The Tour de France is barely a week old and already there has been enough drama to keep sportswriters busy for months to come. The first week of the Tour has been marked (or is that marred) by several crashes that decimated the peloton.
The first week has also been marked by the tremendous performance of a 22 year old rider from Slovakia. Peter Sagan has taken the bike-racing world by storm, managing not only to win several stages of the 2012 Tour, but to win them all in grand style. It is so refreshing to watch this “kid” race his bike—he even put a bell on the handlebar of his racing bike to warn other that he is coming!
In this first week we have also seen Bradley Wiggins, from Team Sky, setting out to become the very first Englishman to win the Tour de France. There are still two more weeks of racing, so hang on to your guidon—there are bound to be a few more surprises in this 99th edition of the Grande Boucle.
Of course, this being Tour time it also means that my dear and close personal friend and cycliste sans pareil, Monsieur Arcabulle Odriscoll, will once again ride two stages of the Tour. Those of you who have followed this blog know that M. Odriscoll is a Frenchman who, like many people in his country, is an avid bike rider who competes in many cycling events.
This year, M. Odriscoll began his training regimen on April 1, 2011, by riding on the amateur version of the Paris-Roubaix race. To call Paris-Roubaix a bike race is like calling the marathon a walk in the park. Paris-Roubaix, or l’enfer du Nord (the Hell of the North) is the most difficult, most painful, and most stressful bike race in the world.
What makes this particular race such an exercise in cycling masochism is that most of the race is run over pave (cobblestones).
These are not normal cobblestones. The Paris-Roubaix cobblestones are more like oddly shaped rocks strewn over the roadbed. Famous bike racers, like five-time Tour winner Bernard Hinault (le Blaireau or badger) hated Paris-Roubaix so much that he only rode the race once in his career (where he proceeded to crash three times).
M. Odriscoll finished Paris-Roubaix in less than 5 hours and 30 minutes.
That set the stage for him to ride L’Etape du Tour-Part One.
Scenes from the Paris-Roubaix race.
L’Etape du Tour is a sporting event organized by the same people who run the Tour de France. Every year the event’s organizers choose two stages of the Tour for amateur riders to ride on the same course as the racers who compete in the Tour. This year Stages 11 and 16 were chosen for L’Etape du Tour.
On Sunday, July 8, M. Odriscoll rode the stage from Albertville to La Toussuire (Stage 11 of the Tour). At “only” 148 kms, Stage 11 of the 2012 TdF is one of the shortest stages in the 99th edition of the Tour. But beware, this is one of the toughest stages of the 2012 Tour.
The course starts at the town of Albertville, in the heart of the Alps. Albertville is situated in the Combe de Savoie on the verge of the Tarentaise, Beaufortain and the Val d'Arly, that gave it its nickname of the Crossroads of the Four Valleys.
With its medieval city of Conflans, it is graced with a double label of Town of Art and History and Cycling Tourism Town which allows it to bridge the gap between heritage and sporting activities.
After the first thirteen kilometers from Albertville, the riders will not find another single inch (or should that be centimeter) of flat terrain!
The cyclists will tackle, in order, La Madeleine, La Croix de Fer and Le Mollard before the final climb up La Toussuire.
La Madeleine is a Hors Categorie (HC) climb which simply means that it is so tough and so hard to climb that it cannot be categorized. It is a 25.3 kilometer climb to the top of Madeleine, at an average gradient of 6.5% .
Fifty-three kilometers after riders reach the summit of La Madeleine, comes the next climb, Col de la Croix de Fer, another HC mountain pass. It is 22.4 kilometers to the top of Col de la Croix, at an average gradient of 6.9%.
Next, the riders get a break of sorts. The next mountain is Col du Mollard, a Category 2 climb. The riders only have to ride for 5.7 kilometers at an average gradient of 6.8%.
Remember, however, that by the time that the riders have reached the summit of Col du Mollard, they have already been on their bikes for 100 kilometers and have climbed two HC mountains.
If the riders have survived this far, (according to M. Odriscoll more than half of the field of riders had abandoned before the Mollard climb), they face one more climb.
