Christmas Edition - In The Dark

Seasons Greetings, Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas and peace to all. Yes it is that time of year again. A time when we reflect on our lives, our families and our friendships. (and share secrets..hehe) I am sharing. lol Yes,when one year comes to a close and another one begins. It was just a spontaneous decision for Judy and I to take one trip across the great country USA. Since then we bonded, shared old friends, shared new ones, shared families, shared laughter, shared tears, shared stories and became friends beyond any expectations one would ever have. One friendship I wont trade. We have been asked by so many people why we get along when we seem so different. That's what makes it great. We have a lot of the sames interests but yes we are different. Differences that are complimentary. Sometimes something that is difficult for the other ...and the friend has your back. For example:

Recently we had an invitation to Judy's friends Peter and Dennis' Christmas party. I met Peter and Dennis this summer and let me tell you they are fun guys. They are the proud parents of Annabelle the dog. Annabelle came to my house for a picnic with Judy once while she was babysitting so Peter and Dennis could take a trip. After enjoying a lovely dinner, it was time to go outside for some "fresh air". We had taken off our shoes in the foyer and it was dark. While we were putting on our shoes I hear Judy, baby talking to Annabelle, asking the little "sweet pea" if she wanted to go outside with us. "Yes, sweet pea, you can come." Meanwhile I look over into the living room and Annabelle is sitting on Dennis' lap. I was like, Jude...who you talking to?" She says Annabelle. I said OK??? She said "what?" I said...looks like my shoe to me, just sayin. lol. (laughed till we could not breathe) Now you might ask, how can someone mistake a black shoe for a little black dog? It reminded me of driving at night with Judy.

Yes I am the midnight rider. One of our complimentary differences. Judy does not like driving at night nor should she. Driving at night with Judy is an adventure in itself. YES IT IS. As I reflect on our trip to Dallas, I recall driving through Tennessee and Arkansas at night. While I take my driving seriously, Night vision to Judy is a 70's experience if you know what I mean. Here are some examples. On the left side of us we see a bright lit area. Judy says, wow, look at that ...must be a stadium or something. I look over and see a nuclear power plant. LOL. Oh boy. It is gonna be a long ride.

Later she says to me Oh...what is that. Oh, beautiful, she says...its a carnival. Look at that. What it actually is, is a shopping mall. JC Penny, Filenes, Ruby Tuesday, the works. lol. What a ride. No cotton candy there. As we continue to drive up ahead.....what is that, the sunset? the moon? Wow Jules we need to get a picture of that. That is gorgeous. HUH? Its not a sunset, its not the moon...Its a fire! Smoldering terrain. No sun or moon I ever saw had smoke. Yup, she sees puffs of smoke where there is no smoke and no smoke where there is. LOL

After a few hours driving, we are getting a little hungry. Judy looks outside her side of the window and says, whats that up ahead. Looks like a good place to get a cheeseburger or something. I am thinking, how do I break it to her. The fast food, golden arches, neon lit cheeseburger joint was actually an adult entertainment club. I say...Judy? I am sure they have top choice beef there but I really don't think they put cheese onat. LOL. (see pics below)

Yes driving with Judy is quite the experience. I began to have my own problem driving at night for the very fact I could not see from laughing so hard my eyes were tearing. The next time Judy said, Jules, "whats that up ahead?"...my only response was "Judy? it could be whatever you want it to be." Enjoy your Holidays everyone, we have plenty of adventures planned for next year so stay tuned and thanks for reading.

You Can Lead a Horse to Water....

But you cant make it drink. This is a true statement!! I learned it when Judy and Christina went to the lake to give the horses water and mine would not drink. I kept saying, is there something I am doing wrong??? LOL. epiphany of sorts.

Well you can't go to Dallas and not ride the trails. The only problem is ...when you are in the middle of the woods, there are certain questions Judy should not ask in front of me. What kind of critters are lurking? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Christina our trail guide proceeds to say, poisonous snakes, cayote, and COUGAR. She wasn't talking about me and JUDY. lol. and then found paw prints to prove they walked the very trail we were riding. Now is as good a time as any to learn to lope a horse or trot very very fast!

What a beautiful ride it was. Kinda felt like a scene from the movies. We went out for 3 hours and saw some very beautiful landscaping. Our Guide Christina owns Agave Hurricane Trail Company. She was a lot of fun, and did you know she could jump logs? shhhh.. Don't tell her mama. We also saw these pretty little pink flowers calls Princess brush. Guess who spotted that? lol.
A big plus to hanging with Judy is I now have a skill and a passion I never knew existed. I rode Pina Colada, a very large horse, that trust me scared me to know I was being put on the biggest horse of all. But this huge white gorgeous animal loved me and I was completely comfortable. I have come a long way since first riding in El Paso. If you are in Dallas look up Christina at Agave and hit the trails.

