Your Challenge, should you choose to accept it:

Write a 26-line blog post creating your own “Alphabet of SL”.

“A is for… (fill in the blank!)

“B is for… (fill in the blank!)

Here’s a free one and a perfect SL example:

L is for lag; which no one ever expects, but always happens!

After you’ve published your post, drop back by here and leave the URL for your post in a comment below.

Then go read everyone else’s alphabets!

Ravensong Merlin, Avatar Blogger

Background

A few years ago one of my professors from film school passed away. Not just any professor, my favourite professor. Ed was an inspiring, gently charismatic man. He was filled with stories about arcane details of filmmaking. Sometimes I wondered if all the stuff he told us was actually true. As the years went by and I gained experience, I realized that everything he ever told us was true.

The most amazing thing about Ed was his generosity. Whenever I’d express doubt, Ed would roar back with a warm and enthusiastic you can do it! As you grow in your career and your abilities, having confidence in yourself, or others having confidence in you, isn’t that hard to come by. The thing is, Ed believed in me long before I had the nerve to believe in myself. I can’t think of a greater gift a teacher can give a student.

A memorial was held for Ed on one of the sound stages at the film school. The stage was packed and different people said a few words about their experiences with Ed and what he’d done for them. Up until that day I somehow held the fantasy that I was the one special student that Ed had chosen to bestow his total trust and confidence in. What I learned from all the testimonials that day is that there were many students who had been elevated by Ed. Many students he believed in and who he helped to believe in themselves. It’s just what Ed did.

One student had written “Ed’s ABC’s of Filmmaking”

A is for Aspect Ratio…

G is for Grades, which don’t matter…

These days I teach college art. Perhaps because it’s like a sort of cash paycheck that’s measurable, I find that students obsess over grades. Grades, the extrinsic motivator, seem to mean more than gaining knowledge or ability, which should be the intrinsic, the personal, the real, motivation. So, I always remember, G is for Grades, which don’t matter.

11 avatar bloggers standing in a line for a group portrait
Avatar Blogger Month at LEA-11 in June 2013. Ravensong Merlin is 4th from the right. I’m 5th from the left.

I was thinking about Ed on my morning walk today. And the upcoming holidays. And about running into Ravensong Merlin while out shopping yesterday. Raven participated in “Avatar Blogger Month” at LEA-11 back in June 2013. It was great to see her and chat about blogging, SLife, and everything.

Raven stopped blogging a while back. Which is fine. Just because you do a thing, doesn’t mean you have to do it forever. Stopping is not failure. It’s ending a chapter, turning a page, and beginning a new chapter.

Still,

Raven missed, a little bit at least, her blogger identity. Part of her wanted to blog again. We talked about maybe having more blogging challenges. And… well… you are here!

I ran into my old blogger pal Ravensong Merlin at the Riverfront Rolelplay Night Market on Sunday.

5 thoughts on “VB 229 – Alphabet Blogging Challenge! (ABC)

  1. I don’t have a blog so will post here as a comment.

    A is for Alts who have most of the fun, and
    B’s for Belli, where all Moles have gone
    C is for chat; our reason for being and
    D’s the Draw Distance that limits our seeing
    E is for Ever, as long as love lasts* and
    F is for furries with hair on their ass
    G is for Gacha that burns all your dough and
    H is for HUD that makes good gadgets go
    I is for Inventory that drives us insane and
    J is for Jian whose pets calm us again
    K is for keyboards that move us about, and
    L is for Lindens who have all the clout
    M is for Mesh, which makes everyone pretty, and
    N is for Newbies; so rarely witty,
    O is for Objects; dusty, forgotten and
    P is for Profiles where no-one sounds rotten
    Q is for Questions that shouldn’t be posed and
    R is for Regions (called Sims, you supposed)
    S is for Sims, which sounds right to our ears, and
    T is for Tantrums if Patch Linden hears
    U is for Uploads – ten Lindens a throw and
    V is for Voice with the avies you know
    W is water where sailing is done and
    X is for eXes, when three weeks have run
    Y is for Yiff, which is love of a sort between
    Zeds known as Zoomorphs (or Furries for short)

    *about three weeks in SL time

    1. OMG, Fenella! So great! You’re a photographer AND a poet!!! Love this!

      No blawg? Hmm? I guess maintaining an in-world Art Gallery, 2 locations no less, and an active flickr is sort of enough. Mustn’t stretch yourself toooo thin! Still… they are easy enough to setup, with free (freemium) options available. You could setup a website/catalog for the gallery at the same time…

      Again, fantastic alphabet, Fenella! Rock on!

  2. When I say I don’t have a blog – I don’t have one *in my SL identity* or that (these days) mentions SL. I have a very serious, ranty, political blog and my readers there would be a bit startled to see SL content. I am happy to read the better SL blogs, but don’t think I could add to the list, so won’t try. I am glad you liked my doggerel though. 🙂

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