Everything Happens for a Reason

Thank the Lord I can sit back and let the air out of my lungs - a sigh of relief.  I am sure that most of you who happen upon my particular entry today have either  heard about the recent set back on the DX team, or was present when the shit went down.  I wanted to take a lot of time and put what happened behind me before I wrote about it, aside from the asshole mentioned in my previous post (*waves* - hi asshole!!) I have spoken very little about what happened.  Unfortunately for those of you who survive in Second Life solely on drama alone, you won't get your fix here.  The only thing you're going to get are the thoughts that I have been wanting to release from my brain at the time I felt it was right to do.  And now it's time.

So let me give you the basic run down of what happened with the DX team - what the 'public' meaning - those of you who DID NOT attend the meeting of Saturday, November 7th need to know.  I called that emergency meeting because I found out earlier that day that the home sims for the team were being reclaimed that evening.  I was in complete shock because I was told the sims were paid until the end of November.  We were preparing for a show on November 14th and many members of the team either lived or used the DX home sims to build their sets, I had to tell them what was going on.  Combined with some personal issues that were shared with me which really shouldn't have been shared at all, I really couldn't say whether or not she was even going to come back, and I prayed that I wasn't jumping the gun.  The first words out of my mouth to start off the meeting were, "I hope she logs in and proves me wrong."  After this I needed some time to decompress, my thoughts were moving to fast for me to even get any words out and that's when I lost control of the car.  So here's where things get quick - - leadership of the original team was transferred, renamed and boom - like Monday morning at the office and in a matter of five minutes, they had moved forward, and for a second, I had planned on moving with them, but I knew from the moment I agreed, that I couldn't, and I'm glad  I didn't.  I made a promise to Wild and no matter what, I intended on keeping it.  

I'm sitting here reflecting on this past weekend, DX did two Christmas shows (one more to go!)....made it a short performance for the busy season, and it's been a freaking awesome weekend.  There are real benefits to having a smaller team and I noticed it a lot with the planning and organizing of our Christmas show.  Not everyone from DX migrated to the other team, some are dancing for both teams, we brought back some of the original core team and have new members as well.  We are 18 members strong with a 20 member cap - a cap that this time around we plan to enforce.

From the earliest days of this team, I have told Wild that sometimes the road we travel will be straight and smooth, other times it will be rocky and sometimes there will be be this big ass boulder blocking our path but the important thing to remember is we continue to push forward, instead of beating ourselves up over mistakes that were made or worrying about people with hidden agendas, we learn from the experience, put safeguards in place to prevent it from happening again and move forward, which was the reason for the quick planning of the Christmas show.  I wanted to get the team back on its feet before they realized they had been knocked down.  It was a success and we even welcomed new people on board as well.  

I miss SOME OF THEM but wish ALL OF THEM the best of luck because after all, it's really about the dance and if it's not, get the fuck outta here.

Clearing The Air

Love this photo, I call it "KISS MY ASS in Art Form."

I wanted to send this photo out to a special someone Ga*coughs*ge because you have stirred up more drama regarding a situation that you had NO first hand knowledge of than anyone who is involved.  You don't know me, and you've never been formally introduced to me, so anyone that is going to take you seriously about anything that comes out of your mouth regarding me is just as stupid as you are.

Here are the only two facts that ANYONE needs to know about ANYTHING:

1. People who steal maliciously normally don't come back.
2. Good people admit mistakes and move forward.

Now please create drama elsewhere.  Thank you.

I don't even know what to name this post.......

This is me chillin....cuz I really need to.

Over the past few months, I've had a front row seat to a lot of drama that has been going on.  I tell people all of the time that I am drama free and I truely mean it, I chose different outlets to vent my feelings and its more therapeutic to me than the outlets that the majority of people in SL use.  There are times however when I can't even avoid the drama, because for some people....they just can't help themselves.

