brace finally came online and TPed in, I tried so hard to get a foto of me with my fave guys but kept crashing so in the end I DID get a foto of us four but let's just say I was more mist than misty-eyed (see above pic) Can you spot me?  :P



My highlight was the chance to be with Santa. I was glad to see him and I hope he brings me what I asked for. I trust him a lot and he said he'd see what he could do. I tant ask for more than that. xoxoxox for you Sanna.

What I am Thankful for

YO! This is a time of thanksgibing and I'm very grateful for many things but since this journal is written at my school desk, thoughts of appreciation for OSE surface. I lob my teashers and I wike my blogs (ya I have a second one now too---http://sloanew.blogspot.com/ ) and my photography class and lotsa inneresting things. BUT. (That but is so important that it rates a sentence all by itself). But....something at my school does worry me and eben though I have kept this secwet to myself, I tink it's time I share the 411. Namely, there are two administrators who MAY be dangerous: Miss Jill and Miss Kendwa. I KNOW WUT YOU THINKIN as I can hardly believe it myself. It all started a few days ago when class pictures were being taken. After mine was finished, I passed by the huge camra and wondered why it so BIG? And it had a suspicious screen on it. Huh? This needed further investigation, I decided. So I crept back to the gym after midnite and found my way to de G11 Canon by emergency lighting.

It was tricky to see well as I had on my hitman glasses but need them to help me discern phoniness which I then assassinate. Sometimes I do it by just holding out a mirror...but I digwess. Anyway, as I drew closer to de lil monitor, this is wut I snapped (with my own pocket Canon SD1400 IS)....



WOW. Someone is privately instructing Miss Jill and Miss Kenwa. Zoom mode at de speed of light is commanded in clear white text....dis is why Miss Jill is always zooming around....she's directed to do dis. (Maybe she is NOT our director, maybe she is a spy takin orders.) Now for the SB-28, Hmmm... OH of course, it stands for Student Body-28 (main avs). ALL de rest be alts, dis place is cwawlin with em! Wut de SSS beside tha capital M means? I scratch my bwain....I hab it!  Mollify with Sweetness, Sammiches and even Samores at camp. Wut about all the numerals on dere? Well dey add to total the school population, prolly. The plus and minus? Some of us will remain but the rest will be offed! Oh no. How I know THIS? Cuz of the letters STBY: Shoot Them By Yearend. *cries* Surely it means to shoot those pupils with camra lens, right? Wrong! IF the "mm" signifies that 2 mausers are hidden inside dis humongous camra for these 2 admins!

Just then, Mama wondered why my journal-writing went into overtime and she arrived in my classroom. After looking ober my shoulder, she shifted straight to bossy boice and said, "Sloany Bear, you forgot to interpret "SEL" under L E D window. Sel is french for salt and this whole imaginative tale could only be swallowed with a large chunk of it....even considering it's a work of fiction. No more Nancy Drew books for you, Missy". Then Mama putted me to bed with cuddly hugs and I remembered that expressions of love are mostly what I give thanx for.

How I Get to School

With my enlightenment hopes set high I spring into air and become one with wind whistling along earth's curvature, my hair blowing and flowing (yesh, all three inches of it extend mightily), plaid skirt billowing like my spirit as the Mary Janes kick off earthly dust to pick up heavenly stardust....and when I spot the familiar green bloom of Lil Wonders, I drop to my cool school at the speed of childhood.

How was my First Day of School this Term?

With the warm echoes of last year's HKE class greetings still haunting my present yearning, I lagged through OSE's corridors into my new term with Miss Neby. WOW, we have moved from gloomy attic status to a sparkly beginning in a classroom with so many windows that bright ideas and enlightenment are bound to seep in and "that hope" inside me that refuses to tamp itself down merged with my joy to be situated beside our playground where sounds of residual laugh gestures filter through walls to my essence.