Before crossing the finishing line, at La Toussuire, the riders will have to ride for 18 kilometers, at an average grade of 6.1%, to the finish atop the Category 1 mountain. The climb towards La Toussuire and the surrounding passes make up one of the largest cycling areas in the world, the Maurienne Valley.
Once they arrive at their destination, tired as they may be, the riders will enjoy one of the most beautiful sites on the French Alps.
Perched on its plateau of alpine pastures, La Toussuire offers a 360 degree panorama on the majestic Aguilles d'Arves, the mountain passes of the Croix de Fer and of Glandon and the eternal glaciers. La Toussuire is the doorway to the domaine of Sybelles. In the winter, its 310 kilometres of pistes, that form the largest ski area in Maurienne, connects six resorts, Le Corbier, Les Bottieres, Saint-Colomban-des-Villards, Saint-Jean-d'Arves, Saint-Sorlin-d'Arves and La Toussuire.
Congratulations to you my dear friend on a race well ridden. You are the Gladiator of the Road.
The course where Arcabulle rode his bike last Sunday.
In the closing scene of Tennessee Williams’ 1947 landmark play, “A Streetcar Named Desire,” Blanche Dubois utters these now famous lines: “Whoever you are - I’ve come to depend on the kindness of strangers.”
While sitting down to write the 100th post of the Between Homes (BH) blog I was sharply reminded of how much we at BH depend on the kindness of friends and strangers alike. Anniversaries are a perfect time for engaging in a bit of introspection; for looking back and for looking forward.
Between Homes: A short history
BH was born from my experiences as an SL newbie. Like every new avi, I was homeless when I first rezzed into SL. I can still remember my first visit to a newbie island; the island was full of avis, all speaking in a cacophony of languages. In fact, that first newbie island reminded me a lot of Mos Eisley Cantina in George Lucas’ "Star Wars." Like in the Cantina, there was too much noise, too many new avis, way too many “old timers” trying to take advantage of the newbies and the action was just too “funky.”
As Dorothy said in the “Wizard of Oz,” , "there is no place like home."
This is about the time when the idea to create a shelter for homeless avis was born. I wanted to create a place where newbies, as well as homeless old timers, could set as “home,” hang out, meet other nice people and just enjoy a different experience. There is usually, however, a huge gap between wanting to do something and actually doing it.
A chance meeting with Deneby Strauss helped get the ball rolling. I met Deneby one night while exploring around SL. I will not go into the details of that first meeting; suffice it to write that it involved a “rescue” and that it was Deneby, not me, who was in need of “rescuing.” Soon after that meeting, Deneby and I became good friends. During our many conversations I told Deneby all about my wanting to set up a shelter for homeless avis. Being Canadian, Deneby is naturally a good listener (Canadians are just like Americans, just more polite). He listened to my ideas and then offered his own ideas about the shelter. Deneby is a businessman in RL; he was full of good suggestions for how to set up and promote the shelter. Little by little BH went from a mere idea to an actual plan. Deneby even chose the name Between Homes – he probably did not realize that the group's initials, BH, commonly stand for Beverly Hill, a place where “being poor” probably means having to make do with a 10,000 sq. feet home, instead of a 20,000 sq. feet home.
Deneby, Yucca Gemini (whom I had previously met when she modded my first SL house), AlterEg Oh, (an early BH friend who has since found fortune and fame pursuing other endeavours) and I went about looking for land to build the shelter. In our search for land, we had two principal guidelines: (1) the land had to be inexpensive (the project had to be paid out solely from the Lindens I earned selling houses for ABC Homes and from donations to the group’s tip jar) and (2) the location had to be nice, away from crowds, strip joints, escort services and other favorite SL activities. Meetings these two requirements was not easy, so we spent a great deal of time looking for a place. Eventually, Alter told me about a small parcel of land available at Bluenose. The initial parcel at Bluenose met both our requirements, it was not too expensive and the land itself was pretty nice.
Yucca Gemini at the site of another of her projects.
After the group bought the land, Yucca went to work building our first apartments and landscaping the grounds. Back in those early days Between Homes was just a tiny 512 sq. meters parcel. We only had room for six apartments and some landscaping. Undeterred by the land's physical limitations, Yucca built and furnished six small apartments and then surrounded the apartments with beautiful landscaping. We were small, but we were well on our way to becoming what we are now.