I just don't get it....why do people have the desire to create drama?  When I read drama the only sound going off in my head is "cackle cackle cackle..blahblahblah."  Stop it, please.  I come to SL to have fun and get away from it.  Drama example:

I was in a hateful mood today - this is when even I create drama of my own, though not on purpose.  I don't have a filter on my thoughts or what comes out of my mouth, and I don't care how people take that.  There was an issue that came up in a group I'm in where I felt the need to state my opinion.  People who shouldn't have been bitching, were bitching and I simply pointed a few things out...being real so to speak because I will tell it like it is - it was a generalized statement.  Well that post got removed.  So I got pissed and posted my thoughts on my own page so that there was no chance of it getting deleted.  My post was dramatic - after all if I'm diving into the shit it might as well be the shit that is my own creation.  So I post my rant on facebook and within a few hours SIX people messaged me wanting to know what was going on, did it have to do with them, who did it have to do with...details....details.  LOL    PEOPLE - LOVE - DRAMA.

No one walked away satisfied I can assure you.  I'm not in the business of gossip either.  There is a reason why I choose not to be popular, not to  have 238574 friends on my facebook page that I don't know - although accepting them does serve a purpose for me.  :-P  There is a reason why I can count my sl family on one hand and my friends on the other.  People are too complicated and often grate me.  Because of this, it's very easy to be real and speak my mind, cuz I don't care what anyone thinks...its is what it is.

Wow...I've suddenly lost interest in this topic, think I'll just log it from here...nite!

~D~

One Down, One To Go

May is Dance Xcetera's anniversary month.  One year ago today I sat with Wild countless times as she tried to figure out what direction she wanted to go after resigning from the It Girlz n Fellaz dance team.  She had a vision and wanted help to bring it to fruition.  I was more than happy to offer her my assistance, dancing in Second Life is in my blood now, and I couldn't get enough of it.

DX started out with only 15 members, and has more than doubled it's size a year later - we currently have 56 members.  Almost half of the troupe are directors, with several dancers interested in creating dances for future shows.  I am honored to be part of such an amazing team.

I produced the Anniversary Show because it is very special to me.  I have said often, that dancing in SL breathed new life into me, it gave me an outlet to express my feelings, and I wanted to celebrate it.

Show #2 starts tomorrow at 3pm slt, and I can relax a bit because I'm not running any dances in this one.  We have an awesome lineup so if you're reading this and  you don't have any plans tomorrow, please come out and join us.  Take photos, we have a photo drop box and I'd love to start adding photo's from our audience!

Tonight was amazing, and we have one more night before we close out the show.  This one is going to be extremely bittersweet.  So here I am signing out for the night, I have a big day tomorrow and this girlie needs her beauty sleep.  Until then.....

Dejaye

Even a NOOB could sniff this one out!

I've been in SL for 8 1/2 years now....I can sniff out an alt like nobody's business but this one was WAY too easy and oh so obvious!

Both crashed at the same time.
Both were put on probation at the same time for no call/no show.
One quit because no one would cast her - she was not dependable
One was fired because she was not dependable.
The quit/fire happened within hours of each other.
Writing styles were IDENTICAL


Some people are very stupid, and crack me up.  Only a fool would believe that this was not the same person.

NOTE:  Faces and names were hidden cuz I'm not about the drama, but I am about calling people out.  :-P

Until next time, ciao!!

~D~

Rezzers

"Winter has gone from the homefront and I'm doing my happy dance."

Rezzers, I love them..especially since I put so many props on my set - I'm currently using the "Spot On Stage Manager," however the jury is still out on whether or not I plan to continue to use it. I have only two issues with it and I'm willing to try working around them because it has one feature that I absolutely love.....the ability to rez and clear my set using the buttons at the bottom of my Performance Directors hud.  

My first issue:  I think it's safe to assume that every designer isn't building their sets on the stage at the venue they plan to perform in.  One of the features of the Stage Manager is the ability to 'mark' your stage coordinance so that every set you build and use at that venue will come out perfectly.  The problem for me however is the z positioning, if I don't move it correctly my sets are either floating or sinking into the venue stage.  It's an easy fix, just whip out the marker at the venue with the set and move it to the desired position, click on it to get the new coordinance.  Unfortunately that's one extra step to set up when with traditional rez systems all you have to do is move the box until your set is where you want it.  I'm sure in time I'll find a work around and won't run into this issue, at least I hope.

My second issue:  The creators of this product recommend that you link as many pieces together as you can so it's easier to pack, but sometimes that's not possible for me to do.  As I've said before and for those who have seen my productions, I'm anally descriptive with my sets, and it would not be uncommon for me to have 20 or more linked pieces that I need to pack and believe me when I say I am linking as much as I can together.  Unfortunately, there is no feature that allows you to check your props to see if you forgot to script any of them for the rezzer.  For now I have to write down the names of every piece I plan to pack to ensure that I'm getting the rez scripts in them which again, is time consuming and if you knew how busy my sl/rl is, you would understand why I like things simple and fast.  