I put a little video clip to Clairde Dirval vocals since this video was not easy to watch in its original format. I'm not saying Vende Latte and her friends were walking and walking and walking in front of the camera. LOL. Hate to waste such a pretty song so I used on the pretty pictures we took. Enjoy. Tried to embed the video here but it errors. View on Youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKqcYD2rdqc

TOGGLE - (The people behind the avatar)

Catching up on the blog - hmmm you might wonder what took so long. Well first of all you must read the prior post to this to clearly understand this one. TOGGLE (ya done?).


Well, we arrived at Dallas Fort Worth Comfort Inn on 10,22,2011. My name in second life is Jules Finistair. I could have picked a cooler name like KIKI RIKO, or SUZY DUZY DAISY...or VENDE LATTE!!. But no I kept it close to my own because I have ADD. I would be so accused of being unfriendly when I did not answer to the only name I have known my whole life. I answer to Jul, Jules and Julie and that is who I am in RL and SL (Real Life and Second Life).


On the previous blog and 1600 miles later you all know I was excited to meet my second life friends and musicians, Vende Latte (dance partner) and singer, the devine Miss Clairede Dirval. (I think I am one of her biggest fans). I have been following her music and sharing it on facebook for over a year.



The thing I love most about Second Life is that you learn to love people from the inside out and get to know their hearts and personalities before ever laying eyes on them. Maybe at some point you share pictures and it is fun discovering the person behind the avatar. The thing is some of the people you bond with through social networking will never meet you. That is not always good enough for me. Since this little Journey began, it has a sort of seemed more like a pay it forward thing going on. A sort of pyramid. Every where we go and more and more people are getting in their cars and finding their friends long lost or otherwise and hugging. This last 6 months has been a phenomina of sorts. I have reuinited with so many and they in turn have done the same.



Claire is Carrie - and Carrie and I met finally as we both felt destined it would happen. In one split second it was like we new each other our whole lives. So be it with Vende - Christi. and Blackie - Roger (claires hubby). ....And immediately we knew exactly what we must do... Go to the liquor store. YUP, its RUM 30!!!! Cheers. Rum30 is Claires announcement in the Second Life music world that it is time to have fun, let go and laugh till you cry. AND WE DO. No sooner did we make that decision we got in the car with Vende - and the thing is with her driving, it takes 6 minutes to make a 20 minute drive and she works a whole 8 hour day during that time. Talk about multi tasking. LOL. CLaire Roger and Vende took a detour into New Orleans before the jam. With Vendes ability to almost master the teleport system available in second life, it is a no wonder they were in New Orleans for Lunch and Dallas for dinner. She checks-in every where she goes with droid. I followed their whereabouts all day before we finally met and said IMPOSSIBLE. Now I totally get it.


OK time to Jam. If you ever want to let go of all stress, go to an SL JAM. Three days of nothing but music. Some of these musicians never played together ever and some together on duo streams through Second Life URL's. But many never met and sang or played together and they did like a fine tuned machine. TALENT everywhere. I was able to video and photograph much of the event and some really funny stuff going on.


One thing in second life is they have contests at parties for which you can win money. Usually they are theme parties. Best dressed in black, best in formal, best in bikini and yes ..best in pajamas. Everyone comes to the party as their avatar wearing their favorite pajamas and everone gets to vote on the best...funny as hell. Well turns out, you absolutely grow close and comfy with your avitar friends, enough to watch the texas jammers turn into the texas jammies. Yes by the end of the first night their were jammers in jammies. Oh and dancers too. I love GRIFF (see pics below)
While I was palling (pal..ing) ok, galavanting around with Claire, Rog and Vende, Judy was outside in the smokers corner solving all the problems of the world Ya THINK? Judy a native New Englander was actually born a Texan. How does that happen. I think she interviewed every texan in the house to discuss the area in which they live, the environment, the weather patterns, the local critters and where is the closest horseback riding / 2 stepping places. She is gonna move and leave me. LOL. I had to drag her ass back into the jam more than once to assist me with my video work. "Judy, my glass is empty, how bout some of them gummy bears, can you go to the room and see if you can find my .....(was a golden opportunity to order her around I could not pass up). Oh and by the way, while I am out with the girls could you tape the entire 2nd day of the jam? I am lucky to be alive right now. (kidding) Gotta Love JUDY and everyone does.

