A BITTERSWEET ANNIVERSARY

By Debbie Bulloch



Exactly two years ago, on April 28, 2009, I wrote an article titled Between Homes and the Kindness of Strangers. The article was written to coincide with the one-year anniversary of the creation of Between Homes (BH). The article, however, was much more than an anniversary piece. I wanted to thank all avies (and the real persons behind each of those avies) who helped create BH; their support, guidance and encouragement were invaluable – without their continuing help there would be no BH today.

This coming Sunday, May 1, will mark the third-year anniversary of BH. As it was true back in the early days, it is still true today – BH still relies on the kindness of others to continue providing a safe place for newbies and other homeless avies.

I wish to thank all of you for your help and, most importantly, for your friendship. I would not have kept up BH for as long as I have if were not for you and what each of you brings to “the plate.” I especially wish to thank those of you who help me pay for BH with your contributions of land or money to BH’s tipjar.

Merci beacoup to M. Arcabulle Odriscoll. M. Odriscoll is my SL French teacher and bike riding coach. He is getting me ready not only to one day ride L'Etape de Tour but also to be able to speak like a native Parisian once I get there. M. Odriscoll, or Arc as he is known to his friends, was one of the earliest supporter of BH, helping to recruit new people to join our group. His new job assignment (in RL) keeps Arc from spending as much time in-world as he used to spend; nevertheless Arc continues to be an important supporter of our group.

Very special “GRACIAS” go to Teressa “baby Tess” Adamski. Tess and her family help me run BH. Tess is always there for me, fixing problems as they come up, helping new residents set up home, being my eyes and ears when I am not in-world and keeping BH’s bunny population well-fed and happy.

Finally, I wish to acknowledge two very special people, whose absences from BH (and SL) make this anniversary date a bittersweet occasion. As you probably know, Yucca Gemini was BH’s the primary architect. She was responsible for creating the majority of the buildings in BH, she was also responsible for most of the beautiful landscape that graces the grounds. Yucca was (and I suppose still is) a good friend; almost a year she unexpectedly left SL. I am not sure when, or if, she will eventually return - I am hoping that she will return someday ‘cuz I really miss her.

Another avie who is also MIA is Gloeing Ember, or as I affectionately called him, “Moose.” I last saw Moose in May of last year. My first meeting with Glo, his contributions to BH and his role in my life are amply detailed throughout this blog - just do a search for Gloeing Ember, Glo, or Moose and you will see. His absence from BH has left a huge, gaping hole in my heart. Like Yucca, I do not know when, of if, Glo will ever return to SL and BH. It is true what they say, that “absence makes the heart grow fonder,” because everyday that goes by I miss him more.

This song from Jackson Browne, a singer we both enjoyed very much, is dedicated to my sweet Moose.

SKY BLUE AND BLACK – Jackson Browne (Video)



SKY BLUE AND BLACK (Lyrics)

In the calling out to one another
Of the lovers up and down the strand
In the sound of the waves and the cries
Of the seagulls circling the sand
In the fragments of the songs
Carried down the wind from some radio
In the murmuring of the city in the distance
Ominous and low

I hear the sound of the world where we played
And the far too simple beauty
Of the promises we made

If you ever need holding
Call my name, I’ll be there
If you ever need holding
And no holding back, I’ll see you through
Sky blue and black

Where the touch of the lover ends
And the soul of the friend begins
There’s a need to be separate and a need to be one
And a struggle neither wins
Where you gave me the world I was in
And a place I could make a stand
I could never see how you doubted me
When I’d let go of your hand

Yeah, and I was much younger then
And I must have thought that I would know
If things were going to end

And the heavens were rolling
Like a wheel on a track
And our sky was unfolding
And it’ll never fold back
Sky blue and black

And I’d have fought the world for you
If I thought that you wanted me to
Or put aside what was true or untrue
If I’d known that’s what you needed
What you needed me to do

But the moment has passed by me now
To have put away my pride
And just come through for you somehow

If you ever need holding
Call my name, I’ll be there
If you ever need holding
And no holding back, I’ll see you through

You’re the color of the sky
Reflected in each store-front window pane
You’re the whispering and the sighing
Of my tires in the rain

You’re the hidden cost and the thing that’s lost
In everything I do
Yeah and I’ll never stop looking for you
In the sunlight and the shadows
And the faces on the avenue

That’s the way love is
That’s the way love is
That’s the way love is
Sky blue and black

BIRD THOR'S REZZ DAY

By Debbie Bulloch



A week ago today, on Halloween Day, was the Second Rezz Day for my dear, dear friend Bird Thor. Unfortunately, I forgot her Rezz Day.

Bird has been a friend since my early days at SL. She was here with me when we created Between Homes (BH) and she has been my friend through the good times and through the bad times. Bird has been my protector, alerting me to problems at BH. Because I cannot be at BH all the time, I rely on her to be my eyes and ears when I am not in world.