On May 1, 2008, Between Homes officialy opened up its door to welcome new avis.
Here is a photograph, taken on May 5, 2008, soon after BH opened for "business." This was BH’s first apartment building and landscaping.
Deneby and Arcabulle Odriscoll, another close dear, friend and longtime supporter, went about looking for resources for our shelter. Deneby and Arc were in charge of “recruiting” new shelter residents. Like Deneby, Arc is also in business in RL - his business expertise and his fluency in French and English were of tremendous help to the new BH.
Monsieur Odriscoll at the piano.
Soon as word went out about what we were doing at BH we had no trouble at all signing up new members and filling the original apartments. It was also about this time that Deneby recruited Elron Priestman. Like Deneby, Elron is Canadian (it seems that everywhere I turn in SL, I run into Canadians – not that I am complaining); Elron owns and operates a very successuful comedy club, to donate land credits to BH. With the additional land credits donated by Elron we were able to purchase more land - BH was up and running!
It was about this time that another chance meeting turned BH’s fortunes around. One night, while looking for land I met a Canadian (what are you guys doing, taking over SL, eh?) by the name of Gloeing "Glo" Ember; actually “meeting” is not quite the right way to describe our first encounter.
While looking for land I saw out of the corner of my eye, a very handsome avi approaching me. I was not happy with the prospect that this interloper, handsome or not, might buy the land that I was looking at. So I did exactly what any reasonable, level headed SL girl would do. I rezzed a huge house that yucca had built and then I dropped it right on top of the stranger’s head. I can still remember the look on the poor guy’s face when my house literally dropped out of the sky and landed on him. Instead of cursing me out (as he had every right to do) Glo simply asked me (in a very polite way) to please remove my house from his avi. Needless to say, I was impressed.
After I “surgically” removed the house from Glo he and I spent the rest of the evening just talking. I really liked Glo but after we said good-bye that night, I was certain that I would never see him again – fortunately I was wrong. One night, while I was on-duty selling houses, he showed up again. We talked a lot that night; Glo asked me about BH and what I hoped to accomplish with the shelter. Soon after that, Glo went on a land-buying spree. When I met Glo BH owned 1536 sq. meters of land. After Glo’s shopping spree BH grew to just a little bit over 21,000 sq. meters of land spread over several different parcels at Bluenose.
Gloeing Ember, aka Moose!
Since that first night, when I tried so hard to scare him away from the land that I wanted to buy, Glo has become a very important part of my life. I’ve come to realize what a loving, wonderful, generous, and patient man Glo is. (By the way, someone else ended up buying that plot of land.)
Currently, BH owns over 21,000 sq. meters of land spread over several different parcels at Bluenose. Of that amount, over 12,700 sq. meters of land were donated by Glo. BH’s lawyer and dear close RL friend, SanPaul Held, has donated 1024 sq. meters of land. Deneby and Elron have each donated 512 sq. meters of land. My own contribution to BH is 4608 sq. meters of land.
BH's attorney, SanPaul Held, Esq.
BH’s main location covers 5632 sq. meters of land. The 15 units apartment building, the dance floor, the bar and lounge, the pond and a large pavilion are all at the main location. Other BH locations include: the Park Annex - large, open park area with a stream, a chapel and several, new rental apartments, (6064 sq. m.); the Japan Annex, complete with a Japanese house by builder Yucca Gemini (912 sq. m.); the Roses Annex, with a cottage also built by Yucca (512 sq. m.); the Northeast Campus (1536 sq. m.) and the Northwest Campus (4096 sq. m.) – these two parcels also contain future rental units; and the “new” parcel behind the apartment buildings (1024 sq. m.).
BH apartments
BH - A place for homeless avis and beloved dogs
BH - A place to gather, meet new people, have fun and even do a little dancing.
BH's pond - just be sure not to bother the fishes.
For the past 12 months we have attempted to live up to our original mission statement: to provide a place for avis to call home, hang around and meet new people. As we close on BH’s first year anniversary, we also look forward to the 12 months ahead.