Vende is my SL dance girlfriend, one of many. We can kick it up but good in SL. We were just the same in Real Life. Chair dancing up a storm. She shared her home with me in both SL and RL, and recently moved between logging on and logging off second life and no on knew it. And not her SL home. her REAL LIFE HOME. She can hold seminars in time management. Has two kitties, Mocha and Latte. She crashed with me and Judy everyday and lo and behold, did 6 hours overtime for work in her sleep. (DROID). LOL. Vende is a full time Hospice Nurse. Seriously commend her dedication and devotion. smooch


Sonya, beautiful Sonya Jevette, made her second life Debut after meeting Claire on the Instage.tv youtube live musicans website. Cool thing about instage.tv it is open mic on the web. Sonya bought her guitar from making money in 4 months on second life. Oh and she likes gummy bears and jello. (gummy bears, recipe, soak them in vodka for 5 days, and eat as many as you can). More than one musician went missing the first night. LOL. I liked my gummy bears as a garnish because well...you know how you're always dissapointed when you finish the last sip of your drink, well I wasnt. It was quite colorful and a challenge to get to them gummy bears at the bottom.


I have to say We met some of the nicest, most talented, funny, generous and sincere people ever. We shared music, food, libations, friends, and families. We laughed and laughed and laughed, until we cried. and cried we did. Thank you all. enjoy the pics and the links below for more pics and music. any questions use comments. xo


https://picasaweb.google.com/110950760204941305110/DallasJam2011Pt2?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCNeemNOqk7_gwQE&feat=directlink


https://picasaweb.google.com/110950760204941305110/DallasJam2011?authuser=0&feat=directlink


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2X2pDiTO_Q&feature=related


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2vWyTpf


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kBQXq85tBE&feature=related3CI&feature=related


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWA_-2ioEcM&feature=related


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POPf-OOos-o (more to come)

When Two Worlds Collide - and Strangers are not Strangers

Ok so what are we doing and why are we on this trip? Ok so close your eyes and Imagine.....wait, dont close your eyes or you wont be able to read this.

Imagine a place where you can pick any name you want or be anything you ever wanted to be. A Place you can explore and meet people. A place where you can dance when you cant walk, a place where you can buy a home, decorate it, or build one and not break a sweat. A place where there is no vacuuming or laundry and you can change your clothes in less than 30 seconds. You can go to the beach or the forest. You can ride a Harley, own a boat or ski...or ski lodge? You can hatch a T-rex and ride it. Even teach it to ATTACK!! You can own a horse and go horseback riding on trails. (some of them require feeding and maintence and don't tell Judy how many horses I killed, LOL). (well it turns green, says feed me..help!! LOL) Is a game but not like any game you ever played.

You can go to Paris or Italy and see everything replicated exactly as they appear as if you went there. There are museams, places to meditate and excersize and it goes on and on. Business' now hold conferences and meetings for remote workers in Second Life.

OH and you learn a whole new language such as words like TP, Sim, Prim, Lindens and get to woot and yeeha. Imagine going to clubs every night and as many as you want to hear live DJ's or Live music? You can even get drunk and never drive a mile. Or you can get a paying job and make real money doing photography, buying land and leasing it, running clubs, designing clothes, designing furniture or selling real life artwork. Anything goes.

But the best part is you can be a musician and play in front of a live audience of people from all over the world, make them laugh, make them cry, or even be discovered for a record label. Even more than that you can make best friends. And get Paid!!!!

This is Social Networking to the 2nd power. If you love Facebook you may enjoy Second Life. In second life you are an avatar that can teleport yourself to thousands of places and meet people all over the world. Lots of famous people hang out in second life you know. No paparazzi!! lol except me. I take pictures there too.

I for one stumbled upon Second Life. I was researching 3D photography. Saw this virtual world and being a technology geek found it worth exploring. I like to play games and all so this looked quite interesting. Especially since I worked 100% from home two jobs and had very little socialization. In addition, if you put me in front of a TV forget it, I snooze. Read a book, I snooze faster.

During my exerience in Second Life I stumbled upon my favorite musicion Claire de Dirval. She sings like Joplin or Etheridge. She does about 4 one hour shows per day. Except Mondays..hehe. This is her gift to Second Life and her way to perform after 25 years on the road with a traveling band. While signing on to attend as many Claire shows as I could fit in, I met some really cool friends. We hang out together and have become quite close. We all took our real selves and shared our real lives through facebook and instage.tv about a year ago. We laugh till we cry. Much more fun than HBO or Fox news. LOL. Never ever bored.

Here in Dallas, some of the second life musicians decided to all get together and perform live, meet in person and jam in dallas. They are the Texas Jammers. and this is the Dallas Jam. I have seen a good handful of these musicians in second life. I cant wait to meet them. In addition I am meeting some of the friends I hang with and completely crack up. Through our adventures and our facebook, Judy has friended all or most of these friends as well. I have the opportunity to photograph and video tape some of these performers in trade of having the privelge and the joy of meeting these guys. I have known them a good part of 2 years. I have had jobs on Second Life myself. But quit them too. LOL. (I was once a workaholic and now I am lazier than hell). Temporarily I mind you but taken full advantage of a break from 20 years of it.