Bird is from Sweden; her command of English far exceeds my own rudimentary knowledge of Swedish (yes I can say IKEA, Saab, Volvo and ABBA but that is about it). Since meeting Bird, I have learned that she has a wealth of knowledge of American pop culture. Bird has a “wicked” sense of humor – she continually makes me crack up with her jokes (which lose nothing in translation).

Bird is an all-around talented individual. Although we both came in world at about the same time, Bird has already taught herself to build objects like clothing, furniture and now houses (Bird has tried to teach me how to build but I still cannot build anything more complex than a sign).

This is me in front of a house that Bird just built at Between Homes.



Bird is also a talented writer (she loves to writes about one of her favorite subjects, Vikings); Bird publishes her own blog Bird’s Land.

Now getting back to the forgotten Rezz Day. When I tried to apologize to Bird for my oversight, she simply brushed it off by saying, “you have a lot to do Debbie.” Even though Bird was well within her rights to be upset with me (or at the very least disappointed) for forgetting her Rezz Day, she was gracious and forgiving.

Bird’s generous reaction got me to think about the subject of friendship. What is a true friend? When do you know when a person is a true friend?

Friendship is considered one of the central human experiences, and has been sanctified by all major religions. The Epic of Gilgamesh, a Babylonian poem that is among the earliest known literary works in history, chronicles in great depth the friendship between Gilgamesh and Enkidu. The Greco-Roman had, as paramount examples, the friendship of Orestes and Pylades, and, in Virgil's Aeneid, the friendship of Euryalus and Nisus, and lastly Robert and Aimee. The Abrahamic faiths have the story of David and Jonathan. Friendship played an important role in German Romanticism. A good example for this is Schiller's Die Bürgschaft.

The Roman writer Cicero believed that in order to have a true friendship with someone there must be all honesty and truth. If there is not, then this is not a true friendship. In that case, friends must be one hundred percent honest with each other and put one hundred percent of their trust in the other person. Cicero also believed that for people to be friends with another person, they must do things without the expectation that their friend will have to repay them.

The Christian Gospels state that Jesus Christ declared, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."(John 15:13).

By any definition, Bird is a friend and I am so very glad that she is a part of “my crew” at Between Homes. More importantly, however, I am glad that Bird is part of my SL life.

This is Bird and I at Gloeing Ember's home. That's Starr, the German Shepherd, in front of us pretending that he is taking the picture. Behind us are the two dolphins who live at Glo's cove - Chico and Chica.



Thank you for being a friend Bird - this is for you!

La Verne and Shirley – Opening Music

HUMAN TRAFFICKING

By Debbie Bulloch




If you do a search in Second Life (SL) search using terms such as “slave,” “master,” “slavery,” “kidnapping,” or “force” you will probably get hundreds, if not thousands of hits. In your search results you will find SL sites catering to all sorts of slave-master roleplaying sims, you will find stores selling slave-master paraphernalia as well as “auction houses” where avatars are freely bought, exchanged, rented or sold.

The ready-availability of slave-master activities in SL parallels similar availability in Real Life (RL). If you do a Google search using the terms described above you will find thousands of websites catering to the fans of slave-master/BDSM. Some of the activity depicted on these sites is clearly consensual and it involves nothing more than people exploring a side of their personalities. Others, however, are far more sinister and do not appear to be of a consensual nature.

The recent case of Jaycee Lee Dugar the California girl who was kidnapped at age 11and then forced to spend the next 18 years of her life as the sex slave of convicted sex offender Phil Garrido, has sparked renewed focus on the subject of sexual slavery and human trafficking. Although Jaycee was abused “only” by her kidnapper (and “only” in this context is a very relative term), thousand of other girls face a far worse fate as modern-day victims of human trafficking.

The United Nations defines human trafficking as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, or receipt of persons by improper means (such as force, abduction, fraud, or coercion) for an improper purpose including forced labor or sexual exploitation.

The U.S. Government defines human trafficking as:

• Sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such act has not attained 18 years of age.

• The recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.

This modern slave trade is a threat to all nations. A grave human rights abuse, it promotes breakdown of families and communities, fuels organized crime, deprives countries of human capital, undermines public health, creates opportunities for extortion and subversion among government officials, and imposes large economic costs.

Human trafficking is a largely hidden crime that has only recently gained the attention of law enforcement, human rights advocates, and policymakers.

Research conducted by United States Department of Justice has uncovered several key findings:

• Source countries for human trafficking often have poor economies; women are often unemployed and victims are easy to recruit.

• Most traffickers are the same nationality as their victims and usually have no criminal records.

• Trafficking victims are most likely to be young and reasonably healthy people from poor, but not necessarily the poorest, backgrounds.