Between Homes: The Future
As we look forward to the future, we want to build upon what we have already accomplished and continue to expand our operations. Accordingly, we are considering making some changes to the way that BH is operated. Our goal is to maintain a balance between BH’s original mission of providing a place for homeless avis to stay awhile and the desire to expand our services to more residents. In order to maintain that balance we are considering some of the following items:
1. Selling off the various parcels that BH owns in Bluenose and instead purchase one single, continuous parcel of land where we can set up the future BH.
2. Set up specific guidelines for assigning BH’s free apartments and for how long the apartment will be available to its occupant. Along the same lines we want to set up guidelines regarding how long “absent” residents can keep their apartment. Every week we receive four or five new requests for apartments - and the waiting list is growing longer. To accommodate the needs of all residents we need to set up residency guidelines.
3. We have already set up apartments on various parcels owned by BH. Soon we will make a formal announcement about the availability of these apartments, including rental fees and number of prims available. The idea is to make the apartments both nice and low rent.
4. We are planning to use some of the grounds as venues for concerts, parties, lectures, weddings or lectures. We have already spoken to a local (SL) musician who is interested in performing concerts at SL. Our own Elron Priestman has mentioned using SL as a venue for his comedy shows.
5. We want to work with builders and store owners to see if we can get them to set up freebie giveaways at BH. Clothing seems to be the most popular item, but furniture, skins, hair, etc., are also popular items. I have sent an IM to the owner of Alady Skins (she is a sponsor of an all-female homeless shelter) discussing the possibility of setting up a freebie dispenser.
These are some of the items that we are considering. If you have any ideas of your own, we, of course, would like to hear them.
Thank You…
No retrospective is complete without a list of “thank you” to the individuals whose kind support makes this project work.
Thank you to each and every BH member and resident. BH was created for you to use and enjoy. You make BH such a special place, without you there is no BH. So thank you.
Special thanks to individual members and residents who have gone the extra mile to help BH grow: Tetsuryu Vlodovic was among the first BH residents, his Tardis devices, his knowledge of all things related to Dr. Who and his creative imagination helped BH in its early days; Ballyhoo Flower, a dear friend and supporter, her faith in BH is remarkable and much welcomed; DavidB Ballyhoo, a charming and valiant dragon who is always at the ready to rescue a damsel in distress; Dylana Wetherby a new resident who is constantly scouting SL to bring us quality freebies or low prim goodies; Buccaneer Braveheart and Ariel Laks, BH's love birds, Buc's suggestions for this blog have proved to be excellent, the "old" cowboy's charming ways make him a welcome sight every time he rezzes at BH, his lady, Ariel is a writer who will soon (I hope) contribute some of her writings to this blog.
Tet in his furry skin.
A warm thank you goes to Matilda “Tilda” Little, Bird Thor, Lissy Tigerpaw and Teressa “Baby Tess” Adamski. Right from the very beginning all four of them have been an important part of my SL life. Tilda’s sense of humor and her wisdom have both been a major source of joy for everyone who meets her. Same is true for Bird, Lissy and Tess; they are part of what I affectionately call the Swedish “invasion.” All four of them have touched my life in a very special way.
Tilda relaxing.
Tess on her trike, being "guarded" by the two newfies.
Thanks also go to Rogers Albatros, Loke Hastings and Leo Eppenberger - they are the male side of the Swedish “invasion." Rogers is BH’s official Security Guard. Early on during its existence BH suffered a griefer attack. There have been no further attacks, but just in case, Rogers is on the lookout for unusual activity. Loke and Leo are BH’s goodwill ambassadors, they often direct visitors to the right place or hand them a notecard with additional information about BH. Loke and Leo also tell me about new visitors so that I may personally greet the newcomers.
Rogers at home.
Thanks also go to Adeel Cave. Adeel is at the top of my contacts list (it is arranged in alphabetical order you silly!); he was among the very first people that I met when I rezzed into SL. Since that time, Adeel and I have seen both bad times and good times. Even through the worst of times, Adeel’s wacky sense of humor and his endless "bad" puns have managed to bring a smile to those around him. No mention of Adeel is complete without also a mention of Cherina “Cher” Trappen. Because we are on the West Coast (or Left Coast to some), Cher and I are usually online at the same time. Our talks have been like a shining light, always guiding me.