Then, I set down a Hello Kitty colouring sheet as the first item on my work surface which is bound to end up like what I once told McKennah: "My desk always looks like one prim short of a fancy bordello decor". (Not that she knew what I meant, of course, and neither did I for that matter :p )

Write on Something You Like & Don't Like about Yourself

Here is one ting I dun wike about myself: I seem to hab burglar/thief tendencies or sumpin. Scary! And I will take a dare too---dis is a bad combo. It all started when Brace Badger joined my HKE class last year. He was funny and charming and vewy bright. On class trips, he would dare me to do stuffy and the more this happened, then the more we bonded. BUT one day in May, Miss Jesie had a RL singing engagement so Miss Lena was substitute and she caught him challenging me to jump off a high bridge as I was poised on de brink of full kiddie crush! She had a hissyfit and forbade us to do anymore daring so we had to graduate (pardon de pun) to after-school shenanigans. We dun do dis often but sometimes we go to a role play sim and um....how I put it?....well, we become junior sim-masters and create our own "role play". Once, we went to a pwace called Richmond City and heard a BangBang as we were walking down de street. We sneaked into de house to find a grownup had just shot a guy. Brace hurried off to raid de fridge while I stood amid de crime scene, callously primping my hair! The killer said "You kids should not be about when your parent's not online and Brace quipped, "But you just shot our daddy!" Then we rushed off to the big cheese---Crack Den's Hathian. My bf decided the ultimate would be to steal a police cruiser but they were all locked down and had annoying sirens (Hey, dun they know no party sounds are allowed in a serious rpg?) Anyway, we were cheesed off so even though the police station has official codes for entry, we managed to break in and scarf down some donuts in the officers' grungy lounge. Then, we explored de whole premises till we located the Captain's office and Brace filed a citizen's complaint. Said he wrote it in his profile and left a message for it to be found there. When I proofread it for spelling, dis is what I saw: "Sloane teached me how to hotwire a car but her hotwired my heart."

This brings me to one ting I love about myself: Beloved Brace!



Here he sits on some sargeant's detective mags while we chill to electronica rhythms of Hathian's static-y police scanner. Then Brace sent out an All-Points-Bulletin on his own name ---he weally did!---and we took off at full tilt run.

What I learned in school so far~~also likes & dislikes

I learned who has the guts to make their own decision about me without blindly following the impressions or grudge of another.
I have learned that those who say they dislike "drama" create it overtly and covertly at times, just in their own way, but don't seem to recognize it as such.
I learned what a struggle forgiveness is but mostly, I can do it.
I learned if or when I go to another class, I'll be ok as I will take me with me...
I learned how amusing McKennah is:

[10:43 PM]  McKennah Starbrook yawns

[10:45 PM]  McKennah Starbrooks: I better get to sleep *sighs*
[10:45 PM]  McKennah Starbrook: tired
[10:45 PM]  Sloane Woodford: kk
[10:45 PM]  Sloane Woodford: nini
[10:45 PM]  McKennah Starbrook grins
[10:45 PM]  McKennah Starbrook: night sloane
[10:47 PM]  McKennah Starbrook: I need to take a building class someday
[10:48 PM]  Sloane Woodford: u r so GOOD u built de yurt really fast
[10:48 PM]  Sloane Woodford: tho lost yer notes for presentation
[10:48 PM]  Sloane Woodford: haha
[10:49 PM]  McKennah Starbrook: pffft
[10:49 PM]  Sloane Woodford: oh yes i will rub it in forever
[10:49 PM]  McKennah Starbrook: k, right
[10:49 PM]  McKennah Starbrook: sleepin now
[10:49 PM]  McKennah Starbrook: lol
[10:49 PM]  Sloane Woodford: zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
[10:49 PM]  McKennah Starbrook pulls the covers over her head
[10:49 PM]  Sloane Woodford: YOU WOKE ME!!!
[10:49 PM]  Sloane Woodford: zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
[10:49 PM]  Sloane Woodford:  zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
[10:49 PM]  McKennah Starbrook grins and whispers reeeeeealll quiet "night sloane"
[10:49 PM]  Sloane Woodford: ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
[10:50 PM]  Sloane Woodford: U WOKE ME, WITCH!!!
[10:50 PM]  McKennah Starbrook: fAKER
[10:50 PM]  McKennah Starbrook: LOL
[10:50 PM]  Sloane Woodford: hahaha
[10:50 PM]  McKennah Starbrook hurls a pillow at you
[10:50 PM]  Sloane Woodford: omg u r a fun fwiend

I learned there are some other classmate-friends too: you know who you are and I value the friendship. Your kindness did not go unnoticed.

What I liked best in class was when Miss Neby called me Sweety two times vewy warmly, when I learned how to make 1 prim animals for my biome project, when I rezed my pink punkin and saw this: "[18:21]  Giselle Melune: I lobe yours sloane!"; when we drew impromptu pix of our art partner, OH it was the best class ever! When Miss Neby said she was hurting, it made me feel her humanity and know I'm not alone. (I liked her opening to us a little, that's what authentic relationships are about.)