• Recruitment is particularly effective when traffickers rely on victims whom they have turned into loyal enforcers or recruiters. Recruitment is also effective when the potential victim's family members are involved.

• In the United States, law enforcement agencies reported encountering more female (81 percent) than male (18 percent) victims. When victims were asked what type of trafficking was represented in their cases, the majority indicated forced prostitution, followed by domestic servitude, and agricultural labor. Whether this is the result of trafficking trends or training is not yet clear.

At Between Homes (BH) we are firmly opposed to any and all forms of human trafficking and slavery. This includes any form of real or imagined slavery or human trafficking in RL or SL. We are morally and philosophically against any kind of activity where humans (or their avatars) are abused, mistreated, humiliated or treated as chattels.

All humans (and by extension their SL avatars) are created equal and are each endowed with a soul. Slavery is the very antithesis of equality; it has a corrosive effect on the soul of the slave as well as the soul of the so-called master. Humans are not chattel, to be bought and sold at auctions; humans are not mindless automatons to be kept down on bent knees; and humans are definitely not put on this world (SL or RL) to be beaten and abused. This is as true in a virtual environment such as SL as it is in RL.

We understand that many treat SL as a game, where people can play out fantasy scenarios (I leave it up to each of you to decide for yourselves whether fantasizing about enslaving other humans is right or wrong). Some, however, have a difficult time establishing the line of demarcation between reality and fantasy. I know, from talking to many of you, that there are individuals who are liable to take SL fantasies a tad too far, thus blurring the lines between what is real and what is not. When this happens, people are bound to get hurt – what may start out as a “walk on the wild side” can end up having disastrous effects on the physical, mental and spiritual well being of individuals.

At BH we stand for the proposition that slavery, real or virtual, is wrong. Accordingly, from this moment on, any sort of activities, simulated or otherwise, that may be directly or indirectly related to human trafficking or slavery will no longer be permitted at BH. Anyone caught participating in these types of activities while on BH property will be summarily evicted and permanently banned from the group.

There are plenty of sites in SL where these activities are not only tolerated but are actually actively encouraged. We cannot control what the rest of SL does; we can, however, control what happens within the limits of our small community.

Our aim is not offend those who may find pleasure in these types of activities. I know many persons, and their SL avatars, who engage in the consensual exploration of slave-master and BDSM scenarios. We do not wish to interfere with the right of adults who engage in consensual activity – we do not aspire to becoming the thought police. Too many of our sisters, however, are the real victims of real human trafficking. We cannot stand silently by while our sisters (and brothers) suffer unspeakable abuse. It is in solidarity with their RL plight that we have made the decision to ban all slave-master/BDSM activity from Between Homes.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

LOS ANGELES, MEANEST CITY TO THE HOMELESS

By Debbie Bulloch



In the past few weeks this blog has turned its focus to subjects such as the Tour de France, Michael Jackson’s music, the charms of California’s Pacific Coast Highway, photography and the birthdays of Canada, the USA and France. In the process, however, we have somewhat strayed from the principal mission of Between Homes and the focus of this blog: advocacy on behalf of the homeless.

I must admit that the temptation of writing about fun subjects, like bike riding and posting photographs of my much beloved Pacific Ocean coast is like a siren call (no pun intended) that beckons to me. But while enjoying all of that Providence has given to us we cannot forget, indeed we must not forget the plight of those who are less fortunate.

The issue of homelessness in the USA and especially in California, the Golden State, was brought back to the forefront by a recent report, jointly published by the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty and the National Coalition for the Homeless. In that report, these two advocacy groups ranked Los Angeles as the "meanest" city in the United States. The groups cited a Skid Row police crackdown that has criminalized poverty and homelessness there as one of the principal reasons for L.A.’s bad marks.

(Click on images for a larger view.)



L.A.'s so-called Safer City Initiative was singled out in the groups' report as the most egregious example of policies and practices nationwide that essentially punish people for failing to have a roof over their heads. Other measures that unfairly target the homeless include, making it illegal to sleep, sit or store personal belongings on sidewalks and other public spaces; prohibitions against panhandling or begging; and selective enforcement of petty offenses like jaywalking and loitering.

Such measures are widespread in the face of a deep economic recession and a foreclosure crisis that have increased homelessness over the past two years. The report examined laws and practices in 273 cities across the country. Los Angeles topped the list of the 10 "meanest cities" for what the study called inhumane treatment of the homeless. A previous report, issued in early 2006 before the crackdown began, ranked L.A. as the 18th meanest.

Under the Safer City effort, thousands of L.A.'s most destitute residents have been targeted for harsh police enforcement, routinely receiving tickets for minor infractions such as the failure to obey crossing signals. As a result, the study says, many homeless persons are jailed and end up with a criminal record that makes it more difficult for them to find a job or gain access to housing.