Special thanks to Rachel Brimm. Rachel too was one of BH’s early residents. She has been a mentor and guide to countless new BH residents. Rachel's special talent in decorating using low-prim furniture has been a welcome asset to new members. Like me, Rachel suffers from occasional bouts of insomnia, so we two can stay up late talking about “stuff.”
Rachel, right before Halloween.
BH would not be where it is now without the help of residents from the “frozen tundra” or as us “southerners” call it: Canada. Canada is the land of Jim Carrey, Bill Shatner, Alex Trebek and Shania Twain (and the land that brought us Trivial Pursuit and the Four Seasons Hotel); Canada is also the land of Deneby Strauss. As previously mentioned, it was Deneby who helped me put together the plans for BH and it was Deneby who, through his early support, gave me the push I needed to get BH going. Thank you, eh!
No thank-you list can be complete without a mentioning Mickey Geest. As you probably remember, Mickey was my boss at ABC Homes. He taught me many valuable SL skills, like how to properly rezz a house (is not as easy as it looks), how to use a borders tool to size up a parcel and how to properly install TP devices in a home or building (I can’t even tell you how many avis I have accidentally orbited with an improperly installed TP button - sorry guys!). Mickey also taught me a few “choice” phrases that will come in handy if I ever find myself accosted on the streets of Amsterdam. Of course, I returned the favor by teaching Mickey the difference between an “inexpensive” home and a “cheap” one. Mickey’s biggest contribution to BH is the fact that when I wanted to quit SL for good (I was a very silly avi back in those days) Mickey offered me the job at ABC Homes and he did everything possible to keep me from leaving SL. Dank je!
Mickey in the Navy (isn't there a song by the Village People about being in the Navy).
On the subject of learning foreign languages, I have been blessed by meeting Arcabulle “Arc” Odriscoll, my French tutor. I met Arc at about the same time that I met Tilda. Both were introduced to me by an old friend – that chance introduction turned out to be quite serendipitous. In the time since I met him, Arc has been a true friend, a sounding board and a complete gentleman. Arc often contributes articles for the BH blog and he posts long comments to many of my own articles. In typical French fashion, Arc is a devoted follower of Jerry Lewis who, I am told, is considered to be quite a genius in France and more famous than even Charles DeGaulle. (OK, OK, I am kidding about the Jerry Lewis part.) Like me, Arc is a devoted cyclist, I look forward to watching this year’s Tour de France – with Arc’s commentaries as guides the Tour will be that much more fun to watch. Merci beaucoup M. Odriscoll.
I often receive IMs letting me know how beautiful our apartments are, or how well landscaped the grounds are (you should have all seen our last winter wonderland). Every time I hear someone praising our shelter I am reminded of the one person responsible for giving “physical” form to BH: Yucca Gemini. When I asked Mickey for a builder to mod my house, he introduced me to Yucca. I must confess that our initial meeting was not very auspicious. I am a talker (who would have guessed?) and Yucca is naturally quiet, especially when she is busy building. The first time I met Yucca I kept talking and Yucca kept ignoring me. I was not too happy until someone pointed out to me that Yucca was merely trying to save me money by working instead of chatting away. I am glad that Yucca decided to look past my chatterbox personality. Since that time Yucca and I have become inseparable friends. Yucca is more than the builder who built my private residence, more than the builder who gave me the gift of the Roses Cottage and more than the builder responsible for all of BH. Yucca has been a mentor, teaching me about Buddhism and about life itself. Yucca has been the one person willing to hold a mirror in front of me so that I can see myself for who I really am. Of course, Yucca can also be stubborn, obstinate and set on her ways, but then again, so am I – two stubborn “chicks” arguing over the relative merits of Heineken beer over Grolsch beer. Maybe that is the reason why we will always be friends. ¡Gracias Yucca!