SO Cheers to you guys my sl and/or fb or both friends that make me laugh, Claire (Carrie), Christi, Lynne, Skye, Tina, Mike, James, Kev, Don, Diana, Marco, Paul, Pia ..my BF Howie, and friends of friends, Hap and if I missed any of you I am sorry. I have met each and everyone of you in some form or another through personal or skype or phone. Many of you have hooked up with each other through me. Everyone who is tired of trying to socialize out in the real world should try Second Life. It is a great way to meet people when you can't. Second Life has over 60 million world wide users. I like Second Life, Skype, Facebook, Blogs, Email and any form of social networking. It brought my best friends into my life, new and old. Am having the most fun ever meeting everyone. While there is no substitute for real life physical presense it is a great second. Or make it real like I do. hehe. There is a human behind every avatar there.

Judy and I are excited to be here and enjoy the Texas Jammers for 2 straight days of entertainment, dancing and laughing. Claire and Christi are extremely funny girls and I am sure we are going to laugh more than we can handle. There are over 20 musicians here and 75 others to enjoy. There is no curfew to the jam. Starts at 11 am and ends... whenever? it acutally says that. whenever. Same as Second Life. LOL. Turns out we took the hotel by storm and anything goes. yikes. Gonna share some fun stories. Thanks Judy for coming along and making friends with my friends. (had to ride 3 hours on a horse to get her to come....my poor butt hurts and hoping I wont be bow legged forever!!!). Was great fun really!! Below are some pics of our avatars. (Especially for you Lynne..we love you and are missing you here).

Traveling Together - Is the Honeymoon Over?

OK so you might be wondering what we are up to. You will have to wait and see. Tomorrow I will blog a story.

We hit the road about 9am on Tuesday. Now, last trip Judy was very patient and I could get there whenever I wanted. This trip she was up at the crack of dawn waiting for me and of course I am not the early bird. I got stuck in traffic for over half an hour on top of leaving a half hour later than I was supposed to. First words - "ABOUT TIME". We started heading west and of course hit mad work traffic through Connecticut and New York. Judy's turn to drive. Judy is not used to having any obstacles in her way while driving. mumbles under her breath "should have left earlier". LOL

I am deemed the night driver. I have no problem seeing at night. I am used to obstacles every time I drive. Not 5 minutes after I took the wheel it started to rain. We are in Tennessee and if you dont know much about it, it is tornado alley. Suddenly I come up on swirling leaves. The swirling and swirling of leaves on the Hwy. I say "Oh NO, could that be a sign of a tornado?" Immediately Judy comes back with "ITS FALL!!!!".. eeeks. She must be tired.

Every 2 miles the smokeys had a car pulled over. I say to Judy, Must be because Tennessee has such a low crime rate the cops have nothing else to do. She says "What do you know about the crime rate in TN?" ..me "I don't". That got me started thinking. What else do I think I know what I am talking about. How often do I say things I know nothing about? I think I need a labotomy or something. Judy certain she can't believe another word I say. Hmmm trust issues now?

Than of course she is taking pics with my camera while I am driving and misses all the best shots. Told her to "Take her cotton pickin' hands off my Camera" Just so happens she takes a photo of the cotton plantation. Great isn't it! look close. Thats cotten!!! Brilliant.

At one point she is talking and talking to me and I am not responding at all. She yells at me, "are you going to answer me?". I said Jude, "I am taking a nap" She says "You are DRIVING". LOL

Apparently I have a problem with wrappers. Anything I unwrap somehow does not make it to the garbage. Hotel cups, Cig packs, Coffee packs, ...oh and I have a thing with screwing caps back on. I dont pay any attention. Judy does. Walking around the room, mumbling under her breath, "the wrappers and the wrappers". By the 10th time, she threw my breakfast at me. LOL. (she is totally gonna kill me by the end of this trip).

Not a fan of Memphis TN. HOTEL RULES. All doors are locked at 8pm. You can walk around the back to get in after 8. Restaurants close by 8:30 pm. Early to Bed I guess. Breakfast is served from 6-9am. HUH? I dont even get up till 9. Judy does though, she rises and shines and gives up her glory glory at 5:45.....OMG. She was typing and typing and typing at 6AM. Gaming on FB, talking to herself. I am like "Are you KIDDING?" ...She proceeds to get dressed and says she is going to get me coffee and I better get up and get to work on the Blog. She makes it like I punch a clock or something. I don't see any paycheck coming in to get up at the crack of dawn and Blog.

We are heading out today in search of "Elvis". OH OH. better go now, I gotta clean up the whole bottle of asperin I spilled in my bag before I get my ass kicked. FFS!!! I got some bad habits. LOL