Los Angeles officials have touted their Safer City effort for sharply curbing serious crime in Skid Row, a 50-block downtown area inhabited by the biggest concentration of homeless people in the country. "The city's first priority is to protect our most vulnerable residents from violent crime," said a spokesperson for L.A.’s Mayor. By the way, L.A.’s Mayor has just come back from a vacation trip to Africa where he went to kill innocent animals (I mean big game hunting) and to receive a prize for his “humanitarian efforts” - indeed!



Homeless advocates in Los Angeles, however, say that a promised strategy to ease homelessness there, including new housing and services to go with the Skid Row cleanup, have largely failed to materialize. An estimated 40,000 people live on the streets, in abandoned buildings or in temporary shelters throughout Los Angeles; more than 5,000 of them live in Skid Row. Another 8,000 homeless make their home in that area's short-term residential hotels, or flop houses as they were once called.

Tuesday's report cited a 2007 University of California study that found that L.A. was spending $6 million a year to pay for the 50 extra police officers who patrol Skid Row while budgeting just $5.7 million for homeless services.

By comparison, New York City has a "right to shelter" policy and invests about $200 million a year in housing and other services for the needy, resulting in a homeless population half that of Los Angeles.

The question that comes to mind is: why is the City of Los Angeles, the “City of Angels,” using such harsh measures against the homeless?

The answer is simple; all you have to do is to follow the “money trail.”

Los Angeles’ Skid Row area is the largest “skid row” in the nation. (A “skid row” usually refers to a portion of town where the poor and the homeless concentrate.)



Skid Row has been 100 years in the making, but things are changing and the change is not necessarily good for the homeless. With housing scarce and rents high, there is an effort to “revitalize” the bleak Skid row district bound by Main, Alameda, Third and Seventh Streets.



Even in the current recession, real estate in Downtown L.A. remains hot. Investors and speculators know that the recession will not last forever and they are trying to grab as much land as possible, while prices are still “reasonable.” Every one wants a piece of the action: government agencies are moving in; the Roman Catholic Church recently consecrated a $189 million cathedral; and developers have plans to convert fleabag hotels like the El Dorado and the Frontier into lofts and condominiums where yuppies, and the newly minted gentry, can live and play close to the city’s center. Five thousand yuppie-housing units are in the works. By way of contrast, there are no new housing projects earmarked for the homeless.

Of course, Skid Row and its population remains the biggest obstacle to the developers’ and speculators’ big money dreams. The homeless not only take up valuable real estate, but their very presence “scares away” the yuppies now descending upon Downtown L.A. How utterly “inconvenient” for the homeless to live exactly where developers want to put up their multi-million dollar condominiums?

In order to “clean up” skid row, Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton has instituted sweeps against the so-called quality-of-life criminals who, as the theory goes, will graduate to bigger crimes if left unchecked.

But evicting people from the city’s sidewalks, without giving them beds or other alternatives, is immoral and heartless and mean. Chief Bratton defends the crackdown by stating that, ''Many there (Skid Row) don't want help.'' Then the Chief added, ''They'll take food and free clothes, but they want to live on the streets. While I have compassion, my job is to do something about it.'' One has to wonder whether Chief Bratton has ever slept on a cold, hard sidewalk, or whether he has ever used a broken down shopping cart to push his meager possession from one location to the next, or whether he has slept in the back of a station wagon, holding a young child next to him, hoping and praying that when the morning comes both he and the child are still alive and unharmed.

I am willing to bet you that after only one night on the streets, the Chief would not continue to state that. “…they (the homeless) want to live on the streets.”

As a society we cannot go on turning a blind eye to the less fortunate amongst us. I strongly encourage those of you reading this blog to take action to help ease the suffering of the homeless. I have previously outlined steps that any of us can take to make life a little easier for those who do not have a roof over their heads. Those are steps that we can all safely take. Or, if you are not sure what you can do, please contact your local homeless shelter and ask them how you can help. Don’t let the growing magnitude of the problem paralyze you into inaction.

Here is a list of the top ten “meanest” cities in the USA.

1. Los Angeles, California
2. St. Petersburg, Florida
3. Orlando, Florida
4. Atlanta, Georgia
5. Gainesville, Florida
6. Kalamazoo, Michigan
7. San Francisco, California
8. Honolulu, Hawaii
9. Bradenton, Florida
10. Berkeley, California

(I am surprised to find San Francisco and Berkeley on the list. I had always assumed these two Northern California cities to be very progressive. I guess that shows that when it comes to helping the homeless, many people, including so-called progressive liberals, don’t give a rat’s ass.)

The National Homeless Coalition is a nonprofit organization in Washington, D.C., that lobbies and advocates for homeless issues across the nation. The list is included in the coalition’s annual report Homes Not Handcuffs that highlights laws in America that criminalize homelessness.