Subject-wise I hated spelling so much, especially the sentences. (Drudgery is not fun at all) My fave subjects were ART, blogging and cool games, the mystery story that was started, decorating punkins & eggs. (Open-ended decorating is simple but can be very creative fun...Like did you see Sharaye's pumpkin, for instance? Or Melody's?) I think the hardest task in class (for me) was to have words FLYING BY rapidly but I have to watch keyboard when I type so I missed some text for sure. Please forgive me if you ever greeted me and I did not respond. Likewise, my avatar does not maneuver smoothly* so I apologise if I ever bumped you---cuz I might have occasionally---but could not type sorry while on de move LOL, therefore I say it now and mean it.

*private reason for this

WHO WAS I ON OSE's SUPERHERO DAY? (and pwease dun ask me why I holding my cwotch here--I tink it was a bafwoom issue!)

I was/am Ghostie Super-Buster...My powers are to detect filmy presences in de distance so they dun scare me too muchie when I come near. This way, I can shriek first and maybe scare dem into a sudden sheet-wilt. Haha Then they will be a little more respectful of peeps just knowing that we can frighten back, right?

At the age of 3, I was in some woods on what I thought was a foggy day BUT when de sun came out, the mist was still there....& it said "Ooooooooh" so I wan away!

But I wike having power to sense when ghosts are nearby--then I dun freeze wike an ice sculpture if they twy to....um...."surprise" me, heh heh. Guess wut? Once time, I was in a haunted housie and knowed a ghost was waiting at top of stairs for me....so I sneaked up de back stairway and jumped a BOO! behind him: he shocked himsewf right thru de roof and spread his shivery haze all over town!!!



PS. It was fun to have Aeryn Toland as my Superhero partner.

Am I an optimist or a pessimist? Why?

Umm is dis de classic question of whether the glass is half empty or half full? NEITHER! Cuz when it's chocolate milk, I scarf it all down....bad example, hello? haha. But I will explain dis in another way:

I am basically a positive thinker but it is stoopid to not reality-check in some situations. What do I mean? Well, if I am walking down a nice optimistic path of roses then life is fly and I am chill. But if the bushes grow closer together and thorns scratch me...well, okay, I can apply bandaids when there is a clearing. But if the the plants grow dense from more thoughtless seeding, then I get continued cuts and my skin rips while I drip streams of haemo-hurt. Should I go on being positive that things will work out? Well, aren't I worth more than wearing slashes and scars? I tink I am (and I tink everyone is). And should the shoddy planter not become aware that careless actions are not acceptable? My plan might then be to switch to a path of carnations--less fragrant but less damaging. So would I be a pessimist to have left the first path, thinking all was lost there? No, not at all--this would not be a case of "Sloane be's a quitter"....it's a case of Sloane refusing to be an enabler of unfair circumstances...and sending back that message to the originator so pruning (or unforced dialogue) might take place. Dat's all. And it's important to recreate happy thoughts in the new circumstances...heal myself & others with smiles and with forgiveness all around (including to my own fallible self). It's not always an easy route but I do tink it's the best in hurtful situations or negative circumstances.

Btw, I was writing generally (here) about how I tink & act philosophically, none of dis is about specfics.

What Halloween costume will I wear and why?

Prologue: When Mama took me to see Captain Jack Sparrow in "Pirates of the Caribbean", I developed a crush on Johnny Depp. Too old for me? NO...cuz you know chill is always cool, right? But lately, thoughts of Derek Hough in "Dancing with the Stars" have paso dobled into my mind so I thought I might put together a glitzy DWTS costume for this Halloween.

Last Friday night, Kennah and I ventured out to several Fifty Linden stores. The convo went something like this--
Sloane: Do you tink this owange & black spinster dress would look good on me?
McKennah: Hmmm, you know what's weird? One of your eyes is open but the other one is shut tight.
Sloane: Muss be an SL issue?
McKennah: You want me to punch you in de other eye so they match?
Sloane: No way!
McKennah: Maybe you've developed an optical prob. Here, I have an eyepatch I'll give you.
Sloane: YaY, it has a tiny Jolly Roger on it and I like the look.

Postscript: So now I think I'll create a pint-sized Halloween pirate set (Sloane-style), maybe eben with a bandana wike Capt. Jack wore. Then I can be a cute piwate like Depp who dances at our party like Hough.

PPS. Dis was one sly way to get pix of my 2 crushes into dis blog, haha. Shhh!

                                                                        

What animal would I like to study?

