First post!

OK, this is my first foray into that glorious exercise in self-importance--the blog. I'll tell ya right up front that I have no clue what I'm doing, but that's never stopped me before, so what the heck? I've seen some really great blogs w/ advice on building in SL. I've seen great blogs loaded w/ scripting tutorials. This will be none of those.

I can barely manage a plywood cube (and if you know SL, you know what I'm talkin' about). I run in terror at the first mention of scripting (even bought the book, and I came out of the scripting section with significant neurological trauma, I think). I AM, however, a veteran power-shopper. I find that knowing all the answers is optional as long as you know where to FIND them, and I take a similar attitude to SL; I resort to building only when I absolutely can't find anything that works for a particular use. Fortunately, I can find a LOTTA stuff :D

I'll probably hold forth on various other topics from time to time. Don't expect a massive amount of politics; I have a strong and equal distrust for ALL the political parties and I still think the best person for the job would probably be some schmuck somewhere with too much sense and integrity to get involved in American politics. My player DOES have an embarrassing stack of letters after his name and a big mouth, so he probably WILL get his 2 cents' worth in on some stuff like social phenomena, etc, but I'll try to keep him in check.

I also have the good fortune of knowing much cooler and more interesting folks than myself. I'm hoping my much more talented builder/scripter SL sis Olivia Cascabel, my much wittier buddy Entropy Pau, more fashion-conscious fae friend Bobo Rosselsprung, and my chief Idea Girl, the uber-sexy LauraJill Silverstar will guest column from time to time, just to keep the place from getting too incoherent.

So, strap yourself in and join us on our journey into the further misadventures of Arcadian Vanalten, goofball emertus! I may not agree with every opinion in here, but I agree wholeheartedly that folks should have and defend them, even if they disagree with me. I DO ask that we keep any debates civil, and I reserve the right to remove any posts that even my loose standards find offensive.