To see the full report, go here: Homes Not Handcuffs



All the images posted in today's article are owned by the various copyright owners who fully reserve all rights to their images.

TUESDAY EVENING POETRY, PROSE, TELEVISION AND...SECOND LIFE!

By Debbie Bulloch



Since its inception on June 23, 2003, Second Life has become deeply entrenched (or is that embedded) into our popular culture. Several television shows have featured elements from Second Life. On October 24, 2007, Second Life was featured prominently, and used as a tool to locate a suspect, in the CSI:NY episode "Down the Rabbit Hole." Second Life was also featured in the CSI:NY episode "DOA for a Day" (air date: April 2, 2008).

In an instance of virtual reality being stranger than television fiction, the show featured an interactive component. The CSI:NY Virtual Experience encouraged viewers to continue the hunt for the killer avatar. A separate Second Life region was created by The Electric Sheep Company (those of you who have read the book on which the movie “Blade Runner” is based will understand the reference to “electric sheep”) to act as a gateway for the episode viewers. The Electric Sheep Company created its own Second Life viewer called OnRez.



Other television programs have featured Second Life in the show’s plotline. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit parodied Second Life in its episode "Avatar.” Dwight Schrute from the television series The Office is an avid Second Life resident; this was featured prominently in the October 25, 2007 episode "Local Ad." In that episode, Dwight has an avatar named 'Dwight Shelford' who is able to fly, and Dwight creates a virtual world within Second Life named Second Second Life. And in an episode of the CBS drama Ghost Whisperer, Melinda Gordon experiences a similar online world, at one point pulling an avatar out of her computer at the shop as the user's ghost.

Second Life has also been featured in popular literature. The Darkest Evening of the Year is a novel by Dean Koontz (one of my favorite mystery writers) released on November 27, 2007. In the novel, one of the characters is a private detective by the name of Vern Lesley; Vern lives vicariously through his Second Life avatar, Von Longwood. Koontz himself has “attended” several Second Life writers’ forums. His portrayal of Vern and his fixation with Second Life is less than flattering, however. Perhaps as expected, Koontz reserves his best treatment for the novel’s principal protagonists - Amy Redwing, her boyfriend Brian McCarthy and a rescued Golden Retriever named “Nickie.” In the novel, Koontz shows the reader how Amy takes great personal risks on behalf of abandoned Golden Retrievers; he also learn how Brian must overcome his past in order to become a better person; and, finally, we see how “Nickie” touches the lives of every human (and animal) she meets.

In the novel, we learn that Amy is being pursued by those who wish to harm her, Brian, and her dogs. As the novel rushes headlong towards its exciting conclusion, Amy and Brian work past their respective dark pasts in order to save each other, their dogs and the lives of other innocents caught in the mess.



Incidentally, the novel’s title is a reference to a poem by one of our past featured poets, Robert Frost and his poem Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening. In Chapter 13 of the novel, Amy goes back to a recurrent dream (no, I am not going to give away the novel's plot here) where she is walking through the woods. In remembering her dark dreams, Amy also remembers how Frost's poem had sustained her during those earlier days. Koontz also refers to Frost’s poem at the beginning of Parts One, Two and Three of the book.

Even though Koontz’s portrayal of a Second Life resident is less than flattering, The Darkest Evening of the Year is one of Koontz’s best recent novels. If you love a good mystery novel, if you believe that good will eventually trump evil and if you have a keen appreciation for the innate nobility and kind heart of all dogs, you will enjoy reading this novel.

For those of you who are counting, this is our blog's post #99. Stay tuned for post #100 and learn a thing or two, that you may not already know, about Between Homes. Coincidentally, we are also coming up on BH’s one-year anniversary; this is indeed a very exciting time for all of us.

Enjoy!

NOTE: The artwork for the cover of the two books referred on this post is copyrighted and it is the property of its respective owners. All rights reserved.

LOOKING INTO A MIRROR - PART ONE

By Debbie Bulloch



It is already the 11th day of the New Year. Christmas decorations have been put away, the Christmas tree is down, and all the New Year’s Day champagne is gone. I already miss the Christmas holidays: the bright lights, the pretty decorations and all those wonderful smells.

Anyway, a whole full 11 days have passed since the beginning of 2009 and I have not written a new blog post. I feel like such a lazy bum!

In my own defense, I have been very busy both at home and at work. As a further excuse, I am suffering from a bad (OK, maybe just a mild) case of sinus infection. My head feels as if it is about to explode and the pressure above my eyes makes me feel like my head is being squeezed by a big old wooden vise – you know, like the kind the Spanish Inquisition used in order to persuade people to “confess.” Alright, maybe I am exaggerating just a tad, but I do feel crummy (isn’t it nice, I am hosting my own sympathy party).