Before I put all of you into a deep sleep with this thank-you-fest, allow me to indulge in one final GRACIAS. You have already “met” Glo when I wrote about how I dropped a house on his head. By now he is probably a tad upset with me for making such a big fuzz over him – well, “tough cookies buster!” If I wrote a thousand blog posts thanking Glo for all he has done for BH in general and for me in particular, I would still be approximately nine hundred and ninety-nine posts short of expressing my full thanks to my beloved "Moose." It has been my experience in life that gifts usually come with strings attached to them – not always, but often enough to make me leery.
Glo's gifts to BH, and to me, come with no strings attached. Glo once told me, "Deb, BH was your idea, I am only too happy to help you - whatever you decide to do is OK with me." He has been true to his word.
Glo, thank you for your faith in my visison and most of all, thank you for your faith in me.
This Friday is the official one-year anniversary of BH's opening. A lot has happened since Yucca put up that first, tiny apartment building. We hope that a lot more will happen in the future.
To help celebrate we are planning a party. Stay tuned for details.
Here is an original poem by our very own Monsieur ARCABULLE Odriscoll. M. Odriscoll accepted my challenge, or was it a request, to contribute poetry to our blog. M. Odriscoll has previously contributed other posts for this blog. The poem is in French; some of you may not be able to read it in the original French. I have attempted a very free translation into English. If you request it, I will post the translation but only after ARCABULLE reviews. I think, however, that the poem flows better in its native French.
Here, without further ado, is ARCABULLE’s La vie est un long fleuve tranquille
LA VIE EST UN LONG FLEUVE TRANQUILLE
La vie est un long fleuve tranquille Qu'est-ce que la vie ? qu'est-ce que notre vie ? est-elle un long fleuve tranquille comme nous l'espérons et ce pourquoi nous nous battons
la vie est en fait une succession de tumultes et d'émotions de ruptures et de combats que l'on arrive ou pas à surmonter et à dépasser
la vie nous apporte beaucoup de tristesse et de peine mais elle est parfois injuste car certains ont plus de chance
d'autres subissent de plein fouet enormement de pressions et de déceptions,de ruptures ils doivent s'accrocher, se battre pour sortir du noir qui les habitent
la vie mérite d'être vécue quoi qu'il en soit car un jour la lumière vient elle nous offre des instants des éclairs de bonheur des bouffées d'oxygène
la vie nous offre parfois ces instants de bonheur qu'il nous faut apprécier et déguster tel un bon cabernet
même si en notre for intérieur le noir est toujours là il nous habite il nous guette il est toujours à l'affût
la vie est un combat qu'il nous faut mener il faut nous accrocher pour sortir du noir et enfin voir la lumière qui est juste là elle est à 2 pas
un pas, deux pas ne t'arrête pas le plus dur est derrière toi car tu as déjà fait le premier pas
encore un effort fais le deuxième pas qui certainement te délivrera et t'offrira le bonheur que tu mérites à toute heure
la vie est un long fleuve tranquille car au final malgré les tumultes les joies, les peines nous sommes toujours là la vie est toujours là la vie continue pleine d'envies et de joies
un français un peu fou voire très fou
Bisous à toutes et à tous profitez de la vie carpe diem mes amis
Today’s featured Between Homes resident is Mychelle Lefavre.
Mychelle is one of BH’s newest residents. The other day, while playing with Goliath, Gandhi and Holmes (BH’s K-9 residents) I noticed how beautifully Mychelle has decorated her apartment. It never ceases to amaze me how creative BH residents can be when it comes to decorating their apartments. So I picked up my Linden Labs IM-phone and called Mychelle to interview her for an article for the BH blog.
Below is what Mychelle told me about her SL experiences and about BH. Part of the call was in Spanish because Mychelle is fully fluent in Spanish (as well as French, English and a bunch of other languages!).
Debbie Bulloch: ¡Hola Mychelle! How are you? Mychelle Lefavre: ¡Hola Debbie! I’m good and you?
DB: I am doing well, thanks. Mychelle, I was at BH earlier today and I noticed how nicely you have decorated your apartment. I love all you have done with it; I especially love your aquarium. Would you mind answering a few questions for the BH blog? ML: Thanks Debbie. Sure, I would love to take your questions.