This feature that I am speaking of I have used with the AE Worx rez system and it's very nice.  I have also used the Multi Scene Packager and I like that one as well because you can pick up the pieces as soon as you put the script in it.  The Multi Scene also has a remote that you can click on to rez your sets but I like using Spot On better because I don't have to wear an extra hud to do it.  

Another thing, I like to pack one set per rezzer although all these systems say they can hold a lot more.  I feel like the more stuff you put in it the longer it will take to rez - with the Spot On system you can only have one rezzer on the sim while you can have multiple traditional ones out at the same time. I will now have to keep a notecard handy with the locations of my sets so I know where to get them if I ever want to use them again.

Would I recommend this system to other builders?  Hell yea I would.  I'm lazy and don't like taking extra steps but I would definitely find a workable solution to my issues.  This system will rez your set quietly, no more pieces popping out into the audience for them to see.  Other people can rez from your system with the right commands and the best part is the rezzing and clearing of your set using the buttons on the PD.  

I asked Wild if she could talk to one of the girls at Spot On in hopes they can add a 'check script' feature into their system.  I don't want to risk my idea getting lost if I ask because I have been told that I'm not the Spot On crews favorite person, and after my last experience with them, I tend to agree.  Despite this very unfortunate situation, I continue to support them because they have great products.  

Well I've yammered enough and it's 5am here so off to bed I go.  I have a lot of work to do yet on my dance for the Autism event and if I don't have it completely show ready by the end of the weekend, I'm pulling it from the show.  Toodles.

~D~

Things

I've been working on my dance for the autism event for a few weeks now and it's coming along very nicely.  My biggest challenge to date is making formations for 31 dancers - yep 31.  I know it's a lot, and I have heard in the past that using a lot of dancers is not always the best route to go, but this is the finale of our show so we want every dancer to participate, including the guest cheerleaders.  I'm almost done with the formations, the tedious formations start tomorrow, and by Wednesday I'll be ready to put the animations together.  I really hope people enjoy this!

Dance Xcetera is getting super busy, and with the new option of our directors choice to produce an entire show on their own was a marvelous idea!  It saves us all from infinite burn out.  I really enjoyed producing the Directors Choice Showcase but by the time we closed the curtain on it for the last time I was pooped!  It's a lot more work than people think it is but I enjoyed every single minute of it.  Lirel Garnet is producing the autism event, and then I'll be back producing our next show in  May which is our anniversary show.  I'm hoping to bring in quite a few guests and would love to make it a weekend event.  Once I'm finished with my dance I'll start to organize that event.  We are going to try to put on two shows a month and with over 40 people in the group with 95% of them being directors, I think we can pull it off.  Aside from the anniversary show we have a few shows still in the talking phase - a cover band showcase, a memorial performance to remember those artists/bands who are no longer with us, and "Summer Love," which includes both summer and love songs.  We will also be performing at Dance Queens so we can be added to the Wall of Fame.  We had planned to do it in November 2014 but did the Galaxy Festival instead.

I have a lot of work ahead of me which includes updating the DX website, something I've been slacking in lately thanks to being busy in both worlds.  Until next time folks.....CTFO.  :-D

~D~

The Wall

PROOF of a rotten daughter.

Yeah, the wall.  The one I hit today when I realized the props I needed for my set were no mod.  Not only that but the creator hasn't been in world in almost two years, so contacting him to work out a deal is out of the question.  I found a similar one on marketplace but that too was a no mod/no creator issue so now I'm hustling trying to find someone who can script for me.

This set is very special, its for the Lighting The Way event that Soco Magic holds every year to raise awareness for autism.  The song that I chose continues to inspire me, even after listening to it oh about a gazillion times now - seriously...I build for hours and that's the only song playing in my ears while I'm doing it.  Once the inspiration hits I've got a one track mind - and when a wrench is thrown in my path I trip over it and just start tumbling.

So that leaves me at a standstill, and I have a little bit of wiggle room with this dance, but not much.  If I can't find a scripter I'm going to have to search for an alternative, because I'm too OCD to totally change my set around.  Until then, wish me lots of luck!

~D~