Before I go on, however, I wish to thank everyone who made my birthday such a nice, memorable day. It is not always easy being a New Year’s Day baby – everyone is too tired or too busy to remember your birthday. But this year I was overwhelmed with all the good wishes from SL and RL friends. Thank you all for making my birthday such a memorable one. Also, a belated thank you goes to my beloved USC Trojans for yet another victory at the Rose Bowl. When will all those other teams finally realize that the Rose Bowl is USC’s home? GO TROJANS!

Well, back to the business at hand – to finally write the first blog post of the year. On Tuesday I finally broke down and decided to go and see my doctor. After listening to my lungs and heart (gad I hate that cold stethoscope) my doctor confirmed what I already knew: I am suffering from a sinus infection. So the doctor wrote out a prescription for antibiotics and sent me off on my merry way.

As I walked out on the parking lot I noticed a young woman standing about 10 meters away from my car. Something about the way she looked and the way she dressed told me that did not belong there. Instantly, my radar went on overdrive and I could hear all sorts of alarm bells going off.

The parking lot was deserted, except for the young woman and me. Although she did not look like the type who would try to harm me common sense and experience warned me to be prepared, just in case the young woman was planning to do “something.” As I walked towards my car, she began to walk directly towards me – clearly intending to intercept my path. Great, I thought to myself, now I am going to have to deal with this person. I am not an unfriendly person but I have learned, from painful personal experience, that casual street encounters with strangers, even one as young and harmless as she appeared to be, always have the potential for ending badly.

As she walked closer to me I did what experience and my friends at the police department have taught me to do, I made direct eye contact with the young woman. My gaze seemed to have caught her by surprise, as if she did not expect me to look straight at her. She stopped and looked down on the floor.

That is when something odd happened. I looked into her eyes I noticed that she seemed to be as wary of me as I was of her. Then I noticed something even more surprising – looking into the girl’s soft green eyes was like staring into a mirror and seeing a reflection of me twenty years ago. Slowly I let down my guard and half-smiled at the girl. Then I spoke to her:

“Good morning,” I said to her, “may I help you?”

My words took her by surprise. She shook her head, turned on her heels and began to walk away from me.

“Wait, please stop” I pled with her. “I was just wondering if I could help you with something.”

She turned around and I could see that her clothing, while clean, were old and out of fashion. It was a fairly chilly morning (for Southern California standards) and the girl was wearing just a simple cotton dress which obviously did not manage to keep her warm.

“Come on, I can tell that you were about to ask me something, don’t stop, I won’t bite” I said to her trying my level best to appear friendly and open.

“OK,” she replied, “can I have a couple of bucks?”

Great, I guess my instincts were wrong and the girl was probably just another druggie trying to score some money for her next drug buy. Now I was upset with myself for letting my guard down.

“What do you want the money for, to buy drugs?” I asked her in a harsh tone.

She looked up from the floor and her green eyes locked on mine. Her answer struck straight at my heart.

“I am not a user, I am just very hungry.”

I was still not convinced, so I cross-examined her further.

“Are you really hungry, or are you just giving me some BS?” I said to her. “I have heard just about every line of BS and I am not a fool.”

The girl looked at me and in her eyes I could see a mixture of sadness and anger.

“Look lady, if you don’t want to help me, fine, keep your money. Just don’t accuse of me being a liar. I am really hungry.”

It is a sad commentary that in the USA, the richest country in the history of the world and in California, one of the richest states in the entire country, there should still be people who are hungry. I have previously posted here regarding the number of homeless and hungry people living in Southern California - the world’s Entertainment Capital. As the worldwide economy worsens, the number of homeless and hungry people will continue to increase. Which leaves us with this question: what are we going to do, as a society and as individuals, to end the suffering of the hungry and the homeless?

Think about it and then do something about it...please.

I looked at her and I said. “Look, if you are really hungry let’s go and get some breakfast, I just came out of the doctor and have not had breakfast and I am…”

I was about to say that I was starved, but that would have been cruelly ironic. So Instead I told her that I too could use a bite to eat.

“Do you have a car to follow me?” I asked her.

“Lady, I don’t have enough money to feed myself, how could I afford a car?”

“Well, there is a little breakfast place not too far from here, we could drive in together and we can get a bite to eat.” She looked like she did not trust me, as if she was afraid that if she got in my car I was going to take her to the nearest police station. I could read the doubt on her eyes. I opened my purse, took out my wallet and showed her pictures of my daughter.

“Look, I have a daughter about your age. I am a mom; I am not going to hurt you.” Then I added. “Plus I know what you are going through.”

She looked at me in disbelief.

“You know what is like to be like me, hungry?”

“As a matter of fact, I do, but we can talk about that later.” Smiling, I then added. “I could give you the money if you want it, and you can get your own food, but I could really use someone to talk to. So how about it, will you come with me?”