     I was invited to spend my eleventh summer in Bermuda where my grandfather lived. I swam daily at a nearby beach that had a lifeguard. One day, a young girl (frolicking at the shoreline) stepped on the tentacles of a large, live jellyfish. The child screamed and writhed in pain as welts and lash marks reddened her foot and shin. I was stunned, became fearful.

     Near the end of the trip, my granddad took me on a long ferry ride: It happened to be during a week when locals said jellyfish were abundant. While exploring the ferry, I chanced to look over the stern and was transfixed by the ballet below: Countless jellyfish were billowing, slowly swirling as if in the dying moments of Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake". Then the vessel's powerful propellers sucked them into a death spiral and chopped them to bits right in front of my eyes. It was so contradictory to see beauty dancing to ugliness and senselessly destroyed. Scared though I was of these creatures, compassion surged through me---not unlike what Coleridge wrote of the drifting sailor's epiphany (after cursing sealife earlier) when watching electric eels in RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER:

"....Beyond the shadow of the ship
I watched the water-snakes:
They moved in tracks of shining white,
And when they reared, the elfish light
Fell off in hoary flakes.

Within the shadow of the ship
I watched their rich attire:
Blue, glossy green, and velvet black,
They coiled and swam; and every track
Was a flash of golden fire.

O happy living things! no tongue
Their beauty might declare:
A spring of love gushed from my heart,
And I blessed them unaware:
Sure my kind saint took pity on me,
As I blessed them unaware.

The selfsame moment I could pray;
And from my neck so free
The Albatross fell off, and sank
Like lead into the sea...."

     And my point is? Just that jellyfish mesmerize me---I would like to learn about them in the animal kingdom.

Once when you were frightened, what happened?

The scariest thing that happened to me in SL occurred last year. A little red-haired boy befriended me and he was funny as well as bright. We went to several sites together and were always laffing. One day, he asked if I would like to see where he lived. I said "Sure!" figuring he had a nice home and we would play in the yard. But he teleported me inside a skybox VERY high up and it was completely closed (no windows or doors). Inside, it was kinda dark. There was a dense forest with a river in the middle. Beside the water was a bench and a rug. I was confused, then decided he prolly lived outdoors with a furry family and slept on the lil carpet. We sat on his bench and talked and joked for a few minutes, then (with a chuckle) the boy said: "If you take off all your clothes, Sloane, I will wash them for you in the river." I was so shocked that I was not sure I got the words right. I checked and oh, I did! So I TPed away from there immediately as I did not want Linden Labs to think I even contemplated such action. A few weeks later, I heard he was banned from SL along with some new girl he had met.

How do you feel about Halloween?

I do not feel Halloween as much as IT touches me: stretches its long bony fingers to scratch my back kinda like calcified chalk scraping my spine. Silent shrieks form and echo, somehow. Halloween widens my eyes to view Fear's landscape: lonely...except for...what ARE those? entities? Now it floors my blood-pump til heartbeats rev to full throttle. Mist slides film around me and I finally wake to discover this was just a clammy nightmare! Then October 31 plays out its 24 hours and repeats the above in "real time" shivers.



What have I learned in class so far?

that i need a quote from google here or sumpin...

"We do not learn; and what we call learning is only a process of recollection."

Plato And I recall plenty... 

What if cows gave root beer instead of milk?

Mmmm in concentwate form, it could be added to cwushed ice for a slurpee! THIS would look so good on McKenNOH NOH no I must not think like dis! I love McKennah and want her to stay dry cuz winter is coming. Also, Miss Neby does not wike slurpees flung about! Aww. Too bad. Drinks should be enjoyed in many ways and that's my philosophy. However, not everyone has my point of view (Utoh, please dun take that last word as a cue to begin ranting about SL viewers, I am all viewer-talked out atm, tyvm!) Also, I'm very thirsty now, gonna go make me a slurpee.

PS The biggest drawback to this no-more-milk plan is that ice cream cones would taste substandard, mark my words.

Journal prompt: Tell your fave things about FALL

Autumn: just the word creates anticipation for punkin pie

Halloween BOO! sites to visit~spooky & kooky~*major trip hint 4 Miss Neby*

scrunchy leaves become background music for reals
aroma of burning leafies reminds you how fun they were to dive into

thoughts of Christmas grow obsessive till December's blizzard of shoppin
crows fly away and stop waking me at sunrise (Dun huwwy back!)

sea smoke dances vewy slinky on our harbor in cold mornings
And de best part of dis season? ADIOS heatwaves!