DB: Cool. When did you join SL? ML: I joined on November 10, 2007. I just celebrated my one-year SL birthday.
DB: Sweet. ¡Feliz cumpleaños! Happy birthday! Why did you come to SL? ML: Well, I had time to kill, had nothing better to do and so….just kidding! Actually I came to SL for the same reasons that many people join in, to meet people, to learn cultures and to explore.
DB: I think that meeting other people is probably the #1 reason for joining SL. How did you hear about SL? ML: A friend of mine talked to me about SL.
DB: Well, be sure to thank your friend for me for telling you about SL. Now that you are in SL, what are some of your favorite things to do in SL? ML: There are lots of things to do here, but I really love exploring new places, meeting new people, learning about different cultures, practicing languages, dancing, flying, etc...
DB: I love flying too, it is so cool, but I still fly into things. Good thing I drive better than I fly. ML: Yes, it is nice to be able to fly without a plane.
DB: Mychelle, we are glad to have you at BH, how did you find out about us? ML: I found BH because a great friend of mine, a great person called Arcabulle talked to me about this special and warm place. (Editor’s Note: Arcabulle Odriscoll, or ARC as we call him, is indeed a great person. Take a look at my profile “picks” to read more about ARC.)
DB: Before coming to Between Homes, did you have a “home base?” ML: Not really. I used to come SL just to explore and enjoy some time here but not to live here like I do now ;)
DB: So what did you use for a “home” before coming to BH? ML: Well, sometimes I put a home in a Sandbox just to stay there for some hours but nothing fixed. So my home base was the Orientation Land. I used to go there to help newbies in SL.
DB: Mychelle, we are glad that you are here with us. Tell our readers what you like best about BH? ML: Let me see, where to start….? BH is a beautiful place where you can share thoughts and ideas with other residents. It has a lot of warm places to stay like if you would be at your real home. I met some friends here who are very kind and helpful. Since the first moment I came here I just felt happy to be part of this community.
DB: Do you have any special skills in SL? ML: I enjoy editing clothes and objects. I don't have time to build so I use to edit all those things I like and transform them into what I like.
DB: What kinds of things do you like doing when you are in-world? ML: Wow... a lot of things; I love to go dancing, chatting, flying, tai chi, yoga, surfing, diving... and a lot more... I even go to church here ;)
DB: A church? In SL? ML: Yep, they have everything at SL!
DB: Do you have a favorite place to visit at SL? A favorite sim? A favorite store? ML: I have lots of favorite places, like the planets (Shinda), Romantic Gardens, Neva Naughty, Acropolis, France Pittoresque... a lot more... I can not remember them all... and of course Between Homes (my new home in SL).
DB: Do you have any special messages to people reading this blog who may want to know more about BH? ML: Well, I wish to give special thanks, first of all, to Arcabulle, a French angel who I met in a club, Arcabulle brought me to BH; to Rachel (Brimm) who has been very helpful and warm to me; to Elvira (Amaterasu), a great person I met in the same club as Arca; we both came together to BH with him. To Xanadu (Dominquez), she gave me access to the BH group. To the sweet Teressa (Adamski) who is always in her bike giving happiness to the community and last but not least, to you Debbie who always have kind words to me and who gave me the opportunity to express myself here.
I also want to say a special "Thank you" to a very special friend of mine, who is not part of the community yet, but who has been very patient with me during all the time I have been here in SL; this wonderful man, helped me a lot when I wanted to learn French and he is a very special part of my SL - Dim, thank you very much for everything you have done for me. I have been blessed in my RL just knowing people like him and you all here in SL.
DB: Thank you Mychelle for your kind words. Do you have a special message for people thinking about joining Between Homes? ML: Of course; my message is: Don't hesitate to be part of BH, you will be very happy to join us and to live in a place where you feel safe and warm (like in Real Life).
DB: Do you have any suggestions on how we can make Between Homes a better place for all residents? ML: I really find this place perfect. Thanks to all of you who keep this place as wonderful as it is and thank you for letting me be part of this great community. You all are angels on Earth.
Mychelle, it is great having you here with us. You are now part of our family. And thank you ARC for bringing Mychelle to BH.