She finally seemed convinced and sop she followed me to my car. We both got in and then drove off to the restaurant. During the five minute drive from my doctor’s office to the restaurant the young woman did not speak a word. Out of the corner of my eye I could see her staring out the window, like a little kid going on her first car trip.

When we got to the restaurant she smiled, for the first time since we first met, and said to me, “Hey, I know this place, my parents used to bring me here.”

“So you are a local girl?” I asked.

“Well, I was born in this area,” she answered, “…then my parents got divorced and mom and my brother and I went to live in Florida. But I like it better here, so I moved back a while ago.”

The girl’s tale of divorcing parents and family displacement sounded all too familiar to me.


Next: Part Two - A Girl Just Like Me

Just Another Day In Paradise

By Debbie Bulloch



She calls out to the man on the street
"Sir, can you help me?
It's cold and I've nowhere to sleep,
Is there somewhere you can tell me?"

He walks on, doesn't look back
He pretends he can't hear her
Starts to whistle as he crosses the street
Seems embarrassed to be there

Oh think twice, it's another day for
You and me in paradise
Oh think twice, it's just another day for you,
You and me in paradise

She calls out to the man on the street
He can see she's been crying
She's got blisters on the soles of her feet
Can't walk but she's trying

Oh think twice...

Oh lord, is there nothing more anybody can do
Oh lord, there must be something you can say

You can tell from the lines on her face
You can see that she's been there
Probably been moved on from every place
'Cos she didn't fit in there

Oh think twice, it's another day for
You and me in paradise
Oh think twice, it's just another day for you,
You and me in paradise

Oh think twice….

“Another Day in Paradise” is the title of a 1989 song written by singer / songwriter Phil Collins to bring attention to the problem of homelessness. Almost twenty years later the problem of homelessness continues unabated.

Worldwide, homelessness is the Number One human rights issue facing us. No other issue is as important or as far reaching as the problem of homelessness. Global warming and the depletion of the ozone layer do not matter a damn to a child living out on the streets, with no roof over his head, no pillow under is head and no food in his belly. In the United States, the richest and most powerful country in the world, as many as 3.5 million people experience homelessness in a given year (that is 1% of the entire U.S. population or 10% of its poor).

Worldwide, North – South from Canada to Argentina and East – West from Australia to Russia millions of people, including women, the elderly and children do not have a place to call home, have no shelter from the cold and rain, and have no food to eat. It is the single, biggest shame of our era that at a time when we can communicate at the speed of light thanks to the miracle of our Internet-wired world we still have not figured out a way to shelter and feed all of our brothers and sisters.

One of the reasons why homelessness is such a pervasive, hard-to-fix problem is because many of us, just like the man in the song, wish to pretend that the problem does not exist.

He walks on, doesn't look back
He pretends he can't hear her
Starts to whistle as he crosses the street
Seems embarrassed to be there.

We would like to pretend that the homeless are different from the rest of us and that somehow they brought the situation unto themselves. The reality of the situation, however, is that the homeless represent a cross-section of the population at large. In fact, the homeless are very much just like you and me.

According to recent statistics:

Familial composition:
• 40% are families with children—the fastest growing segment.
• 41% are single males.
• 14% are single females.
• 5% are minors unaccompanied by adults.
1.37 million (or 39%) of the total homeless population are children under the age of 18.

Ethnicity:
• 49% are African American.
• 35% are Caucasian.
• 13% are Hispanic.
• 2% are Native-American.
• 1% is Asian-American.

Health-concerns:
• 22% are considered to have serious mental illnesses or are disabled.
• 30% have substance abuse problems.
• 26% report acute health problems such as tuberculosis, pneumonia, or sexually transmitted infections.
• 46% report chronic health conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes or cancer.
• 55% report having no health insurance (compared to 16% of general population).
• 58% report having trouble getting enough food to eat.

Backgrounds:
• 23% are veterans (compared to 13% of general population).
• 25% were physically or sexually abused as children.
• 27% were in foster care or similar institutions as children.
• 21% were homeless at some point during their childhood.

Location:
• 71% reside in central cities.
• 21% are in suburbs.
• 9% are in rural areas.

In the United States, the Los Angeles region is thought to have the largest concentration of homeless persons in the country. In its biannual census of 2005, Los Angeles counted nearly 90,000 homeless persons living in the County at any given night. A quarter of a million are expected to be homeless at any time of the year. A 50-block area in downtown Los Angeles called Skid Row has a homeless population as large as the homeless population of all of San Francisco.

The numbers above are not unique to the USA. In other industrialized countries, the percentages above are very similar to the US percentages.

In other words, we are the homeless and the homeless are us. The next person that you meet may be a homeless person or may have been a homeless person at some point in his or her life. Think about that the next time that you are tempted to complain about the presence of homeless people in your community, or want to blame them for their situation, or feel that their requests for money or support are unjustified
With the worldwide economic downturn, the problem will get bigger not smaller. The rank of homeless men, women and children will grow.

So what should we do? Should we look the other way, like the man in the song, and pretend that the problem does not exist? Or should we use the power that we have, the power of a million ideas, and resolve to one day reach the goal of eliminating homelessness from the face of our planet.

We created Between Homes © to provide homeless SL avis, with a place to call their own; a place to hang out, relax and have a good time. But SL is a “just a game,” after all technically there is really no such thing as a homeless avis. So what is the real reason for creating BH?

We, of course, want our residents to have fun and enjoy a good time while in-world. But we also want you to think about the homeless in your town, in your country in the world. We want you to think about possible solutions to the problem and then we want you to act upon those solutions. What it means to take action will depend on each one of you.

Action could mean something like donating time as a volunteer at your local homeless shelter. Action could mean something like donating money to your shelter or pushing your local politicians to do something about the problem. Or, action could mean something as simple, and powerful, as stopping treating the homeless as if they are invisible people who do not exist; smile at a homeless person give her a few words of encouragement and reassure her that the world does care.

I can tell you that those few words of hope and encouragement could make all the difference in the life of a homeless person.

Thank you for reading this; I hope that you will take this call to action seriously. We are each individual agents for change.

As Mother Teresa once said:

In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love.

Go do small things with lots of love!

Officer Profile: Yucca Gemini

By Debbie Bulloch:



Between Homes is a collaborative, team effort. It takes the work, dedication and generosity of many individuals to make a project like BH succeed. Today I will introduce you to one of those hardworking, dedicated persons; BH Officer Yucca Gemini.



Yucca is BH’s Master Builder and Architect. Every building, every design feature, every tree and even every blade of grass at BH were put there by Yucca. Many of you have probably already met Yucca. Odds are that when you first meet Yucca she is probably busy putting up buildings, terraforming or creating a new water feature. When Yucca is busy working she may not even notice that you are there; that is how much she concentrates on getting her creations just right. In past occasions I have stood right next to Yucca talking to her and receiving no reply, only to realize that she was not ignoring me, she was just building!

I first met Yucca when I was a relative newbie at SL. I wanted some custom work done on a house—stairs removed, floor and doors added. I previously had a bad experience with a builder who had charged me an arm and a leg to remove a wall and add a door. So when I asked Yucca how much the work would cost I was prepared to be price-shocked. I was price-shocked, but in a very, very nice way. The price that Yucca quoted me was way below what I had expected to pay based upon my previous experience. Anyone can give a low price-quote, the real question is: how well can they do the job and how quickly can they do it.

In these two areas Yucca’s performance exceeded even my wildest expectations. The work was done fast, the work was done to the highest standards and the price was right. On top of all of that, Yucca turned out to be a delightful person to work with. I couldn’t be happier with Yucca and with her work. After all the work was done I turned Yucca and, to paraphrase the lines spoken by Rick Blaine to Capt. Louis Renault at the end of Casablanca I said to her: Yucca, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. And in every possible aspect it has been a beautiful friendship.

A few weeks later, when I began selling houses at ABC Homes, Yucca’s houses, including the Japan House, the Celtic Manor and the Swiss Chalet, were among the best selling models. Week in and week out, customers kept snapping up the houses that Yucca built. Yucca’s houses are not only beautifully detailed (the Japan house especially is a gorgeous example of Japanese architecture) but are also very low prims.



But Yucca is more than just a talented designer and builder; she is also deeply dedicated to helping people. I still remember one particular time when I was having problems closing a particular sale to a very particular customer. Yucca went out of her way to modify the bungalow that the customer wanted to buy. Yucca wanted me to make the sale, but most importantly she wanted the customer to be happy with her new house. Today that customer, Eve Compton, is a very good friend. (Eve is also the owner of an SL mall. Stop by and take a look at Eve’s mall, Endeavour Cove )

Yucca continues to devote her efforts to helping others enjoy their SL experience. Yucca has not charged even a single Linden for all the work she has done at BH and for all the materials she has used in construction. You can see the same attention to detail in the apartments that Yucca has built at BH as in the houses that she made for sale at ABC Homes. Few builders in SL can match Yucca’s buildings for their detail and low prim construction.

In addition to building houses for sale, Yucca has built several Sims, ranging from simple and peaceful island settings, to very detailed Gorean cities. Her work is well known and highly sought out.

I am fortunate to have Yucca as my dear friend. BH is fortunate to have Yucca as its Master Builder. SL is fortunate to have people like Yucca as one of its in-world residents.

Please take the time to say “hi!” to Yucca and thank her for her work. When you are finally ready to move out of BH and buy your first house, go see Yucca and ask her to show you her houses.